2004 F1 Season Preview

All the previews are in and it is time to go racing for the F1 boys! Starting this weekend in Melbourne, new team configurations, rules and cars will be pushed to the limit to give an early glimpse into how the 2004 FIA World Championship will shake out.

While next year will offer the most intriguing driver changes, the fact that some of those changes are already known could play a part in this seasons action. Williams may actually feature two lame duck drivers if Ralfie boy doesn’t get his contract with Frank Williams worked out. David Coulthard will be departing McLaren after the season and I don’t see him taking a second class ride so I think he will retire. And what of Michael Schumacher? At age 35 he is old by F1 driver standards but he doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Will he retire at the end of the season? I doubt it, but if he wins the title he just might.

Elsewhere, only Renault seems set with its lineup for the foreseeable future. A change the fans will notice is the weekend schedule. Last year’s Friday morning (Thursday at Monaco) practice is gone. Some of the teams at the back of the grid who gained experience with those sessions will suffer this loss the most. There will be two one-hour sessions on Friday in which all teams except the top 4 from last season will be able to run three cars. In fact, that third car can sport alternate livery of the team Saturday will feature 2 45 minute practice sessions followed by 2 qualifying sessions.

The qualifying sessions will follow last years guidelines i.e. one lap per car in the first session and those times will determine the order of the second session which will also be one lap. The other big weekend change is the “one engine” rule. If a driver ruins an engine prior to qualifying he will be charged 10 positions on the starting grid for a replacement. If it happens in qualifying or after, he will have to start at the rear of the grid.

Also, launch control and automatic transmissions have been outlawed this year.

Finally, the season has been changed. Despite the Concorde Agreement’s mandate of a maximum of 16 races, this season will feature 18 races with new stops at Bahrain and in China. The Canadian stop, originally thought to be gone was reinstated as was Belgium after a one year hiatus. The US race has been moved to June and the Brazil race is now the season ender.

So what does it all mean? Are we going to have any surprises this season? My thoughts are this: Unfortunately I don’t see any team beating Ferrari for the championship. And having said that it is tough to pick against Schumacher to win his seventh title. Honestly I don’t think Juan will have much incentive to get his team the title although he sounds like he is focused and ready to do the job. Ralfie sucks and wouldn’t win against me. Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are a little more intriguing. Raikkonen was only 2 points back at the end of the season last year and you know he wants to get a title this year to lord over Juan when he gets there next year. And Coulthard wants to show the team they are making a mistake by letting him go. Unfortunately theirs may come down to a car issue. The McLaren is always a thing of beauty, but the Mercedes engine winds so high. It has been detuned to help it last the weekend, but at what cost? Renault will have a say so in some races, but I don’t feel they are ready yet to challenge for the constructors or drivers titles.

Here are my predictions for the 2004 season… World Champion – Michael Schumacher Runner up – Juan Montoya Third – Rubens Barichello Constructor Champion – Ferrari Runner up - Williams – BMW Third – Renault Fourth – McLaren-Mercedes Fifth – BAR – Honda Sixth – Toyota Seventh – Sauber Eighth – Jordan Ninth – Jaguar Tenth - Minardi Enjoy the season, stay tuned for more and I’ll see you at Indy in June!