Who will be last past the post?

**Adam43** · 17 Feb 2003, 20:33 (Ref:509880)

Firstly I apologise for the negativity of this thread. It is not really meant to be negative, just a different type of discussion that concerns the other end of the grid. They all do a good job, just some are better than others!

Anyway. Here are the teams (in no particular order, just as I thought of them)

Let's say we can rule of Ferrari, Williams, McClaren and Renault straight away.

Sauber, they seem to have lost there inability to develop a car over the season. I don't think they will set the world on fire, but I very much doubt they will finish last.

I suppose the obvious choice is Minardi, but will there new engine help? Perhaps if they go for a bit of reliability they can make he 8th place points count.

Toyota (who came last in 2002) surely must improve. The engine seemed to be good last year. I think that the TF102 wasn't developed through last year. All those (many) resources were put into this years car?

BAR They should do well. Two good drivers that are fired up (this is not a JV/JB thread). Will the chassis and the Honda engine be up to the job. I think for at least the engine yes, but then I am the eternal optimist when it comes to Honda!

Jaguar will they produce a chassis that is worthy of the last Cosworth offering (and will the Cosworth offering be any good).

Jordan another Cosworth team. this years engine was good (by all accounts and considering Monza). Will it's lack of finance the car (which looks fairly neat.

Hmmm.

Well I reckon Minardi (because that's the easy choice). However if the Japanese get their act together then Toyota and BAR may get relatively quicker. That could (could) leave the three Ford/Cosworth teams at the bottom of the pile (and possible not due to the fault of the engine. I see that Cosworth are running a advert saying they supply 30% of the F1 grid, but could it be the wrong 30%?

NiceGuyEddie · 17 Feb 2003, 21:00 (Ref:509907)

The problem for Minardi is that Arrows and Prost have left the grid. That makes the stretch to the rest of the pack quite big. They'll have to aim at beating Jordan. All other teams are well out their reach. I suspect the title of 'most improved' team will go to Toyota, Jaguar or BAR. Or to Ferrari, if we are really unlucky.

But I expect Minardi to be trailing all the way and that a lack of development during the season will make them trail further and further back. Then come Silverstone, Stoddart will be thinking about selling again, accusing everyone within his sight of trying to put him and his team out of business.

AndyF · 17 Feb 2003, 21:04 (Ref:509908)

I reckon it will be Jaguar

LucaBadoer · 17 Feb 2003, 22:18 (Ref:509999)

Sauber & Minardi

RWC · 18 Feb 2003, 01:15 (Ref:510093)

Minardi (again) unfortunatly.
It can't possibly be sauber in peter's worst nightmares.They have finally got a car designer that makes cars properly in the first place(so the can be developed)

Bar will be better,surely.
Toyota will be better surely
Renault will stay 'about' where they were
I can see jordan having quite good performance sometimes(as they do).They don't deserve the place as '2nd most likely to go under'
Jag will do the same as last year i predict(performance wise),up and down
In fact i think minardi will be even further behind than in the past.....

GTV27 · 18 Feb 2003, 03:26 (Ref:510159)

yeah, performance gap from Minardi to the mid field likely to be bigger this year than before - although the new rules could throw up some odd results that cloud the issue - esp if Minardi take some risks on daring qual/race strategies (what have they got to lose). Could they get a pole (via low fuel)? (fingers crossed)

Snrub · 18 Feb 2003, 03:27 (Ref:510160)

Wasn't there a poll on this?

IMO Jaguar will be last. I'm betting Toyota is in the top half of the grid.

How could Minardi be more behind than in the past? One might assume that the performance increase at the front will be this year (law of diminishing returns /w identical formula for years). Minardi has a much better engine and some great drivers.

RWC · 18 Feb 2003, 03:44 (Ref:510170)

Oops,i forgot about the better engine

GTV27 · 18 Feb 2003, 03:50 (Ref:510174)

Quote:

Originally posted by Snrub

How could Minardi be more behind than in the past? One might assume that the performance increase at the front will be this year (law of diminishing returns /w identical formula for years). Minardi has a much better engine and some great drivers.

Engine better, drivers not (hey they lost Webber, its all downhill from there baby

)

Increase in performance gap to midfield purely on a financial basis. As survival of the fittest is weeding out the less healthy teams, the gap from the weak to the strong gets bigger.

**GTRMagic** · 18 Feb 2003, 04:01 (Ref:510179)

Making your future tyre supplier unhappy by forcing Bernie to arrange a shotgun wedding isnt my idea of creating happy families....

Minardi will do ok for the first part of the year, might luck into a few points with the top 8 format... when they hit the European season, the lack of ongoing development will be telling... and they will be the backmarkers on race performances

Jos might get his bum into gear and qualify beyond his station but I just hope Stoddart has plenty of spare tubs, wings and suspension bits to keep the cars up to Jos the Boss.... unlike last season where the 2 drivers were sharing parts

golem · 18 Feb 2003, 17:24 (Ref:510679)

Are we counting the first DNF's? Because I'm backing williams again if we do. Go ralfie.

Race that first corner! (I know that's an over simplification but eh...)

If not, then... tough call. I'd like to imagine that Renault will screw up savagely (didn't like benetton and sure as hell don't like Flavio either...) but the money's on Minardi despite being one of my faves. Yet, they've got cossies and two respectable drivers this time. But I'll agree on that parts thing.

429CJ · 18 Feb 2003, 17:34 (Ref:510685)

Ferrari, they will be as good as 1980!

**Adam43** · 18 Feb 2003, 17:35 (Ref:510686)

autosportfan · 18 Feb 2003, 17:59 (Ref:510717)

Minardi may have a better engine than last year, but compared to the rest of the field it will still be pretty poor. I am sure they do not have the money to pay for the same spec as Jordan, therefore the Minardi engine will be 18 months- two year old.
People on this forum had great hopes for Minardi when they changed from a particularly old Cosworth to their works Asiatech deal last year, but they were still generally the tail-enders.
I am afraid nothing will change until:
a; get a lot of money
b; get a works deal.

EERO · 18 Feb 2003, 18:13 (Ref:510744)

I'll say Jaguar.

Minardi seem to have their best all-round package for years and even if Jag seem to finally be on the right track, they will still struggle. Jordan may also saddly be in trouble. But my guess is Jaguar at the bottom with Minardi juts ahead.

TOYOTA, for as highly as I rate Panis, I have my doubts about Christiano Whatshisface. With a restructured team I don't anticipate a big improvement. Minardi could really surprise us.

RussianFriend · 18 Feb 2003, 18:35 (Ref:510765)

3 candidates for the "title": Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi

Minardi has to be very Jos may takes some scores if the car is reliable during first part of the season. If Mark did it Jos would do.
Jordan - I can't understand hos this team works, it must bankrupt long ago. Eddie Jordan is doing his business inspite of any logic, so it's impossible to predict something.
It may be Jag - Eddie brouhgt all their scores last year and they haven't recruit a team manager yet

Maxmil · 18 Feb 2003, 20:22 (Ref:510884)

I can't imagine Jaguar losing to Minardi. Jordan should beat the both of them. Could Minardi best Toyota? That's the question, if Toyota slips which is a real possibility.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
A name from the past!	garcon	Motorsport History	9	22 Jun 2003 11:56
Enough of the past	vauxhall	Touring Car Racing	1	6 Jan 2001 15:42
500 GP past champs ?	Lazy Boy	Bike Racing	17	3 Nov 2000 16:57