"As ever, it is difficult to make predictions," motorsport director Mario Theissen admitted, "Our rivals have been generous with praise at times, but we also had a few problems in testing. As always, it is a race against time to get the car ready for the first race of the season. However, last year, we put in a very good performance at Albert Park, and it would be nice if we had something to celebrate once again on Sunday evening."
With both
Nick Heidfeld and
Robert Kubica professing to enjoy the Albert Park circuit - the Pole tested there is the Friday sessions last season - the team can concentrate on honing the
F1.07 for the weekend ahead.
"The tension ahead of the first race of the season is always particularly high of course, because you're waiting to find out how you shape up against your rivals," technical director Willy Rampf said, "The last test in Bahrain showed that the performance of the F1.07 meets our expectations, but we'll still only be able to make a reliable assessment of our progress once we get to Melbourne. Added to which, we will have one or two new parts on the F1.07 in Australia, which we hadn't introduced in the last test, so I have to admit that my sense of anticipation is even greater than usual."
Toyota – Ralf Schumacher (#11), Jarno Trulli (#12):
While
BMW has made gains over the winter, Toyota once again appears to be stuck in neutral, its TF107 not having produced the advance that the Cologne-based team has been waiting for since its debut in 2002.
With neither Jarno Trulli or Ralf Schumacher apparently happy with the car,
Toyota's celebration of 50 years in motorsport may be a little muted unless the team can unlock something quickly. The two drivers are also poised for celebration, having completed ten years since they made their F1 debuts together in Melbourne, but a busy winter testing programme has yet to show signs of allowing either to repeat the German's Australian GP podium from a year ago.
