Here's a short look at the upcoming season team-by-team, in the order I think they'll finish in the Manufacturer's Championship:
1) Ferrari: Ferrari had a productive off season, and has been very strong in testing. Gotta be the front runners for the Manufacturer's Title. After finally winning a World Championship, Kimi Raikkonen has to be considered the front runner for the 2008 championship. Massa is fast, but inconsistent, but he will bring home the points again.
2) McLaren: Back with two of F1's best young drivers, Ron Dennis has staked the future of the team on 2nd year phenom Lewis Hamilton. If he doesn't flame out, Ron may once again prove himself a genius. The McLaren's been consistently fast in testing, and has to be considered neck-and-neck with Ferrari. They also picked up Heikki Kovalainen from Renault, and he's been highly rated, but until the 2nd half of last season, had not really shone. He may give Hamilton a run or two, but expect him to play second fiddle.
3) BMW-Sauber: With veteran Nick Heidfeld and the brilliantly fast but inconsistent Robert Kubica, BMW looks to be the Best of The Rest this season. If they get some more aero tweaks, they may contend for some wins this season. They are consistely quick on all circuits, and have tested well. The key for them will be reliability. They have to be there in case the Ferraris or Mclarens fail.
4) Renault: With two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso returning after a disastrous season at McLaren, Renault's going to be in a rebuilding mode. Even Alonso concedes that podiums may be scarce this year. Don't count him out just yet. Fernando's a great sandbagger. He and Flavio may have a few tricks up their sleeves yet. They also have Nelson Piquet, Jr., in his inaugural season. Hopefully it will go better than the last rookie Fernando was partnered with...
5) Williams-Toyota: Frank Williams famously stared down Ron Dennis last season over Nico Rosberg, and Dennis blinked. Nico returns with rookie Kazuki Nakajima, who's shown some good testing form. Williams surprised everyone last season with their pace, and while they won't win any races, they may get a podium or two.
6) Honda: Jensen Button and Rubens Barrichello come back for another year of pain. With Ross Brawn at the helm, they will improve, but how much? This year's car was already designed when Brawn came on board, so the best he can hope for is improvement around the edges. I'm a big Honda fan going back to the 1,200 horsepower McLaren-Honda turbos, and their total collapse last year was painful. They can only get better, but the best they can hope for is a freak podium. Wins? Not so much.
7) Toyota: The Team That Couldn't Shoot Straight is back,with another $300 Million or so of Toyota's money to throw away. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock will be making excuses in many languages for Toyota's failures. Don't read anything into their testing pace today in Barcelona; you can always get good times when you remove the ballast and fuel.
8) Red Bull: In what will probably be David Coulthard's last season in F1, he and Mark Webber will try to make consistent points. The Red Bulls are not bad cars, but they simply lack the resources to compete with the Big Boys.
9) Scuderia Toro Rosso: Red Bull's development team soldiers on with the Sebastien twins, Bourdais and Vettel. Bourdais comes off an unprecedented run of 4 straight CART championships, and is the latest CART refugee (and the last, sine CART folded this past week) to take on the F1 challenge. He has F1 testing experience, and I think Renault made a big mistake not taking him to replace Alonso last season. I think he has what it takes, but can he shine in the STR?
10) Force India: Oh, how far the Jordan Team has fallen. In 1999, Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished 3rd in the World Championship for Jordan. Since then, they've been Midland F1, Spyker, and now Force India. Giancarlo Fischella will be going through the motions, and Adrian Sutil will be trying to impress the big teams. It'll be hard to do.
11) Super Aguri: "Super Best Friends" are struggling to make the grid this year, facing a major financial crisis. Last season, they embarrassed the factory Hondas with hand-me-down 2006 Honda chassis, and that may explain why Honda has cut off their support. A team that consistently overachieves, they deserve better than this. If they can make it, Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson will be driving.
