My Past F1 Predictions

[steveaki13]

Firstly I will just explain a bit about my F1 viewing history.

I have all GPs since 1989 now so have watched them all again, but

I started watch F1 in 91/92 however only being 5 or 6 I cant really recall much and probably didnt see much. My Dad watched it and I did too.

93-95 I remember from the time but didnt really make season wide thoughts about it.

its only about 1996 that I could say I though alot about season when I was 10/11.

Anyways I thought I would share my thoughts and views on 2000.

Ferrari - I actually believed that Schumacher could do it in 2000 and he did. I think it was a few things. Schumacher would be (hopefully) racing a whole season unlike 1999 and based on the fact that Irvine nearly took the title and Ferrari did win the WCC. I surmised that Ferrari had had the fastest car in 1999 and thus believed with Schumacher strong and Barrichello who I rated higher than Irvine. I was confident they could win it. As it turned out I was right, but Mclaren had some unrealiability too.

Mclaren - I think everyone saw them as the potential title winners too. It turned out in some ways to be DC's best season 3 wins and a title challenge until 3 or 4 races from the end. Although 2001 he finished 2nd. So its a close call but 2000-2001 were his best years. Hakkinen I felt was fortunate to win his second title in 1999 as I stated above I believe Ferrari's car was best and I believe had Schumacher not broken his leg he would have been champion.

Jordan - Wow I was so excited about Jordan. They had finished 3rd in WCC in 1999 and now with there brighter yellow (which as a 14 year old really got me going) I was sure Trulli and Frentzen would win multiple races in 2000. My first real error in 2000. They looked OK early on but never got the results. In Monaco I was pumped 2nd and 4th was it? Anyway I was loving it but as we know I jinxed them. Anyway I loved Jordan but was hugely disappointed in them after 1999.

Williams - I had no clue pre season I dont think. I mean in 99, Zanardi had been awful 0points and Ralf had scored 30odd. So was the 1999 Williams good or poor? I didnt know. I was pretty unmoved by BMW coming in initially, but it soon became apparent that Williams were moving forward. Jenson Button made me keen to see them move forward. Never massively loved Williams before that. When I had been younger in the mid 90s they were always winning and I like underdogs. Then in 98-99 they had sunk and were not massively stunning. It was really 2000 I took note with JB arriving and then 2001 with that stonking car and engine.

BAR - I always loved seeing new teams in F1, and so in 1999 when that new bright livery appeared I really loved them. However by 2000 I was less interested. The white livery was dull, but I think we all knew they would improve and score some points. However 4 4th places (i admit it I looked it up) and some 5ths and 6ths for Jacques was impressive. Zonta I always liked but he never really cut it in F1.

Jaguar - I was in love with the Idea and livery of Jaguar. I guessed they would win races one day (which as Red Bull they did), but my youthful hopes were soon dashed. The only things I recall about Jaguar in 2000 was Irvines 4th in Monaco and Herberts crash in Malaysia. They just rarely were seen from what I remember.

Benetton- I liked Fisichella and Wurz, but was disappointed with Benetton. I kept hoping they would return to mid 90s kind of levels, but they never did. I do remember there exciting podiums in Monaco and Canada. That was actually 2 great results when you look at it. Fisichella showing his class to find his way around the action and finish 3rd.

Prost - My goodness Prost were poor. I remember having a 2000 F1 game and Prosts raced Minardi every race at the back. I think they raced a bit further up than that, but I know that it did nothing for Heidfeld's rep.

Sauber- Salo and Diniz. Meh... the line up wasnt great and the best memory I have about them was in Brazil when they withdrew and got hit by flying ad boards.

Arrows- I was so pleased to see Arrows produce a decent car. 7 points and a 7th in the WCC was fantastic. I always found that 2000 car and brilliant car with great livery. Thus one of my favourite cars of all time. Dela Rosa actually impressed me in 1999 in a bad Arrows, but looked like he might get a BAR type drive but sadly it never happened.


Minardi- Finally Minardi. What a decent car for Minardi and another nice livery. The engine was heavy and rubbish, but Mazzacane (maybe it was the name) captured my imagination and I was always following both he and Gene's progress. I remember the USA GP when Hakkinen followed Gaston for about 3 laps and Murray Walker was muddled about blue flags. haha.
Anyway I actually believed the would score points pre season, but sadly they just didnt have enough pace. 3 8th places was the best they could manage. I remember the wet European GP and I was hoping a couple of cars would go bang or spin off. Mazzacane running 8th in the rain was so close to the points.

[jens]

Yeah it's funny to recall expectations. Now I remember, when it was announced that Heidfeld would switch from Prost to Sauber, I was a bit relieved even if not happy. It was even announced Heidfeld would get a 3-year-deal at Sauber, which was disappointing as I had hoped Heidfeld would get McLaren seat soon.

But I was relieved, because I was thinking "all right at least in Sauber he can score points." Because I had seen Prost in 1998 and 2000 and them being absolutely useless, while Sauber always had at least a solid car in which you could score points from time to time.

When it was announced that Button joins Benetton from Williams, I thought "That's a step backwards, for sure." I didn't take the Benetton-Renault 2001 hype seriously, because in my mind Renault re-joined in 2002 and before that they were still the "privateer underwhelming downward-spiral Benetton."

I also find it interesting guys that you were fond of the likes of Mazzacane, Marques, Zonta, etc. I personally didn't care much about them and I disliked Zonta, because he took out Michael Schumacher in Austria and I didn't forgive him that!

But I really-really liked other underdog drivers, who showed some serious speed at times, but really most of the time didn't have the machinery, consistency or were just unlucky. Most notably Verstappen, but also de la Rosa. I liked Salo too and didn't find his signing for Sauber uninspiring. He had a reputation of a very consistent driver and was a Monaco expert and I thought this should yield Sauber some points. And he duly did score 6 points in 2000, tying with Trulli in the championship for P10. Considering Trulli was faster most of the time, this confrimed to me, how unlucky had Trulli been that year. And how Salo had capitalized on every opportunity that year. Even after the Austria start chaos he was 3rd after the start for a short time. And in Hockenheim wet-weather-mess scored points too. And of course got points at Monaco again, like he did for Tyrrell and Arrows.

Also, well... Back then I rated Monaco as really-really important place to showcase driver skill. And I remember I rated drivers like Fisichella, Trulli, Alesi, Salo highly also because they went very well at Monaco. I remember Trulli was always quick there, Fisichella got podiums, Alesi qualified the rubbish Prost an awesome 7th in 2000. I remember thinking - "now this is where the very talented drivers finally can show what they are really made of despite rubbish car." Alesi was also running in 4th and 5th in Belgium that year after a bit of a moisty-slippery conditions early in the race. I was again overjoyed - "when it gets wet, master like Alesi capitalizes." Sadly he retired again, because the car had no reliability at all, like BAR in 1999 had been.

[rjbetty]

Wow I was so excited about Jordan. They had finished 3rd in WCC in 1999 and now with there brighter yellow (which as a 14 year old really got me going) I was sure Trulli and Frentzen would win multiple races in 2000. My first real error in 2000. They looked OK early on but never got the results. In Monaco I was pumped 2nd and 4th was it? Anyway I was loving it but as we know I jinxed them. Anyway I loved Jordan but was hugely disappointed in them after 1999.

I felt exactly the same way abut everything you said. I loved all the colour schemes from 2000, they were so bright and unique, unlike 2014!! I liked the triangle airbox on the Jordan - that car looked lean and quick. A real shame about old Mugen-Honda engines. For 2000 I didn't want to believe this would have an impact, but it must have cost Jordan at least 1/4 sec.

BAR - The white livery was dull, but I think we all knew they would improve and score some points. However 4 4th places (i admit it I looked it up) and some 5ths and 6ths for Jacques was impressive. Zonta I always liked but he never really cut it in F1.

I liked the BAR livery. I tend to like white cars. The silver flashes looked great, and the whole car looked much more powerful and serious, whereas the mess (which I liked) of 99 reflected their chaotic season.
s -

Jaguar - The only things I recall about Jaguar in 2000 was Irvines 4th in Monaco and Herberts crash in Malaysia. They just rarely were seen from what I remember.

Yes this is what I remember too. I also remember Irvine mostly qualifying in the top 10. He was 7th fastest overall most of the season, but the car fell away later on, and Irvine ended up 9th, about +1.18sec off on average...

I remember being shocked at how badly Herbert was doing, having expected some great performances from him. His qualifying was shocking, starting 20th, 17th, 17th and 14th for the first races, and not scoring points all season.

Sadly, Irvine missed Austria due to stomach illness, replaced by Burti. Herbert ended up qualifying 16th and chasing Mika Salo home just missing out in 7th. Given Irvine usually went well at the A1 Ring, he would probably have scored rare points...

Also, Herbert drove well in Malaysia, running in the points and looking good for 6th until a suspension failure put him in the wall. He hurt himself and had to be carried out of the car - just as he was carried into his first one in 1989 due to his serious injury.

Benetton- I do remember there exciting podiums in Monaco and Canada. That was actually 2 great results when you look at it. Fisichella showing his class to find his way around the action and finish 3rd.

It was 3 podiums! Fisi came 3rd in Brazil too, beating the Jordans, but was promoted to 2nd. It was a better yeah than 1999, though ruined by a pathetic final few races, maybe due to a bad testing crash...

Sauber- Salo and Diniz. Meh... the line up wasnt great and the best memory I have about them was in Brazil when they withdrew and got hit by flying ad boards.

I was always VERY fond of Sauber, and just loved their lush livery. It looked even better in 2000 (a far cry from now!) I was also fond of Salo as a driver, and his helmet suited any car he drove. Both drivers' helmets suited the car. I remember being so excited at how strong that car was early in the season - it was right up there! Salo qualified 10th in Australia, beating Ralf. I always remember at the start he got up to a strong 7th and ran there for a long time. Later on, he was on for an easy podium in 3rd before the pit stops went wrong, sending him tumbling down. He recovered to 6th but was then disqualified by that Bauer guy (not Jack) who DSQd the Ferraris for their bargeboards in Malaysia 99.

Sauber then looked mega fast in Brazil until the wings failed. Then at Imola they started 10th and 12th, Diniz ahead, and Salo raced well, chasing Villeneuve the whole race for 5th. It fell away after that. Though I liked Salo, I didn't particularly rate him.

Minardi- Finally Minardi. What a decent car for Minardi and another nice livery. The engine was heavy and rubbish, but Mazzacane (maybe it was the name) captured my imagination and I was always following both he and Gene's progress. I remember the USA GP when Hakkinen followed Gaston for about 3 laps and Murray Walker was muddled about blue flags. haha.

OhmeGosh I remember the first time I clocked that livery. I was appalled and sickened and couldn't believe they were going to race that. But then it really grew on me and is now a favourite. Yeah I totally remember Indy 2000 too. When the weather changed, many drivers stopped, leaving M.Schumacher leading, Diniz 2nd(!), Mazzacane 3rd(!!) chased by Hakkinen who was angry about not being let through, not realising he was RACING Mazzacane. The order stayed like that for some time, i.e. more than just 1 lap.

[jens]

Yes this is what I remember too. I also remember Irvine mostly qualifying in the top 10. He was 7th fastest overall most of the season, but the car fell away later on, and Irvine ended up 9th, about +1.18sec off on average...

Yeah Irvine's start into the season was actually pretty promising. He qualified 6th in Brazil and made a great start and was right after the McLarens and Ferraris. Watching that I didn't understand, why did newspaper predict Jaguar form to be "2", because to me Jaguar seemed clearly in contention for points.

But Irvine spun off and really for whatever reason points rarely came that year despite them looking promising speed-wise. He often seemed racing in about 7th or 8th and in races without attrition just missed out of points.

A bit like BAR-Villeneuve combo had been in 1999. Qualified a very promising 5th in San Marino, then ran 3rd in Spain, but this potential didn't materialize in points.

[rjbetty]

Really for whatever reason points rarely came that year despite them looking promising speed-wise. He often seemed racing in about 7th or 8th and in races without attrition just missed out of points.
.

Yeah I remember they had major clutch problems and almost always started badly. This meant whereas Irvine qualified 7th-10th he could be running 10th - 13th in the race, and from there it was just hard to make up enough ground.

For 2001, Jaguar maybe looked slightly less chaotic, but frankly the car was dog slow, Irvine qualifying on average a massive +1.867sec off M.Schumacher. That's half a sec slower than Heidfeld's Sauber!

However in the races, Irvine said the Jaguar was maybe the 4th best car! This was largely unnoticed but looking closely this seems true. They finished 7th and 8th at Nurburgring, Irvine right on Hakkinen's tail. Eddie also missed out thrugh unreliability, which used to eist back then. Looking at all his potential results withut problems, he should have finished about 9th or better every time.

Also unnoticed was that even though Irvine was outqualified 6 times in a row(!) by Pedro de la Rosa mid season, in the entire time as team-mates de la Rosa never finished a race ahead iirc...

[jens]

Yeah I remember they had major clutch problems and almost always started badly. This meant whereas Irvine qualified 7th-10th he could be running 10th - 13th in the race, and from there it was just hard to make up enough ground.

Maybe an apt comparison would be 2007 Toyota. Trulli often qualified into top 10, but the car wasn't good off the line, hence Trulli often lost positions and really didn't make it into point-scoring positions often.

[jens]

So… what about 2002? Funny, but the thoughts from that time are much better recognizable, because I got Internet during 2001 and started writing up opinions, so that I can still check them even today. I once checked my old comments from that era and it was interesting insight.

I remember thinking in mid-2001 that the 2002 championship was going to be fought between Schumacher brothers. As we remember, in mid-01 they were often fighting for race wins, but the points gap was so big already due to Williams inconsistency and unreliability. But Williams seemed likely to improve even further in 2002 as they had arguably the best engine as rumoured back then and the partnership of Williams-BMW-Michelin still seemed in a "build-up phase" and had not peaked. However, late 2001 re-adjusted the driver expectation and after the year it looked like Montoya was going to be Schumacher's main rival in 2002 instead of brother. With Ralf Schumacher perhaps ending up 3rd in drivers championship and the disappointing Barrichello in 4th.

I didn't expect much from the McLaren, they seemed to have entered a bit of a downward-spiral. But I genuinely thought Räikkönen could show up Coulthard. I didn't rate DC highly at the time. Even though I considered it possible for DC to score more points due to "experience and consistency".

However, thought the first three teams would be well above others, like in 2001. Based on the back of the strong end of 2001 Renault seemed likely to become 4th best team, but going to fight it out against Jordan-Honda with the ever-impressive Fisichella and also the ever-consistent Sauber. I had lost all hopes on BAR and Jaguar and didn't expect much from them. Arrows was thought the be its usual underdog self with a few surprising performances put in here or there. And Minardi at the back. Toyota? I think I didn't expect great things from the first year even if I thought they could get far up the field in the long-run. Perhaps in lower midfield with improved performance in the second half of the year.

[journeyman racer]

Since a lot has been written about it already. I'll give a brief summary of my thoughts of 2000/01, before we start moving on.

2000

- I thought it was a pretty good season all up. A threeway title battle, where each of the contenders (Schumacher, Hakkinen and Coulthard) had their time as the in form driver. Obviously it was best known for Ferrari breaking their driver's title drought, which I suppose eventually they were going to get.

- David Coulthard. Despite finisher higher in the standings the next year, I actually thought this was his best year. A personal best of 3 wins, and he remained in genuine title contention for longer than any other season. It was also the year he survived the plane crash, then finished 2nd in Spain a few days later!

- After a sensational 99 from HHF, I was totally bummed by the downhill spiral of for from the Jordan. I wasn't expecting HHF to be as consistent as 99 (How could anyone be?), but I was expecting him to have at least a slightly better performing car to counter it. Despite the dnf, the performance in Melbourne was encouraging. But it was a false dawn

[steveaki13]

I cant say I ever predicted Ferrari to be so dominant in 2002. I remember thinking they would win it though.

Ferrari - I was disappointed in Barrichello in 2001. I thought he would have won some more races, so I had fell slightly out of love with Rubens after always being a fan of his and I would be against, but I remember 2001 being frustrating. Remember Ferrari started with the 2001 car and still won the opening round and so from then I thought "more domination then", but that was followed by Malaysia and Ralf dominated, so suddenly hope that the season would be even, then the new car arrived and apart from Monaco it was never beaten. I can still remember the uproar after Austria 2002 like it was yesterday. Schumacher had a massive lead, but I actually always accepted the team orders, it was all the podium stuff which was most Stupid.

Williams - After 2001 I was really hopeful that Williams would challenge for the title. Obviously way off there, but Montoya impressed. I mean he had 5 or 6 poles in a row. The talk at the time though was 6 poles and lead only once after lap 1 I think. That was quite a bizarre run of circumstances. I mean I seem to remember quite often Montoya was 3rd and 0.600 off the pace and suddenly he would put in a single lap that took pole and no one could quite believe it.
Ralf really didnt stand out in 2002 for me. I know he won the Malaysian GP, but I seem to think he went missing far too often.

Mclaren - I actually thought Mclaren would be the match of Ferrari again after 2001. In the first race Mclaren looked OK, when Coulthard was leading before problems hit his car and Kimi on his first run was 3rd. However the pace as we know just wasnt there. DC was my favourite driver at the time and I blindly believed he would challenge for the title and I didnt see Kimi beating him. Which for 2002 he didnt. Remember in the early 2002 Mclaren struggled to even get ahead of Renault. I remember being really interested in that fight maybe more than the lead battles. Maybe it was a DC v JB thing?

Renault - From testing there was more optimism about Renault after the disaster 2001 as Benetton. I was sad to see Fisichella go but I liked Trulli too and I rated Trulli higher than Button at that time. I mean Button had a decent 2000 in a Williams, but was thrashed by Fisichella in 2001. While Trulli had raced further up generally in his career.
However it wasnt long before JB showed Trulli the way. My stand out memory was Buttons run in Malaysia, he was on for an easy podium, but his car broke and dropped to 4th on the last lap. I found a new respect for Button in 2002. He outperformed Trulli and was unlucky to get the sack for 2003. Trulli though did better later in the season. 4th from the back in Italy and a similar situation in the US GP.

Jordan - This was the last season I held Jordan in high regard. Coming into 2002 I was still holding onto Jordans 1999 and decent 2000 form. 2001 had been the third season in a row when I expected them to be in the top cars but they had got worse each season. I liked the look of the 2002 car and once more thought maybe they would rise again and fight regularly for points. However as we know, that didnt work out and it was the first season really they drifted towards the lower midfield. I mean Sato was always in the mid late teens. It was mostly Fisichella that rescued their season in the fight with BAR. He scored 3 5th's in a row mid season and a 4th somewhere I seem to remember.

BAR - A really poor season for BAR. After 99 and 0 points, 2000 and 2001 had been steps up. However 2002 they were not fast and unreliable. I remember Panis not finishing any of the first 6 or 7 races and some huge Honda Blow ups (with Jordan too). The only stand out races I remember of 2002 for BAR were Villeneuve and Panis in a wet British GP. 4th and 5th I believe. Also Villeneuve's race in Austria. He pushed the car all day passing people and was on a light strategy and just kept pushing all day. Then blew up on the last lap.

Sauber - I though Sauber would be back to lower midfield for 2002 after 4th in WCC in 2001, but in fairness they were again up there and scored regular points albeit no where near as many as 2001.However 2001 had given everyone more belief in Heidfeld and Massa was unknown. However Massa was massively fun to watch. Remember how aggressive his driving style was and he was constantly spinning and crashing. Silverstone he spun 3 times in the first half of the race. Their 4th and 5th in Spain was brilliant.

Jaguar - I hoped again for Jaguar but after Oz qualifying where they were 19th and 20th and +4.2 and +4.4 off the pace. Behind Webber's Minardi and only ahead of Sato because of issues. The race was great though with Irvine on his own all afternoon to finish 4th out of 7 finishers. The first 2/3's of the season was rubbish, and I will never quite understand what happened in Italy. All of a sudden both Jaguars were really fast and obviously Irvine getting that shock podium. Another false dawn.

Arrows - Such a sad season and could never have expected anything like that. I thought the Arrows looked decent and hoped for a 2000 style season as opposed to a 2001. I thought Bernoldi didnt deserve the seat really after a non discript 2001 but in fairness to him he improved and had some decent races in 2002. Remember him repassing Michael Schumacher in Malaysia. Frentzen was good too in a car which after watching a few races clearly wasnt fast. It was such a shame he retired at Silverstone. Remember it was wet and on bridgestone tyres he was passing all the Michelin runners and could have been on for a 4th or 5th. Anyway even when the withdrew I honestly believed they would be saved and arrive at the next race. I was so sad at the beginning of 2003 when no new Arrows turned up.

Minardi - As ever I went into 2002 expecting minardi to be last, but in fairness Webber got that Minardi up the field quite often. Out qualifying Jags and Toyota's at times. Of course Australia 2002 was a dream. The amount of coverage both Minardi's got was fantastic and to see Webber and Yoong fighting against Salo late in the race was great. Webber getting 5th was great. I always felt slightly sorry for Yoong. 7th of 7th. Tough luck. I remember hoping one of the top 3 would retire.

Toyota - In my ignorance I assumed Toyota would be off the pace and last at the early races after joining the circus. However they had Salo who we all knew was a decent driver. McNish I didnt know much about. They both did well and actually achieved better results in the early races. Salo scoring a 6th in Australia and Brazil. While McNish should have scored a 6th in Malaysia but the team muddled up the tyres. Again in Spain he ran strongly.

[steveaki13]

Since a lot has been written about it already. I'll give a brief summary of my thoughts of 2000/01, before we start moving on.

2000

- I thought it was a pretty good season all up. A threeway title battle, where each of the contenders (Schumacher, Hakkinen and Coulthard) had their time as the in form driver. Obviously it was best known for Ferrari breaking their driver's title drought, which I suppose eventually they were going to get.

- David Coulthard. Despite finisher higher in the standings the next year, I actually thought this was his best year. A personal best of 3 wins, and he remained in genuine title contention for longer than any other season. It was also the year he survived the plane crash, then finished 2nd in Spain a few days later!

- After a sensational 99 from HHF, I was totally bummed by the downhill spiral of for from the Jordan. I wasn't expecting HHF to be as consistent as 99 (How could anyone be?), but I was expecting him to have at least a slightly better performing car to counter it. Despite the dnf, the performance in Melbourne was encouraging. But it was a false dawn

Good thoughts. Agree with the feelings about everything you say.