If you expect this post to talk about Fernando Alonso’s views on the racism in F1 and the Lewis Hamilton abuse in Spain that made it to the media today, then you are wrong. I am going to talk about how Fernando Alonso sees the form of the teams ahead of the 2008 Formula 1 season .

Mark Gene, the Ferrari test driver, raised his suspicion few days ago, that Renault may be deliberately hiding their true performance. When reading what Alonso had to say, one either has to fully agree or fully disagree with Mark Gene… Make your pick:

“We are very far, very far. I think it’s looking like at the end of last year: two Ferraris, two McLarens and two BMWs, and if everything goes like that, you can almost only fight for seventh place. Thinking about the podium would be too optimistic right now, but then you arrive in the first grand prix, you start warming up in practice, your morale starts going up and you think you can be on the podium. But right now, thinking coldly, reaching the podium is a dream. In our current shape it will be hard to make it into Q3.”

He was also quoted saying:

“We are not in a position to do anything about McLaren, Ferrari or BMW. Ferrari are favourites but they’re not in a different world. We however belong more to the group including Williams and Red Bull.”

Another interesting observation for double world champ that I haven’t hear from anybody else yet refers to BMW Sauber:

“They are very fast with a lot of fuel. Sometimes you look at their times, and you see what they’ve done in stints of 25 or 30 laps. That is, with 60 or 70 kilos of fuel. They have surprised me the most in the last two or three tests.”

Now this needs some translation to fanspeak:

- Ferarri are the quickest but not as far ahead as it may seem
- McLaren and BMW Sauber are not far behind and it may actually be BMW Sauber sandbagging and not showing their true form yet.
- Alonso does not consider Williams to be the 3rd best as lots of fans do and many hope for.
- Renault, Red Bull and Williams form the strong midfield of six cars fighting for 4 spare places in Q3
- Without mentioning Honda and Toyota he sends them where most fans, bloggers and insiders send them too
- Toro Rosso, Force India and Super Aguri are not on his radar

I must say, that his predictions (translated by me) are almost identical to mine. Just it looks like I have more confidence in Renault than Fernando Alonso has . Or are the Renault guys really making these “we are very far” claims up ?

F1Wolf

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Few days back I spotted the predictions for the 2008 Formula 1 season made by the Swiss paper Blick based on the winter testing form of the teams. Here is how they predict the form of all 11 F1 teams for the coming season:

Blick has Ferrari and McLaren at the top followed by … Williams. Then follow Renault and BMW Sauber. Red Bull and Toro Rosso next, ahead of Toyota and Honda. Force India is closing the Blick’s top ten. The in-the-trouble Super Aguri is expected to be at the tail of the order.

Now let’s see how it compares with my 2008 F1 team form prediction

• F1 Wolf / Blick

1. Ferrari / Ferrari
2. Mclaren / McLaren
3. Renault / Williams
4. BMW Sauber / Renault
5. Williams / BMW Sauber
6. Red Bull / Red Bull
7. Toyota / Toro Rosso
8. Honda / Toyota
9. Toro Rosso / Honda
10. Force India / Force India
11. Super Aguri / Super Aguri

Blick’s prediction is not bad, but I am for the moment sticking with mine

F1Wolf

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It is just about a month to go and I am going to be silly enough to predict the team’s pecking order for 2008 season . The prediction comes with a preview of all 2008 liveries, as we know them now. Super Aguri is yet to display anything on or off the track…

1) Ferrari - Kimi is having a blast

2) McLaren - They are up there, but they do not have Kimi

3) Renault - The six tenths guy will make a difference

4) BMW - May be closer to Ferrari and McLaren on performance but Renault will re-enter the picture

5) Williams - More competitive than in 2007 but so will be others

Above is the winter livery. Williams will only reveal their racing one before the Aussie GP, but here is a sneak peak.

6) Red Bull - Solid midfielders with a shot at the podium once or twice

7) Toyota - The best of the Japanese brands on the grid (Bridgestone does not count )

8 ) Honda - Will start a further down but will gain few places during the season

9) Toro Rosso - They may have few decent finishes, but their points will not be good for better than 9th

10) Force India - They will be much more competitive than Spyker last year, but 10th will about as much as they can hope for. They would however score some points.

11) Super Aguri - They will probably survive the season despite Mosley’s worries, but at the back of the order and likely without any points.

Feel free to disagree and leave your order in the comments . And do not forget to join the 2008 Prediction Game !

F1Wolf

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Here is the collection of current F1 team logos. Some teams still might change them before the season kicks off, some perhaps should …

What do you think about them ?

F1Wolf

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