With
Formula 1 testing finally underway, teams launching their 2002 cars and
the first race of the season fast approaching, we just can't wait for the
real action to start.
So how will the 2002 season turn out ? Will it be dominated by Ferrari
again ?, Will Williams leap in front, will McLaren manage to recover from
a bad year or are we going to see a three (or even four) way fight for the
Constructors' Championship ?
What about Honda, Renault, Jaguar and Toyota ? Will any of them make it
this year.
Will
Michael Schumacher stay in top form, can Coulthard finally crack it or
will Raikkonen rattle him. How will Montoya do ?
What about Villeneuve, Trulli and Fisichella, they are all under enormous
pressure to prove their worth.
So
many questions, so much expectations, everyone is setting their
expectations and predictions, some realistic, others wildly ambitious,
what are yours, share them here - Have Your Say
(What others are saying)
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What others are saying:
Michael
or Juan to win the title, probably Michael. Williams to win the Constructors. Raikkonen
to consistently out perform Coulthard (who will never win a title).
Renault to challenge McLaren for 3rd in the constructors. Button to maybe move
back to Williams in 03.
Webber to do a lot (top 10 finishes at times) with less car than anyone else.
Yoong is a 1 year wonder, no drive in 03.
Honda, I know this is a long shot, might build a fast engine near the end of the
season. Tricky Nicki to leave Jaguar.
Massa maybe to Ferrari in 03.
I know these are long shots ,but that's what you asked for. Please don't hate me
for not giving Coulthard a chance it's like this, he's been around for so long
and done nada, zippo, he's not good enough often enough to win a title - Cooky
- Australia
Niki
Lauda said, Michael Schumacher will have it easier this season than last. I
can't agree more, JPM is a future star, but like Senna he is very rough on a car
and will have to learn these things are more fragile than the Indy Cars. He's
the only other driver but a Schumacher to seriously challenge Michael, but Ralf
is still there too. As for DC, too nice a bloke. He's very quick, but not aggressive
enough. So my prediction, Michael, JPM and Ralf. Cheers and enjoy the most
exciting sport of them all - Stefan G - New Zealand
This
season BMW will be in race with Ferrari for place No.1. My favourite is JP
Montoya and BMW F1 Team. Also, new Honda and Toyota engines could be fas - Edin
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
Michael will be in
great form this season, provided the new gear box works out for Ferrari. His
title defense may depend on whether or not they get the bugs out of that
thing.
I think that Ralph had a great season with that BMW engine, and I bet that this
next one will be comparable.
Everyone misses you Mika!!!!! - Alex L. - USA
Guys I'm a Montoya
fan and I sure hope that he will win this year the championship but...
Williams car does not match the BMW engine power as Berger wanted and there will
be problems if they don't do something with the car ! - Ferrari are very strong
despite that gearbox thing and I don't expect that to be a big problem as they
can always turn back to last year car that was (why not admit this ?) fantastic
- McLaren are making a lot of progress ( just check the times in testing ) and
they designed and build the car very fast meaning that they also had the time to
set her up real good . - The surprise can come this year from a lot of teams
like Sauber , Renault , Jordan etc So you see even if I want to see Monty world
champ I think that will be very difficult to achieve , but what the hell GO
MONTY ! - Petrut - Romania
I really hope that
2002 will be again dominated by Ferrari and Schumi, and I believe it will
be.
Schumi's strong will and determination will overcome all, and the Ferrari team
will do everything to support him. But I also see Williams raising, although I
don't think Montoya will be the "leader". Ralf is better than him.
As for McLaren...I don't know.Maybe it will we a try-out year for them - Jade85
- Romania
Ferrari will be
world champion again. Schumacher will get dubbel point of Juan Pablo, who will
be second. Renault are winning a lot of races and they will be third. Mclaren
are getting worse every year - Patrick S. - Holland
JP Montoya will
surprise and take the championship in a close battle with Michael. More
consistent finishes by Ferrari will determine the Constructors by a small
margin over Williams & McLaren. Formula 1 will gain in popularity in the
US with a Fox TV contract with spectacular coverage that appeals to
mainstream America - Paul S - USA
Hello Ladies@
Gents.
I agree in part with Geoff (where is the other Australian friend Ian?). But I
have some issues. For example Ferrari will start to use a new engine-gearbox
assy. Will they return to another set up of Testarossa or BB-s? Or what cain
of materials they will use for this combination? Magnesium, Titanium, Durall?
Who knows. The bottom line is WILL BE THIS COMBINATON FASTER, RELIABILE?
That is the question, regardless Schummy presence in Ferrari team.
Other question is who will be in front. Old guns, new guns or the regular
guns. Michael, David, Jack, Olivier, Fissi, Rubbens (old guns). Kimmi, JPM
(new guns) Nick @comp (just Guns). Is hard to predict.
Another question is how the politics works. I m sure there is one team where
everything is clear. FERRARI, Schummy is clear #1 "preferred
customer".
The last year verbal war between Ralf and JPM is still on. McLaren is not
too far.
David starts again to ask the team "for total support". For me
sound like Mika shadow follows him under Kimmi resurection.
Sauber, Nick lost the train ticket for bigger teams so he's afraid for any
newcomers.
BAR, yes here there is a paradox. Jack and Olivier seems to be equal in
first instance but Jack lost his mentor and friend and Olivier seems to be
more and more secure in the team.
Jaguar is in the middle of financial problem (re Ford financial situation)
Mr. Nasser left the big cat team and Niky is the Edie mentor, but where are
the results? know Rome wasn't built in one day but this year Jag must
perform to survive.
Jordan,whell Fissi might be very good but I don t think the move was the
right thing to do. Honestly if Briattore-Renault team will succeed is in
part because Fissi. The final result for Renault-a good car is at least 30%
Fissi. EJ made a compromise to hire a Japanese driver in order to keep Honda
power, but can be a good gambling decision.
The others.....Who knows. I feel very sorry for ..Le Profeseur" and his
team but in Romania there is a joke. If You don-t open Your eyes You are
going to open Your pockets" that means you are going to pay. Too bad
for an F1 legend. I hope next two days will help Alain to be again a part of
F1 circus. Best regards - Marian - Romanian living in the USA
In
my mind right now, I see Montoya is floating all over the sky! He gonna
ruled supreme. He gonna makes Michael retires from racing. He gonna makes
you mesmerise. And for sure, I see the Williams is shining brightly in the
vivid sky!!! - Mohamad S. - Malaysia
Ferrari
will win constructor and Michael will be champion and tie Fangio with 5
titles. Wins Michael 7 Rubens 1. Williams and McLaren will come in 2nd and
3rd. JPM 3 wins and Ralf 2.DC 3 wins and Kimi 1.Then I think the order will
be: Sauber, Jordan, Bar, Renault, Jaguar, Toyota, Prost(if they make it),
Arrows and Minardi.
I think we will have a good season and will have great fights between the
big three and between the next five teams. - Labrosse JC - Canada
I
can say only one thing - most of you don't know the power of Honda - so
you'll be surprised, very surprised. }) - Rok - Slovenia
Michael
seguirá siendo el #1 para laaaargo rato. Incluso hasta convertirse en campeón
por sexta vez. Raikonnen será la piedra en el zapato de Montoya BMW tendrá
victorias pero su confiabilidad en los motores y en las decisiones de equipo
serán muy lamentables. Habrá grandes duelos que harán muy interesante la
fórmula 1 este año , a saber: Montoya-Raikonnen-Coulthart-Ralph Los mas
malitos del año pasado pasarán a las posiciones intermendias Toyota estará
entre los mas malos Renault hará un excelente papel. Prost si logra entrar,
quedará en los últimos lugares con Minardi- y Jaguar. - David - Panama (In Spanish - to translate, copy the above text, go
to this web site and paste the text into the translation window)
MS
and Ferrari will win unless RB performs very poorly. Montoya will win few
races and can be a contender for second place if he learns how to finish
more races. But I think Ralph has more chances for 2nd.
I don't think we will see many Mclarens on the podium unless they come up
with major improvements this season.
I would like to see Kimi doing well and I sincerely feel he will be world
champion in next 3-4 years - Vandana - India
I
can't see anyone obvious to take the title from Michael Schumacher. Those I
predict to be in with the closest chance are Montoya (if the car can take
it) and Coulthard.
Ralph will probably be consistent but he just doesn't seem to have that
extra 10% that Montoya has, when push comes to shove.
Kimi may be in with a shout, certainly of getting podiums (no doubt about
that).
Ferrari to take Constructors me thinks.
As for the rest I see a battle between Jordan, Sauber and maybe Renault.
Fisichella is going to blow Sato away. Massa may be quick, but don't think
he'll get the better of Heidfeld. Its going to be close between Button and
Trulli, Trulli might have the edge in qualifying but then Button may fair
better in the races.
As for the rest a real scrap, but predict Toyota to become new tail end
Charlies - Linda B - England.
Lets
talk about the fight for second and further down, After an impressive season
ending, Montoya is up in everybody's books, but lets don't forget Ralf, the
raging bull and the David fighting the young and the old goliaths ;-) and
Rubens looks and sounds demotivated , I would put this order, and as for the
machines , I would guess that Renault has a good claim for the 3rd, with a
new and good engine, but Jarno was not impressive, if I look at the test
times, Are they gonna surprise everyone this year too, The Sauber racing and
body shopping team ;-)
This season We miss you Mika, Come back!!! - GOP - Netherlands
My
prediction for 2002 – A close run battle between Arrows and Prost for the
Constructors Title and a very close win for Alex Yoong in the Drivers.
After my dismal attempt at predicting the 2001 season (A close call between
Ferrari and McLaren, with Mika pipping Michael for the gong) and my
outstanding success in cursing Mika (By the way Mr Todt, I still haven’t
received the cheque) I figured logic be damned and drew them out of a hat.
But bravery (or stupidity?) rules so I shall again polish the crystal ball,
renew the tape on the crack where I dropped it in 1999 and cast forth my
predictions.
I cannot see any way that MS will not use 2002 to rewrite the history books,
again. There is not another driver/car/crew that can touch him. While I
would very much wish otherwise Ferrari are on a roll and MS is still the
best driver in the field. Nobody can come close to his racecraft and it
helps that he can be pretty quick in qualifying when motivated.
Of the teams to fight for the scraps from the Ferrari table I see little
hope for McLaren reasserting itself. Kimi may be a champion-in-the-making
and I think he will progressively pressure DC over the course of the season
(look for a few upsets in qualifying from mid-year), but I see him having
very few trips to the podium in 2002. He will however become quite familiar
with the centre step in future years.
David is destined to be always the bridesmaid. Yes, he is very fast and
McLaren could get the car sorted but I just don’t see DC as a world
champion. He hasn’t got that last one-quarter percent that is the
distinguishing feature of the best of the best.
Williams, great engine in a good chassis, pity about the drivers. Ralph is
quick, but I doubt he could have got to be the second (?) highest paid F1
driver in the circus if his name was Ralph Swartz. I had great hopes for RS
but I don't see his brother's talent there. He’s quick, but Montoya is
quicker.
JP unfortunately has to learn that cars sometimes break. OK – he already
knows that, so perhaps he needs to learn that sometimes cars break because
of the way they’re driven. He also has to learn that to finish first,
first one must finish. I predict some blinding performances with a high
points to finishes ratio marred by a lot of DNF’s. I further predict that
if Montoya matures and starts looking for the finish line then he will
catapult himself into obscurity, he doesn’t have the ability to drive slow
and lap fast like MS does. Since Prost retired there has not been a driver
in the circus who could put less effort into going faster than everyone else
to match MS. Even with the current ‘point and squirt and let the
electronics look after all else’ style of driving, fluidity nurses the car
and tyres and makes for fast laps. JPM is about as fluid as an arcade
steering wheel.
Of the ‘others’ Jordan look to be the strongest but realistically it
will be Ferrari first and Jordan comfortably cushioned from above in fourth
with daylight fifth. Points for all other teams will only come from
attrition or huge mistakes by the three ‘majors’.
Special mention for Toyota: An abysmal start to the season but I think that
they will buy their way to the middle of the field by year end and surprise
us all in 2003. Funny how all those nought’s on a budget can shorten a
learning curve. But then, I said Mika Hakkinen would prevail in 2001.
One prediction I will stand by, before the year is out there will be
significant agitation from both fans and the also-ran teams to renew the
scoring system debate. 2002 will see a point’s drought, even worse than
last year, for all but the top 3 teams - Geoff H - Australia
I
think Ferrari and MS are going to come out on top again, with DC and JPM
battling for second. Until MS retires or slows down (not likely!) I don't
think anyone can challenge him. He is probably the finest driver active
today.
I don't think Ralf can finish any higher than third. While he is a good
driver and he has an excellent car, his whining about team orders tells me
that he thinks he needs help.
With the exception of Minardi and Prost, the rest of the pack will probably
be bunched pretty tight.
Toyota is the wild card. Nobody knows for sure what they will be able to do
and they may upset a lot of apple carts. They have the budget for it and the
Japanese are not known for half measures - Jeff S. - USA
Montoya
will probably have most "fastest laps" this seasons, but he will
also have quite a few spin offs, incidents with other drivers and blown up
engines, so he will not be champion.
Ralf will finish more races than Montoya, and if the Williams will hold he
will be a contender for the title.
Ferrari will be good at some tracks and bad at others. This year there will
be important for Ferrari to constantly finish races in order to catch
points. Michael is also a serious title defender.
Sauber will defend its good position and gain a few better results than last
year. Massa will have to put a lock on his temper or it could cost Sauber
crucial points in constructor position.
Coulthard will be ahead of Raikkonen, but the Finn will deliver a few "jawdrops"
for the spectators. The Scot will not fight for the title, neither will
Kimi.
Jordan will fall further back into the field, struggling with the loss of
technicians to Renault, and less money from Deutsche Post and Benson &
Hedges.
Renault will do better then Jordan and fight alongside with Sauber on the
grid. We may even see a pole from Fisichella (Trulli?) at Monza or
Hockenheim!
Jaguar will fight alongside with Arrows, BAR and Jordan on the grid.
If Frentzen drives an Arrows we will se some good results for the team,
specially under difficult circumstances.
My guess for champion is one of the Schumi's or Montoya, but probably a
Schuey. Constructor will also go to Ferrari this year - Olav H - Norway
M.S
will win again.
Jordan will improve on last year but only a small bit!
Bar are in trouble the still looks the same as it has being for the last
three years.
Williams will be the only other real contender for the title! - Adrian C
- Ireland
MONTOYA
will win that is all - Yesid P - Canada
In
my opinion Juan Pablo Montoya will be the winner on this season. He has
proved been the best.
We hope his car will be better this year - Sergio P - USA
My
prediction for 2002 are that Giancarlo Fisichella will be world champion.
Looking at this logically, I cannot come up with any other conclusion. With
Honda power and an inspired Eddie Jordan you will see a bigger comeback
since Lazarus from Jordan.
PS Michael Schumacher will capatilise on his new insurance policy by sitting
the season out with a race related injury - Kylie T - Australia.
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