Team-BHP - 2008 F1 season: Pre-season banter

Quote:

Originally Posted by rranjith_kum (Post 741976)

The fight is going to be between Kimi and Hamilton; Alonso will have to sit and wait till the races come to europe at least; Briatore has clearly mentioned that Renault is going to defend for first three races

I really doubt that. I am sure alonso will do good in first couple of races although briatore claims the above mentioned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by danlalan (Post 751666)

I really doubt that. I am sure alonso will do good in first couple of races although briatore claims the above mentioned.

Dan, I guess both of us are the only Alonso fanboys on the forum. Well, it is tough for Alonso, the car is having some issues and is slightly off the pace. So dont know what will happen, if they pull the rabbit out of the hat at the last moment, then MAYBE. Looks tough in the begining though.

As Steeroid and someone else mentioned, I really wish Schumi was here.

Anyway, he isnt and let's get on with enjoying the show :D

I think Alonso wont be anywhere close to the McLaren and Ferrari drivers. Massa will also be a force to reckon with. He isnt going to sit back and let Kimi hog all the victories.

Expecting some surprises from Williams and Honda. I expect BMW to continue their spectacular run.

By the way, what's with all the "home team" and "Indian team" on the F1 grid ?

Only the money being supplied is Indian. nothing else is Indian. No Indian driver, no Indian mechanic, etc.... Ferrari has a better Indian connection through Fiat/Tata and then TCS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikhilb2008 (Post 751961)

Expecting some surprises from Williams and Honda. I expect BMW to continue their spectacular run.

Ooo. To be honest. Honda looks a bit on the low side at the moment. The F1 magazine rated them in group C. Along with Force India. They are having immense problems. I still feel they should get along with Prodrive like they used to be and do what Honda really needs to do. They have been testing new Aerodynamics kit last week, so might expect better result. But like the last season, both Button and Rubens reported immense understeer with the car. But still no suspension improvements expected till Q2. So the car might do well but wont achieve any good results. Thats whats claimed. I feel Toyota is looking good. For me, Williams is the underdog this year. They are looking sharp, the engine response is good. They had a long spell of testing it and trying to get its reliability rectified.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bharath.kan (Post 752427)

If you think Honda is in trouble whats the scene of Super Aguri :Shockked:...cant even dream about that...the whole team itself seems to be lean and out of cash...:Frustrati

Well Super Aguri just cant be compared with Honda. Honda has just been slipping since they left of BAR and Prodrive. Honda themselves are a manufacturer and alos slatted as one of the good teams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedzak (Post 751661)

Anybody heard about the new safety car AMG has prepared for F1 2008 season?
It's based on the CL63 and develops a whopping 525 BHP. Acceleration time from 0-100 is claimed to be 4 seconds or less!

Oh crap! Cant wait for the safety car to be deployed!

This just got me thinking... with the FIA slowing down the F1 cars with an engine freeze and what not and the safety car getting faster every year, I wonder if the time will come when latter could outrun the former!

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnniHilat0R (Post 753369)

Well Super Aguri just cant be compared with Honda. Honda has just been slipping since they left of BAR and Prodrive. Honda themselves are a manufacturer and alos slatted as one of the good teams.

Honda lost control in the previous season itself and we cant predict whats the package which they offer this year

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaserQ (Post 754100)

Its really important to have the Safety car produce state of the art acceleration. Last year in Nurburgring during early laps in rain, the safety car narrowly missed being collected by one of the Torro Rosso cars at Turn 1.

Kimi got accustomed to Ferrari during the latter part of 2007 and the rest is history. He is the man to beat this year, no doubt!

Lewis "the lucky rookie" Hamilton has a fast car, just like last season. Will he also freeze up when it matters most, just like last season?
Will he be able to handle the pressure from Kovalainen or will there be fireworks?

Massa is going to fight hard from the start and is a serious title contender, as long as his car doesn't fail him during the early races.

If anyone can extract more pace out of the Renault, it's Alonso. With a strict driver hierarchy and supportive team principal and members, he is going to be in the front end of the grid in no time. I suspect the Renault is faster than they let on during testing.

The BMW, Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso boys are going to make the midpack racing very interesting with some spectacular 1st lap, 1st turn crashes!

Toyota, Honda and Super Aguri have their issues with just Toyota hinting at some surprise results, based on testing performance.

Force India should hang back during the 1st turn dash and use their decent race pace and pit strategy to move up the grid. Consistent Top 10 finishes would be nice but not realistic, atleast not in the first half of the season. That said, I still hope Fisi ends up in the Top 10 when the checkered flag drops in 3 days.