Official F1 2005 Season Thread

[FLiam]

So F1 starts again on Sunday, I doubt I will get up to watch it at 1am but will watch the repeat.

Let's hope this season is a bit more close than last season.

Montoya to win this Sunday.

[Malenko]

Yay Gooner for opening a thread i was going to open on Friday.

I think there must be some kind of mathematic or physics rule saying there's no way a season can be as onesided as the last

I'll watch it live as i allways do...

... until Schumacher and Ferrari get the championship with 7 races to go

[lanky316]

Is it still going ahead? I heard there was some dispute over one of the cars and the Oz grand prix was likely to be scrapped?

[Troy Maskell]

Is it still going ahead?  I heard there was some dispute over one of the cars and the Oz grand prix was likely to be scrapped?

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[The Slickman]

I Like F1 although i started to get into it at the end of last season , i never really supported a certain driver or team , id support everyone apart from the Ferrari's . Damn Schuey . Im looking forward to this season . Who Trulli driving for this year ? one of my faves

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Trulli's behind the wheel of a Toyota, so I unfortiantly wouldn't expect much from him at all.

The whole Minardi thing is absolutly ridiculous, Ferrari are the only team not allowing them to race their '04 car for the first couple of races, it's not like Friesacher and Albers are going to win the race on Sunday and it's even been proven they will be four seconds off the pace. I hope Stoddart gets his injunction and Ferrari wise up - although that won't happen.

This season though does look the most open for a few years. The Ferrari this year is on the slower Bridgestone tyres, it hasn't been designed by Rory Burne and has looked quite a bit off the pace of the Renaults in the pre-season.

That being said who do you guys expect to do well, performance wise with teams and drivers?

I would say this would be the teams order going by pre-season testing:

1. Renault

2. McLaren

3. Ferrari

4. BAR

5. Sauber

6. Williams

7. Toyota

8. Red Bull Racing

9. Jordan

10. Minardi

And to win the championship? I'll have to say Schuey, however it will be closer than last years - and heres crossed fingers to Fisichella finally being a frontrunner all year long, like he has deserved.

[Summers]

Kim to win.

[Guest Pirate Chasin' Booty]

Argh shit, looks like my lunchtime break on a sunday at work will be filled with this boring shit.

Random Boring Guy: HEY THE F1 IS ON ITV!

*some idiot woman changes the channel to ITV*

Random Boring Guy: WOW, JENSON BUTTON IS 8TH!, WOOOW

*random boring guy sits down, picks up star trek book and starts to read*

I'd sooner stare straight into a microwave whilst it filled me with radiation than watch this turd.

[Summers]

I've never once watched it. A few of my close friends love it, so, it's all I'm going to hear about. All I know, is they like Kimmi/Kimmy/whatever. So, you know.

[britneyspearsisgod]

To be fair, Paul Stoddard has gone on a one-man mission to take it to Ferrari, so he couldn't really expect Jean Todt to be fair and say "You are causing me hell, but fuck it! Race on Sunday!". Plus, Minardi were the other Italian team next to Ferrari, so of course Ferrari would say get lost to them.

Saying that, the only real excitement this year is coming from who will finish second and the whole saga with the teams rebelling and shit. Honestly, someone needs to step into Formula One and take control of the situation.

And it's sad to see Eddie Jordan gone as well.

My pick for this year has to be Ferrari and Schumacher, although if they can manage it? I wouldn't be surprised to see Jenson Button, Kimi Raikonen or Juan Pablo Montoya take their chances.

Whatever happens, it will be interesting. Even if it's for the wrong reasons.

[Malenko]

My favourites for this season are Renault and McLaren, mainly because they seem to be the ones who can provide any challenge to Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

Alonso is a very good driver who needs consistency, fisichella is a guy i allways rated when racing for benneton but seemed to allways be on teams that wouldn't allow him to do any better. I hope he does well this season, although i also did like trulli. I'm thinking button will do better results than last season. I think watching the first race will be enough to see if i'm right or wrong (unless he's out of the race after the first 10 laps or so). McLaren is way better than last season, although that wasn't a hard thing to achieve. Kimi and Montoya are two of the best drivers currently in there and may get excellent results. Montoya needs to know better when to take a position and when to wait for an opportunity though (he's my favourite driver nonetheless). Sauber has Villeneuve and Massa. I like both. I love Massa's overtaking.

I don't expect much from anyother team. Toyota only scored points in three races last season. Although they have ralf schumacher who's not that bad, only IMO not as good as everyone seems to think of him, and trulli who's a fine driver, but i can't see him do much on toyota (unless the car has changed a LOT for better). Red Bull has a declining Coulthard who's terrible at qualifying. IIRC he was below tenth in qualifying at least half of the season. I liked him a lot when he first came to the F1 but is a mere shadow of what it was now, and all these new-wave drivers seem to be better and have a lot more potential. Jordan will end up with 17th and 18th qualifying places leaving 19th and 20th to minardi in most races.

to end this, although i hope not, Michael Schumacher will probably win this yet again, and barrichello may not get the great 2nd place of last season but won't do much worse. He seems to still be very consistent.

[TAFKA Castroneves]

Heres some Oz GP news just hours before the first qualifying session...

Rain for Qualifying...

Very intresting, this is really going to spice up the opening qualifying session of the year. It is predicted that rain will hit Melbourne all Saturday...

Minardi to start Qualifying...

from itv-f1.com

Minardi will take part in Saturday's first qualifying session after its Australian owner Paul Stoddart secured a court injunction against the FIA race stewards' decision to exclude his team.

"We are in," Stoddart told Reuters. "We'll be running all day tomorrow and then we'll have to wait and see what happens."

Stoddart said the Victoria court had scheduled a second hearing at 14.15 local time to rule whether Minardi can participate in the race on Sunday.

Minardi was forced to miss free practice in Melbourne after Stoddart failed to get permission from all of the nine other teams to compete with 2004-spec cars.

After missing the sessions he vowed to take legal action.

He said: "We had a very fair hearing from the stewards. With a heavy heart they've decided against us. I compliment the stewards on their fairness.

"But it leaves us now with only two options, one of which is to seek injunctive relief against the stewards' decision, not against this event, and the other to try and modify the car overnight.

"We are going to seek the legal remedy. We think we have prepared a watertight case. What I can say is that under no circumstances will we seek to disrupt this event in any shape or form."

Minardi does have an aerodynamic kit that conforms with the 2005 regulations available at Melbourne this weekend, but it is untested. The team will attempt to ready the cars with the new bodywork this evening in case it loses its court battle.

The unseemly saga over Minardi’s participation in the Australian GP rumbled on even as first practice got underway at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit.

Paul Stoddart now concedes that he is unlikely to be able to find a way out of the impasse and his team may have to pack up and go home.

The sticking point appears to be that Ferrari will not withdraw its opposition to Minardi taking part until the team obtains a prior stamp of approval from governing body the FIA – a move which Stoddart regards as nothing more than political gamesmanship.

Speaking to reporters, Stoddart said: “Jean Todt told me he will not be signing a piece of paper from me at all, but that he would do so if it came officially from [FIA race director] Charlie Whiting. We are just a victim of political games.”

Stoddart vowed to continue lobbying his fellow team bosses in a last-ditch effort to secure a reprieve, but admitted his chances were “bad, really bad”.

Compounding Stoddart’s problems is the fact that FIA president Max Mosley does not appear to be sympathetic to his case.

In a press release issued by the FIA on Friday morning, Mosley said: “Paul has known about the new bodywork regulations since 6 September 2004; in fact, his team voted for them that day in common with all the other teams.

“We understand that he has the latest bodywork in Melbourne even if he has not yet tested it fully. We also understand that at least three teams would object to him running outside the regulations (which it is also our job to enforce).

“If he decides not to run, we think it unlikely that the Melbourne organisers will seek compensation from him.”

McLaren Head up Free Practice

from itv-f1.com

McLaren delivered on its winter testing promise during Friday’s second practice session in Melbourne, with all three of its cars finishing among the top five.

The Woking squad’s third driver Pedro de la Rosa upstaged his superstar team-mates Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya in the waning moments to set the day’s fastest time.

Raikkonen and Montoya spent much of the session trading the top spot, with JPM setting an early benchmark of 1m27.752 after 15 minutes.

Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed a brief taste of glory before being demoted by a 1m26.692s lap from Raikkonen. Montoya then upped the ante to 1m26.227s, which remained beyond reach until Michael Schumacher threatened to spoil the McLaren party with a 1m26.081s lap.

After a leisurely start to the day, Ferrari had been gradually picking up the pace and Schumacher slipped in his quick lap almost unnoticed.

Whatever the potential of McLaren and Renault’s 2005 challengers, Maranello’s modified 2004 car – complete with its bizarre-looking “baby wing” – clearly remains a highly potent machine. The message from the world champions was clear: Underestimate us at your peril.

McLaren did have an answer, however, as de la Rosa eclipsed Schumacher’s mark by a full 0.7s courtesy of a clean and tidy lap with around four minutes remaining.

Raikkonen staked a final claim to the Friday honours but came up exactly 0.3s short and had to settle for the second-best time.

Schumacher was relegated to fourth place by an outstanding late effort from Nick Heidfeld, who coaxed his Williams around in 1m25.940s. Montoya, meanwhile, watched the last few minutes of the session from the pits and was shuffled back to fifth.

Felipe Massa was an encouraging sixth fastest for Sauber, some 1.1s and 10 places ahead of team-mate Jacques Villeneuve.

The Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Fisichella ended up seventh and 10th respectively and so far have not managed to reproduce their stunning testing form, although they certainly appear to be competitive.

Fisichella was one of a host of drivers to spin at the tricky Clark chicane midway round the lap, which also caught out Rubens Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Jordan’s third driver Robert Doornbos.

The morning session had been virtually incident-free, but there were spins aplenty in the afternoon as the tempo rose and drivers began to explore the limit around the high-speed, low-grip parkland circuit.

Barrichello had a number of off-course excursions en route to the ninth quickest time, just behind BAR’s Jenson Button, who kept it on the island but was not especially quick.

Ricardo Zonta was the fastest of the Toyotas in 11th place, just ahead of race drivers Schumacher (13th) and Jarno Trulli (14th).

After a glorious first practice sortie Red Bull Racing came down to earth this afternoon. David Coulthard posted the 12th-best time, but his young team-mates Christian Klien and Vitantonio Liuzzi blotted their copybooks with spins that embedded them in the kitty litter.

Once again, Minardi played no part in the proceedings and it looks increasingly unlikely that F1’s minnows will be granted the permission they need to campaign their 2004-spec chassis.

Friday second practice times from Melbourne

1. DE LA ROSA    McLaren    1m25.376s

2. RAIKKONEN    McLaren    1m25.676s

3. HEIDFELD      Williams  1m25.940s

4. M.SCHUMACHER  Ferrari    1m26.081s

5. MONTOYA      McLaren    1m26.227s

6. MASSA        Sauber    1m26.357s

7. ALONSO        Renault    1m26.562s

8. BUTTON        BAR        1m26.611s

9. BARRICHELLO  Ferrari    1m26.639s

10. FISICHELLA  Renault    1m26.667s

11. ZONTA        Toyota    1m26.808s

12. COULTHARD    Red Bull  1m27.017s

13. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota    1m27.162s

14. TRULLI      Toyota    1m27.195s

15. WEBBER      Williams  1m27.329s

16. VILLENEUVE  Sauber    1m27.513s

17. KLIEN        Red Bull  1m27.544s

18. SATO        BAR        1m27.891s

19. KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan    1m28.168s

20. DOORNBOS    Jordan    1m28.620s

21. LIUZZI      Red Bull  1m28.926s

22. MONTEIRO    Jordan    1m29.671s

23. FRIESACHER  Minardi    no time

24. ALBERS      Minardi    no time

[Guest UmpireAJS]

Weirdo qualifying.... which is good.

I still dont have any idea WHAT THE HELL they are gonna be using as aggregates and stuff,but unless they last 10 put off some Extraordinary time, I dont think they can make it to the top of the grid- which will make the race VERY INTERESTING,adding to the Tyre rule.

[Malenko]

That's not a weirdo qualifying... that's a weirdo free practice and free practice's are allways weird cause the drivers tend to use small variations in the car setup, and even in the driving to test both car and track... This practice still can mean nothing, and the qualifying may be just as one would expect.

First Qualifying Results

1 G. Fisichella Renault 1:33.171

2 J. Trulli Toyota 1:35.270

3 M. Webber Williams 1:36.717

4 J. Villeneuve Sauber 1:36.984

5 C. Klien Red Bull 1:37.486

6 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:38.320

7 N. Heidfeld Williams 1:39.717

8 J. Button BAR 1:41.512

9 N. Karthikeyan Jordan 1:44.357

10 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:44.997

11 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:45.325

12 R. Barrichello Ferrari 1:45.481

13 T. Monteiro Jordan 1:46.846

14 F. Alonso Renault 1:47.709

15 C. Albers Minardi 1:47.708

16 P. Friesacher Minardi 1:50.864

17 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:51.495

18 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:57.931

19 F. Massa Sauber no time

20 T. Sato BAR no time

Obviously a lot will still change in the next qualifying, but if rain don't cease Fisichella's time is a guarantee to a pole. Trulli's time is also pretty good in case these conditions remain without much changing, and that's ok by me, since i like both.

[TAFKA Castroneves]

No a lot won't change actually, the times are as such that it will take massive time differences in order to make changes really happen to the grid. However if it rains again and the order is in effect reversed then it could change, but chances are what is above is pretty much the grid.

[Malenko]

No a lot won't change actually, the times are as such that it will take massive time differences in order to make changes really happen to the grid. However if it rains again and the order is in effect reversed then it could change, but chances are what is above is pretty much the grid.

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[sahyder1]

damn that Mark Webber.

Gotta love those Marshalls taking their time to get to the car too. When was the last time Schumacher actually retired? I think it happened once last year right?

[Guest UmpireAJS]

He crashed at Monaco while exiting the tunnel while he was following the safety car and blamed in on Montoya.Whatever.

Good job by the Renaults but I am espeically delighted to see DC's performance.I hope he can stay at the top half of the drivers list at the end of the season.

[Malenko]

I'm also surprised about his performance but i doubt we will see it repeated anytime soon. Fisichella was dominant this race, obviously helped by the fact that all the fastest cars were being held by slower cars in the beggining of the race, but still, it was a very solid performance.

The Renaults showed they'll give a lot of opposition to ferrari's dominance over the past few years, although when Ferrari start using their F2005 in Bahrain or Spain, they'll get back to the front row spots (or near). I'm happy Schummy didn't get any points from this race and i would gladly see him do the same for the rest of the season but that obviously won't happen.

The McLaren were the biggest disappointment in my eyes. Neither of them did well enough to impress me, although i had big expectations for them. Raikkonen got a lucky point and Montoya should have done a lot better. The fact that they came from behind isn't sufficient explanation since Alonso came from 13th to almost get the 2nd place.

To end this, jordan and minardi still are in a league of their own, and as i said in my season analysis post, they will get the four last places for most of the season

[King Ellis]

That was certainly interesting especially the peformance of the Red Bull cars. I also cheered just a little bit when Schumacer crashed.