It’s almost time for the first race of 2008. It looks as though Ferrari are going to pick up where they left off as the team to beat but the Australian Grand Prix will answer a lot of questions about how 2008 is going to pan out.

Read my prediction for the top three and make your guess below.

Ferrari leading the way

Kimi Raikkonen’s win here last year might have been the first for Ferrari since 2004 but this has always been one of those circuits where the Italian team have been strong – particularly in the tyre war years when Melbourne was decidedly a ‘Bridgestone track’.

He might not have dominated the race so easily had team mate Felipe Massa not suffered a gearbox problem in qualifying, leaving him on the grid. I think the battle for the win will be between these two drivers and we might get an early glimpse into how closely matched they are – and whether Massa is struggling as much without traction control as some people are saying he is.

I expect McLaren are going to be the only team able to get close to Ferrari. If the car is as quick over a single lap as it looks then Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen might get onto the front row, or even claim it outright, which could set up a very interesting race.

Qualifying: new rules and McLaren vs Ferrari

Happily the nonsense of fuel burn laps and fuel credits has been chucked for 2008 – that means no messing around at the start of Q3 burning off fuel, but it also presents the teams with a new strategic dilemma.

That especially goes for Ferrari. They know the McLarens are quick over a single lap so Ferrari might want to run their cars extra-light to ensure Hamilton and Kovalainen don’t spoil their day.

Raikkonen did an excellent job at the French and British races last year by carrying more fuel and taking the lead via the pit stops, but he won’t want to risk ending up behind Massa.

The midfield pack

As for the other teams it looks like BMW, Williams, Red Bull and Renault will be fighting for the last six places in Q1 – and perhaps the Toyotas as well if Jarno Trulli’s stunning lap on the final day of testing is genuinely reflective of their pace. Along with Trulli top qualifiers Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber must be the most likely to cause an upset.

Williams and Red Bull are the two teams that appear to have improved the most since 2007 and their progress will be watched very keenly.

Interestingly Force India are very confident they are going to make it into Q2. But Honda needn’t worry as Super Aguri have confirmed at the 11th hour they will be racing, so there will be at least two cars for Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello to beat.

TV times

Television coverage

See the 2008 Australian Grand Prix F1 session times for more information. British television coverage is as follows:

Australian Grand Prix qualifying

Live ITV1, 2.15-4.20am, Saturday 15th March
Replay ITV1, 1.20-3.05pm, Saturday 15th March

Australian Grand Prix race

Live ITV1, 3.30am-6.30am, Sunday 16th March
Replay ITV1, 12.45-2.30pm, Sunday 16th March
Highlights ITV1 12.15-1.15am, Monday 17th March
Highlights ITV4 6-7pm, Monday 17th March

F1 Comments Live

Visit F1Fanatic.co.uk to discuss qualifying and the race as it happens. Look out for the F1 Comments Live post from half an hour before the start of qualifying and the race.

My top three prediction

I think this early in the season at a track where they are always competitive Ferrari are going to be too much for McLaren.

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Felipe Massa
3. Lewis Hamilton

Make your prediction below…

More about the Australian Grand Prix

• 2008 Australian Grand Prix – circuit diagram, session times, race history and more
• Video: Australian GP preparations
• The future of the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne
• Albert Park, Melbourne – comments from people who’ve been to the track

Read the complete F1Fanatic 2008 season preview

• 2008: What are you most looking forward to?
• 2008: The year ahead in numbers
• 2008: The new rules
• 2008: The rookies
• 2008: The calendar
• 2008: Force India
• 2008: Super Aguri
• 2008: Honda
• 2008: Scuderia Toro Rosso
• 2008: Toyota
• 2008: Red Bull
• 2008: Williams
• 2008: Renault
• 2008: BMW
• 2008: Ferrari
• 2008: McLaren
• 2008: Predictions

Who will have the best car? Ferrari. On balance, an F2007 was the car to have last year, and at the very least I expect them to have slightly increased their advantage over McLaren.

Will anyone other than McLaren and Ferrari win a race? If it rains I’d put some money on Fernando Alonso, otherwise not.

How will Williams do? I think they’ll score points consistently early in the season but be overtaked by Renault and BMW as the season goes on.

Who will win the first race? Kimi Raikkonen.

Will traction control make the racing better? Perhaps a little – I think we’ll see a few more mistakes and more drivers suffering tyre degradation.

What word will have the suffix ‘-gate’ added to it? Lewis.

What will be the biggest surprise of the year? Honda won’t be as bad as everyone expects.

Which driver will be dropped first? Rubens Barrichello.

Who will be the most impressive rookie? Timo Glock.

What will be the biggest political issue of the year? The combined problem of the economic downturn, containing costs, small teams in jeopardy and the legality of customer cars.

Champion driver and team? Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari.

Make your predictions for the year below…

On paper, 2008 should be all about Ferrari. Double champions last year, they ended the season on an upswing in form that saw them dominate the Brazilian Grand Prix. They appear to have carried that momentum through into the off-season where Kimi Raikkonen has usually been the man to beat.

As far as technical director Aldo Costa is concerned only one thing can beat them, and it’s not Lewis Hamilton:

The little problem of reliability. We need to take care of all aspects. We are sure we will get to the first race in the best possible condition, not only from a performance point of view, but also in terms of the reliability.

Two number ones?

The driver situation at Ferrari is particularly interesting. After 11 years of being focused on one man – Michael Schumacher – last year the team allowed Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa to fight for the championship. They persisted with the approach until the end – Massa taking points off Raikkonen as late as the Turkish Grand Prix – but once Massa was out of the title race he dutifully slipped into ‘number two’ mode and let Raikkonen win at Interlagos.

Apparently Ferrari intend to afford their driver equal status again this year. Massa said:

In the team, there’s 100% equal conditions between us until the point when one has any more chances, just like last year. I’m very comfortable in the car, 100% confident and with a big chance of fighting for the championship.

This is great for the sport but as McLaren showed last year even the best of intentions can lead a team astray. Giving “100% equal conditions” in the days when fuel strategies have to be decided before qualifying (which can decide which of a team’s drivers wins the race – as at Monaco last year), is exceptionally difficult.

How are Ferrari apparently succeeding in this where McLaren have failed? Perhaps their man management is better – given Ron Dennis’s track record I wouldn’t bet against it. If they really have switched from being entirely geared towards a number one driver, to giving two drivers absolutely equal equipment, testing, strategic preferences and all the rest of it, then that’s an impressive feat.

It may not be an issue at all as the verdict of many who observed testing at close quarters, such as Autosport’s Mark Hughes, is that Massa is struggling with the loss of electronic aids like traction control and electronic engine braking.

Many were surprised to see how close the gap between the Ferrari drivers was last year, and even in the second half of the season Massa was still able to beat Raikkonen. But that may not be the case this year, especially as Raikkonen has now had 12 months at the team and brought them a world championship.

F2008

Ferrari pole-axed the opposition at the first round last year but from that race on we saw a see-sawing battle between them and McLaren. Various theories competed to explain why Ferrari couldn’t sustain their early advantage: a failure in their wind tunnel, the changing of the regulations on flexing floors, and McLaren’s rapid rate of development.

This year again they look set to go into the first race with an advantage – a slim one, but enough to comfortably out-qualify and out-race McLaren and the rest. Massa had this to say about the car:

The car is definitely good for me: we’ve made a step forward especially in the slow corners. As for the quick corners, the car is pretty good as it was last year too. So I think we’ve improved the car a bit in that aspect.

With this car it’s a bit easier to be without traction control. We had a good feeling on the kerbs at the chicane here, so I’m happy from the start about the car’s balance. We didn’t have to work so much on the car to get good lap times, so it’s definitely positive.

Last year’s car was strongest on the most aerodynamically-demanding tracks but weaker at venues like Monza and Monaco that require lots of mechanical grips and the ability to ride bumps and kerbs. To achieve the latter the team have shortened the car’s wheelbase (last year it had the longest on the grid), which should mean sacrificing downforce, but it seems the team have preserved their edge in this respect.

The team have suggested the F2008′s greatest weakness is reliability – a problem for the team last year. Raikkonen and Massa were forced out of races on three occasions, and other problems hindering them in qualifying. There have been several terminal failures in testing this year.

I would also question whether the team has lost its razor-sharp organisation at a race weekend with the departure of Ross Brawn. Failing to adequately refuel Massa during qualifying at Hungary was amateur stuff from a usually red-hot pit crew. The team seemed thrown into a panicky funk by Raikkonen’s crash at practice in Italy last year, which may have been related to Massa’s reasons for retiring from the race.

The team has said test driver Marc Gene will be on hand at every race weekend this year. It’s not clear what for.

More about Ferrari

• Kimi Raikkonen biography
• Felipe Massa biography
• Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa disagree on traction control
• The Massa delusion
• Ferrari

BMW were Formula 1′s third-best team in 2007: an excellent achievement given they only took over the Sauber team two years ago.

Their challenge for 2008 is to reduce the gap to the leading teams, McLaren and Ferrari, It’s a big ask, and early in winter testing it looked as though they’d actually taken a step backwards. But in the later tests it appeared they’d finally unlocked the potential of the F1.08 and were able to talk convincingly about getting closer to the Big Two. Mario Theissen said:

For 2008 we have set ourselves the target of closing the gap to the leading teams. In addition we intend scoring our first Grand Prix victory.

Nick Heidfeld versus Robert Kubica

BMW have not yet gone down the route of trying to bag a star driver. Team boss Mario Theissen clearly has a lot of faith in Heidfeld and Kubica. He bagged Heidfeld from Williams when BMW were supplying engines to them, and nicked Kubica from under Flavio Briatore’s nose.

When Kubica arrived on the scene late in 2006 and grabbed a podium at his third race start everyeon thought he would blow Heidfeld away in 2007. But Kubica struggled with the change in tyres last year, and then had his huge shunt at Montreal, while Heidfeld just kept on scoring points.

But I think it’s Kubica that has greater potential – it was he who wriggled the BMW into a race-winning position at Shanghai, before that cruel and rare failure robbed him of a potential victory. He relishes street circuits, so keep an eye on him at Valencia and Singapore.

Nick Heidfeld biography
Robert Kubica biography

F1.08 – efficient dynamics

BMW’s slogan for its more environmentally-friendly road cars is ‘efficient dynamics’ – the same tag might be applied to the F1.08 with its radical aerodynamic package aimed at increasing downforce and stability while limiting drag.

The team invested heavily in computing power to run Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) testing, and the product of that is a car with very sophisticated surfaces.

The airbox-mounted ‘viking wings’ are back along with a similar device muounted half down the front nose. The wings in front of the sidepod are similarly intricate and quite unlikely anything on their rivals’ cars, and an additional wing behind the chimneys dubbed the ‘heck’ wing adds more downforce.

Another innovation is the front wheel fairings which extend beyond the wheel rim with the apparent aim of channelling air flow at the front of the car. (See Comparing the F1 cars of 2008 for more.)

Kubica has said the car is quicker, but harder to drive:

There are a couple of things that have been improved a lot but there are some issues still that I think will not be easy to fix, but of course the car is performing better. I think half the problem is gone but the other half is there, and we cannot fix it quickly, so we are trying to balance the car as is.

It is not easy to balance, in the windy conditions I think last year’s car was easier to drive and set up than this year’s car.

Added together numerous small changes may trim vital tenths from lap times. It may not be enough to bring Williams and McLaren within range just yet, but on one of those unpredictable days BMW might just make it to the top step of the podium.

More about BMW

• BMW reveal their 2008 F1 car: the F1.08
• Comparing the F1 cars of 2008

This car is very much an evolution of RB3. There are very common parts, but the concept and principle of the car is the same. It is an evolution, so it will make it easier for the team this year as they have learned how to work with it.

If the car can deliver on the promise it has shown in testing, then 2008 should be the year we finally see what Mark Webber is capable of.

Following two seasons with the least reliable car on the grid (Williams in 2006) Webber will be relishing the thought of seeing the chequered flag more often this year. Team mate David Coulthard has acknowledged how much the car has improved:

I think we’ve made a big improvement. But I think McLaren and Ferrari are at the front, and then there’s a group of uncertainty with BMW, Williams, Renault and ourselves. A lot of guys fighting over four places.

The podium will be difficult if all the McLarens and the Ferraris finish, but I think there’s definitely potential to make this car quicker. We’ve got an area that we know is weak and we just need to be able to design and build the parts.

It’s not realistic to expect a radical step forward from Coulthard at this stage in his career: Webber out-qualified Coulthard 15 times to two last year and that’s not going to change in 2008.

But the pair complement each other well – while Webber acts like a magnet for incidents regardless of whether they’re his fault, Coulthard can be relied upon to bag safe points. His neck problem at testing in Spain was a concern though and as ever there are a host of talented young Red Bull drivers eyeing his place in the team, not least of which their reserve driver Sebastien Buemi.

Although Coulthard set the third-fastest single lap time of the final test at Barcelona, it’s not clear whether the car is kind enough to its tyres over long stints to have a consistently quick race pace. But the radical engine fin that appeared on the car a few weeks ago showed they are exploring all avenues in search of performance.

Red Bull may also made life easier on themselves this year by choosing not to supply Toro Rosso with the latest chassis from the start of the season as they did last year.

With Red Bull looking likely to be right in the thick of the midfield group, they may even be racing with engine suppliers Renault on a regular basis. What would Flavio Briatore make of that?

Photo copyright: Red Bull / GEPA

• Mark Webber biography
• David Coulthard biography
• Red Bull launch their 2008 F1 car: the RB4

The rumours about us leaving the sport have always been groundless. Having signed the Concorde Agreement, we are in it at least until 2012. We never received deadlines from Japan regarding the next two years.

More recently the drivers can’t seem to decide from one day to the next whether the car is going backwards or forwards.

Only a few weeks ago Jarno Trulli and new hire Timo Glock were downbeat. The Italian said: “talking about getting some podiums is completely unrealistic,” and Glock added:

For us, when we compare the 2007 car with the 2008 car, we definitely made a step in the right direction, but on the other side all the other teams made a step forward as well.

Technical chief Pascale Vasselon disagreed. Speaking three days after Glock he claimed:

If you compare what is comparable, which means comparing times within the same test sessions and taking into account estimated fuel loads, you will see that at the moment the gap reflects a performance gain for the TF108 compared to last year.

And then to top everything off Trulli went and set the second-quickest time around the Circuit de Catalunya on the final day of testing and changed his mind about the car:

I am moderately optimistic. I am sure we can raise some eyebrows this year and cause problems for some teams. We can be competitive. Forget Ferrari and McLaren for the moment, they are a couple of steps ahead, but the rest are within reach.

So where are Toyota this year? Since Mike Gascoyne was dropped in 2005 Vasselon and engine man Luca Marmorini have remained in charge, and it’s down to them and the much-vaunted ‘Toyota Way’ to conjure up some badly needed performance from one of F1′s wealthiest teams.

There have been two potentially significant additions to the team, however. Former Williams man Frank Dernie has arrived in a consultation role and Marc Gillan has joined the aerodynamics department. Consequently the front of the car has seen a substantial reorganisation with a new McLaren-style bridge wing and revised turning vanes, barge boards and sidepod wings designed to improve stability – a watch-word of 2008 F1 car design.

On the driver side Trulli can be relied upon to wring everything out of a car on a single lap but he’s never been able to shake of the tag as a fast qualifier and indifferent racer.

If anything the reverse is true of Timo Glock – he’s not especially unspectacular in qualifying, but he’s a bare-knuckled brawler of the first order in a battle for position.

Whether they will have a car worthy of their talents to go racing with depends on whether the team has finally found its way. But former driver Allan McNish believes there are still fundamental flaws in Toyota’s way of going racing that is holding them back:

Look at the top teams in F1. Ron Dennis rules at McLaren, Jean Todt has done it for many years at Ferrari. They are prepared to slam their fist down when a big decision has to be made, and look at the success they’ve had.

Toyota doesn’t have that sort of system, and as far as money, Renault won the title for two years with much smaller budgets than McLaren or Ferrari.

Can the Toyota Way be made to work in F1? So far the answer is an emphatic ‘no’.

More about Toyota

• Is Jarno Trulli complimenting of complaining about Ferrari?
• Toyota reveal their 2008 F1 car: the TF108
• Video: Lewis Hamilton vs Nelson Piquet Jnr vs Timo Glock
• Timo Glock finally confirmed at Toyota for 2008

Fry scored a major coup by luring Ross Brawn to the team as principal. He’s made several other astute hires in the past 12 months including Loic Bigois (aerodynamics), Jorg Zander (technical director) and Alexander Wurz (test driver). But I think Brawn’s shrewd mind isn’t going to waste too much time on 2008 when a major regulations change is due for next year:

We need to see where we are at the start of the season and then decide n the merits of what sort of programme we have with this car and what we put into ’09… We have to take a very strong view from ’09 and make sure we balance resources for the future.

Brawn has joined the team too late to have an impact on the fundamentals of the 2008 car, the RA108. Honda has also put a lot of effort into its KERS project for 2009 and they are believed to have the most advanced system so far.

So have the team already written 2008 off in their minds to focus on next year? I think they are more orientated towards 2009 than the other teams, but I still expect to see an improvement from them this year.

Rubens Barrichello has spoken of the disorganisation that paralysed strategic decisions in races last year, and Brawn will surely bring swift order to that chaos. Having worked together at Ferrari from 2000-2005, Barrichello is a fan of Brawn’s style and thinks he’s the right man for the job:

Basically he’s a very good person to organize the team and to get everyone on their right positions. Right now, Honda has the ability and we have good people working with us, but we needed a leader and someone to control the whole Honda team, and I think that’s why he’s in the right place.

At the end of the day, I think that there are no changes from what he has done in the past. Team principal or technical director, he can do fantastically well.

With Barrichello and Brawn having enjoyed a productive working relationship in the past, might this cause problems for Jenson Button? I don’t think so – the British driver is in his sixth year with the team, he’s staked his reputation on their success, and he’s surely smart enough to realise that after a shocking 2007, change can only be good.

The 2008 RA108 is an entirely new car and although testing does not seem to have gone well, the team usually well towards the bottom of the time sheets, the team say progress has been made and the car’s stability under braking is already greatly improved. They will test the definitive aerodynamic specification in a private session at Jerez next week.

Is this a sign of things to come? I think we’ll see a more respectable Honda in 2008. But Ross Brawn in only in his first year with the team and I bet he’s playing the long game. He knows that next year’s regulation changes offer a major chance to make up ground on the front runners, and he’ll divert every ounce of spare capacity into making the 2009 car a winner.

Photos copyright: HondaRacingF1.com

More on Honda

• Pictures: Honda revises ‘Earth car’ livery for 2008 season
• Honda reveal their 2008 F1 car: the RA108
• Official: Ross Brawn to join Honda for 2008

But we also saw the two teams dominate at different types of track: Ferrari’s stomping grounds were circuits with a medium to high aerodynamic demand: Catalunya, Spa-Francorchamps, Magny-Cours and Silverstone. McLaren did better at tracks with lower speed corners, regardless of whether the majority of the track was fast or slow, which is why they were just as dominant at Monza as they were at Monte-Carlo.

Will that pattern continue this year? Here’s a few of my thoughts along with some interesting data that BMW collected last year.

BMW published some interesting statistics on the 15 tracks from 2007 that F1 will return to in 2008:

Tight, twisty Monte-Carlo comes out as the shortest track with the lowest top speed. Spa has the longest unbroken flat out section, with the drivers keeping their foot buried for a full 24 seconds, covering over 1.8km!

The two new venues, Valencia and Singapore, are unknown quantities, but BMW technical director Willy Rampf reckons the cars will exceed 300kph in more than one place at Valencia. This video simulation lap of the circuit certainly backs up that impression.

BMW also grouped the tracks according to tyre wear, brake wear and downforce levels required. Here’s what happens if you separate the tracks by downforce levels and colour the tracks in line with which team won there last year (Ferrari in red, McLaren in silver):

(Admittedly I’ve been a little devious and slightly optimised the arrangement to fit my theory, but bear with me…)

The Ferrari F2007′s strength was aerodynamic efficiency. On circuits that demanded a compromise between downforce for cornering speed and low drag for straight-line speed, they were untouchable.

McLaren excelled on the extreme tracks that demanded very high or very low downforce settings, where efficiency was less important than just having the fast car in a straight line or around a corner.

So over the winter both teams have been working on achieving the exact opposite of each other.

McLaren need the MP4/23 to be kinder to its rear tyres over race distances – not easy when traction control and engine braking are gone and your lead driver is the tail-happy Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari need the F2008 to work better over bumps and to change direction more quickly in low-speed complexes. The demand is particularly tough for them as both F1′s new circuits this year are street tracks – and that means bumps and slow corners. On top of that, the long-radius bends of the Nürburgring (where McLaren only just snatched victory from Ferrari last year) have been replaced by the Hockenheimring’s sharp Hermann Tilke bends.

Testing so far seems to have confirmed that McLaren and Ferrari are closer to each other on pace this year. But will we see a repeat of 2007, where each team dominated on alternate weekends, or will they have produced two much more similar cars, raising the prospect of a tooth and nail battle between the two every weekend?

Photo copyright: Ferrari S.p.A.

Read more about the 2008 F1 calendar

• 2008 F1 calendar
• F1Fanatic 2008 F1 calendar for Google
• 2008 F1 calendar “more credible” than 20 years ago?
• Debate: going to a race in 2008?

Which change are going to have the biggest impact on F1 this year? Here’s a quick look at some of the rules changes for 2008.

Engine development freeze – Teams must use basically the same engines in 2008 as they did in 2007, with development restricted to a small number of parts. This freeze on development is expected to last at least five years (not the original ten) and next year teams will be allowed to use Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) to provide increased power. Article 15.7 of the technical regulations describes what parts teams may change. (FIA regs in full)

Standard engine control unit – This has already had a lot of discussion on the site. Teams are required to use a standard engine control unit supplied by Microsoft McLaren Electronic Systems which, like the McLaren F1 team, is part of the McLaren Group. The purpose of this is to allow the FIA to enforce a ban on driver aids such as traction control. It will also limit teams’ abilities to to run electronic engine braking systems.

The net effect of which should make the cars more difficult to drive and there have been many spins during the off-season. Some drivers have expressed concern that driving in extremely wet conditions as seen at Fuji last year will no longer be possible.

It has also been suggested that teams might try to get around the traction control ban by other means, particularly by Jarno Trulli. In that case they might find themselves falling foul of article 9.3 when reads:

No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from
spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle demand by the driver.

Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted.

Restrictions on materials – As a cost-cutting measure the teams have been limited to using a restricted range of materials in the building of their cars.

Biofuel – The cars’ fuel must be a minimum of 5.75% biofuel. This will allow F1 cars to be in line with new road cars which will have the same requirement from 2010.

Some high-performance road cars use biofuel to produce a higher power output, so could there be an opportunity here for a team to use a higher concentration of biofuel to increase engine power? Probably not, as fuel is still limited to an octane range of 95-102 RON.

Four-race gearboxes – Gearboxes must now last four races without being changed. Teams can still change the clutch, oil, oil filters and associated system, hydraulics not related to gear shifting, and parts mounted to the casing that do not handle gear selection. Ratios can be changed to help tune a car to a particular circuit.

Changing a gearbox will incur a five-place grid penalty at the event where a driver changes gearbox. A further gearbox replacement results in a fresh penalty. If a driver fails to finish a race, “for reasons beyond the control of the team or driver,” they may fit a fresh gearbox for the next event without incurring a penalty.

Increased head protection – The cockpit sides have been raised to give drivers better head protection, making the profile of the cars noticeably different this year. This issue was raised following Alexander Wurz and David Coulthard’s crash in last year’s Australian Grand Prix. Tall cockpit sides were first introduced in 1996.

Engine replacement penalties – The ten-place grid penalty for changing a two-race engine remains, but drivers will not incur that penalty for a first offence.

Testing, promotion and young drivers – Teams can run promotional days and try out young drivers without it counting towards their limit of 30,000km of testing. Article 22.1 of the sporting regulations defines a ‘young driver’ as:

Any such driver not competed in an F1 World Championship Event in the preceding 24 months nor tested a Formula One car on more than four days in the same 24 month period.

Restrictions on spare cars – Teams can only have two cars assembled at any one time during a weekend and the stewards will consider a “partially assembled survival cell…fitted with an engine, any front suspension, bodywork, radiators, oil tanks or heat exchangers” to be a car.

This is intended to reduce the amount of spare equipment teams bring to races and, therefore, reduce costs. However in the event of both of a teams’ cars suffering damage at the start of a race which is red-flagged it may prevent both their cars from being able to re-start. However in practice such occasions are far rarer these days than they were 10 or 20 years ago.

Qualifying restrictions – This has also been covered in detail earlier. It is expected teams will run shorter first stints in the races. It should also greatly reduce the amount of time spent in the tedious ‘fuel burn’ phase at the start of the third part of qualifying. Unfortunately it does mean that ‘race fuel’ qualifying is being kept, which is a disappointment.

Photo copyright: Toyota F1 World

There’s already been some discussion about Rubens Barrichello being poised to break Riccardo Patrese’s 15-year record as the most experienced driver in Formula 1 – but exactly when will he pass the mark?

McLaren have one their least experienced starting line-up for decades and Ferrari could break 5,000 points this year – although they won’t hit it exactly unless they somehow score 0.73 of a point.

Drivers

Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso will probably both cross the 500 points threshold this year. Raikkonen is 44 points away, Alonso 10. Raikkonen is also six laps away from his 6,000th racing lap in F1.

Felipe Massa is approaching his 100th Grand Prix start which should come at the Belgian Grand Prix. He was also present at the 2005 United States Grand Prix, but failed to start, so he will register his 100th presence two weeks earlier at the European Grand Prix.

Carrying on in this vein Nico Rosberg’s 50th start (and presence) will be at Singapore and Takuma Sato’s 100th start will be at the Italian Grand Prix and his 100th presence at the European round.

Two drivers should hit the big 200. Giancarlo Fisichella is expected to get there first, registering his 200th presence at the Spanish Grand Prix and 200th start at the Monaco Grand Prix. He will be the ninth driver to achieve that, including Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard who have already past the landmark.

Jarno Trulli should be the next driver to hit 200 presences at the Japanese Grand Prix, but he will likely have to wait until the first race of next year to achieve 200 starts. He’s also 17 points away from his 200th, but he only scored eight last year so he may have to wait on that one too.

Rubens Barrichello is set to break the record for the longest F1 career, although there is some debate over when he’ll do it. Riccardo Patrese set the current record when he retired at the end of 1993, Barrichello’s first season in F1. Patrese appeared at 257 races and started 256 in a career that spanned 17 years.

Barrichello has been present at 253 races, but did not qualify for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, putting him on 252 starts. Ollie at BlogF1 points out that there are argument for and against excluding the 1998 Belgian, 2002 Spanish and 2002 French Grands Prix, and that even Barrichello’s own site cannot decide whether he’s started 250 or 252 Grands Prix!

It’s clear enough that Barrichello will match Patrese’s 257 presences at the Spanish Grand Prix and surpass them at the following race. But when they will decide he’s broken the record for most starts is a bit of a mystery.

Barrichello now drives for Honda, and Riccardo Patrese started just one of his 256 races with Honda power – the 1987 Australian Grand Prix as a substitute for Nigel Mansell at Williams.

Teams

Ferrari are likely to notch up their 200th pole position this year assuming they can score five more. If they have a particularly dominant season they could even be the first team to score more than a 5,000 points.

By the end of last season Ferrari drivers had scored 4753.27 points, leaving them 246.73 short of the big 5,000. They need another 13.7 points per race to do this, which is a second and third in each race, so it’s a tall order. But they managed 262 in 2004 and are currently on a 35 race streak of points-scoring so it’s not beyond the realm of the possible.

How did they score 0.27 of a point? At the time of the 1954 British Grand Prix a point was still awarded for fastest lap. But time keeping equipment was basic and seven drivers were credited with having set the quickest time of 1m 50s. Two of these, Jose Froilan Gonzales and Mike Hawthorn, were Ferrari drivers, and so scored one-seventh of a point each. Rounded down in decimals that gives Ferrari 0.27 points, although it should be noted the constructors’ championship only began in 1958.

BMW will rack up their 50th race start at the Singapore Grand Prix – and so will Super Aguri if they actually make it that far…

Renault are 10 podiums away from their 100th, but as they only scored one last year it might be premature to put the champagne on ice.

Williams have run a series of special liveries in the off-season celebrating the approach of their 500th race start at the first round of the year at Melbourne.

McLaren have the highest pair of numbers on their cars since 1990, when they used Ferrari’s traditional pairing of 27 and 28. This was after Alain Prost took the title and number one he won at McLaren with him to the Italian team, in the days before teams were assigned numbers based on where they finished in the constructors’ championship.

Most unusually McLaren also have the second most inexperienced driver line-up on the grid. Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have just 34 Grand Prix starts between them. I make that their least experienced starting line-up since they entered Jackie Oliver alone for the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, Oliver having appeared at 35 races but failed to start one.

Only Toro Rosso has a partnership with less experience: Sebastian Vettel (eight starts) and Sebastien Bourdais (none). Williams’ pairing of Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima have 36.

For debutants Force India, everything they do will be a first…

Races

Canada will host it’s 40th Grand Prix this year which will also be the 30th at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This milestone would have been reached a year earlier had the 1987 round not been skipped due to a sponsorship dispute.

Malaysia will host its tenth Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit and Singapore will be on the calendar for the first time, as will the Circuito Urbano Valencia. For the first time since 1994 the Nürburgring is off the calendar.

Finally, Bridgestone will mark their 200th appearance as an F1 tyre supplier at the German Grand Prix – the race being back on the calendar following its first absence since 1960.

Have you spotted any more records to be broken in 2008?

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