My prediction for 2009 drivers line up does not expect many changes except some shuffle in Red Bull / Toro Rosso following Coulthard’s retirement and Vettel’s move to Red Bull proper and perhaps some refreshment over in Force India.

After McLaren confirmed Heikki Kovalainen last week Toyota guys also seem to agree with me . Following Timo Glock’s maiden podium the team has announced they intend to keep both their drivers for 2009 season. This does not come as a big surprise. This move by Toyota would very likely also mean that Kazuki Nakajima will continue at Williams.

It however looks like Honda and Renault may be out to spoil my 2009 drivers prediction. Honda are either desperate to get Alonso on board no matter what or confident that their 2009 package will be so good that Alonso will stop dreaming his 2010 Ferrari dream. Ross Brawn gave Honda’s intentions revealing answer to Autosport when asked about the Alonso situation:

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F1Wolf

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This is the first 2009 drivers posts that does not have rumours only. One 2009 F1 seat was confirmed last week - Mark Webber’s contract with Red Bull was extended for another year. He will however have new team mate following David Coulthard’s retirement announcement. Sebastian Vettel is everybody’s candidate …

There are reports that Toyota will confirm their current drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock for next season. It hasn’t happened yet though. This would mean that Kazuki Nakajima may stay with Williams for a while longer.

Same as last year a lot seems to depend on the next move by Fernando Alonso. He is not planning to make any announcements before Italian Grand Prix in September and some teams may wait for his situation to clear up before making any moves.

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F1Wolf

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Toyota is a prime example of the fact that huge budget only does not buy success. It did buy them the wrong Schumacher few years back . He however ”left” and has gone to try his luck in DTM, and so Toyota enters the 2008 season with a fresh face in the cockpit, Timo Glock, alongside the veteran Jarno Trulli.

Jarno Trulli - Italy
Born: 13 July 1974
In F1 since 1997 Minardi, 1998 - 1999 Prost, 2000 - 2001 Jordan, 2002 - 2004 Renault, 2004 - 2008 Toyota
Best Result: 6th in 2004
Career wins: 1
Pole positions: 3
Podium Finishes: 7

Jarno Trulli is one of the longest serving drivers on current F1 grid. He has been quite optimistic about the recent Toyota performance. But he somehow negated that optimism with his latest remark placing their car a full one second behind Ferrari. That would mean a position behind the midfield pack of BMW Sauber, Williams, Red Bull and Renault. Trulli’s strength has been the one lap qualifying, in 2007 he started only 3 races from outside the top 10 on the grid. To do that this year on regular basis will not be easy. Unfortunatelly for him, his race peformances lag behind his qualifying and way too often he casts himself into the role of moving chicane. It worked for him in 2004 in Monaco when he won the race. Will be inetersting to see if the removal of electronic driver aids will work for or against him.

Timo Glock - Germany
Born: 18 March 1982
In F1 since 2004 Jordan (test driver and 4 races), 2007 BMW Sauber (test driver, no races), 2008 Toyota
Best Result: 19th in 2004
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Point Finishes: 1 (7th place)

Timo Glock returns to F1 racing for the first time since his brief experience with Jordan in 2004. He spent the following years in Champ Cars (2005) and GP2 (2006-2007). He returned to F1 last year with BMW Sauber, as their driver. His biggest achievement so far is the GP2 title in 2007. Unlike his predecessor, 2006 GP2 champion Lewis Hamilton, he does not have the benefit of title contending car. His main target for his first full year in F1 therefore will be his team mate Jarno Trulli. To outscore Trulli however he will need to master the qualifying, on that turf Trulli is a formidable opponent.

F1Wolf’s prediction for Toyota drivers in 2008:
I see Trulli ahead of Glock thanks to his qualifying skills. Glock will eventually get close to Trulli later on in the season but if Trulli scores decent points early on in the season, we will stay ahead of Glock. Under normal race circumstances it is very unlikely any of these drivers will make it to podium this year.

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull

F1Wolf

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It is a pity we did not have chance to compare the pace of Ferrari with McLaren last weekend in Barcelona. Ferrari chose to test in Bahrain this week and along with them came Toyota.

Without comparison with other teams it is difficult to judge where these 2 teams stand. But the gap between Ferrari and Toyota on day 1 and day 2 of the Bahrain test is scary …

Bahrain - Day 1, February 4, 2008
1) K. Raikkonen - Ferrari - 01:32.079
2) L. Badoer - Ferrari - 01:33.323
3) T. Glock - Toyota - 01:33.418
4) K. Kobayashi - Toyota - 01:33.656

Gap Raikkonen to Glock + 1:339s

Bahrain - Day 2, February 5, 2008
1) K. Raikkonen - Ferrari - 01:30.595
2) L. Badoer - Ferrari - 01:32.230
3) T. Glock - Toyota - 01:32.889
4) J. Trulli - Toyota - 01:33.379

Gap Raikkonen to Glock + 2:294s

Yes, I am comparing Ferrari and Toyota and F1 champion with GP2 champion. Also both teams may be on totally different test programs. But still, almost 2.3 second gap is either sign of seriously slow Toyota or very formidable F2008 …

For comparison, the gap between fastest Mark Webber and slowest Jenson Button on Sunday in Barcelona was 1:423 second (on about 10 sec a lap shorter track).

While Ferrari are clearly set for another year at the sharp end of the grid, Toyota seems to be heading in Honda’s direction …

F1Wolf

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The teams keep rolling out their new cars and the F1 drivers are coming up with their 2008 helmet design. Here they are:

Raikkonen, Massa

Hamilton, Kovalainen

Heidfeld, Kubica

Alonso, Piquet

Rosberg, Nakajima

Webber, Coulthard

Glock, Trulli

Barrichello, Button

Bourdais, Vettel

Sutil, Fisichella

Sato, Davidson

Fernando Alonso seems to be getting away from McLaren days and returning to Renault even with his helmet design. Jarno Trulli reduced the shiny silver surface with more red colour over it. Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica keep the designs very close to their 2007 styles.

Kimi Raikkonen’s new 2008 helmet (click here) is very similar to his 2007 one, but the white front has been replaced with some sort of “tribal” drawing. Anyone knows what it means ?

Lewis Hamilton keeps his yellow helmet pretty much unchanged. Heikki Kovalainen had to make changes to accomodate new sponsors the result is Alonso 2007 like helmet. Bourdais keeps his Champ Car yellow and blue with the addition of Red Bull brand.

Both Honda and Red Bull drivers keep the same designs as in 2007. Sutil’s helmet does not look too different from his 2007 one as well. Fisichella is another guy sticking with his traditional colours.

Please check back for updates to this post with more on 2008 F1 driver helmets. It happened before that drivers used different design for the winter testing and came up with brand new one when the season started, so these may not yet be the definite 2008 helmets.

If you come across good pictures of new 2008 F1 driver helmets that are not yet displayed here, let me know. I will add them here !

To see what the drivers were wearing in 2007, check here

F1Wolf

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The 2007 GP2 champion Timo Glock has been confirmed as Toyota’s race driver for 2008 season. He has been connected with Toyota race seat for quite some time. The announcement has been expected after the Contract Recognition Board ruled that Glock was free to leave his previous test driver job at BMW Sauber.

Timo Glock

“It’s a great feeling to be a Formula One race driver again and I am really looking forward to this new challenge. I have worked hard over the past few years to get this opportunity and I must say I am grateful to Panasonic Toyota Racing for having faith in me. From what I have seen of the team at the track I am confident we will be able to work well together to move forward. Even though I have not raced in Formula One since 2004, I have tested quite regularly so I expect it will take very little time for me to get back in the groove.

Of course, to return to Formula One racing as GP2 Series champion is a real honour and we’ve all seen how well Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton have performed as champions so that is very encouraging. I hope I can also make a strong impression next season. Now I have achieved my goal of returning to Formula One, my next target is to work towards making 2008 a successful season for myself and Panasonic Toyota Racing.”

Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota team principal :

“It is with great pleasure that we confirm Timo Glock will race for Panasonic Toyota Racing in 2008. I am convinced Timo has the potential to help this team move forward and achieve its aims. Timo has great experience of motorsport in several different categories and he reinforced his reputation by winning the highly competitive GP2 Series, which we have already seen is fantastic preparation for Formula One. He has demonstrated a fighting spirit and good race craft in GP2 so we believe he is the right man for the job.”

Timo Glock raced in 4 races for Jordan back in 2004. Not sure if he is the best choice for Toyota, but he should not do worse than Ralf Schumacher did and he definitelly comes cheaper …

F1Wolf

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Toyota has confirmed Kamui Kobayashi as their test driver for 2008 season. The Formula 3 Euro series front-runner is right now in Macau racing in Macau GP Formula 3 race for ASM F3 team.

Another significant development is yesterday decision of the Contract Recognition Board. The CRB ruled that Timo Glock is free to race for Toyota next season. He is yet to be announced as Toyota driver for 2008, but one can expect this will happen soon. That would make Toyota fully set for the season and pretty much leave Fernando Alonso with Renault as his only option for next year. Especially after Christian Horner of Red Bull more less ruled out Red Bull as his destination:

“Our drivers are under contract for 2008 and Alonso will end up at Renault. We’re pleased to be linked with Alonso, it shows the progress we’ve made the past two years. But Renault is the only team other than Toyota which has a space and has not announced drivers for next season.”

After the Glock ruling and Kobayashi announcement, there does not seem to be the space in Toyota any more.

But Glock’s departure from BMW Sauber testing role means there is an opening there. Not for a race seat, but there are several candidates for the test driver role with BMW Sauber. Marko Asmer, Adam Carroll, Christian Vietoris and Nico Hulkenberg have been connected with the role. Asmer and Hulkenberg are also competting at the Macau Grand Prix this weekend.

F1Wolf

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