SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Feature: F1 2005 Season Preview

Sauber switched to Michelin tires from Bridgestone leaving Ferrari as the only serious Bridgestone runners.
Juan Pablo Montoya moved to McLaren and set some good testing times.
David Coulthard moved to Red Bull racing.
Midland's Alex Schnaider bought Jordan.
Ferrari committed to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship for the next eight years hamstringing the GPWC.
A furious row over the number of races was finally resolved with 19 races taking place this season (Turkey is staging as grand prix).
New rules came into force requiring engines to last two race weekends, reducing tire sets to two a weekend, lengthening the rear wing supports and reducing the size of the undertray.
New rules came into force limiting the number of engines teams are allowed to use per race weekend and decreasing from three to two the number of rear wings a car is allowed to run.
The timetable for the race weekend has again changed with aggregate qualifying taking the place of the previous unpopular system.

What do the new rules mean?

The cars are said to be much more of a handful to drive. Additionally harder tires and long life engines are making the races less of a sprint and more of an endurance race. The aggregate qualifying sessions means that there will be far fewer upsets though the grid - a fact which will be reinforced by the increased dependency on reliability - something that is more difficult for the small teams to achieve.

The Teams

Ferrari (Red with Marlboro signs)

1. M. Schumacher

2. Barrichello

Despite a poor winter testing season Ferrari have to be seen to be one of the favorite teams. The team will be starting the season with a version of last year's car modified for this year's rules. Last year Bridgestone managed to produce a better tire than Michelin and Ferrari used it to good advantage, quickly wrapping up the title before Schumacher had an iffy spell towards the end of the year. Bridgestone are now just supplying Ferrari and the two minnows (Minardi & Jordan) and the lack of testing for the new regulations may well give Michelin and advantage.

BAR (White with Red Lucky Strike Roundels on it)

3. Button

4. Sato

After their best season so far Honda and BAT have narrowed the gap between their joint venture with Honda buying 49% of the team. This buy in signaled the end of David Richards' tenure as team head and he was replaced by his former deputy Nick Fry. As far as the new season goes the car looks similarly tidy to the last one. Despite this pre-season testing has not gone well and the team have serious reliability issues to address before they can hope to start replicating their form from last year.

Renault (Dark & Light Blue & Yellow with Mild Seven on it)

5. Fisichella

6. Alonso

One of the surprises of last season was not how well Renault did at the start of the season but how badly they faded throughout it! Trulli's win at Monaco and Alonso's performances in the early races fell by the wayside later in the year to the point where Trulli was replaced (an obvious scapegoat blamed by Briatore of not trying hard enough). The new Renault has been impressive in testing and Fisichella knows that this is his last chance to impress a top team so will be hungry to do well.

Williams (Dark Blue & White with Compaq & Allianz signs on it)

7. Webber

8. Heidfeld

Montoya's win in Brazil ended a seven year association between the Colombian and the team. New sponsorship from RBS has helped the team but it is clear that the team are in their weakest state since they got BMW power in 2000. The recent turnover of design staff has resulted in Williams' strength in depth having been plundered with the result that their new windtunnel was not properly calibrated resulting in problems with the aerodynamics of the car. Against these negatives come positives in the form of Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld. The team seem almost certain to be midfield runners this year.

McLaren (Gray with West signs on it)

9. Montoya

10. Raikkonen

In marked contrast to Williams McLaren are looking to rise back to the top in 2005. The MP4/20 is going great guns in the hands of Montoya and Raikkonen and all seems pretty harmonious in the pits at this stage. The team had concerns over Montoya's fitness upon his arrival but the Colombian has shed weight. Kimi Raikkonen's attendance at a lap dancing club has made him seem more three dimensional and their seems to be a confidence and light- heartedness at McLaren that has not been in evidence before.

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