Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

With only one week before the start of the 2008 Formula 1 Grand Prix season gets underway some of the teams and drivers are giving their views on how they think the season will pan out.

Nick Heidfeld in the BMW Sauber is now optimistic of the teams performance during the coming year. He declared that the car is no longer suffering from the problems that blighted it’s pre-season preparations and said “Since the roll-out in January, we have steadily caught up, in other words, the large lap time gap to the front is no longer there.” He estimated that the current deficit to the front runners at just two-tenths per lap so it’s therefore possible that the BMW could quite easily slot into the place behind Ferrari and McLaren.

Felipe Massa still feels that Ferrari is the quickest car out there after questioning suggestions that McLaren’s new car moved ahead of the pack at the recent final group test of the pre-season. Massa said “When your rivals are testing for qualifying conditions, it is obvious that they will be quicker than you if you are testing for the races. We did qualifying testing the previous week, and I beat the track record. In Australia we will understand (the real situation), for sure.” He did also say when asked if he would be looking around for another drive “I would like to stay here for life.”

The Honda team finished a three day test session yesterday at Jerez with the two team drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello along with test driver Alex Wurz.  Button said that the team were realistic about their expectations for the first few races and know that they still have a long way to go.  Barrichello feels that it is difficult to know where they are compared to the competition as they have been testing privately, but feels the team have taken a step in the right direction.

The two Toyota drivers have very different views on their cars, Timo Glock said “Our main problem is over the long distances. In that area we do not yet have the car where we want it to be.” Trulli is much more upbeat about the TF108’s strengths in race trim and said “We could be the surprise of the year”. Trulli predicts a time deficit to the leading Ferrari’s at Albert Park of about 1 second per lap and said “we are a good three-tenths behind the BMW Sauber team, but that does not mean that we are the fourth power.”

The Williams driver, Kazuki Nakajima today vowed that he would aim to collect points in every race, but he know it won’t be easy. The Japanese driver said “Of course it won’t be easy to get points in every race. But if I seize upon the chances that must present themselves each time, they’ll lead me to points. That’s my goal.” Nakajima admitted it wouldn’t be easy to climb the podium, something that has eluded team-mate Nico Rosberg in his two years with the team. Nakajima went on to say “I know it is going to be an awesome season the whole year.”

Meanwhile the McLaren team are itching to get to Melbourne which has proved successful for them in previous years. In 1997 David Coulthard won in the McLaren at the track and last year saw the team take two of the podium places at the Australian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton taking third in his first race. The car according to the drivers feels much stronger than last year and not so different without the traction control. It is however, Heikki Kovalainen’s first drive with the team and he feels there is still much he needs to learn and improve on but believes he has a solid base and is ready to get out there and start the season.

Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger feels that Sebastian Vettel is likely to outclass his team-mate and newcomer Sebastien Bourdais in qualifying. Bourdais recently admitted that he has not yet come fully to terms with his Toro Rosso on low fuel and new tyres. Bourdais is the reigning Champ Car World Series Champion explained that the switch from Champ Car and slick tyres to F1’s grooves is making it initially difficult for him to ‘get the maximum’ out of the package.