2007 F1 Preview: Spyker-Ferrari
February 19th 2007 13:05
Car Number 20
Christjian Albers
Stats
D.O.B: 16 April, 1979
Debut: Australia 2005, Minardi-Cosworth
Starts: 37
Wins:0
Fastest Laps: 0
Poles: 0
Points: 4
Albers was a charger in DTM, often preforming well in lesser machinery than at the disposal of his rival. However, since ascending into Grand Prix racing through F1’s backdoor, Minardi, in 2005, Albers hasn’t quite managed the same feat. It's fair to say, that impressing with such wretched cars like the PS05 and M16 is mighty difficult , but the Dutchman obviously had done enough to please boss Colin Kolles into granting him another season. Christjian is not slow; he has often come out favourably against his teammates, but has never quite looked like a driver whose talent screams for a better car. Albers will probably beat his teammate, and in doing so, perhaps earn another year in F1, but until he begins dragging his car to regions of the grid not thought possible, Albers won’t be staying in the game very long.
Car Number 21
Adrian Sutil
Stats:
D.O.B: 11 January, 1983
Debut: Australia 2007, Spyker- Ferrari
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Fastest Laps: 0
Poles: 0
Points: 0
Who was destroyed by his F3 teammate Lewis Hamilton by two wins to 15 in 2005? Spyker’s young German rookie, Adrian Sutil of course! The former teammates make up two-thirds of the rookie ranks (the third being Heikki Kovalainen), and while Hamilton straps himself into a shiny, sharp McLaren-Mercedes, Sutil will be squinting from the glare produced by the sea of orange that surrounds him in his Spyker cockpit. That pretty much sums up where Sutil stands in this F1 grid, near the back. To be fair, Sutil did improve the following year, winning the Japanese F3 championship whilst occasionally popping into the F1 paddock to fulfil some third driver duty for Midland F1 (finishing 7th on Friday at the French GP). Sutil, is not short of confidence, which for now is a good thing, but he’ll need to dig extremely deep if he is to capture the attention of the F1 world.
The Team
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Fastest Laps: 0
Poles: 0
Points: 0
WDC: 0
WCC: 0
Test Drivers: Adrain Valles (Esp), Fairuz Fauzy (Mal), Giedo van der Garde(Ned), Markus Winkelhock (Deu)
Having taken over from the dreary Midland outfit late last season, Spyker have breathed a bit of life into the back of the grid. However unfortunately for the Dutch outfit, F1 is not like the music industry, so good looks alone won’t get you very far, you need substance. However, there is potential for Spyker to create for themselves a bit of substance. They have snared Toyota refugee, Mike Gascoyne as Chief Technology Officer (whatever that is), who will work with capable technical director, James Key and experienced designer, John McQuilliam. As the team’s brightest star, Gascoyne should relish levels of freedom and control that Toyota’s boardroom ethos disallowed. With Spyker’s enthusiastic and non-intrusive backing, Gascoyne’s influence could well prevent Spyker from being permanent backmarkers.
Another positive note for Spyker is their snapping up of Ferrari customer engines for the 2007 season. Although Ferrari have long given engines to lesser teams, who have failed to use them prosperously, with engine development frozen, these particular Ferrari power plants might well pack a decent punch. Spyker have also got plenty of experience with Bridgestone (from Midland), which will no doubt be helpful.
Unfortunately though, the plusses dry up, and the minus’s flourish. Albers is no slouch, but has failed to set F1 alight, and Sutil is a relative unknown, The engineering department has been reduced to skeletal remains of the former Jordan team after Midland’s purging, and their Silverstone base is outdated. Spyker’s testing effort thus far has been meagre and non-convincing, and to top things off, their closest rivals are running chassis that also can be found on more competitive cars. The chassis-sharing debate is likely to go to court, but frankly Spyker’s priority should be development. Of the team, of the car, of the drivers, and of their role in F1. If Spyker want to make it in F1 they must rove they can beat teams on track, not in court. Points are a possibility, but only with luck.
In a Nutshell:
Strengths: Mike Gascoyne; strong backing; Ferrari engines
Weaknesses: Inexperienced drivers, Super Aguri and Torro Rosso have advantage; Colin Kolles leadership is questionable.
Scoreboard:
Drivers: 3/10
Engine: 7/10
Chassis: 3/10
Resources: 3/10
Personnel: 6/10
Total: 22/50
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Comment by Ash
Flashes of memories
Seeing all these photos up here? You have just have converted me to watching this sport again....between you and Dusk's posts on sport I will be an avid watched before the year is out
Comment by ChrisB
Formula 1
The Social Centre
You know that most of the time the drivers are wearing helmets don't you?, unless your alluding to the photos of the cars, which are indeed, very sexy.
Comment by Ash
Flashes of memories
Oh yeah...um...it was the cars I was referring to...cough cough...