2008 season preview

After months of preparations and pre-season testing, the 2008 Formula One season will finally kick-off on 16 March with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne. But what can we expect of the new season?

After a particular captivating 2007 season, which was overshadowed by the espionage matter between McLaren and Ferrari, Formula One hopes for a new attractive season. After the pre-season test sessions, Ferrari and McLaren seem to be way ahead of the other teams, but will they be able to turn the tables and to mix themself in the title fight? Can we expect another close Championship battle?

Ferrari begin the season as logical favourites. Kimi Raikkonen is the reigning World Champion and of course he wants to prolong his title. After a successful first season with Ferrari, Kimi has completely adapted to the team, his race engineer and the car. It appears that this season his biggest rival will be his team mate Felipe Massa.

McLaren on the other hand has had a lot to deal with the past few months. The team seems to have put the spy case and the quarrel between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso behind them and returns strong as ever. As McLaren hired Heikki Kovalainen as second race driver, the team has two of the most promising talents in its cockpits.

Who will be able to step up to challenge Ferrari and McLaren? First in line is BMW Sauber. The team provided the surprise of the season as they became 3rd in the Championship in only their second year in F1. After a shaky start for the F1.08 - the drivers were reporting serious stability problem with the new car, things appear to have been improved in the course of the most recent tests and the team claims the gap with the leading teams has been reduced.
The team has set itself the goal to win its first Grand Prix this season and just like last year, they are counting on Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica for this.

Behind BMW, we expect a fight between three teams: Renault, Williams and Red Bull. After a troubled 2007 season, Renault are gradually building for more success. One of their assets for this rise is ther double World Champion Fernando Alonso, happy to be back after his year at McLaren. During winter testing, the new R28 proved to be reliable but still lacks speed. It will be again a difficult season for Renault, but is it unlikely to be as bad as in 2007.
On the driver's side, Renault is relying on Alonso and rookie Nelson Piquet Jr. Alonso will again have to keep in mind that Nelsinho is highly motivated to prove himself and to follow in his fathers footsteps.

Williams on the other hand is also trying to find it's form for which it is so well known for. In the year of its 30th birthday, the team refused to organise a big launch presentation for the new FW30 as "they are fully focused on getting back to the front". The Grove-based outfit already performed very well during winter testing and could step up as a serious challenger for the 3rd place in the Constructors' Championship.
Nico Rosberg, still regarded as one of the most promising talents in F1, will have to lead Williams as he's teamed up with rookie driver Kazuki Nakajima. The latter made his GP debut at the Brazilian Grand Prix last season and showed that he is a driver to keep an eye on.

Red Bull seems to be ready to fight for 4th place as well. With the new RB4, the reliability problems from last year seem to have been resolved. David Coulthard and Mark Webber are once again highly motivated and with the genius of Adrian Newey, Red Bull must finally be able to consolidate its promising pace from last year.

After years of high expectations and big disappointments, Toyota - and especially Trulli - is convinced that this year will be the big break. We believe that the Japanese outfit will surely have its moments, but will they be able to fight with BMW, Renault, Williams and Red Bull? During winter testing, there were some good signs, but we'll just have to wait and see what the season brings.

A lot is expected from Toro Rosso and Sebastian Vettel as well this season. During winter testing, the team showed that they had reasonable good pace with an adapted 2007 car. Despite having two highly regarded drivers, Toro Rosso appear unlikely to be battling in front.

What about the rest? Just like last season, we can't expect miracles from Honda. During winter testing, Honda lacked speed and it appears that the RA108 is facing the same fate. It will at least be another frustrating start of the season for Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

The Force India F1 Team, which will make its GP debut in Melbourne, has put down competitive lap times during winter testing. Signing Giancarlo Fisichella was the best move of the team as the experienced Italian is a great help to develop the car. After a very good debut season, a lot can be expected from Adrian Sutil as well. Force India might become the big surprise this season.

Worse off is Super Aguri F1. There have been a lot of reports on the financial situation of the team. The future of the team is still in danger as no new financier has been found yet. The team announced that they will show up on the Australian grid, but if they will be able to complete the season remains to be seen. It is furthermore very unlikely that their pace will be as good as last season since they have hardly done any development and can either drive a two year old chassis or the troubled RA107.

Generally, we can expect a lot of exciting moments this season with the ban of traction control. Moreover, the first ever night race is scheduled for September and two new street circuits have joined the calendar. These are the ingredients for another attractive F1 season. Gentlemen start your engines!