Centurion

Well the two Bimmers didn't do as well as last week during qualifying, but it was fun to watch none the less.
The starting grid has a Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, and then a BMW in 5th.
Kubica isn't too far behind. He sits in 7th on the grid.

It seems these three manufacturers are very closely matched including the drivers.
This is going to be a fun season to follow.

BetterMakeWay

Yup, BMW needs just that slightly more pinch, to compete 100% with Ferrari and McLaren. It needs to increse the reliability of the car and especially the gearbox and overall it needs more work, more training and higher motivation for the drivers. AND get Robert a good damn car!

Today BMW with Heidfeld proved to be very competitive and highly consistent. It's not often you get to beat a Ferrari and that's nice. Robert unfortunatley as i didn't get to see the start, as i understood made a contact with Heidfeld which runined his aerodyamics and for whatever reason he didn't have radio comunication.

Things start to hot up at the top of the driver's champsionship.

Centurion

Yeah, Nick has been doing very well. The second race of the season and both times ended up in 4th place. This kind of consistency usually wins you the championship. Unfortunately for him and BMW, the top three drivers have also been consistent. As a matter of fact, they're the same three ahead of Nick from the first race.
I agree with BMW working more on training the drivers. I think the car is right up there with the Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes, but I think they need to get the drivers as comfortable as possible with the new machine to increase confidence.

I loved how Fernando and Lewis jumped to the head of the pack right at the first lap. That's how aggressive BMW needs to get their drivers to be.

Overall, I thought this race was fun to watch and for the first time in a very long time I'm enjoying the qualifications rounds.

VIIV

We need to be realistic. Ferrari and McLaren are clearly the class of the field so far. If anything, McLaren appear stronger than I expected, although they were flattered today. BMW finished 5th last year, and I was disappointed when they downplayed chances of winning this year after showing promise in testing. But they do appear clearly ahead of Renault, Honda, Williams and Toyota. They need to be wary of Red Bull with Newey. Realistically, third in the constructer championship is a good target, and if they can put pressure on one of the big two to make it more a big three, that would be welcome news. What makes today's 4th impressive is it was on merit, and qualifying with a heavy fuel load as opposed to Australia when they went for a short first stint. But one has to admit it was helped by Massa's ambitious passing attempt. McLaren appears more reliable than the last few years, which will make podiums more difficult, but if BMW keep pace with development at the top two teams it could be a fun year. Although Hamilton looks like a prodigy so far, you have to believe he'll hit some bumps as a rookie, and Massa has demonstrated he can make big blunders.

It seems this year's problem area in F1 is the gearbox, as the top teams go for the ultraquick seamless shift. The good news is that is being developed by BMW in Munich along with the engine, while Hinwil concentrates on the aero which seems a strong point right now. The team seems to have a better handle on the Bridgestones than most of the old Michelin teams. On the driver front, Kubica made a mistake today and it is troubling he contacted his teammate, but I continue to believe he's one of the bright young stars of F1. Heidfeld seems like he's been around forever but is really still in his prime and doesn't make dumb mistakes.

So, I can see some podiums this year, and a solid third place in points.

Centurion

Thanks for posting. It's good to see more F1 fans in the States.

You don't think the BMW setup can match the McLaren's or Ferrari's?
At this point, so early in the season, I think it can but I believe the biggest difference right now is the difference in driving talent.

Two top rated drivers from last season placed into different teams:
Fernando is new to McLaren. Kimi is new to Ferrari. Yet they're both doing very well as they did last year. If you took either one of them and put them in the BMW, chances are you would still see them standing on the podium. These drivers are that good right now. Lewis Hamilton is a wildcard in my opinion, but he seems to have a great career ahead of him.

It's true about the tires. Drivers who had Michelin's last season are having more of a challenge this time with the monopolizing Bridgestone tires of this season.

Gearbox problems are not isolated to any specific manufacturer. BMW is having problems with it just as Ferrari is (Massa experienced this during the qualifications round in Melbourne).

I too see BMW in third for the Constructor's Championship for 2007. But again, that's only because of the driving talent and not the machines themselves.

BetterMakeWay

I agree with Centurion. BMW F1.07 is very competitive and if anything it's even as competitive as the McLarens and the Ferraris. The difference indeed is the driver. For instance look at how well Fernando managed to resurect McLaren from some modest-poor performance in the last years. With that much hard work, car testing, and driver testing nothing is impossible. Alonso is a good driver and with good knowledge on mechanics and how to set-up the car and more important how to communicate to the team's mechanics and engineers the desired changes in the car's set-up. As i heard Kimi lacks stuff like that mostly because he jumped some steps before reaching F1 ground but still Ferrari is a strong team even with the departure of MS.

Saying that Heidfeld was helped by Massa's rookie (or should i say karting) mistake is only half true. All the other time Massa couldn't pass Heidfeld and if it is understandable that he didn't pass it right after the agriculture thingie, then after the fresh tires and cleaning up the intakes he shouldn't have had problems but still he couldn't find the slip stream needed to pass Heidfeld. As Heidfeld pointed out he was amazed that the BMW was as fast in the straights as the Ferrari, and in the corners none the less. So if anything the cars were very close matched.

I overall am pleased with BMW's performance so far. It's only their 2nd year in "recent" F1 and look how they perform. I am sure that by patience and consistency along with more hard work their time will come. They can steal a win this year, for that i'm sure. Robert is a young talent and i have my faith in him as he many times proved that he can be quicker than 'quick Nick' he needs to get more experience and i'm sure he'll turn out ok. The thing that keeps me thinking is the fact that Heidfeld gave poor performance when Jaques Villneuve was around and that was just a year back. As soon as this young gun came along with alot of nerd, talent and will, Heidfled started to pick up the pace. And he's been doing that ever since. Now that's bothring, and that means he was sleeping all that time when JV was around.

About the tires i was dissapointed when Michelin backed off. It's admirable that they stick to the ideea that banning copetition in any kind of form in F1 is like steeling it's soul. " If they want a monopoly then we find no place for us in F1 ". In a way what's next? Making all the cars the same? Now they have to freeze most of the engine till 2010. Good in a way that they made the soft/hard compound mandatory in the race.

VIIV

I think it is a mistake to compare last year's McLaren and this year's. Clearly, McLaren have a better car, much closer to the Ferrari. If you put Alonso in a McLaren last year, he doesn't bring the gap down to Ferrari or Renault enough to make a difference. He said so after driving last year's car, something about how now he understood why Kimi wasn't competitive. I agree Heidfeld coasted while JV was here,and I don't think he's in the same league as Alonso and Kimi, but who is? Nick is a place holder anyway until Mario can get Vettel into the car. But he is reliable and now as pushed by Kubica should do a decent job without significant mistakes.

No, I don't think the BMW is as good as the Ferrari. It probably isn't too far off the McLaren, but if it really is close to the top two I'd expect Kubica to beat our Hamilton or Massa, which hasn't happened yet in qualifying or at race pace. I think the aero is very good (maybe too good in the Ferrari bending the rules way with the front wing) and mechanical grip should improve as they learn more about the tires. Of course we expect the engine to be good. But once you get to this level, it becomes getting hundredths of a second on pit stops, overall balance, and a thousand really small things all while remaining reliable. Ferrari and McLaren have proven themselves in these things, as has Renault. I hope BMW Sauber can get there, too. I don't really think Kimi or Fernando would have been on the podium yesterday in a BMW, but of course we will never know. That's why we watch and discuss, I guess!

Centurion

Fair enough.

I'm already looking forward to next weekend in Sakhir, Bahrain. The current forecast is for thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday but maybe clear on race day. Last season, Michelin had better wet tires than Bridgestone but now the playing field has been equalized in this regard (obviously).

New cars, new tires, and wet weather does not sound like a good formula. It appears qualifications is going to be more exciting than I originally thought.

VIIV

I would expect Ferrari to have an advantage on wets, simply because whatever development work has been done by Michelin teams will have been mostly on dry tires.

I'm definitely more interested in F1 this year than last, and that was a jump over a few years ago when it was a Schumi walkover.

Centurion

Exactly. The same was true for me. The last few years (up until last season), I wasn't interested in watching the Michael Schumacher show...errr, I mean...F1. And I'm not hating on him either. I recognize his skills and can say with confidence that he is among the best there is and ranks at the top along with Ayrton Senna. I know some will disagree, but that's just my humble opinion.

Also, as I've stated before, I'm really enjoying the qualifications rounds a lot more than I ever did and I think it's because of the new elements they've thrown in. It creates interesting strategies.