Formula 1 2005 Season Wrap-Up Review

DSC-OFF · #1 10-21-2005, 09:30 PM

Well gentlemen, its over........for me its a jar-full of emptiness till March. I want to know what you guys think

Driver of the year (see poll)
Most improved team
Most grossly overpaid driver
Best pass
Most improved team
Best team
Best car
Best engine
Best crash
Best circuit
Best 1st lap, 1st turn
Biggest dissapointment
Biggest surprise
Best team manager
Who youre most glad is retiring
Stupidest thing a driver has done
What youre looking forward to for 2006

zwei Biere bitte · #2 10-21-2005, 10:03 PM

Driver of the year
Kimi Raikonnen... he had tremendous drives at almost all the races. Shame his car wasn't always up to the task.

Most improved team
I say Toyota. They did a fantasitc job this year.

Most grossly overpaid driver
Micheal Schumacher. He gets paid $80 million yet doesn't win any races (I don't count Indy as a true race)

Best pass
Kimi passing Fisi at Suzuka I think on the last lap.

Best team
Mclaren. While Renault did win, Fisi and Alonso never really worked as a "team" toghether. That was the opposite with McLaren, with Kimi and Juan working as a team with each other.

Best car
Tough one. Renault had the reliability, McLaren had the speed. So I guess Renault takes this one.

Biggest dissapointment
Who else rather than Mr. Michael Schumacher and the whole Ferrari team. They have the biggest budget but never got a real win the entire season.

Biggest surprise
In a good way, Red Bull and Christian Klein. David was so-so. In a bad way, BAR... they did terrible this year.

What youre looking forward to for 2006
Tire changes once again, new BMW team, new Honda team, and Red Bull Junior. Not looking forward to V8s and Max Mosley and Bernie Eccelstone.

Superfresa · #3 10-21-2005, 10:23 PM

I pretty much agree with Zwei, but I'd add that I'm looking forward to see what Mark Webber can do with a better car (if he gets better luck next year) and I'm also looking forward to how things will develop this year with Juan Pablo Montoya. But as said, pity about the V8s and the head people at F1. The biggest dissapointment, I'd say, BMW-Williams. They need to be in the fight and I wanted it to be a good one this year between renault, Mclaren and BMW. But they didn't make it. Hope williams crawls back into the fight next year even w/o BMW. but pity bmw wasn't up to expectations this year.

and geez, Toyota is improving massively!

MitzXJ220 · #4 10-22-2005, 07:33 AM

Quote, originally posted by Superfresa »

I'd add that I'm looking forward to see what Mark Webber can do with a better car

He was impressive at Jaguar, he single handily raked in the points in 2003, bar 1 point scored by the 'Flying Giraffe' Justin Wilson. I rate him highly after Kimi and Fernando.

I'm sure Williams will start to win again at some point - hopefully with the new Cossie.

Cozz · #5 10-22-2005, 03:00 PM

Well, if anyone remembers the thread before of the season then you'll remember that I said it was going to be Renault vs. McLaren.

The best is Kimi by far. Did anyone see the last 15 laps in Japan? He drove like a mad man. Over a second a lap faster than GF. Then he passes him (best pass of the year BTW) on the last lap....NICE!

I'm going to keep my eyes out on new info. The V8's are in but BMW has yet to test them...odd.

Reppu · #6 10-23-2005, 01:48 AM

I just can't believe the small credit Alonso is receiving. He's the champion, for god's sake!. It almost looks like it stole the title or something!.

In my opinion, Alonso was the fastest when it was needed, and the most intelligent when it was needed too. How many cars did Raikkonen brake? How many mistakes did he commit? And then, how many Alonso? Everybody says Raikkonen was faster, but having the fastest car that's not that special. How many races would have him won driving for Renault and against the McLaren team? Alonso won 7 races, the same than the supposedly 'best driver of the year', but with a slower car. Doesn't that mean something? Who won the last race of the season, when the pressure of the title was gone and there was no need to be conservative?

For me the Alonso-Raikkonen comparison is similar that the one between Renault and McLaren: Raikkonen may be fast, but very unreliable. Alonso is as fast, but more intelligent and VERY reliable. He has made the most effective driving of all the contenders. He hardly makes a mistake, but he has demonstrated that he can be as spectacular as anyone: just look the overtake to Schumacher in Japan, in the fastest corner of the whole championship. Even Schumacher said he couldn't believe it when he did it.

Well, whatever. History only remembers the champions. I'm sorry if i offended any Raikkonen fan, but i get very angry everytime Alonso is neglected the merit he deserves. Just to end: Ron Dennis should use some fair play and humility instead of showing off how jealous he is.

Modified by Reppu at 10:54 AM 10/23/2005

scorpio14 · #7 10-23-2005, 02:30 AM

Most Improved Team - Definetily Toyota
Best Team - Toyota (IMO)
Best Car - Merc and Renault
Biggest Dissapointment - Ferrari (in terms of team, but im glad they didnt repeat last year coz that was boring) and American GP (in terms of event where only 7 cars ran the race... very annoying too and if MS didnt win that i think his season coulda been worse)
Biggest Surprise - Toyota
What im lookin forward to for 2006 - Toyota's performance (hopefully it gets even better)

Cozz · #8 10-23-2005, 06:29 AM

Quote, originally posted by Reppu »

I just can't believe the small credit Alonso is receiving. He's the champion, for god's sake!. It almost looks like it stole the title or something!.

In my opinion, Alonso was the fastest when it was needed, and the most intelligent when it was needed too. How many cars did Raikkonen brake? How many mistakes did he commit? And then, how many Alonso? Everybody says Raikkonen was faster, but having the fastest car that's not that special. How many races would have him won driving for Renault and against the McLaren team? Alonso won 7 races, the same than the supposedly 'best driver of the year', but with a slower car. Doesn't that mean something? Who won the last race of the season, when the pressure of the title was gone and there was no need to be conservative?

For me the Alonso-Raikkonen comparison is similar that the one between Renault and McLaren: Raikkonen may be fast, but very unreliable. Alonso is as fast, but more intelligent and VERY reliable. He has made the most effective driving of all the contenders. He hardly makes a mistake, but he has demonstrated that he can be as spectacular as anyone: just look the overtake to Schumacher in Japan, in the fastest corner of the whole championship. Even Schumacher said he couldn't believe it when he did it.

Well, whatever. History only remembers the champions. I'm sorry if i offended any Raikkonen fan, but i get very angry everytime Alonso is neglected the merit he deserves. Just to end: Ron Dennis should use some fair play and humility instead of showing off how jealous he is.

Modified by Reppu at 10:54 AM 10/23/2005

Alonso intelligent? um...no. His mistake in Canada cost him the win. AND, it was the one of the few times Alonso was under pressure. See, Alonso didn't need to push half of the year because of the gain he had. Kimi was pushing like a mad man from the first race trying to catch up.

Mclaren DNF's can be mostly blames on the their carbon fibre gearbox. It had a bunch of hydro problems and breaking shafts. But it's the first of it's kind on the field.

Cozz · #9 10-23-2005, 06:33 AM

Also, you can take some bets that McLaren will be on top agian next year.

But I don't know about Renault. Renault and BMW have yet to test their V8's. MB, Toyota, Ferrari, Cosworth and Honda are all making new specs as of right now and will have newer versions in December.

If I have to choose I will say McLaren will be the team to beat next year. I think Ferrari will come strong (maybe second) and Renault (3rd) as well.

Naga Royal Guard · #10 10-23-2005, 08:14 AM

can someone post the final scores, thanks