Special F1 Column - Maurice Hamilton's Look At 2008
30/12/2007
It is being assumed far and wide that, because Lewis Hamilton narrowly missed becoming World Champion, he will be a shoe-in for the 2008 title. Motor racing, and Formula One in particular, is not that simple.
Certainly, Hamilton, along with reigning champion Kimi Raikkonen, must start as one of two favourites, since he will remain with McLaren-Mercedes and will be, whether McLaren admit it or not, the team’s number 1 driver, with newboy Heikki Kovalainen taking Alonso’s place.
It remains to be seen however, whether the turmoil over the eligibility of their 2008 car affects McLaren unduly.
Alonso will return to Renault, the team that gave him his double world championships. Despite having a very poor season in 2007, Renault says it knows where the trouble lay with its car. Alonso will be aware that, if any team can sort out their problems, it is Renault.
He will also know that Renault will put a metaphorical arm around his shoulder and provide the feeling of being wanted which he felt lacking at McLaren. Certainly, Alonso should have no problems with Nelson Piquet Jnr, who replaces Kovalainen in a rather neat swap.
Both Renault and McLaren will be looking to Ferrari for their main opposition. There is no change within the Italian team and reigning world champion Raikkonen, his confidence high, will be difficult to beat now that he feels fully settled and integrated after his first year with Ferrari.
Felipe Massa, who won three grands prix in 2007 and could have won a fourth were it not for having to help Raikkonen in the final round, will be just as big a threat as before.
BMW Sauber retain Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, two fast and even-matched drivers. The Swiss-based team plans to continue their very impressive progress but making that final step to get on terms with Ferrari and McLaren will prove difficult in only their third season.
Similarly, Red Bull are poised to make another step forward with David Coulthard and Mark Webber and take the fight to Williams, who have signed Nico Rosberg for another two years. Kazuki Nakajima will join Rosberg after an impressive debut by the Japanese driver at the end of the season.
The most significant technical change, from a driver’s point of view, will be the absence of traction control, a development that will favour drivers with delicate throttle control. This should suit Jenson Button but the Englishman knows it will take at least a year for new technical director Ross Brawn to pull Honda out of its current position. Like I said, motorsport is never simple…
Maurice Hamilton is BBC Radio Five Live's Formula 1 commentator, and covers Formula 1 for The Observer newspaper, CAR Magazine in the UK and Racer Magazine in America. His work is published in the USA, South Africa, Australia, Columbia and Ireland.