The 2006 Drivers Preview

Speculation last winter that Fernando Alonso's decision to join McLaren in 2007 could derail his charge to a second world title already appears to have been wide of the mark - with both driver and team appearing to fire on all cylinders on the eve of the campaign.

Alonso has never been anything less than 100 percent committed on the race track and the confidence that grew in him last year, allied to the early promise shown by the R26, have marked him out as the pre-season favourite. Alonso will be a hard man to beat in 2006.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a miserable time in 2005 as a spate of mechanical problems early in the season left him playing the support role to teammate Fernando Alonso's world title charge. It must have been galling for the Italian, who finally got his hands on a championship-winning car but was unable to deliver the kind of results that many believe he is capable of.

Heading into 2006, things are very different, and Fisichella knows that this will be his best (and maybe last) chance at gunning for the crown. Alonso is leaving the team at the end of the year, the R26 is more suited to Fisichella's driving style, and the team no longer need to be so protective of one of their men after their success of 2005.

Having seen his world title challenge derailed by engine problems in 2005, Kimi Raikkonen is under no illusions that this season is make-or-break in terms of his relationship with McLaren.

Despite having proved to be one of (if not the) fastest drivers in F1 for several seasons, Raikkonen's cars have all-too-often let him down, and he has shown this winter that he is no longer afraid to speak his mind about the situation.

Should McLaren and Mercedes have overcome their winter issues, then Raikkonen will be fighting for the title; if not, then expect the fireworks to fly - both on and off the track.

Juan Pablo Montoya is only too aware that Raikkonen's relationship with the team is on the brink, and he has been doing everything in his power to appear the 'blue-eyed boy' over the winter.

The Colombian has regularly been to the factory to work on the team's simulator, and he has been pushing himself harder than ever to eek out performance from his car that will allow him to overcome his teammate.

Montoya absolutely does not want to be playing the support role to Raikkonen again and desperately wants those positions reversed; so expect no quarter given between the teammates once the action begins.

Formula One's elder-statesman is not ready to give up just yet, but it could be a different story at the end of the year if Ferrari are not able to deliver a car capable of fighting for the world championship.

The disappointment of 2005 has served to fire up Schumacher's motivation, and he has been pushing the team like crazy to ensure he does not have to endure the nightmare he suffered last year.

Whether his efforts will pay off is uncertain, and much depends on the job that Bridgestone can do, but one thing is clear: Schumacher is far from finished yet as a major force in F1. No one should write him off.

Felipe Massa has everything to prove this year. He has been handed a golden opportunity to prove he is a better driver than his critics suggest, and it will be up to the Brazilian to prove that he is not as wild as he has often shown to be.

It will certainly not be easy going up against Michael Schumacher in the same team, but then again no one is expecting the Brazilian to outperform the number one star.

However, there will be a certain amount of pressure on Massa to deliver results as quickly as possible. He only has a one-year deal and, with Valentino Rossi sniffing around, Massa cannot afford to get it wrong.

Ralf Schumacher may have a firm long-term contract with Toyota in his pocket, but that does not mean he can afford to sit back and let results come to him this year.

Despite outscoring teammate Jarno Trulli in 2005, Schumacher was pretty comprehensively outperformed for much of the year and the team management make no secret of the fact they want the German to up his game - especially in qualifying.

Schumacher has always shone when he has a well-sorted car beneath him, and early indications are the TF106 is that - although no-one yet knows just how quick it is.

Jarno Trulli may earn much less than teammate Ralf Schumacher and may not have the security of a long-term deal with Toyota, but he was undoubtedly the star of the outfit last year. Expect more of the same from the Italian in 2006, as he hopes the team can make the final step they need to earn that maiden victory.

Expect Trulli to be brilliant in qualifying again and, if the team can deliver him a more consistent car for the races, then there is no reason to believe he cannot be strong on Sunday afternoons too. He also needs a bit more luck on his side, having seen several good results go down the pan last year through no fault of his own.

Mark Webber readily admits that both he and Williams under-performed in 2005 and need to do much better this time out. The Australian arrived at the team on a wave of high expectation and all the talk was of him finally being able to net his maiden Grand Prix win. Things did not work out like that, and instead a solitary podium in Monaco was the highlight of a disappointing campaign.

Webber's relationship with the team was also far from perfect in 2005, but a mid-season 'mutual bollocking' session with management at Grove cleared the air and has allowed them to renew their efforts to turn the situation around. Now is the time for Webber to deliver.

The Rosberg name is back in a Williams, and Nico has every chance of being as quick as his title-winning father.

Rosberg arrives in Formula One after an impressive GP2 campaign last season, but it was his dedication and application in testing for Williams that eventually convinced the team to sign him. He is the highest-ranking scorer of all time in an aptitude test all Williams drivers take, and his technical feedback and knowledge, allied to speed on the track, should allow this rookie to shine at time during 2006.

The German knows things will not be easy, but he has boldly said he is not going to go out there to take it easy.

Rubens Barrichello has finally escaped from the shadow of Michael Schumacher and looks set to have joined Honda Racing at exactly the right moment. The new RA106 appears to be a front-runner in terms of pace, and it certainly has the reliability needed.

Some say that Honda will start the season as the team to beat, and few believe Barrichello will give anything away to teammate Jenson Button. 2006 provides a real opportunity for Barrichello to prove that he has what it takes to mount a serious world title challenge - and he knows he cannot afford to simply be a number two driver, again, this year.

Jenson Button is desperate to end his Formula One victory drought - if only to stop the endless questions he gets asked about when that first win is going to come.

For the first time since his debut season in 2000, Button is in a truly competitive car with a truly competitive teammate, and it is very much a make-or-break season for the Briton to prove he can be a winner, and not just a front-runner.

After the contractual wrangles that have marred previous seasons, Button should at least be able to keep his focus on the racing this year and seems well fired up by the competitive car that Honda have delivered.

David Coulthard proved to be one of the surprises of 2005 when he shone in Red Bull Racing's first year in Formula One, but he is going to face a tough time matching his achievements this time out.

Although there is no doubt that the Scotsman is as strong as ever, it has not been an easy pre-season build-up for the new RB2. Major cooling problems have derailed the team's early efforts, and left Red Bull Racing well behind on their programme and struggling with reliability.

It may be a tough start to the year, then, but Coulthard is exactly the kind of man to help solve those problems.

Christian Klien faced an uncertain time in Formula One last year, with Red Bull Racing making it clear to him that he would be sharing the team's second car with Vitantonio Liuzzi. In the end he impressed enough to hold onto the seat for most of the year, and now he heads into his third season safe in the knowledge that the seat is his for the full campaign.

The young Austrian made big progress last year, sometimes putting teammate David Coulthard in the shade, and he can be expected to go even better this year. He will face the same difficulties as Coulthard with the RB2 in the early part of the year, but he is still young enough not to lose heart with the situation.

It is hard to imagine that just two years ago Nick Heidfeld was fighting to keep his Formula One career alive. In the end, he opted for a year with Jordan to try and rebuild his career and the gamble certainly appears to have paid off.

The German seized his opportunity well with Williams last year, often outclassing teammate Mark Webber, and he has now followed BMW to their new team. No-one is expecting the BMW-Sauber outfit to be in the hunt for victories, but the F1.06 looks solid and Heidfeld can be expected to be delivering results when they are on offer.

Jacques Villeneuve needs a good season in 2006 if he is to keep his Formula One career going beyond the end of the year. An indifferent start to last season did nothing to silence his doubters, and certainly led BMW to stall on confirming his contract for this year ahead.

The former world champion knows that he has got a point to prove from now on, but a good handling F1.06, plus the improved budget brought to Sauber by BMW, have lifted his spirits considerably. He has put in some strong times in testing and he will be hoping to recapture some of the form that made him such an exciting driver in the 1990s.

Formula One's Mr. Consistency is going to face a hard time this year if he is going to improve on his great 2005 campaign. His podium finish in Indianapolis (albeit thanks to freak circumstances) and the record of 18 finishes carved him out a good reputation - but in F1 you are only as good as your last race.

Midland are unlikely to make a big step forward in performance this year and, in Christijan Albers, Monteiro will find a more political adversary than Narain Karthikeyan - and that could prove crucial in the fight to make an impact.

Christijan Albers spent much of last season fighting at the back of the field against Midland, and now he will head into battle with them.

The Dutchman arrived at the Russian-owned team with plenty to prove after not really being able to show his full potential in 2005. Whether he will be able to demonstrate what he can do this year is open to question, though, with Midland's M16 unlikely to be a big threat to the manufacturer teams.

After being unable to convince Red Bull Racing's chiefs that he was a better bet for their team than Christian Klien, Liuzzi has been handed a golden chance to prove what he can do in the company's new junior team.

Although Scuderia Toro Rosso are unlikely to be allowed to fight near the front of the field, because of the V10-equivalency rules, Liuzzi should at least be allowed plenty of freedom to both enjoy himself and develop as a driver without too much pressure.

Gerhard Berger and Franz Tost are exceptional men to help guide him, and V10 reliability could prove to be the key to some pretty strong results in 2006.

Scott Speed has kept a pretty low profile all winter, despite earning the accolade as the first American driver in Formula One since 1993. Fresh from some strong drives in GP2 last year, Speed will have the perfect opportunity to learn the ropes in F1 without the pressure that comes from being with a true top-line team.

With Liuzzi as a teammate, Speed is certainly going to have his work cut out if he is going to prove that he is a star of the future - and has not just had his path into F1 eased because of his nationality.

After a disastrous 2005 campaign that resulted in him being dropped by BAR, Takuma Sato has had the luxury of Honda helping him stay in Formula One through their support of Aguri Suzuki's new outfit. However, it may not be a dream ticket for the aggressive Japanese driver.

There has been very little lead time to get the operation up to speed and, with the team starting the season with an updated 2002 Arrows, there is little chance of them being anything but at the back of the grid.

It will be interesting to see if Sato can keep his frustrations in check if that is the case, or whether there are going to be quite a lot of bodywork repairs coming up for the team.

Yuji Ide is pretty much an unknown figure in Formula One circles, but the Japanese arrives in the sport with some impressive results from Formula Nippon under his belt.

Ide will face the same struggles as Sato early on in the year in trying to make an old 2002 car competitive, but with the team unlikely to have two new cars until the middle of the campaign, he is going to face a longer spell at the back of the field than his teammate.

Just how he fares is anyone's guess, but the team could have some late nights fixing cars if recent comments that he wants to copy Sato's aggressive style are anything to go by.

We want to hear from you!

Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.

Take our survey

- The Autosport.com Team

Read and post comments