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Pastimes : Motor Sports Notes -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: X Y Zebra who wrote (318)	12/17/2003 3:14:50 PM
From: X Y Zebra	Respond to of 764

A number of interesting possibilities are brewing as one sees the line up for 2004 atlasf1.com Team Driver Driver Engine Tyres Ferrari 1. M.Schumacher 2. Barrichello Ferrari Bridgestone Williams 3. Montoya 4. R.Schumacher BMW Michelin McLaren 5. Raikkonen 6. Coulthard Mercedes Michelin Renault 7. Alonso 8. Trulli Renault Michelin Sauber 9. Fisichella 10. Massa Petronas Bridgestone BAR 11. Button 12. Sato Honda Michelin Jaguar 14. Webber 15. Klien Cosworth Michelin Toyota 16. da Matta 17. Panis Toyota Michelin Jordan 18. Heidfeld 19. TBA Ford Bridgestone Minardi 20. Bruni 21. TBA Cosworth Bridgestone ________________________ My own comments: Ferrari... For the good of the sport, I hope Schumacher des not dominate... Barrichelo... could be the excuse to put up with another Ferrari Championship. Williams... They screwed up at the end of the season... who knows what inside plays/politics may have caused Montoya to go to McLaren in 2005... but it cannot be god for Montoya and the morale of the team may not be the best. Ralf... well, it could be his chance to shine. McLaren... They have to consolidate their advances particularly with the new car, which it has finally come out and considered competitive. Coulthard will be under tremendous pressure to really perform... Kimi s one of those naturals that unless something goes drastically wrong, I do not see him in trouble at all. A third driver ? for 2005 with Montoya on board... I doubt it... Renault.... Ah the big promise here... with both Alonso and Trulli performing solidly throughout the year... but they need about another 40 50 HP and a bit more reliability. Sauber... Ferrari's cousin.... I am not sure, of the lesser teams, along with Toyota the ones that hold the most promise. It will be Fisichella make or brake season, I believe... and with a Sauber... not an easy task. Masa will come ready to shake... he is a god driver but needed a bit of discipline in 2002... perhaps the year as a Ferrari test driver may have settle him and could be a surprise... BAR... A big question mark... I do not think the cars are up to par... the Honda motor has not been that reliable.... Takuma Sato may be a big, big surprise.. and it will certainly give Button a run for his money ... Jaguar... hmmmm I do not know, they pissed me off with that nasty and dirty maneuver on Antonio Pizzonia... he is not a bad driver and he may lack some spark... but Jaguar certainly does not possess state of the art technoogy... I am not even sure they are diamond in the rough material... I think Webber is taking a big risk in staking his future with these cats... -g Webber reminds me of Tom Watson... so much potential that never quite materialized big... I would love to see Mark Webber in a Williams, or a McLaren, ersonally I think he is cutting himself short pleasing these second class mafia cats... [sorry, as I said, Jaguar pissed me off, I am certainly no fan of them.] Unfortunately, I like Webber and I think he is a superb drver... I just do not understand why he is playing the corporate arse-kisser to the losers at Jaguar... enough of it.. Toyota... Here lies a potential explosive success, particularly for Christiano da Matta. Olivier Panis has more experience, but somehow I do not see him as hungry... Christiano was CART champion, so he certainly has the skill.. this year will be easier for him as he has learned most of the circuits and I believe that Toyota has been improving slowly... In addition, Toyota is well known for their success in Motor-Sports... they will certainly push hard. Jordan.... hmmm I do not know... I am not sure who is more unlucky... Fiscicella or Jordan.... They have not even signed with Cosworth as engine suppliers.... (maybe they should try Toyota (if they were to agree)... or Honda... Poor Nick Heifeld is their probably choice for driver no. 1 and they do not have a no.2 yet... Minardi... Well... the caboose it will be... again.... Their No. one driver is Gianmaria Bruni, with British F-3 training so that cannot be bad...BUt I have never heard anythig extraordinary about Bruni... and Minardi... well, Minardi is the ticket for at least the exposure in F-1 with larger things to come for their drivers.... but.... Minardi will be Minardi and with a stiff Cosworth motor a not even a faint image of their former great glory... I doubt they have much to offer in the competitive dept.... Having said all that.... I cannot wait for the start on March 7 in Melbourne.... grandprix.com.au