Once again the Formula 1 returns for the 2005 season in Melbourne from the 3rd - 6th of March and this season is shaping up to be quite interesting already. With a slew of new rules put in place, all the teams have had to focus on winter testing to get the best out of their 2005 spec Cars. Some of the more major rule changes are an Engine must now last for 2 race meetings (roughly 1400km) and they can only use one set of tires for qualifying and the race. Also the front wing has been raised, the rear wing moved in to try and reduce the downforce to slow the cars down in the aid of trying to increase overtaking.

The 2004 Constructors Championship winners Ferrari, are running with a modified version of their 2004 winning car (called the 2004M) in the hope of giving them more time to focus on development/testing of their 2005 car. In winter testing they have not been as fast as some of the other teams which have been running their 2005 cars. Michael Schumacher and Rubesn Barrichello will be doing their best to win a 7th Straight Constructors Championship, while Michael goes for his 6th Straight (8th all up!).

In winter testing, McLaren and Renault have been blitzing the rest of the field and look like they will be the ones to beat in Melbourne testing times are anything to go by. McLaren has a new team member - Juan 'I like running into Schumacher' Montoya as well as keeping Kimi 'I play with my Microphone' Raikkonen. They look like they will be very strong at the start of the season. Renault have kept Fernando Alonso and picked up along the way Giancarlo Fisichella. They have come out fully saying that they expect wins this year and they say their car this year is the one to do it.

Next up is BAR and Williams. The BAR team has not changed this year, with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato. The British Driver, Jenson Button says this is his year to start winning races and he thinks he can do it. The BAR has been strong in testing. Williams have now picked up our own home grown Mark 'Aussie Aussie Aussie!!' Webber as well as getting Nick Heidfeld to be Webbers number 2. The new Williams car is said to be a significant improvement on last years, with greater stability and less wear on the tires and im sure all us fellow aussies will be banking on Webber to do his best.

Jaguar Racing has now been bought out and renamed to be 'Red Bull Racing' and they have got the experienced David Coulthard in their team as well as keeping Christian Klein. The Red Bull team come in to the season with expectations to do their best, and aim for podiums in the future. Sauber who have switches over to the Michilin tires (a big surprise considering they used to be sometimes referred to as 'ferrari #2') now have Jacques Villeneuve who is now back in after leaving BAR and then returning for the last 3 races of last years season in the Renault to dissapoint them. Alongside Villeneuve is Felipe Massa who has been with the team quite a while (with a testing role with Ferrari in 2003) and knows the car inside and out.

Toyota has now scored Ralf Schumacher who is bringing with him some decent speed and pace in a driver which the Toyota Team has not had yet after their worst season last year. They are hoping this years 2005 car can be more competitive than last year. Ralfs Team-mate is Jarno Trulli who they have poached from Renault. He is known for his fast qualifying and they are hoping he will work well with his new team.

Insert Comedy Jordan and Minardi option here (p.s. Paul Stoddart rocks!!)

Overall this season is shaping up to be awesome and nobody quite knows what to expect come the first race in melbourne on the 6th of March 2005. Im Excited! And Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken (:P), this could be the most interesting season in quite some years of the sport!

One thing worthy of mentioning is this Sunday the 27th February at 8am Brisbane Time on Channel 10, RPM will be showing Mark Webber Driving his Williams over the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

Webber's Sydney Harbour Bridge Overdrive
8am - 8.30am ; TEN
Sport/Motorsport

In a world exclusive Australian Formula 1 driver Mark Webber will drive his BMW Williams F1 car over one of Australia's greatest icons - the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I AM VERY MUCH MISTAKEN! :)

Thanks for that! It's on now.

nice write up bad :)

I can't wait for the Melb F1!

the road over that bridge is shocking. bumpiest s***tiest road ever. i hope mark is wearing his kidney belt

My prediction: McLaren and Renault will be fast while the F2004M won't match the pace, forcing Ferrari to race the new car in Bahrain. Williams will struggle and one of the Honda engines in the BAR will blow up. The surprise of the season will be Red Bull.

My prediction: McLaren and Renault will be fast while the F2004M won't match the pace, forcing Ferrari to race the new car in Bahrain.

Yeah I can agree with this.

Williams will struggle and one of the Honda engines in the BAR will blow up. The surprise of the season will be Red Bull.

Williams - maybe, Red Bull - I doubt it, Honda - I think both engines will blow!

your prediction is s***

ferrari will own your f***


but for competitions sake, i hope your right.

They had to raise the suspension to the max to allow the car to make it over the bridge. Pity he didn't throw a few doughnuts.

Also the front wing has been raised, the rear wing moved in to try and reduce the downforce to slow the cars down in the aid of trying to increase overtaking.

I wonder how comfortable Senna would be with the legacy of safety his death left behind...a wake of destruction...As an avid formula 1 supporter since 1984, I can only say this will be the first year I am not watching. My frustration has been building and building since they started introducing the stupid rules to slow the sport down...

- It verges upon dangerous to over take other cars due to the instablity when in another drivers slip stream.
- Making 1 set of tires last the 3 days? Stick it up your arse, what a stupid rule. You're going to have the haves winning because the have nots just cannot afford the testing to get their aerodynamics up to scratch to stop tyre wear.
- 1 engine across 2 races? Well I don't agree with it, but I don't really have much of a problem with this rule either.

I think this will be the best season in the last 3 or 4, but I wont be watching it regardless. The sport has become more corrupt than ever and politics are more important than talent. What a disgrace the sport has become.

These new rules are s*** house, one big f*** you! to whoever had the idea.

the one set of tyres for an entire race rule, is just dangerous.

the wear on tyres as it currently stands is HUGE. to make one set go an entire race will just result in people ending up on slicks, cause they'll just wear down by the end of the race.

let hops williams can stop the blistering of the tyres that they had going on at the end of last year.

also, the 1 engine for 2 races is bull s***, and it doesn't make it cheaper at all. it means the engines have to be manufactures and designed alot better, i wonder who that's going to benefit.

1 engine for one week was good, i understood that rule, but 1 for 2 races ? that's just asking for trouble.

the wear on tyres as it currently stands is HUGE. to make one set go an entire race will just result in people ending up on slicks, cause they'll just wear down by the end of the race.

I like how you can only change it if the tyre punctures or is severily damaged...jesus how are they going to know without going into the pits first. I don't believe they are allowed to take on fuel or change tyres at all anymore as well.

also, the 1 engine for 2 races is bull s***, and it doesn't make it cheaper at all. it means the engines have to be manufactures and designed alot better, i wonder who that's going to benefit.

Of course. It means teams like Minardi are going to be running s*** engines that don't last.

They're allowed to take on fuel. I don't think the tanks are big enough to do the whole race anymore.

don't think it's tank size that's the problem, more like fuel consumption.

All i read from bad was "ferrari ferrari ferrari ferrari ferrari ferrari ferrari i want schumakers babies ferrari ferrari ferrari ferrari"

I could beat all those fags in my excel ... se they go round and round and round and take however long to do it but end up back in the same spot they started in! All i'd have to do is park at the start/finish line go grab a coffee and play colin mcrae and I am the winner.

he wear on tyres as it currently stands is HUGE. to make one set go an entire race will just result in people ending up on slicks, cause they'll just wear down by the end of the race.

Dont they start as slicks. I thought a bigger problem will be the tyres blowing.

they start as grooved slicks
they'll wear down the grooves :S shouldnt be that big a deal

don't think it's tank size that's the problem, more like fuel consumption.

Actually, refuelling was prohibited in the 1980's, and the turbocharged engines they used back then were far from fuel misers. Since it's not worth having a big fuel tank anymore, the cars have a shorter wheelbase to improve performance.

last edited by BrenAce at 20:03:30 27/Feb/05

By the way, how do you quote on these forums? I've never known for as long as I've browsed them.

you used angled brackets (the greater than, less than symbols), ie, real html brackets not ubb.

webbers bridge run vid link
http://www.starlyon.com/bugle/F1/webber_bridge_run.avi

32 meg, stolen link, no guarantee on how long it'll be up for.

Cheers.

looks like its gonna be bad ass

Yeah it does, im personally going down to Melbourne for this years Formula 1 and its going to be f***ING awesome :) I cant wait... :) :)

any chance someone can mirror that link?

15k/s makes me a sad panda

http://images.ausimages.com/upload/2005-02-28/TN_speedcam1.jpg


last edited by Bad at 03:25:16 28/Feb/05

They can add all the rules they want to 'slow the sport down' and I will still be one of the biggest fans the sport has. Primarily because I want to make f*** with Schaumaker and the SF crew. If the new rules stop another fatality in the sport, then I am all for it. Hey if you want to see muddled up wreckage, and not an actual car race, go watch Indy.

Formula 1 represent!

A couple of things that might be worth mentioning.

First, who's responsible for the rule changes? Max Mosely, mostly.

The rules regarding tyres are a bit problematic. The rules basically say that tyres MUST have at least 2mm of grooves on them when they come off the car. Of course flatspotting a tyre chews that 2mm away.
I do kinda agree with the one set of tyres rule - less tyre wear means less marbles, which are the problem at circuits like Monaco. With less marbles, it might mean overtaking is actually possible.

The one I hate is the reduced downforce. It makes it MORE dangerous really - it means less braking power into corners, and if you have to stop suddenly, well... the wall will have to do that.
That said however, people don't realise that Slow racing = Good racing. Yes, it might make it seem less exciting, but that's not really the case. The higher the speeds, the harder it is to overtake, and so, higher speeds mean less overtaking. If you want an excellent example of this, look at Formula Vee (top speed ~180km/h), Formula Ford (top speed ~240km/h), Formula Renault (~260km/h), Formula Atlantic (~270km/h) and Formula 3 (~310km/h). As they get quicker, you get much less overtaking. I have no doubt GP2 and A1GP are going to be much the same borefests. Formula 3 on the weekend (at Wakefield) was a pretty good example... fast cars, sure, but very little overtaking.

Bad, Renault fast? Not in the PRs I've been getting. Yeah, they've been up there, but not consistently. Williams, Red Bull, B.A.R. and Toyota have been up there just as much.

Yesssums, the Renault has been pretty damn quick in everything i've read. I'd say its Renault, McLaren, BAR/Ferrari, Williams, Red Bull, Toyota/Sauber, Jordan, Minardi. :D

Until ferrari run their 2005 spec car, then of course ferrari 1 second faster than the rest of the field.