Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

There is now only a couple of days left before the start of the Formula 1 Championship opener at the Albert Park track in Melbourne, Australia.

The McLaren driver, Heikki Kovalainen seems to be lacking confidence in himself at the moment and said that his goal is not to go for pole position or to even to fight for a top position and said “Hopefully towards the end of the season I can fight for the top positions and if things go well, even early on. But for the moment the priority is just to start better than last year and not aim for pole.” His team mate, Lewis Hamilton feels that his only real rival is that of the reigning World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen. He has apparently rejected the speculation that the life of a racing driver is tougher in the second year and said “I have always found that in every category my second year has always been, I wouldn’t say easier, but twice as strong. Going into the year I have no doubts that I will be stronger.”

The Ferrari team have the number one driver and reigning World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen, who took the pole position and won the Australian Grand Prix of 2007.  He will be driving alongside the Brazilian driver, Felipe Massa. Raikkonen says he can’t wait for the season to start, especially with the F2008 which he feels is a much stronger car and says “I’m really satisfied with how the tests went. We have a strong, fast, competitive and reliable package. We should be there fighting for victories in every race and in the end for the two Championships.” Felipe Massa, who got married over the winter break, feels that the winter testing went well and said “I was happy with the car right from the very start through to the end as the various new developments came on stream over the winter months. However, Massa has not always had such good luck in Melbourne after failing to finish the first lap in 2006 and then having a problem in qualifying last year, but seems much more optimistic about the coming season.

The Williams team return with Nico Rosberg, which will be in his third season with them alongside Kazuki Nakajima making his debut in Formula 1 after testing for the team in 2007. The new Williams car, the FW30 has proved to be consistent over the winter testing and seems to be a big improvement on the 2007 model. Nico Rosberg said “I believe that we will have a solid race this weekend and will look to bring home some points. Reliability-wise, it will be challenging to achieve our target of 100% this season, but we’re in good shape.” Kazuki Nakajima has said that he is really excited and can’t wait to get the season underway.

The Honda team have Jenson Button and his team mate Rubens Barrichello, but the car has not been so hot in the testing sessions over the winter months. Jenson has ruled out scoring points in the first race of the season but is optimistic after apparent aerodynamic improvements at subsequent private Jerez session. Rubens said “In my 16 years of Formula One, I never had an improvement as big as I had last week.”

The Red Bull team have the veteran driver David Coulthard alongside Mark Webber. The car is said to be intrinsically more reliable and the team feels they have made good progress over the winter testing. However, the team is still far from where they want to be but feel they are in for a more competitive year and are determined to give it there best shot.

The Toyota team have a new driver line-up of Timo Glock who has joined Jarno Trulli in the 2008 car, the TF108. It will be the 12th Australian Grand Prix for Jarno but the 1st for Timo and the team is said to be excited and optimistic, with a strong points finish planned for the weekend ahead. Trulli said “I am always excited by the start of a new season and this year I am probably more motivated than ever. This years car is a big improvement; it is very different to the TF107 and we have a lot of potential to continue the improvement we have seen in testing. I am totally focused on getting a strong result this weekend and I think we have a good chance to score points.”

The Renault team consists of a new line-up with Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet. Alonso said “The team was far behind in 2007 and it would have been impossible to overcome that gap this winter. The other teams have also progressed and so it will certainly take a little time to reach a higher level, but I am convinced that we have the potential to get there. The team has shown in the past that they know how to produce a winning car; we just need to continue our efforts and to make sure we don’t lose ground.” Nelson Piquet has said “I still don’t feel like a race driver yet because I have only been doing testing. I think that I am ready, and above all I am looking forward to the start of the season. I have worked all my life to get here, and it is a great feeling to be starting my first race in Melbourne. I’m conscious that I have a lot to prove this year, but I am determined to do my best.”

The Force India team is India’s first ever Formula One team and driving for them are Giancarlo Fisichella and Adrian Sutil. Last year the Spyker team were bought by Dr. Vijay Mallya and Jan and Michiel Mol. The team are aiming to make strong progress throughout the season and have the veteran driver Fisichella, who won the Australian Grand Prix back in 2005. Sutil said that “You can see that the team is better structured this year, and everything seems to be going in the right direction, there is more budget, and we can develop the parts we wanted to last year, but couldn’t because of resources.”

The Super Aguri team have now reached an agreement with Magma securing its future in Formula 1 and continuing as planned with the drivers, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson. Sato said “Our winter preparation has not been as comprehensive as we had wished; however we always get over these difficulties and keep pushing forward with our fighting spirit.

The BMW Sauber team have Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld and the team insists that the target of beating Ferrari and McLaren to the number 1 spot on the podium this year at least once still stands. Kubica, however had said that this is “impossible”. He went onto say “My own goal is to drive as fast as possible and make the most of the car; which could be finishing sixth or winning the race. I will make sure I give everything I can and then we will see where we are. Every driver wants to win, but I know that it might not happen this year, or next year, or ever. I hope that I can win some time, but if I cannot, then that’s life.”

The Toro Rosso team has Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel driving for them. Bourdais is making his debut in F1 although he is the multiple Champ Car titleholder. Bourdais said “I will do my best, prove that I deserve my place in Formula One, and we would like to mark points as often as possible of course. But we have to be realistic, it won’t happen every week-end.” He said of his new team mate “He’s very quick.”