Kimi did a solid job this season even with the old car, especially holding his own against the new Ferrari... the real question is whether he'll be able to pull away from the pack once he gets the new (hopefully good?) one. And then, if he can actually take down Michael.
Well, Christmas is already over, and things still look like this:
TEAMS DRIVER 1 DRIVER 2 TEST DRIVERS FERRARI Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello Luc Badoer Luciano Burti WILLIAMS BMW Juan-Pablo Montoya Ralf Schumacher Marc gen Nico Rosberg ? Nelson Piquet ? MCLAREN MERCEDES David Coulthard Kimi Raikkonen Alexander Wurz Pedro De la Rosa RENAULT Jarno Trulli Fernando Alonso Franck Montagny SAUBER PETRONAS Giancarlo Fisichella Felipe Massa Neel Jani JORDAN FORD Nick Heidfeld ? Ralph Firman ? Jos Verstappen ? Allan McNish ? Jarek Janis ? JAGUAR Mark Webber Christian Klien ? ? ? BAR HONDA Jenson Button Takuma Sato Anthony Davidson MINARDI COSWORTH Gianmaria Bruni Zsolt Baumgartner ? ? ? TOYOTA Olivier Panis Cristiano Da Matta Matt Ryan Briscoe Ricardo Zonta
...I guess the numbers are pretty obvious too, at least for the first part of the table.
Did anyone see the news that Ferrari is actually starting to praise Raikkonen? Even though his contract with McLaren makes things pretty complicated for them...
Anđeo said:It’s tough being in the top eight at the end of a season, and David has been part of that group for years now. I honestly expect him to retire from Formula 1 and McLaren soon, especially after everything he achieved as a world champion.😁
Hard to say. David usually starts the season strong, then just kind of loses momentum halfway through...😢 If he really wanted to, he’s had plenty of chances already, especially when he had a better car than everyone else.
1. Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) 2. Rubens Barrichello (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) 3. Juan Pablo Montoya (BMW Williams F1 team) 4. Ralf Schumacher (BMW Williams F1 team) 5. David Coulthard (West McLaren Mercedes) 6. Kimi Raikkonen (West McLaren Mercedes) 7. Jarno Trulli (Mild Seven Renault F1 team) 8. Fernando Alonso (Mild Seven Renault F1 team) 9. Jenson Button (Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda) 10. Takuma Sato (Lucky Strike B.A.R. Honda) 11. Giancarlo Fisichella (Sauber Petronas) 12. Felipe Massa (Sauber Petronas) 14. Mark Webber (Jaguar Racing) 15. TBD (Jaguar Racing) 16. Cristiano (Panasonic Toyota Racing) 17. Olivier Panis (Panasonic Toyota Racing) 18. TBD (Jordan Ford) 19. TBD (Jordan Ford) 20. TBD (Minardi Cosworth) 21. TBD (Minardi Cosworth)
Names of Drivers are subject to the granting of a super license and to the agreement of the Contract Recognition Board.
In accordance with Article 58 of the 2004 Formula One Sporting Regulations, driver nominations can be made or updated until 4:00 PM on March 4, 2004.
Anđeo said:... Given how things look for 2005, since the most decorated driver ever might be moving on, it seems like Montoya will be targeted by the two heavyweights, which would obviously be Ferrari and McLaren.
If my memory serves me right, there was some talk about this a year or two ago—people saying Toyota looked way too much like Ferrari, though nothing ever really stuck