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THE DAVID COULTHARD MUSEUM

2008 PREVIEW

I think by anyone’s judgement the 2007 Formula One Season was a ‘cracker’ - Spygate(1), Spygate(2), Lewis/Fernando row, A soaked Fuji, the heavy shower at Nurburgring, Markus Winkelhock, Kubica’s accident, No Schumacher and yet another Finnish champion. Can 2008 live up to that…..of course it can!

For many in Formula One 2008 will be regarded as a fresh start, a chance to correct mistakes of the past. Ferrari though need no corrections at all. Once Kimi Raikkonen got to grips with the prancing horse last year he was unstoppable. He maintained a good relationship with his team-mate, Felipe Massa and the rest of the Italian and if he can do the same again then there should be nothing stopping him following in his mentor, Mika Hakkinen’s footsteps and becoming a double champion. My only worry for the reds is Massa. Unlike his team-mate he appeared to start last year strongly but once Raikkonen gathered pace he seemed to play second fiddle. Whether this was a matter of choice or he was suggested to by the team he will have to try and assert his authority and come off better then Raikkonen within the first few fly-away races or the Raikkonen based momentum will continue. Not only does the Brazilian have to cope with this but since he made his debut in 2002 he has never competitively driven a Formula One car without traction control before and has been rugged in testing. He may struggle with finding the balance and set-up of the car for the first half of the season. At the recent Ferrari/Toyota tests at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain Raikkonen has been blisteringly quick for both days, eclipsing Italian test driver Luca Badoer by over a second both times. Massa, however, did not test and only time will tell if he is able to keep up with his newly crowned champion team-mate.

Raikkonen v Massa - a clear Raikkonen victory

It’s a very different story at the other end of the pit-lane. McLaren will see this year as an opportunity to re-group and a chance to prepare for the future. Now they finally have the proverbial thorn out of their side (Alonso) and the spygate row now officially put behind them they can concentrate on nurturing the two uber-fast talents they have in Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovaleinen. However, one cannot hide from the problem of favouritism. It’s fairly obvious whoever the team-mate is McLaren will favour their wonder boy. I think it will be very interesting to see the team dynamic not just with the drivers but with the management as well. I think that after all the turmoil of 2007 Ron Dennis will finally call it a day at the end of 2008 and hand the reigns over to his number two, Martin Whitmarsh. Not only has Dennis’ relationship with the FIA soured but his relationship with DaimlerChrysler who own McLaren has started to weaken as well. It was the desire of Dennis to have no flashy launch ceremony this year and to concentrate solely on the development of the car. However, the bosses believed otherwise and a very rushed unveiling ceremony was prepared at which Dennis spoke for no longer than a very awkward thirty seconds. McLaren will be very different in 2008 and it’s really anyone’s guess as to how the Hamilton/Kovaleinen relationship will turn out.

Hamilton v Kovaleinen - Hamilton, but it will be mighty close

The natural selection for third place is BMW. Not only have the team retained the same driver line-up but they have also retained the same technical team and can surely only build upon their successes of last year. Most of the car appears to be an natural evolution from the F1.07 of last year. However at the front there is a noticeable difference with a much sharper nose cone that dips a lot more at the front. In addition to this the team has tested a number of fins on the car, most noticeably on the nose of the car just level with the front wheels, it will be interesting to see if these will be used at high down force tracks such as Monte Carlo. I expect the drivers this year to be much more evenly matched. After the few concluding races of 2006 many expected Robert Kubica to be chomping at the heels of his much more experienced team-mate, Nick Heidfeld. However, this was not the case as Heidfeld seemed to have the upper hand throughout the season and scored the teams two podiums. But now I feel that the young Pole has had a whole season (bar one race) to really find the car and should this year be able to challenge the German much more effectively. However, if a win does find itself its way to be BMW then I expect Heidfeld to claim it. If BMW is to win then it will it is likely to be in a very wet race like Fuji or an unusual race like Montreal then the experience of Heidfeld should pull him through as opposed to Kubica.

Heidfeld v Kubica - It will be Heidfeld as it was last year, but Kubica will be closer

The recovery at Renault maybe the story of 2008 for either the right or the wrong reasons. Firstly, I’ll address how they may make a very successful recovery. They have their prodigal son back after only a year at McLaren. After two years of dominance at Renault the departure of Fernando Alonso was cited as a potential reason for the team’s downward slide in form. Even though it’s only a one-year contract Fernando will be happy at Renault. After winning them two constructors championships, number one status is practically assured from Renault boss Flavio Briatore. Alonso may be just be the thing that finds the French team their form once again. However, there will be one man trying to stop all that, Nelson Angelo Piquet. He has been determined to prove himself in the sport that gifted his father, Nelson three championships. Once again Alonso is to be paired with a young, reportedly very fast driver. This may result in a case of déjà vu for the Spaniard who cannot afford to have another potentially career ruining public spat. Whether or not the drivers get on at the Renault F1 Team that may not be their only problem. Reportedly they do not have the 100% commitment from the higher up owners of the French car makers. Not just this but the team’s manager, Flavio Briatore is approaching 60 within a couple of years and is starting to find other ventures such as joint ownership of Queen’s Park Rangers with Bernie Ecclestone. Unless Renault return to winning ways then 2008 may end up being the trigger for the decline of the Renault F1 Team. This puts a lot responsibility on the drivers and the technical team this year to assure the team’s future.

Alonso v Piquet - Fernando should easily beat Nelson but that one sounds familiar

It seems is though now with future superstar, Nico Rosberg and Toyota power the old British bulldog known as Williams F1 is on it’s way back. Ok, so they probably won’t be challenging for wins this year (though never say never) their rejuvenation process seems to be well on it’s way. Like at Renault most of Williams efforts will be put into their ‘golden boy’, Rosberg. The son of former champion Keke, Nico has impressed many in F1 since his debut in 2006 with his mature performances. Williams have most definitely kept it in the family by retaining their other F1 son, Kazuki Nakajima. Even though he will be remembered mainly for his pit-lane faux pas in Interlagos last year, his times in practice and qualifying were good and despite that error he put in a solid performance to finish 10th. Like most of this year’s machines the FW30 is a development of the FW29 used in 2007. As like last year Williams should completely out-do their engine supplier, Toyota. When you consider the team don’t have full manufacturer backing and high power sponsors the fact the Williams team roll out a competitive car every year let alone beat the likes of Red Bull and Toyota is extraordinary. They may not have the full consistency to challenge BMW for third but on their day they can certainly challenge if not beat them.

Rosberg v Nakajima - Rosberg, no doubt

Red Bull are in danger this year of becoming the next ‘Toyota’. After a number of years to build the team Red Bull now need to deliver at least a handful of podiums or else they’re in danger of becoming another F1 also-ran. The cynics in the f1 world would criticise the Austrian team whose young driver policy is well known for maintaining a line-up of the oldest driver on the grid and a driver over 30 who has yet to win a race. But for all it’s criticisms for sheer experience both drivers deserve their place. It’s true that at 37 DC will carry the flame as the oldest driver for yet another season but he can still on his day perhaps at Monaco or during a downpour Coulthard still has a win or two left in him yet. Webber, however has plenty of wins in there just waiting to come out. Even though on points Webber was beaten last year by DC on pace the Australian had the advantage, especially in qualifying. The RB4 on the whole is a stepping stone form the RB3 which was fast but ever so fragile. RBR claim to have cured their reliability problem of last year but there has also been some aerodynamic developments, most notably the strange fin on top of the engine cover. If Red Bull have fixed their reliability problems then they should be able to put up a regular fight for fifths, fourths and perhaps even podiums.

Coulthard v Webber - It hurts but I have to say Mark!

Formula One’s perennial also-ran prepares to enter into, get this…it’s seventh season! Seven seasons with that same livery and another ‘new’ car. We’ve never had the pleasure of seeing a ‘brand new’ Toyota. Every single car is just a continuation of the previous year’s car. This year is bound to be no different. The team finally saw sense in getting rid of the ‘dead weight’ that is Ralf Schumacher but they have decided to retain Jarno Trulli, a mistake in my opinion. In late 2004 when Jarno first moved to Toyota from Renault everyone knew Trulli as being the one lap specialist who was starting to hone his skills over a full race distance. However at Toyota that never came. The Italian quickly became infamous for his ‘Trulli-trains’ holding up faster race cars after setting that much faster single lap. However there have been some changes. Technically, they have adopted the undercut sidepods a la Red Bull and the Renault style mirror wings. The major change is of course their new German, 2008 GP2 champion Timo Glock. Many of you of course will remember Glock from 2004 after replacing Giorgio Pantano for a number of races at Jordan, even scoring two points (ironically because of Williams’ and Toyota’s disqualification) on his debut. He has proven in GP2 that he is fast and in testing has been consistently keeping up with the middle of the pack. Expect Glock to be a singular highlight in another year of mediocrity.

Trulli v Glock - Timo should easily keep Jarno at bay.

The little junior team stepped up on par and even beaten their bigger brothers last year. For the first time since the beginning of 2006 when Red Bull took over the Minardi team Scuderia Toro Rosso finally stepped up to the mark. After much unrest in the team in the first half of 2007 Scott Speed was replaced by former BMW tester Sebastian Vettel. This seemed an inspire move when he secured fourth at Shanghai and very nearly a third place at Fuji. Vitantonio Liuzzi was also sacked at the end of the season and replaced by highly rated ChampCar champion Sebastian Bourdais. This may be the fiercest team-mate battle of all season. Bourdais is a complete F1 novice and Vettel only got to cut his teeth at the end of last year. In testing so far Seb B has only been a few tenths behind Seb V. The Toro Rosso car will start of as a slight development of last year’s STR02. Like almost all teams this year Toro Rosso have integrated the bridge wing at the front of the car. But otherwise there seems to be very little different about the car that will start 2008 with a new car being introduced much later into the European season. They may be possibly be the success story of 2008.

Vettel v Bourdais - The most difficult one to choose in my opinion…….Vettel, just.

2009...If you’re a Honda fan I may not bother with 2008, go and watch the Euro 2008 Championships or the Olympics because their form probably won’t really start to return until 2009. Honda’s biggest achievement of 2008 will most likely come at Montreal when touch-wood Rubens Barrichello will usurp Riccardo Patrese as the most experienced Formula One driver of all time. Ross Brawn will have some effect in 2008. Honda may be more likely to scrap it out for the sevenths and eights and hopefully for Barrichello he will pick up some points this season, I for one could not bare it to see the likeable Brazilian go through another point-less season. I don’t rate Button but to score six points out of the ‘sh*te-box’ that was RA107 was no mean feat. Such were the problems with the 2007 car that at Fuji in the soaking wet with no front wing Jenson Button was able to keep up with the BMWs and Williams for over five laps. The 2008 car seems to be no radical change but no doubt with Brawn at the helm it will look quite different by the end of the season. Oh, at least they’ve toned down that horrible livery from last year

Button v Barrichello - Button, Rubens (very sadly) is a driver on the decline.

I don’t quite know what to write about Super Aguri, with no drivers confirmed and very little testing done it seems as though 2008 will be a major struggle for them. They’ve become the new Minardi, the under-dog low on funds that’s impossible to dislike. It’s good of Honda to find a seat for both Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson but 2008 may indeed be both of their last seasons. We may not even get that. Sato will most likely be retained but there has been fervent rumours that ‘Little Ant’ may be replaced by a pay driver so that the small team can survive. I wish them the best of luck but 2008 maybe the last we see of Super Aguri

Sato v ??? - Well I don’t even know who the second driver will be - so Sato

Will they be a force to be reckoned with? Ok, aside from the silly jokes about the team’s name Vijay Mallya has finally brought not only financial but also general stability to a team which I still think of as Jordan. Even though we haven’t seen Eddie and his boys around since the end of 2005, the efforts of the Russians in Midland and the Dutch in Spyker never really made an impression on Formula One but perhaps the Indians will give it a better shot. The owner of Kingfisher, former sponsor of Toyota seems determined to make his adventure in Formula One work. It certainly seems as though he’s made a good start. Just look at the driver line-up. Even thought he spent a number of lacklustre seasons at Renault Giancarlo Fisichella is still a very experienced head capable of the occasional flash of brilliance - Monaco 07. He may also have that ‘Coulthard-factor’. Written off by the F1 community, going to a new team as a very experienced driver, he may end up rejuvenating his career just like the Scot. When you couple this with the potential of his quick but unsteady team-mate, Adrian Sutil Force India may find themselves with the odd point or two in 2008. Their technical side appears solid with no-nonsense designer, Mike Gascoyne heading their team.

In general, like last year there are likely to be many different stories up and down the pit-lane. But the one of course that everyone will concentrate on will be the battle for the championship between Raikkonen and Hamilton, though I’m sure their respective number twos will have something to say about that. Keep an eye on Alonso as well. Hopefully F1 will hit the headlines for the right reasons this season.