Not what I hoping to see but

[peter]

As you can all guess not what I was hoping to see. One more win would have been nice just to see him up there one last time. Must say what a drive he gave guess thats why I think he will always be number 1. So it looks like Ferrari may be in safe hands with massa. I guess its only five months to wait and see.

[Bearface]

Re: Not what I hoping to see but

As you can all guess not what I was hoping to see. One more win would have been nice just to see him up there one last time. Must say what a drive he gave guess thats why I think he will always be number 1. So it looks like Ferrari may be in safe hands with massa. I guess its only five months to wait and see.

That puncture was incredibly unfortunate, as Schuey was undoubtedly heading for the lead (with a significantly heavier car than the front-runners) when disaster struck. The pace he demonstrated in the second third of the race showed us all why to many he's simply the greatest there's ever been. Spellbinding stuff.

Massa was brilliant, so despite Schuey's bad luck his win was thoroughly deserved. Alonso was consistent and pretty careful, but even in my most objective frame of mind I don't feel that he out-performed Schumacher this season, as he did in 2005. This season Renault started out with a vastly superior package and they admittedly made good use of it in the earlier part of the championship, but Schuey's comeback was simply incredible, and without the appalling bad luck he experienced in the last two GPs, he'd have probably won the championship. Still, Renault and Alonso finally did it and we can't take that away from them.

Next year Massa will hold the advantage that a full season with a top team will have afforded him, along with the psychological advantage of winning the last GP of 2006. Kimi will need to form relationships, learn his away around the team's idiosynchrasies and generally find his feet, while Felipe will simply hit the ground running. Because of this, I expect Kimi will need a handful of races to acclimatise, but after that he'll probably be the fastest driver in F1 - certainly if Ferrari's 2007 package is as competitive as they've been in recent years. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he and Felipe end up fighting for the championship between themselves.

Honda and Toyota are looking strong and I should think that they'll be among the best of the rest alongside Renault and possibly McLaren, although I should think the current Bridgestone teams will find the transition to a single tyre manufacturer much easier for obvious reasons. Certainly with McLarens mediocrity and unreliability in 2006 in mind, I don't see much hope (or scope)for Alonso to repeat his title challenge / win. I reckon we'll be looking at Raikonnen (or Massa), followed by someone in a Renault, a Honda or a Toyota.

One thing's for sure though.......2007 should be pretty exiting, although for me it'll not be the same without Schumacher