2005 F1 Preview

We are now officially less than a week from the start of the F1 season. It has been a long time since last October at Brazil. So how is 2005 going to shake out and how will any team be able to unseat Ferrari and Michael Schumacher for the championship?
Like every season, hope springs eternal. Unfortunately the past few have had that hope dashed almost as soon as the cars are unloaded at Albert Park. Will this year be any different? Only time will tell.
What’s new?
Driver changes were in vogue during the off season. In fact, eight of the teams are featuring new lineups going into the first round of the season. Probably the most notable is the arrival of Juan Montoya at McLaren. Yes, the contract was signed before last season, but now JPM gets his chance with Mercedes power. JPM’s departure from Williams was a golden opportunity for Mark Webber. The Aussie will be in seat 1. Ralfie also left Williams and has been replaced by Nick Heidfeld.
Ralfie has moved on to the Toyota team for a huge amount of money that he will never earn. David Coulthard has moved from the McLaren team to the Red Bull team which was formerly the Jaguar team.
Other notables are the introduction of the first Indian driver. Narain Karthikeyan will drive the Jordan/Midland car. And speaking of Jordan, Eddie has sold part of his team to Russian investors Midland. There has been talk of a race in Moscow for years, but this is the first real foray into the sport by the Russians. Tiago Montiero will take the other seat.
As mentioned, Ralfie is over at Toyota and will be alongside Jarno ‘Top Knot’ Trulli. Trulli won the Monaco GP last year, but fell out of favor for stroking it at France. By the end of the season last year, 1998 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve had taken the seat. This season, Villeneuve will test the F1 waters again in the Sauber. The only other significant change is the Giancarlo Fisichella will take Trulli’s seat at Renault.
Jordan/Midland has also announced it will run Toyota engines this season.
The two weekend rule is now in effect as well. That means that engines will have to last two full race weekends or penalties will be assessed. This is just the first step towards sweeping rules changes that have been proposed by FIA president Max Mosley.
Finally, the season has been stretched to 19 races with Turkey joining this years lineup.
What’s not?
BAR and Ferrari were the only two teams to stand pat on their driver combos, although Jensen Buttons wanted out at BAR. After a court battle, Buttons will stay. Most of the teams are using the same engine and tyre manufacturers this season. Sauber has signed a deal with BMW, but that will not go into effect until next season.
Of course Michael Schumacher and Ferrari will be the odds on favorites for this years championship. In fact, things will probably look similar to last season at the top of the grid. Williams, McLaren, BAR and Renault should be the haves while Jordan/Midland, Red Bull, Sauber, Toyota and Minardi will make up the second division.
With that all in mind how do I think the season will shake out? Here are my predictions:
Constructors:
Ferrari
McLaren
BAR
Williams
Renault
Sauber
Toyota
Red Bull
Jordan
Minardi
Drivers:
M. Schumacher
Montoya
Barrichello
Sato
Raikkonen
Buttons
Heidfeld
Webber
Alonso
Massa