I want to hear some projections from everyone...

Personally, I am REALLY wanting to jump on the early bandwagon of Schumacher. He branched off and is driving for Mercedes GP.

McLaren Mercedes now has Button, who did a bang-up job with Brawn last year.

Personally, I'm torn between the two. McLaren Mercedes has a history almost as old as the sport, and with Button jumping on-board I REALLY think they'll do well. But it's hard not to support Schumacher since he's now riding with Mercedes GP.

Lastly, Red-Bull racing was really the only team to even give Brawn some competition... Methinks they'll be strong again this year. The RB5 platform is a beauty.

Maybe they'll sell out Turkey this year

 

psshhhhh Button's a joke, the only reason he won the championship last year is because Brawn had the top car and there was 0 in season testing. Took everyone else months to catch up and by then Button had a nice lead, and all he had to do was beat his dumbass teammate. Which, although I'm not a Rubens fan, kinda got screwed a couple races by Brawn. Now on to Schumi, he's awesome, and Brawn is a GENIUS. I forsee good things with the two of them getting back together at Mercedes. I too am torn, I was a Schumi fan before he left and now am a McLaren fan. I think this could be a fantastic season, especially if Alonso sucks the place up...

March 14th isn't that far away.

 

Get prepared for another "boring" season with 1 team far superior to all others....USF1(of course, excluding the fact that they probably will not participate in the first 4 races, their driver is leaving for another team, 10 people have left the team because of fear of non-payment, and their sponsorship has fallen through- but beyond that, far superior)

 

Is Bernie going to let USF1 be the only team that uses the shortcut. It might be a close race then lol.

 

I have found that the best way to predict Bernie's behavior is to assume he will make the choice that provides the least amount of fairness and/or consideration for the fans

 

I personally think Button is underated, yes he won last years championship in the best car on the grid, but he also executes the most and best overtaking manouvres on the track. F1 would be even duller than it already is without drivers like Button.

Should be interesting without fuel stops this season as this will elimnate pit stop strategies and ensure the race is won on the circuit rather than in the pits. However, I fail to understand the logic of no fuel stops and making F1 safer, as the cars will be carrying more fuel loads for the duration of the race greatly increasing the risk of severe fire as a result of a crash. On the plus side it will remove the refuelling incidents that has happened of late.

I hope Schuy gets his **** kicked by Button in 2010 and Bernie finally gives up ruining what was a great motosport.

 

As always, I'm really looking forward to this season. With both Button and Hamilton on the same team the dynamic there should be interesting. I was a bit surprised to see Button jump ship, after spending all those years at BAR/Honda while they faltered and basically sucked. As soon as he finally gets a decent car in his career, he leaves. WTF???? Ross Brawn is one of the greatest minds in F1 and with Mercedes now footing the bill, they can't help but succeed in the future.

It will be interesting to see which of the new teams manages to survive, and if any can actually be competitive. Having Cosworth engines back on the grid is nice too, as well as the Lotus name. Hopefully they can stick it out long enough to survive and prosper. As for USF1, it is unfortunate that they appear to be in dire straights, but in the current economic climate that shouldn't come as a huge shock.

Slick tires, no refueling, new teams, the return of Michael Schumacher...... there's a lot going on, and it should be a fun ride.

 

My impressions from Bahrain:

1. Ferrari look really strong this year. I can easily see Alonso taking his third world title.
2. It looks like it will be a battle between Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, and Vettel. Based on his performance on Sunday, Button's championship was a fluke due to Ross Brawn's excellent car last year.
3. Nico Rosberg must be feeling really good right now.
4. Lotus is the best of the new teams.
5. I'm really disappointed US F1 didn't make the grid. So much build up for nothing.
6. Westbury Gillett is no Peter Windsor.

 

I see Alonso as the man to beat. So long as he has a strong car I think that will be tough.
Looking forward to seeing what Schumi can do but I think by he time he gets his chops back and they make the car competetive with the top, the others may be too far ahead.
I agree Button's only skill was being on Brawn last year...
Hamilton, Vettel and Massa will be fighting it out quite a bit - Vettel is a future World Champion.

 

Its early days yet. Buttons win was no more a fluke than Schumachers 7 world titles. Button had a good package last year and drove well as did Schuy for those 7 years. Button pulls off some of the best overtaking manouvres on the circuit, and if it wasn't for drivers like him, then F1 would be dull.

I reckon Vettel is the one to watch this season and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the spoilt, poor sportsman and dirty tactical driver that is Alonso gets his **** kicked.

 

Well, there's no doubt that a good car - fast, reliable - is essential to any good result. I think there are those drivers, however, that could take a less-than-best car and still end up in front with it through sheer driving skill.
I guess the thing to see will be the comparison between Hamilton and Button - that could very well tell the story.
Who am I to say? I was hoping for the return of Villeneuve!

 

I look forward to seeing the day when Massa is faster than Alonso. Alonso is going to go Apeshit and it will be McLaren all over again

 

Very impressed with Vettel. Hami didn't do too terribly, and Rosberg impressed as well.

Really was NOT a fan of 1-2 Ferrari finish. Oh well.

 

OK. Maybe you have a point. One has to be an excellent racer to even make it to F1 so perhaps Button is as worthy a champion as any other competitor. F1 is a team sport. Brawn wouldn't have won the championship if they had lousy drivers no matter how good their cars were.

So, I take it back. Forza Button!

 

To all the Jenson Button critics......

Enjoy your humble pie.

 

Ive never been a fan of Jensen, but he did a great job, he took a risk with the early tyre change, it paid off. Its taken him some time to climb his way up in F1, he has had some bad cars in the past, and had to work hard to climb to the top - he deserves some respect now.

 

Mmm...tasty!

Jenson drove like a champion. He took risks and capitalized on every opportunity that presented itself. He absolutely deserved the win.

 

I must admit I found it fairly astonishing that Jenson would leave Brawn/Mercedes after finally having a decent car under him for the first time in his career. Seriously, how you walk away from Ross Brawn and Mercedes is beyond me, but I guess it looks like not such bad move.

For the moment.

What happens next year when McLaren formally cuts ties with Mercedes Benz and, most likely, no longer uses their engines? And when Mercedes & Mr. Brawn continue to develop their car, especially with a development driver the likes of Michael Schumacher? Those Benettons back in the early 90's were nothing special, as were the Ferraris in the mid/late 90's and yet, with Brawn & Schumacher both turned into world beaters. I don't doubt the same will happen with Mercedes in a year or three.

 

I still don't like him but am forced to root for him since he's switched over to McLaren. To bad Mark had to run into Hamilton, but that's racing.

 

Well as we near the half way part of the season, anyone care to revise their comments made earlier?

Boring season? I think not, multiple winners from different teams, within teams, new teams on the grid finishing races, multiple world champions racing in the series, no refueling and aero changes have made this an amazingly interesting season.

I've really enjoyed the F1 much more after the qualifying format change, Schumi's departure (I feel he was largely responsible for many very boring F1 seasons - best driver, best car = yawn). Hamilton's appearance in F1 - brilliant; Button's WC - hurray and about time; Vettel and Webber (Red Bull) surge - who said new teams can't rise to the top (BMW was getting there as well). For my money, F1 has been getting better and better. It just gets better and better.

Looking forward to your rebuttals.