A difficult season for MF1 last year, as the team was up for sale almost from the start. Two things seemed to be clear though, that they needed to get the team completely moved over before the start of the 2007 pre-season, and that Monteiro was a better driver than Albers. On the first point they were successful they even got Ferrari engines secured (engine packing problems aside). But on the second they screwed up royally. Spyker is Dutch, Albers is Dutch and so he stayed. Why didn’t they keep hold of Monteiro?

The Drivers

Albers is okay. He’s not terrible. But he was bested by his team mate last year and the year before, and that’s the best yardstick that we have – and is especially important in the teams at the back of the grid.

Stuil is new to Formula 1 but he comes with the personal recommendation of Lewis Hamilton. And if Hamilton is telling Albers to be scared then he might well be on to something.

The Team

The management of the team hasn’t really been sorted out yet, and it’s all a bit up in the air. I think the team will be happy to stick at the back of the grid this year and take a look next year at what they can really do. They had one team behind them last year, but that team is going places. What a strange situation it will be that this year Spyker and Torro Rosso will be challenging each other for dead last position and both with be using the current Ferrari engines (no wonder Ferrari fought so hard to stop Red Bull from switching them).

The Problems

Simply not fast enough

Outside Bet?

Stuil gets himself up into the points a couple of times.

More likely?

Suil outperforms his team mate but it’s hard to tell because nobody scores any points all year.