The 2006 Teams Review

With the 2006 season complete, it is time to look at the teams, reflecting on their changing fortunes and the satisfaction they have brought their fans this year. Comparing statistics is often an interesting place to start, so each team's performance from the last two years, along with the change between them, is being used as an indication of 'momentum' - and a starting point for a relative measure of "Fan Satisfaction".

Coming off the back of a championship-winning season, the team worked hard to maintain their momentum through the off-season, and despite some bumps during pre-season testing, had it all together and hit the ground running: Alonso stood on the top two steps of the podium at the first nine races.

With only four failures to finish all season, the team had a reliability record that matched Ferrari's enviable form, but their pace fell off relative to Ferrari as the season wore on. It was a close-run thing and nearly insufficient, but at the end of the day, Renault had done enough, Alonso kept taking the opportunities that came his way, and they finished with both championships.

Prospects for 2007: Without Alonso to lead the ship, it is difficult to imagine Renault making as strong a start next year - without consistent podiums early, the championships are likely to slip out of touch. That said, the team have produced great cars for the last two seasons, and provided they can get Kovalainen up to speed quickly, they have a chance.

Fan Satisfaction: Very happy

Ferrari spent 2005 struggling to make an impression on their rivals, after being completely dominant in '04. Although the finger of blame was levelled mostly at Bridgestone, the season was disappointing, and many believed the writing was on the wall for a continued downswing in their performance.

As it turns out, that downswing did not go as far as generally expected. The team did start the season off the pace of Renault, which resulted in the French outfit building a comfortable lead early on. However, despite having a new second driver in Massa, they made the most of the opportunities that were available: fortunately, they scored well enough that when the car was finally on the pace to win races, it set up an interesting second half of the season as they chased down Renault's lead.

It is a measure of how hard the team was pushing to close that performance gap that they suffered four failures to finish, but they completed one more racing lap than their nearest competition - Renault.

Perhaps, had Massa started the year closer to the pace of his teammate, or the package had been a little quicker earlier, or the bullet-proof reliability had been maintained, they might have taken at least one of the championships home, but the change of direction was still a credit to the team, and it was fitting that they put Schumacher in a position to challenge at the front for what turns out to be his last season.

Prospects for 2007: With Schumacher moving on, Ross Brawn taking a sabbatical and the management structure being shuffled, onlookers would be forgiven for thinking that Ferrari could struggle to maintain their performance next year. However, Massa is clearly now up to speed, Raikkonen is expected to be outstanding from early on, and the management reorganisation, handled carefully, could, in fact, lead to a stronger team in the near future. With McLaren and Renault also seeing lead drivers change, prospects are very good, and they will expect to be in the hunt for both championships.

Fan Satisfaction: Very happy, if concerned over the loss of Schumacher and Brawn.

After a strong run in 2005, there was considerable hope that McLaren would be one of the contenders this season. As it turned out, their car was almost never on the pace, and on those occasions it was not reliable enough to make it to the finish line.

Losing Montoya mid-season must have been something of a shock, but after announcing Alonso was hired and failing to secure his services, the Colombian was in no doubt about the writing on the wall. He struggled to match Raikkonen and was racing hard for poor finishes: little surprise he took a way out when it presented itself. It seems ironic that his exit seemed to provide an opportunity for the team to improve their results, as they aligned firmly behind Raikkonen and it seems things improved immediately.

Reliability issues were never resolved, however, and they only managed to cover 78% of the racing laps that Ferrari and Renault delivered; although this was enough to take third place overall, it was never sufficient to get on the top step of the podium, leaving the outfit win-less and disappointed.

Prospects for 2007: with Raikkonen moving on to Ferrari, the driver line-up is not quite what the team was looking for, but if they can provide incoming world champion Alonso with a quick and reliable car, then he should be up to speed quickly and there is a very reasonable chance of getting back on winning form. Chasing either championship is going to need the team to get on top of all their disappointing aspects from the last season, however: pace, reliability and team-work will all be under the microscope this off-season. As always, this is an outfit that should rarely be dismissed, but they have a lot of work to do to be ready for March.

Fan Satisfaction: Very disappointed.

After the disappointment of the 2005 season, where the team were significantly off the pace of their previous season, Honda were looking to set the record straight this season, with their only stated target to come out with a win.

Whilst not quite in the manner they intended, the Hungary performance delivered that promise: making the most of others dropping the ball, the team did everything right and topped the podium. Finishing the season strongly did no harm either.

With Barrichello new to the team, he was not expected to get on the pace of his incumbent teammate Button for a while, and so it proved. Judging by the gap to their rivals, it probably made little difference to the teams' standings, but there are ramifications for next season...

Prospects for 2007: provided the team can maintain their end of season momentum, they have to be very optimistic for the year ahead. The driver pairing is now well settled in, they have a consistent team, solid budget and strong development program. With main rivals Renault, Ferrari and McLaren shuffling drivers (and management too in some cases), they should be able to make a good enough start to the season to credibly challenge for a title.

Fan Satisfaction: Very happy

With BMW buying Sauber, the team moved from being a privateer to manufacturer-backed, along with the budget and technical advantages that offers. Little surprise, then, that they have improved this season.

It is surprising, though, that they were able to make significant progress as the season developed. Perhaps one of the bigger lessons BMW learned from their relationship with Williams is how important it is to design a car with development potential, then to relentlessly pursue it as the season evolves.

Mid-season, Villeneuve was set to miss a race through injury, resulting in third driver Kubica getting a shot at racing - and it put a whole new life into the outfit. The rookie driver overtook with equanimity and attacked relentlessly, soon capturing the media whilst driving Heidfeld to up his game to boot. Considering the state of the team at that point in the season, it was not rocket science to work out that releasing Villeneuve to give the rookie more experience could do no harm...

Prospects for 2007: With a promising driver line-up and plenty of momentum from the second half of the season, the team seem to be on the up. Getting into the top four will be tough, but scoring regularly through the season with periodic visits to the podium must be a target. If they keep developing at half the pace they have this season, they could even get in to the top four.

Fan Satisfaction: Very happy

Toyota spent much of 2005 picking up points, finishing fourth overall and looking like they were making some solid strides. The team were confident that Mike Gascoyne was leading them forwards, and they entered 2006 looking to challenge for regular podium finishes.

In the event, the car started by appearing to be completely off the pace: over the first three races the team struggled to understand their tyres, leading to Gascoyne being sacked before returning to Europe - ironically, just as the car appeared to come good.

The next half dozen races saw further progress before the results tapered off: it would not be surprising to discover that restructuring the technical management led to some loss of focus.

On the few occasions the team looked promising during Saturday qualifying, it was downhill all the way during the race - all told, with a single podium finish from the season, there was little to write home about.

Prospects for 2007: it is difficult to see where Toyota is going next; they are always working on building their technical staff, but Renault's form is an illustration that cracking the performance nut is about far more than throwing money and numbers at the problem. What they are doing is not sufficient - and without changing, there is every reason to believe they are due a similar season next year. On the positive side, with Renault, Ferrari and McLaren all shuffling drivers around, concentrating on a strong start to the season could give the team some podium finishes early...

Fan Satisfaction: Disappointed from beginning to end.

Coming off the back of a surprisingly strong 2005 season, there was some hope in the Red Bull camp that they would had some momentum, and might make an impression this season. However, from the outset, there were problems.

After struggling to get to grips with cooling their Ferrari engine, the outfit started the season on the back foot - and with fewer points dropped by the leading outfits, in contrast to last season, it left them mostly unable to take advantage of the few opportunities that arose.

The driver line-up was subject to speculation all year: Coulthard again gave lessons to his younger teammate, so Klien is seeking alternatives for next season as Webber comes on board. Having hired Adrian Newey to design the new car and put a solid Red Bull budget behind the team, there has to be some optimism.

Much of the last year was spent looking for a new engine deal, and after considerable political wrangling with Ferrari, they have offloaded that supply to Toro Rosso and organised Renault power plants instead.

Prospects for 2007: Newey-designed cars with Renault power took Williams to multiple world championships, but it is far from likely to be a repeat; the leading teams have very strong packages, so the team will struggle to get to that level. Replacing BMW as the leading midfield team - becoming regular points scorers - is probably the upper limit.

Fan Satisfaction: Somewhat disappointed.

Having lost their manufacturer engine supply again, it was inevitable that Williams would struggle more this season than last, but considering their form at the start of the year, the full extent of their struggle has been a little surprising.

With Cosworth providing a very competitive V8 engine for the first few races, the team got their campaign off to a promising start. However, a tight budget and ever increasing problems with reliability saw their performance drop off, to the extent that even the much vaunted qualifying skills of Mark Webber were insufficient to make them look good. Needless to say, he is not sticking around for a repeat next season.

Completing less than two thirds of the racing laps that Ferrari managed, in fact, 120 laps less than any other team on the grid, Williams have fallen back through the grid and post their worst season result - of course, they are very aware of the problem, so changes were taking place at home long before season end.

Prospects for 2007: with some serious new sponsorship lined up, including AT&T, and a supply of Toyota engines, the team are looking to leverage their improving budget as they beef up development in a quest to reverse their trend in form. Unless they want to spend the next season battling for mediocrity in the midfield, they absolutely have to get a handle on both abysmal reliability and in-season development too. Bearing in mind the tremendous experience in the team, a turn-around is always possible, but it is promising to be a tough off-season and a rough year to follow.

Fan Satisfaction: Very disappointed

Having taken over the Minardi operation and committed to running a V10 engine for the year ahead, this Red Bull-backed outfit proceeded to put together some half way decent performances at the start of the year, considering their inexperienced drivers. The influx of cash did little harm, but it soon became clear that - despite protestations to the contrary - the FIA's imposed rev limit and intake restriction on the engine was a sizeable handicap to performance.

For an inaugural year, the team put on a solid show: certainly, they beat the expectations of the team they took over, scoring a point and beating two others overall. There were occasions when they took the fight to the senior Red Bull team, so there is plenty to be pleased with.

Prospects for 2007: Lining up Ferrari engines for next year is a key element in the plan to move forward, but getting this year's Red Bull chassis to go with it is going to take some tough politicking. Should they do so, then prospects will be good for another step forward, but without it, they will be compelled to design their own, and probably struggle to make an impression.

Fan Satisfaction: Moderately pleased - setting up for next year is the charm.

After struggling through the 2006 season, the Midland outfit approached the new year with an increased budget and a focussed approach to the year ahead.

On track, the cars were quicker this year, apparently closing the gap to the front, but reliability was massively compromised: the team only finished 21 races from 36 starts this year, which is nothing like good enough for the current, ultra reliable era..., and their position in the constructors' championship reflects it.

Off-track efforts continued to provide distractions, with the team eventually being sold to Spyker. The good news is that they have an assured future: the new management is beefing up the team - already signing Mike Gascoyne, amongst others. Although they will never have the budget of the manufacturer teams, consistent rules and a level playing field on tyres should let them get further up the grid on occasion.

Prospects for 2007: The change in ownership seems to have taken place fairly smoothly, and already there is a strong focus on the season ahead, which can only be a good thing for the team's prospects. Getting reliability under control is vital, though. Playing the political game well is going to be critical: it will at least impact the team's budget, and hence development.

Fan Satisfaction: After a tough year, not a lot to be cheerful about - but there is some hope for the near ahead.

Considering the team missed the application for this year's championship, it was a near miracle that they made the grid at all. Having done so, the team proceeded to perform as expected - some considerable way off the pace.

But they are clearly intending to do more than just make up numbers. As the season progressed, they had improvements at every race, even when the leading outfits brought nothing new, and developed a brand new chassis towards the end.

Progress was solid and measured - by the end of the season, the deficit to the front runners was cut by two thirds, turning the outfit from out and out back-runner to being able to race - and beat - other tail end cars.

Prospects for 2007: Considering the tremendous progress the team made as the season wore on, there is certainly the potential for them to mix it with the midfield runners next season. Of course, there are also political hurdles to overcome: they want to leverage Honda's knowledge and doing so would enhance their progress, but if they can use Honda's old chassis then there is little doubt they will improve next year. Of course, if they are stymied in their use of Honda experience and parts, then the second season should - as almost always seems to be the case - prove tougher than the first.

Fan Satisfaction: Troubled start, but a happy end to the season: reason to be optimistic.

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