[dgoldbe2]

I was surprised as well, based on last seasons performance of BAR that they were so far out of the running.

The odd thing about Sauber is that they are using the 2005 spec Ferrari engines, where Ferrari were using the 2004 spec modified.

Red Bull was the biggest surprise. They are using an updated Jaguar R5 chassis, which was a very poor performer last year, and an updated Cosworth engine that Jordan used last year, which was basically a poor performer last year as well. And despite the rules changes, they were able to increase the RPMs and gain HP while trying to build in the 2 race weekend reliability.

With all the money that Toyota and Honda are spending, I would have expected them to be higher in the final results.

The nice thing is that there was only one mechanical retirement, Albers with a failed gearbox. The other 2 retirements, Heidfeld and Schumacher, IMHO was Schumacher's fault. To top it off, eventhough Heidfeld was out from damage, Schumacher's car could have finished the race. Ferrari exploited that loophole, so they could put a new engine in his car.


All in all, it was a refreshing change from the all Ferrari, all the time spectacle of last season.


As far as the tires go, Bridgestone will probably not be able to keep up with Michelin, throughout the season, due to their exclusive testing agreement with Ferrari. Michelin gets nearly 5 times the performance data that Bridgestone gets, despite Ferrari breaking the gentlemen's agreement not to conduct testing during race weekends, or previously agreed upon non-testing periods.