Is it too early to start discussing this years up coming season? Perhaps,
but winter testing is under way and although not much can be gleaned from it,
one or two things appear to be clear so far.
Felipe Massa has been quick which presumably means Fernie's going to be
even quicker. Jenson is buzzing and raring to go so, personally, I hope Mclaren
give him a car he can be confident with 'cos when they do he goes to another
level and can be unstoppable. But.... the pit stop gremlins struck again last
week when they sent him out without securing a wheel properly! Have they learnt
nothing?!!! We'll also see whether Perez is all he's cracked up to be. Big year
for him.
No doubt Red Bull will be quick again with Mark determined to prove Marko
wrong when he reportedly said Webber will be Seb's wing man. I could imagine
several Oz expletives bouncing round the walls after that little gem came
out.
Kimi popped in some quick times too and it'd be great to see him really
mixing it big time with the other front runners but it remains to be seen
whether Grosjean will stay out of trouble.
After a false start, Lewis has put in some lengthy laps adjusting to the
Merc and their reliability seems in tact. Must say I'm looking forward to seeing
him wringing the neck of that car and ding donging with old mate Nico who I
suspect will match him pretty closely.
As for the rest, Maldonado will probably cause trouble and I'm waiting to
see if Bottas is as good as is claimed.
So, with nothing changing this year except for tyres (I understand the
different Pirelli compounds will differ by 0.5 secs per lap, maybe more, with
higher degradation so pit stops could average at least two per race, if not
three) leading to careful race strategy and driver protection of their tyres
Roll on March 17th.