SofaF1

With the points system being how it is Formula One is about consistency above all which is something that Kimi Raikkonen has often struggled to get over.

But as Kimi returns to Formula One as world champion his rivals are all facing more change than him.

Lewis Hamilton

At McLaren Lewis will face a new team-mate, he may struggle to set up the car as the experience level of the pair of drivers will be so much lower, a new position in the pit lane (with a much smaller garage), a car which may well have been compromised to allow it to pass the scrutineering of the FIA and a smaller budget.

Fernando Alonso

At Renault he will be returning to what he thinks of as a familiar team. But a lot of changes have happened here as well. Something stopped them from making a winning car in 2007, and although Alonso will be bringing his famous 0.6s a lap it might not be enough for an instant return to form. Presumably a lot of people at Renault had their noses put out of joint by Alonso’s departure at the end of 2006, will they be able to accept him back? Of course Flav accepts him back, but what about everyone else? Can they rally behind him as he needs? And what of the thorny issue of number 1 status?

His new team mate, Nelson Piquet Jr is bound to want to instantly prove that he’s no patsy to Alonso. And this could lead to exactly the same situation that the drivers faced at McLaren last year. Should we expect to see Piquet ignoring team orders at some point?

Lastly on this subject, if Renault are able to pick up their form their rivals are bound to play a bit dirty. I can easily imagine McLaren and Ferrari asking the FIA to investigate team orders at Renault any time they finish well. Even if they aren’t doing anything of the kind the constant investigations could well destabilise the team.

BMW

BMW are the other team with consistency behind them. Although it’s more difficult to pick a lead driver. The other thing in BMW’s favour is something they have in common with Renault. Neither team was racing near anyone for the last part of the season. It was easy for them both to write off further development for 2007 and concentrate on 2008. BMW had less distance to climb and so it might well be possible for them to keep at least one of Kimi, Lewis or Alonso behind them. Maybe even two.

Conclusion

But while it’s too early to say categorically, you’d have to tip Ferrari and Kimi in particular for the title. The consistency they have is probably their biggest advantage.

…Speeding, I’m Qualifying:

T-Shirt That Might Not Stand Up In Court

With Heikki now on his way to McLaren an important question will have to be answered. Does the McLaren team have enough experience?

One of the most widely quoted complaints from Alonso last year was that he felt that he’d given 0.6 seconds a lap and he felt the team wasn’t giving him anything in return. What this may have been is a reaction to Lewis’s lack of experience. We know he was used to Fisi chiming in with ideas. But Lewis wasn’t able to give him that. Obviously he’ll have the same problem at Renault this year – but he’ll still be able to trust himself. Can the same be said over at McLaren?

There you will have two relative newcomers which will leave them quite disadvantaged when unusual setups are required.

At this point you have to say Ferrari look strongest to win next year. Renault have a long way to haul themselves back into contention (although McLaren almost did it last year) and McLaren have a driver line up lacking in experience and have been hamstrung in car development. Whereas Ferrari have consistency.

The others can both do it but Ferrari have to be favourite. And don’t forget BMW they could really put some noses out of joint next year.

As Alonso goes back to what he knows he will be faced with an interesting challenge in the shape of team mate Nelson Piquet Jr

While Alonso will be afforded a separate garage and team in a highly unusual fashion – Renault have been able to announce a new mega sponsor Slim who insisted that they would only race with Piquet on the team.

I hope the isolation strategy of demanding a separate garage doesn’t make Alonso feel alone again.

I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, is one of my favourite radio programs. In the show this week they “received” a letter from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales which read,

“Dear Lewis,

I’m sorry you missed out on winning the world championship, this must have been terrible for you, especially after losing Morse so recently.”

Anyway, in other news here’s an interesting interview with Lewis:

Imagine you run Force India. You want to move your team forward so you want a superfast rookie, but you also want a bit of experience so when something goes wrong with your car somebody knows what it was. As you sit back with a bottle of Kingfisher you are asking yourself to ponder the following question: who is less crap Fisi or Ralf?

Which is it?

Alonso’s options keep narrowing. Now Red Bull are out the picture, what’s left for him? Prodrive aren’t going to be on the grid next year after all. Toyota have Glock and Trulli. Williams now have Nakajima. Surely it must be Renault? The hesitation in announcement can only be because he doesn’t actually want to go back there, or that the contract they’re offering doesn’t suit him. I can’t believe, as some people say, that he has a drive at Ferrari in 2009. The only reasonable option, then, is for him to take a year off. Could that ever work? Perhaps the more amazing story, however, is that Ralf thinks he might fit in at McLaren!

When was the last time you heard that? Yesterday?! What’s going on?

Schumacher quickest in testing return

Surely he’s not coming back? He must realise that if he’d been driving that Ferrari last year he’d have won the championship much earlier than Kimi, wouldn’t he?

The last time a driver won the world championship with a number six on his car was x x years ago and it was Keke Rosberg. And this season the championship was won by A Finn, another Finn in Mika Hakkinen retired, and finally Heikki Kovalainen holds one of the keys to the driver market.

My favourite thing from the end of the season is to learn that not only do Kimi and Heikki get on but so do their fathers. Both of them race in the Legends series and are very good friends. They even watch most of the races together. They were sitting next to each other as their sons raced each other for the same piece of tarmac back in Japan. And in that case Heikki bested Kimi. It must have been an interesting moment.

Honda have scooped Ross Brawn away from Ferrari (who were apparently unwilling to make him Team Principal).

Finally Nick Fry has done something right.

Nick Fry will remain as Chief Executive of Honda Racing which is better for him. He can look after the money business and Brawn can look after the racing.

What will this mean, for Alonso? Might he too be headed for Honda?