2007 Season Preview (Ferrari)

[davewilson]

After failing to live up to Renault's pace consistently over the past two years, nothing less than championship success will be satisfactory for the Ferrari team and its owners. We take a look at Ferrari's strong and weak points ahead of 2007, as well as making a prediction as to where the Scuderia will be come eight months' time.

The Team
Of all the eleven teams on the grid, Ferrari are probably the most weakened since 2006. With the high-profile departures of Ross Brawn from his Technical Director role, Jean Todt from Team Principal and Paulo Martinelli from Engine Technical Director, 2007 will witness the beginning of a new era for the scarlet team. It's likely however, that the major effects of the departures won't be visible from the outside until mid-season, when development work, which is now in the hands of the replacements, will come on-stream. Mario Almondo and Luca Baldisseri, both who will split Ross Brawn's duties, will have big pressure on their shoulders to succeed, and make the team succeed, and without any solid experience to draw from, may struggle as the season heats up. Despite all the departures from the high-end jobs, the majority of the team has remained unchanged, with the Italian marque still sporting a field of vastly talented and experienced engineers, something which will stand to them throughout the season.

The Drivers
Despite losing the sport's, arguably, best driver ever in Micheal Schumacher at the end of 2006, the Cavallino Rampante, has one of the strongest, if not the strongest, driver line-up on the grid, with talented and fiery Felipe Massa alongside the flying Finn, Kimi Räikkönen. While it's only Kimi's first season at Ferrari, opinion worldwide is split as to whether he will deliver the goods. Massa, who is already well settled in at the team after testing and racing with them in 2003 and 2006 respectively, will, no doubt, be a huge threat to the Finn's reputation and title hopes.

Massa is in prime position to make a full assault on the title, and if his testing pace is anything to go by, will be well ahead of Kimi for the first handful of races. While Massa is most likely to fight for the title, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility, given the disappearance of the 'number one driver' status at the team, that both Felipe and Kimi will be in the running, a situation which could ultimately lead to their downfall, given that they will be taking points off each other.

The Car
Ever since its roll-out in mid-January, the F2007 has looked impressive. While the team took a totally different design route to that taken with the 248 F1, and its predecessors, Ferrari look to have hit the nail on the head. With rumours of favouritism from Bridgestone, leading them to get information early on as to the specification of tyres, giving them more insight into the best car design, tyres are unlikely to be a problem with the F2007, unlike 2005 which saw them struggle on the Japanese rubber. Notable differences between the two cars are the switch to zero-keel suspension layout and large increase in wheelbase (100 cm), both of which could have been dictated by the change in tyre compounds.

Many people though, have cited the loss of Michael Schumacher, along with his illustrious team of Brawn and Todt, as a major blow to the future development of the car. If things do go right for the team, Massa, Räikkönen and Badoer will most likely do enough to keep on top of their rivals, but if things turn pear-shaped, the absence of Schumacher will put a big dent in the speed of development. Couple that with the new testing restrictions, limiting teams to one driver at tests during the season, and Ferrari could run into big problems very early and quickly.

Testing Form
Since fitting the new Melbourne-spec aerodynamic package to the car in Sakhir last week, Ferrari have been unbeatable. Over the last three days, Massa topped the times, by over three tenths each time. On the final day, Massa clocked a time of 1:29.989, with rumours emanating from Bahrain that the Brazilian wasn't even on a low-fuel run, making rivals very worried indeed. Disregarding the short, qualifying-style runs, Ferrari were extremely quick. On Tuesday, at the end of a race simulation, a Renault spokesperson stated that, running at that speed, he would have won the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix by a substantial margin. For testing pace, this is quite remarkable, and taken in the context of impressive reliability, Ferrari are heading to a Renault-like start of the season.

Overall
All-in-all, most gains substantially cancel out the losses. While Massa is firm favourite to take victory in Melbourne, so much so that anything but the top step, will be a major disappointment. The consensus is, that Felipe will outperform Kimi early on, but the jury is still out on the remainder of the season. No doubt, Ferrari is still a majority strong team, and, when challenged, should be able to withstand the pressure from McLaren and/or Renault.

In brief
Consistently on the podium with regular race wins, and a definite title assault, either from Massa, or both Felipe and Kimi.


The Stig