Blundell's view: 2006 F1 season review - Pt. 2.

by Rob Wilkins

While the 2006 F1 season will probably be remembered most by the general public for the battle between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, the fight between Renault and Ferrari was just as fierce, if not more so.

Here Crash.net columnist, Mark Blundell gives his verdict on the performance of the eleven teams in the sport and while he is full of praise for the efforts made by the 'top two' - and the likes of Honda, BMW Sauber and Super Aguri, he wasn't at all impressed with Toyota and Red Bull.

Want to know why?

Get reading...

Q:
Mark, did the right team take the constructors' title?

Mark Blundell:
I think they did. If you look at it and what went on with the mass damper issue and a number of things, which got put against Renault as the season went on, they coped with all of those problems well. Renault had the consistency, reliability and outright pace when it came to it too - they had that from race one, when they rolled out of the pit lane in Bahrain all the way to the end of the championship in Brazil. The fact they were that strong throughout means they deserved to win.

Q:
Ferrari put in a brilliant performance to fight back. Overall they probably had the stronger driver-car-tyre package at the end didn't they, despite not taking the ultimate honours?

MB:
They probably did have the strongest outright performance, from mid-season to the end. But that is only good for exactly that - and you can't win a championship with it. You need to be strong and consistently strong throughout and that was what cost them and meant they didn't win the championship. They put in a valiant effort, the team dug deep and Michael Schumacher definitely dug deep. We saw some outstanding drives from him and the Schumacher that we have seen time and time again did some remarkable things in a car. But for some reason the luck didn't quite run with him. We have seen over the years, Schumacher has had things go against him, but he has been very lucky and they have all turned out to be positives at the end of it. Even if it was getting run off the track, suffering a puncture, there was always a bit of late luck on his side. For some reason this year that seemed to run out and it cost him.

Q:
McLaren ended the season 'best of the rest' behind Renault and Ferrari, but how much will it hurt them that they didn't win?

MB:
It is quite a big deal for them not to have won a grand prix, because it has been several years since they haven't managed that. What it will have done though is make them re-focus and take time to re-evaluate where the requirements lie in going forward. They have lost some big personnel over the last 15 months.

They are definitely re-grouping with a world championship winning driver installed in their team, in the shape of Fernando Alonso. They also have a young rookie coming in - Lewis Hamilton, who is going to have a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He has been groomed over the last nine or so years with McLaren and that is what it has taken to get him to this point. There is going to be a lot of commitment and dedication going in to make sure they progress. But it is going to be tough, that is for sure. It isn't easy when you come off the end of the table and then you have to climb back up the table leg to get into the middle and be first on offer. It is not going to be an easy task for McLaren - full-stop.

Q:
Honda in contrast did manage to win, have they turned a corner now?

MB:
They might turn up and surprise a few people down the pit lane next year. We have seen some progress throughout last season that will give them a good baseline to go and get stronger. We saw that a couple of seasons ago though and then they faltered and had a hiccup. They have just got to get over the top of that mountain now and if they do that, then they are going to make an impact. Even in the off-season testing we have seen some relatively strong performances by them. It is however, a massive deal to try and keep the momentum going - and to try to produce results weekend in and weekend out at grand's prix. You see the level of commitment what is required and the level of motivation from people like Ferrari and Renault and even the drop off with McLaren, it is amazing to get to that level. Honda has got the makings of it, but whether it will show in '07 we will have to wait and see.

Q:
How impressed were you by the 'new' BMW Sauber team? BMW's influence made a big difference didn't it?

MB:
BMW had a definite influence in terms of stability and providing resources. They gave the whole outfit a bit more direction. They started to really step up to the plate and now they have got to a point as well, like Honda, with themselves to be able to say: 'Right: how do we go the next step now?' and 'what is it going to take?' The BMW element will be the key now to doing that because that is where everything is going to be driven from and we are going to see whether or not they are going to make the next cut. That will be interesting to see.

Q:
I think it is fair to say, both Toyota and Williams underperformed. Which team was the bigger disappointment?

MB:
In some ways they both had the same sort of level of results for various reasons. Toyota was a massive disappointment, because the resources available to them are pretty much second to none compared to the rest of the pit lane. There should really be no excuses, bearing in mind they have been around some six or seven odd years now and you would think there should be something more to show for it. That is a heavy burden for them to keep carrying with what they have.

Williams I think were a disappointment, because everyone associates them with being a top team and with the level of engineering there, they should produce something which is a very user friendly package. We didn't see that. We saw a car package that wasn't easy to handle. One minute there would be inspirational performances - like in Monte Carlo with Mark Webber - and the next they would completely drop off and be at the back of the grid. It was a huge level of weakness and very different to what we have seen Williams do over the last decade. That has got them pretty much to the bottom of the pot and they have now got to climb back up. Maybe now with a new partnership with Toyota engines there will be a bit more structure and they can move forward. It is not going to be an easy one - but Williams have got a lot of depth and a lot of heritage and you would expect a lot more.

Q:
What did you make of the two Red Bull outfits - RBR and STR? Were you surprised they didn't pool their resources?

MB:
I was surprised more than anything that Red Bull Racing didn't produce a little bit more. When Adrian Newey joined I thought his influence would show up more quickly but that didn't seem to be the case. There seems to be a lot more focus going on to produce something for 2007, which is maybe the right situation. You just anticipated that something more would happen and in many ways RBR looked like they were biding time and just trying to get to the end of it with a lot more expectations on '07. I guess that was a disappointment more than anything to see that going on.

As for Toro Rosso, I felt there would definitely be more results coming out of them, especially as they had that V10 package. I thought that would have been more of a help for them throughout the season, but it never really showed up. I think with [Vitantonio] Liuzzi and [Scott] Speed, they struggled a bit. Speed made a number of errors which were quite costly. Liuzzi at times showed some inspiration and some pace and all of a sudden you thought: 'This is the guy that we have heard so much about and he is starting to turn it on'. But that wasn't always the case. There were also times when STR didn't look like they were contenders to achieve anything what-so-ever. So, you would anticipate they would be a stronger package next year.

Whether there will be resources combined between the two teams I don't know. It will be interesting to see whether that is the case, but it is difficult to understand when you have got two different engine packages to look at, where they can actually overlap to a great degree, with the technology and the design side. So it will be interesting.

Q:
Midland was sold on to Spyker F1 towards the end of the year. Did Midland contribute enough or did they come into the sport with their eyes a bit closed?

MB:
I think at the end of it they came in and they knew what was there and they understood what they were up against and they got through. The name was there for a period of time and now they are gone, but what you have to say is, we are fortunate there is still a team around. It would be a great disappointment to see another team drop off the end of the grid. I'm sure there was a lot of enjoyment and I am sure there were a lot of times of trouble throughout the relationship with Midland purchasing the former Jordan team. But, let's just hope it goes from strength to strength now and we see a stronger Spyker team. There is definitely some enthusiasm behind it and there are some relationships being talked about for the future which would make that package stronger.

Q:
The Super Aguri team was created in record time, despite that though they really progressed as the season went on. That was very good wasn't it in light of the resources they had and have?

MB:
They have done extremely well and it is a testimony to them. Also it is something for the other teams to look at too and say: 'Wow! This team turned up and within the space of 12 months they went from nothing to having two cars on the grid'. Not only that, but they were quickly doing grand prix distances as well - that is a great achievement. They are by no means the biggest budgeted team down the pit lane, yeah, they have got some help with the support of Honda, but it is very much a team that has got a family atmosphere attached to it.

What level they can achieve next year is difficult to know because maybe they do need to get stronger and bigger and have more depth to them, but I don't know. What they have done this year is outstanding though and they should definitely have some level of achievement attached to what they have done. People should take a lot more notice of what they have done, because as I say, it is a testament to them.

Coming soon: Mark Blundell looks into his 'crystal ball' and previews the 2007 F1 season. Who will win? Mark tells us who he thinks will get the job done in '07...