The F1 season 2004

Here we are, one week from the first race of the season, and I must say I'm really looking forward to seeing some racing again.

A few thoughts - everybody thought Ferrari would be off the pace this year because of their decision to stick with Bridgestone. So far, the 2004 car seems to overcome any tire-related handicap nicely. Michael Schumacher shows no signs of boredom, so he should be a front-runner again this year.

Williams - Antonia Terzi's chassis looks good and the BMW engines should again lead the field, but the team supremos are doing their best to piss off their drivers.

McLaren - should be good this year as they had probably the fastest car over the whole season last year and have been working hard to overcome their reliability issues. Somehow, however, they seem to have lost the plot. Maybe they'll find it in time for the next weekend.

BAR - doing much better than I, at least, expected. Shows what can happen if a team gets rid of a driver (Jacques Villeneuve) widely regarded as a total tosser who must have been terrible for morale.

Renault - also doing better than expected, but doubts over the reliabilty of their brand new engine must remain.

So, who do you fancy for the driver's and the team title?

 

i saw a guardian newspaper TV ad for their free f1 sunday suppliment. funniest thing i've seen in a while.... try to see it if you can. i wonder if bernie has considered it.....

cheers


julian

 

I know that the tobacco companies are looking forward to a good year.

Not sure who will win the Championship.

I hope it rains every race though.

 

The natural favorite is still Michael Schumacher. He blotted his copy books a few times last year, though. Nevertheless, I think he is still the better driver of the lot.

Montoya is too irregular and Ralf Schumacher is not incisive enough. So unless the BMWs are really way above the field I don't predict a win for them.

McLaren is a factor to be reckoned with. Coulthard, although undeniably fast on occasion, is too irregular and he seems to have difficulties adjusting to the new classifying system. Raïkkönnën (I'm just putting Umlauts and double consonants everywhere – how do you spell it? I know it is not the way I did!), well, whatever he is called seems fast but the Macs keep having problems. I don't know how they fared during the winter testing, but I think there were some problems.

I didn't mention Barrichello: his role is to support Schumacher, and he has too many off days. But if his Ferrari is going well (well, if it is going at all), he may win a few races: he is developing into a very fine driver.

All the others are outsiders. Alonso may win a race. I don't really rank Button very high: he was consistently beaten by Fisichella when they were team mates (O.K., Fisico is a great driver).

So this year seems very open, but I would say Schumacher may well get it again.

 

There is one school of thinking that says that beause Ferrari is now the only top team using bridgestone, it will have a tactical advatage where the bridgestones are stronger in particular conditions compared to the rest of the michelin shod field. ie they are the only top team who have different tyres. Michelins are generally better, but all the other teams use them, they also apparantly wear faster.

Most people are betting on raikonen it seems, the sensible choice. Personally i would love to see JPM having sucess for williams.

 

I think it's shaping to be an excellent season. Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Renault and BAR are all looking like they could be winning races which has to be a good thing. Overall I think the strongest teams look to be Ferrari and Williams. McLaren seem to still not to be able to sort out their reliability issues and it actually wouldn't surprise me if either Renault or BAR put them into 4th place in the constructors championship

For the championship it's got to be either M Schumacher again or Montoya. As a Ferrari supporter I hope Schumacher gets his seventh title

By the way, the best F1 site on the web IMO is http://www.atlasf1.com/ . You have to pay ro register and read the articles but it's well worth it IMO. The forum they have is free. It can be quite amusing sometimes but tends to be dominated by fanboys who can't engage in any form of adult debate

Michael.

 

To be read with a drunken and half-witted accent:

You bastard Ferrari licker, you hope that cheat will win again. All he had until now is luck and pushing really good drivers out of the race. Youre a moron to post such shite Or else you're really a gay and are in love with the Kraut. Go f**k yourself, cause youre to stupid to do anything else.

To which someone might post in return:

Yeah, now that Cheques Vilnuve was gotten rid becuase of incompitance of you cant mastrobate whiule you watch him on the telly.

>Signed: RAIKONEN THE BEST DRIVER OF ALL TIME

Well. That's not me speaking. I'm just trying to show how Atlas F1 forum members usually behave. The spelling is actually a bit worse, and I couldn't emulate the kind of abuse you find there.

There is also a place called TNF, The Nostalgia Forum. Members are incredibly snobbish and post interesting questions like: 'Rosemeyer's Auto Union XYZ chassis number in the October Avus race 1933'.

There is also a chap, very bossy, that keeps crying over the past. One of his last posts was: 'Is nostalgia not as it used to be?' or such nonsense. He calls himself colonel, but I don't know why. Perhaps he is one.

Great drivers - Redman and Elford, for instance - were, at one time, induced to join the TNF, but were fobbed off because they liked to chat about racing and couldn't be bothered to worry who was 9th on the grid at the Chatanooga 1942 handicap or to play a very popular game there: finding out who was racing what where and when from a rather blurred picture. Of course they are always non events, but people at TNF seem to go mad about that kind of game. They are so proud to belong there they actually made TNF metal badges!!

The paid Atlas is OK, I agree. There ought to be a forum for paying members only.

 

You've summed the AtlasF1 forums up nicely :lol:

Michael.

 

F1<>BMW<>GERMAN INVOLVEMENT<>ARRAGANCE<>MAX MOSLEY<>BERNIE E= serial bollox, back handers, deep cravass cleansing & PUNTER BLANTANT RIPP OFF
Touring cars far better watch, and real men drive rallycross wagons same ol'd cobblers rehashed for another mind knumbingly tideious round of irritating banter by ITV's Top commentry team, interupted by sponsors messages.
Rev, rev, baby it's a rich mans world

Before you ask, had a great day the sad thing is my mum loves F1.
take away us from the combat zone No.1 warp 6

 

for me the sport lost a big part of it's appeal when murray walker stopped commentating, ok i know it's not part of the sport but he could make 2 hours of cars going round in an orderly circle somehow interesting - even if it was because he would let his mouth run without his brain engaged sometimes.
i'll probably watch the first race just to see the obligatory 1st corner pile up but after that i'll probably only watch intermittently unless it does actually start to look like more than a one horse race.
cheers


julian

 

Hi Michael,

"By the way, the best F1 site on the web IMO is http://www.atlasf1.com/ . You have to pay ro register and read the articles but it's well worth it IMO. The forum they have is free. It can be quite amusing sometimes but tends to be dominated by fanboys who can't engage in any form of adult debate "

If you are into F1 then it is worth registering. The data collation (I need it for work) is very good.

I have only seen the forum because one of my team pointed it out to me a while ago. It gave me a good laugh especially as the person in question was quoting someone else in my team!

Whoever has suggested it should be for paid up members only is probably right. It would reduce some of the noise and might make the signal a bit more visible!

Ian

 

Hi Julian,

"i'll probably watch the first race just to see the obligatory 1st corner pile up but after that i'll probably only watch intermittently unless it does actually start to look like more than a one horse race."

I certianly hope it isn't a one horse race!

Melbourne is more of a BS tyre circuit so MSC should be looking good there. However, Speang will be a very strong circuit for MI runners, as will many other circuits.

I am not so sure about Ferrari having such an advantage over the season becuase of the tyre distribution between teams. There could easily be a group of circuits like Hungary where Ferrari are lapped and can only finish in 9th or 10th. e.g. Nurburgring, Magny Cours. Whereas on circuits where BS are very strong (Melbourne and Suzuka) Ferrari will get 1-2 and then there will be all the top MI runners filling the remaining points positions. I agree that the top MI runners are likely to take points for 1st places of each other but this will hopefully be more than balanced by races where BS runners can't get points.

Ian

 

It wasn't me was it :shame: ? I once posted something you wrote in a post here (or possibly a PM) regarding the tyre war which was an angle I hadn't heard elsewhere (can't remember the details now). I said "someone I know at BAR says..."

Michael.

 

Hi Michael,

"It wasn't me was it "

No it wasn't you. It was at least a year ago.

Please leave it as "someone at BAR" or even better "someone at an F1 team". The last thing I want is a load of questions from an F1 forum!

Ian

 

Understood. No one at AtlasF1 would be able to connect me to you but I'll stick to "someone in an F1 team" if I ever post something similar again (unlikely).

Michael.

 

I know 'someone at an F1 team', 'someone else at an F1 team' and 'someone else at another F1 team'. I can lend you one of the 'someone else's if that helps.

Paul

 

Hi Paul,

Now we are getting somewhere. That ought to confuse anybody and make it appear third or fourth hand thereby making the information appear to be the complete truth or complete fabrication!

Ian

 

And of course I know you too!

Anyway, this is probably secret, but I think I may be using one of Jacques' old sets of belts this season.

Paul

 

heard something on Radio 2 today commenting on automatic transmission and assisted starting things going this year.

Traction control is to stay tho .Yes it probably saves lives but it'd be more exciting without it, wouldn't it

 

Not if Paul Stoddart has anything to do with it :JPS:

Saving lives is nothing to do with it - it's not a safety thing at all but a performance one. It was banned but then re-admitted when the FIA admitted they couldn't police its banning effectively.

The story gets more complicated after that, find an F1 website to explain the details

Michael.