07/02/08 - With just a little over a month to go, Formula 1 has been busy gearing up for the next season. For now, we will take a look at Ferrari's lead drivers.
After a dramatic finish in the season ending race in Brazil that won Raikkonen the 2007 Formula 1 drivers’ title, Ferrari announced that no team orders will come into play for the 2008 season. As it stands, the status of both their drivers will be equal. It is only when a driver has a clear advantage of winning the title that Scuderia Ferrari will favor one over the other.
The question therefore stands: who will have the edge throughout the duration of the season?
On paper, both drivers are stunningly quick in their own way. No one can deny Felipe Massa’s reputation as last year’s king of qualifying. On the other hand, Kimi has proven throughout his career that he is the epitome of the natural racing driver.
Certainly, both believe in their chances of winning the title next year. Massa mentioned that it was only a lack of luck that threw him out of contention in the four-man race to the title last year. Raikkonen reaffirmed that his drive to win is just as immense as it was before he won his title. Aside from personal motivation, the new F2008 looks very promising in pre-season testing. The car looks to be a winner. It’s therefore up to the driver to produce results.
However, based on early testing results, Kimi Raikkonen looks to have the edge over Felipe Massa. The key factor coming into the season is the lack of traction control.
Massa already announced his lack of enthusiasm upon hearing the decision to ban Traction Control. No one can blame him. He never had experience racing in Formula 1 without the driving aid. Kimi Raikkonen, however, had some experience. Granted, Raikkonen’s experience driving without traction control was less than a year back in 2001. However, his performance was nonetheless impressive enough to warrant Ron Dennis’ attention. The following year, Raikkonen was shipped out of Sauber all the way to McLaren and proceeded to become a superstar.
The most recent tests of Ferrari were held in Bahrain. After three days of testing, Kimi Raikkonen remained on top of the timesheets. His fastest time clocked 1: 30.455s. The lap time was nearly a second faster than last year’s pole position time of 1: 31.359s. Massa’s best on the other hand was 1: 31.293s. The speed difference is very visible between the two drivers under the new rules.
Massa has a greater chance of struggling at the beginning of the year. If such is the case, Raikkonen might just build an early lead that will be enough to warrant the team’s full support.
But then again, Formula 1 is hardly predictable. One just needs to look at last year’s season finale to see how Mathematical odds can easily be defied in the sport. Anything can still happen from now until the red lights go off on March 16.
