2005 team and driver lineups

[Pupik]

Here's a run-down of the latest info for 2005. Barring any last-minute changes, these are the driver's you'll see on the grid in Melbourne.

Ferrari :: Bridgestone
Michael Schumacher :: Rubens Barrichello

BAR-Honda :: Michelin
Jenson Button ::Takuma Sato

Renault :: Michelin
Fernando Alonso :: Giancarlo Fisichella

Williams-BMW :: Michelin
Mark Webber :: Nick Heidfeld

McLaren-Mercedes :: Michelin
Juan Pablo Montoya :: Kimi Raikkonen

Sauber-Petronas :: Michelin ???
Felipe Massa :: Jacques Villeneuve

Toyota :: Michelin
Jarno Trulli :: Ralf Schumacher

Jordan-Toyota :: Bridgestone
Narain Karthikeyan :: Tiago Monteiro

Minardi-Cosworth :: Bridgestone
Christijan Albers :: Patrick Friesacher

Red Bull :: Michelin
David Coulthard :: Christian Klein

 

[Blake]

Good idea, that info is already known to most of us but it's nice to have it here. I'm guessing Pizzonia or DC for the other Williams seat.

 

[livemusic]

I hope Pizzonia makes it to Williams. And it´s not Fillippe Massa, it´s Felipe Massa.

 

[Pupik]

I hope Pizzonia makes it to Williams. And it´s not Fillippe Massa, it´s Felipe Massa.

Thanks, I thought it didn't look right.

 

[SouL]

There could be a Jordan-Renaul combo. There were rumors that Renault might sell Jordan an engine/rear suspension/gearbox combo. Or trade all that to give Franck Montagny a racing seat with Jordan. Flavio seems to want to see Franck with a drive, but is a bit unwilling, I suppose, to "sacrifice" a seat within Renault.
Again, all rumors, though.

I'd like to see Coulthard with Williams. I think he'd make a great addition to their team with his experience. He could defenitely help out and give input about car set ups for each race. And if the limited testing proposal does go through, David would be an awesome asset to have, I think.

 

[TwinTurboJay]

Anyone guess when porsche may return ? Their last effort was pretty poor, but it would be great to see some more competitors there, whether they were a challenge or not.

 

[livemusic]

lol, I think Massa is gonna have a hard time being Villeneuve´s team mate.

And you said this new teams are expected to come only in 2006? But Jaguar is out, and as far as I know the rules says it has to be at least 20 pilots per grid. Is that correct?

 

[Nasadus]

Yes,but it's very likely that Jaguar F1 team will be bought up by Red Bull and remain in Formula 1 under a different name and management.

 

[Blake]

Could that mean some teams may have to run a third car? Like the testers getting a grid spot etc.?

 

[Pupik]

Could that mean some teams may have to run a third car? Like the testers getting a grid spot etc.?

I think any team that falls out of the top 4 Constructor's places (McLaren on down) is allowed to have a Friday tester in a third car.

My opinion is that there should be 22-24 places on the grid, with a single third car per team allowed to qualify. Also, the third car will be ineligble for Constructor's points (individual driver's points are valid for the Driver's Championship).

Just a thought.

 

[livemusic]

But I don´t think the smaller teams can afford to have three cars each race for the whole season. It would become very expensive to have three good engines in every race.

 

[Yuichi]

Another rumour, Ryan Briscoe in a Jordan, along with a Toyota engine supply.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Poor old Heidfeld. Hope he at least gets a ride with Jordan next year.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Villeneuve should get the Renault seat taken by Fisi - he's been in the sport for too long, gone through so many different teams and has only a single win to his name. I'd give Heidfeld his seat back at Sauber, he was good on his day ... but could be shocking when he wasn't.

Hopefully the new rules and regulations for 2006 will make the sport better. 2005 is going to be another boring year in F1 ...

 

[Blake]

I think any team that falls out of the top 4 Constructor's places (McLaren on down) is allowed to have a Friday tester in a third car.

My opinion is that there should be 22-24 places on the grid, with a single third car per team allowed to qualify. Also, the third car will be ineligble for Constructor's points (individual driver's points are valid for the Driver's Championship).

Just a thought.

I would have guessed that third cars wouldn't get constructor points anyway. If they do I think that's a horrible rule. So even if there are enough cars to fill 20 grid places in the seeason cars are allowed to run a third car?

I think teams should be able to run up to three cars each (not compulsory, minimum 2 cars), select two cars at the beggining of the eason that will recieve constructors points.

 

[Wastegate]

I'm not at all convinced we'll see the what-was-the-Jaguar-team next season. Firstly Ford need to sell the team to someone who will be practically guaranteed to do three years of F1 since under U.S. law Ford would be responsible for their former employees treatment for three years if they sell the team.

Secondly the team will have to change its name, as Jaguar is a trademark. This sounds easy, but in F1 you need to either cough up a $47m entry fee or get all the other teams to agree to a namechange. As Jaguar's TV money would be distributed equally to the other teams if they do not appear next season there's a cash reason why a team principal might not agree to the name change.

Also I'm not sure how well worded the Concorde Agreement is on the running of the third cars, as I'm not convinced that it was considered at all likely to happen when the document was drawn up. As I understand it the top teams have to contibute another car to bring the grid up to 20. What is the definition of a top team, and which of them will be selected, and for which races?

According to the current rules, the third car would not be able to score either manufacturers or drivers points - and that could lead to some of them being driven tactically. It could get messy. With the proposed new testing restrictions teams might actually be queueing up to the expense of the third car to get some testing done.

Anyway, sort of on topic, I think two other candidates for the Williams drive might be Heidfeld and Davidson, though whoever gets the drive is likely to be in for a 'Button' year, in other words they're in for a season then out of the team when Williams get their chosen driver. Ironically Button filled the gap in 2000 when Williams waited to get hold of Montoya, and now someone is going to be keeping the seat warm for Button in 2006. Anyway, I wouldn't be suprised to see that Williams are waiting for an opportunity to test Heidfeld in their car.

As for the new teams, Midland might go for Davidson if he doesn't get a drive elsewhere. Trevor Carlin and Davidson are old buddies with a high regard for each other. And the A1 team is likely to be based around McLaren-Mercedes, so it's possible that a McLaren tester might get a seat there (Coulthard, Wurz?) or maybe a Mercedes junior driver such as Jamie Green, Christian Albers or Gary Paffett.

 

[DRIFT4EVA]

Poor old Heidfeld. Hope he at least gets a ride with Jordan next year.

Heidfeld was making good progress.

When will Ferarri be back in?............. Oh wait. That's the team that's leagues ahead of everyone. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Peow, peow!!!

I'm actually suprised that F1 doesn't actually consist of 10 manufacturers and are run by those manufacturers. Not under the name of Eg Williams or Jordan, but the likes of Eg Ferarri or McLaren. I reckon that would be better than only a few manufacturers and 5 teams using the same stuff.

 

[kensei]

If I was Webber I would be a bit yanked with Williams, for a few reasons.

1) Webber is going to Williams as the "hot" driver. The team was going to let him build it up around him like he had a Jag. Not that Williams pulls a Ferrari #1 driver deal, but I can imagine that they were giving Webber some room to grow. THEN...hot boy Jenson gets announced he is joining Williams and Webber is almost all but forgotten.

2) Now that the Button news is settled Webber was back to where he was early in the season. Now the news is Pizzonia is going to be the second driver. Ironic twist of fate huh? Webber loved Pizzonia at Jag and spoke very highly of him as a teamate (sarcasim BTW)...now he is going to be saddled with Pizzonia and his utter lack of ability again. Poor guy.


Poor, poor Webber. I suppose that is what you get for joining Williams in the first place.

I think a Webber/DC combo for next season would be wonderful for both drivers. DC is fast, though the past few seasons he seems to be having some mental issues with his driving, but he is a dead solid driver. Williams needs next year to rebuild after loosing both drivers and having a very sub-par car in 04. Easing Webber into the team with DC years of experience, not to mention their friendship, would be great for all involved.

I don't think much of Pizzonia but he does a decent enough job as a test driver and I will admit he did OK in the few races he was in, better than Gene...but I just don't think he has the mental or emontional ability to be a full time race driver. His job at Jag in 03 should prove that.

Mika at Williams? No way...go for DC any day. Mika has been out far to long, longer than JV (though Mika is a MUCH more talented driver than JV ever was on his best day)...but still he has been out of it far to long and only has a maybe 1-2 good years left if that. Williams needs to get their stuff in order in 05, which a Webber/DC combo will do and then build for 06 and beyond....Webber and maybe Davidson or Massa or even Jenson (though I think next year his golden boy image will wear off and he will be back where he was at the start of 04)...

Eitherway, Williams needs to rethink and rebuild their crumbled operation.

 

[Danny]

Baumgartner isn't getting a drive? What a waste. He was good.

 

[kensei]

Baumgartner isn't getting a drive? What a waste. He was good.

 

[Blake]

Is it possible that Gene might get the williams drive? Unlikely but just throwin a name in the air. But with Genes race record it wouldn't be wise to give him the seat. I agree with kensei, DC/Webber would be a great team for Webber to grow in, I think they'd do a good job 👍

 

[Danny]

Marc Gene is the best. He used to be an accountant, but then got into F1 for no apparent reason.
He even managed to score a point driving a Minardi. Minardi are the coolest team ever.

 

[kensei]

Is it possible that Gene might get the williams drive? Unlikely but just throwin a name in the air. But with Genes race record it wouldn't be wise to give him the seat. I agree with kensei, DC/Webber would be a great team for Webber to grow in, I think they'd do a good job 👍

Gene...hmmm. I doubt he would get the race drive. Some drivers are very good F1 test/development drivers (Gene, McNish, Wurz) but horrible F1 race drivers (Gene, McNish, Wurz)....they just don't have what it takes to "turn it on" over a race weekend...but can work like soilders in testing and be the best possible assets to their respective teams that way.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Another rumour, Ryan Briscoe in a Jordan, along with a Toyota engine supply.

Yep, that's a strong rumour.

I don't believe the Hakkinen-Williams tie-up. I think you'll see Davidson or DC in that seat.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Hakinen's had his day, I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon unless it's testing (which will get you nowhere fast) or in a management role ... but I can't think of role that would be suitable for Mika ...

 

[Race Idiot]

Are they going to change Toyotas name to Team inconsistency?

 

[Nasadus]

Lol,
I think that they will do better next year.It can't go wrong really.Anyway,about Hakkinen.I doubt he'll be back in F1 again,he has been testing the AMG-Mercedes C-Class DTM car,so it's likely we will see him in the DTM next year.

 

[Blake]

Gene...hmmm. I doubt he would get the race drive. Some drivers are very good F1 test/development drivers (Gene, McNish, Wurz) but horrible F1 race drivers (Gene, McNish, Wurz)....they just don't have what it takes to "turn it on" over a race weekend...but can work like soilders in testing and be the best possible assets to their respective teams that way.

Hahahaha! I love that Gene, McNish, Wurz thing, that's a classic!

I'm pretty confident Pizzonia will get the seat, he has race experience with Williams, I think it's the logical choice (not the best choice but the logical one)

 

[Race Idiot]

Lol,
I think that they will do better next year.It can't go wrong really.

It probably can though, I mean they can put together a superb Chassis & engine although seeing as it's their 3rd year (is it their 3rd year? I forget) I still can't see it being able to contend with the likes of BAR and Renault. But then you look at their driver lineup, the majority of this season Ralph was a liability and Trulli was well Trulli (Incredibly inconsistent). Although maybe some of that was mental due to Flav being a big arse and Ralph might improve in a new team with a fresh start.

 

[Danny]

Tommi Makkinen might be a surprisingly good choice.