The 2007 Teams Review

With the season complete, it is again time to review the teams, reflecting on their changing fortunes and the satisfaction they have brought their fans this year.

Using the same criteria as last year's review, 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'.

What a season for Ferrari - winning the first race, fighting McLaren all season long both on and off track, and ultimately taking both championships. There is no doubt that it has been a testing year.

Despite being fast at the outset, it was clear that McLaren were on a par, and had the development capacity to move ahead. Accordingly, Ferrari had to push all season for every development advantage that was available.

Indeed, when the wind tunnel suffered a significant failure and was taken out of action for a few weeks, McLaren pulled ahead in both the drivers' and constructors' championships, and looked set to win the double.

The spying saga was a low-light for most onlookers. With the full truth unlikely to ever be fully known, what is established is that there was information flowing at least from Nigel Stepney to Mike Coughlan, others are likely to have been involved, and the FIA stripped McLaren of their constructor points.

On the positive side, both drivers showed excellent pace throughout the year, with Kimi Raikkonen in particular improving as the year progressed - he and Felipe Massa should prove a formidable pairing over the seasons ahead. This continuity should help the team continue their transition from the Schumacher era.

Prospects for 2008: Finishing on a high, the team have clearly showed they remain a front-running outfit, despite Michael Schumacher's retirement, and they ought to remain as strong a force in the year ahead.

Fan Satisfaction: Very happy all round.

Alongside McLaren, the biggest mover of the season was undoubtedly BMW Sauber, who moved clear of the midfield to assume a comfortable 'third best' status.

Having developed a quick, reliable car, piloted by quick and motivated drivers who both usually finished well in to the points, the team worked hard to maintain development through the year, and arguably closed the gap to the front-runners.

Despite the fantastic progress, they were not playing the same game as their competition. It became clear fairly early that McLaren and Ferrari were driving each other's development pace, so getting on a par was always going to be a struggle.

As a result, BMW Sauber started getting on with their next car early, although they took their time to promote Christoph Zimmermann to chief designer after Jorg Zander left for Honda.

With 'Quick Nick' Heidfeld continuing to show the way to the fast but inexperienced Robert Kubica, the team has off-loaded Sebastian Vettel to Toro Rosso. Their existing drivers are quick, motivated and have a blend of experience, which should prove a decent combination to develop and race the new car.

Prospects for 2008: If the early move to the 2008 car works, then momentum will be maintained and there is every chance they will start the year on a par with the front-runners - and in a position to chase that elusive first win.

Fan Satisfaction: Very high - efforts well rewarded!

The reigning world champions were brought down to earth with a thump when the new season came around. It transpires that not only did Ferrari gain momentum and out-develop the outfit towards the end of the 2006 season, they maintained that progress over the winter and were out of sight this year.

As if that was not enough, McLaren and BMW Sauber also improved far faster than anticipated, leaving Renault effectively moving backwards - so much so that they were were never in the same league at all this season. It was quite a backward step for a team that had taken the constructors' championship for the two previous seasons.

A lot was made of the switch to Bridgestone from Michelin. Unlike McLaren, the French outfit never quite achieved the same level of understanding before the design of the car was locked in, and consequently they were unable to get as much out of the rubber. Whether they have now closed that gap will be key to a change of form next year.

On the positive side, although the performance of the car was very disappointing in comparison to previous years, it did allow them to a chance to be patient with their new driver, Heikki Kovalainen, as he got up to speed - which resulted in a superb rookie season, even if it was rather overlooked by a media that was focussed on Hamilton.

Prospects for 2008: If they have resolved the tyre understanding problem, then getting back on par with at least BMW Sauber is possible, though fighting regularly for podiums, let alone wins, is a tall order.

Fan Satisfaction: Substantially disappointed in 2007, but optimistic about a return to form next year.

After the disaster that was 2006, there was little doubt that Williams would be do better this year, and indeed they have absolutely turned it all around. Despite the tougher points-scoring environment, they scored three times as many points as last season.

They failed to finish seven races, compared with twenty the year before, which resulted in them completing 91 percent of the overall laps raced.

Whilst not on a par with the front-runners, getting on top of the reliability problems without compromising pace has been well rewarded, and they find themselves fourth in the championship as a result.

Williams is arguably the second most improved team of the year (behind BMW-Sauber), and if they keep up this progress, then it is only going to be a matter of time before they are fighting at the front of the grid again.

Although Alex Wurz struggled with his qualifying pace all year, he did take a critical podium in Monaco, and the team's investment in Nico Rosberg paid off handsomely as the youngster finally delivered on all of the promise that he showed in his first race, consistently delivering the car into the points all year.

Prospects for 2008: With the decision pending on a second driver, the team is doing well with Toyota power and seems to be in a position to close the performance gap to the front. They might not become a regular front-runner, but certainly ought to be looking for irregular podiums amid points finishes in every race next year.

Fan Satisfaction: Relieved and optimistic.

Considering that the start of the season saw the team being regularly shown the way forward by the junior outfit (Scuderia Toro Rosso), there is no doubt that Red Bull picked up well as the season progressed, and they began to really understand their new car.

As the first new chassis produced under the watch of Adrian Newey, the whole concept of the car was a rather a change of direction for the team. But like many previous Newey designs, it showed promise but was tricky to understand, which in turn made it difficult to get the best performances out of the cars.

With ex-McLaren driver Coulthard helping to bridge that understanding gap, it was not too long before the outfit finally looked like containing the junior team.

Understanding was not the only thing that improved. The design was evolved over the season, helping to drive the performance of the team ever closer to the front-runners. It helped them to score in three of the last four races.

On the downside, reliability has been problematic this year, with six more failures to finish than in 2006. And the number of completed laps dropped to 76 percent - only Spyker managed fewer!

Prospects for 2008: Steady progress on performance, the team is clearly squaring up to be a strong midfield runner next year, though they must iron out the reliability problems if they are to move forward.

Fan Satisfaction: Pleasantly surprised, moderately optimistic!

It was another anonymous year for Toyota, who again attacked the season with the biggest budget, and again featured infrequently. The team produced a car that really did not work for one of their drivers, and their attempts to iron out that problem simply added to the troubles for the other.

The season did not improve as it progressed. They started with a level of performance that just about allowed them to fight for points each weekend, but the competition seemed to work more effectively at improving their cars. Toyota was left behind to the point were the second half of their season was practically barren.

Quite how the team is to turn things around remains a bit of a mystery, but the formula they have been applying so far is clearly not working. Changing at least one of the drivers is probably not a bad idea, particularly if it brings in someone who can offer a fresh insight and direction for improvements.

Prospects for 2008: Unless the team suddenly discover and resolve a significant flaw in their understanding of Bridgestone tyres, even with their huge budget it is hard to see them get to the points of fighting the front-runners. That said, with the talent they have on board, at least the start of the season should see them operating high in the midfield.

Fan Satisfaction: Another disappointing year.

The Red Bull junior team spent the first few races of the season embarrassing the senior outfit as both struggled in getting to grips with the car.

As the season wore on, the experience of the senior drivers allowed them to get a handle on their car faster, and they were better able to make the most of developments. Consequently, Toro Rosso looked far more like the junior outfit they are supposed to be.

From the outset, there appeared to be friction between the team management and the drivers, culminating in Scott Speed and Franz Tost falling out in public and the American being replaced. Sebastian Vettel arrived and re-motivated the team, but they rarely looked like competing for points.

Then, it all changed. In Japan, Vettel collided with Webber whilst fighting for a probable podium, but then he and Tonio Liuzzi took fourth and sixth in China, in both cases making the most of aggressive strategies in wet weather.

The result in Shanghai rescued the season, and the team finished seventh overall on the back of that single race. The year could easily have ended with STR scoring no points at all!

Ongoing questions about the validity of customer cars make STR's position for next year interesting. Spyker and Williams are both pursuing avenues that could significantly impact the car that the team can run, with knock-on implications for how the budget is spent.

Prospects for 2008: If they can avoid the in-fighting between management and drivers, they should be able to make an impact on track, but getting into the points will be a struggle.

Fan Satisfaction: Shocked that they scored eight points, concerned that another tough season is coming up.

After the tremendous progress shown during 2006, including a pole, a win, and fourth place in the constructors' championship, optimism was high for a continuation of the teams' progress towards the front. Unfortunately, that was not to be - the new car was a misconceived, troublesome offering.

Half a season's worth of work to improve the car failed to allow the team to out-perform the previous year's chassis - something that was rubbed in their faces by Super Aguri, who were making the most of the Honda 2006 cast-off.

As a result, development effort was diverted to the next season, using the current car being used to test new concepts as the team struggled to understand exactly what was wrong in order to avoid making the same mistakes again.

With perhaps only Renault being more disappointed with their season, Honda absolutely has to ensure that they stop the rot and turn the show around next year.

If they don't provide their drivers with a platform for scoring points, then they are going to struggle with their motivation and the team will run the risk of losing what talent they do have to more competitive outfits - and then having to stump up top dollar to replace them.

Prospects for 2008: Finishing the year with some evidence that the car was improving, there is optimism that they can move forward in the year ahead. Quite how far they can go remains to be seen, but regular top ten finishes has to be the target.

Fan Satisfaction: Dismal season - it has to be better next year.

In contrast to 2006, the Super Aguri team did not start this season as the weakest outfit - indeed, they regularly showed better form than the senior Honda outfit in the first half of the year. On the downside, with their more competitive start, there was less scope for improvement as the season wore on.

Major sponsor SS United stopped paying, requiring the team to tighten up their testing and development program. It meant that they were unable to keep pace with the other midfield players as the season wore on, and although a raft of new sponsorship deals were closed towards the end of the season, that capital is all destined for the 2008 car.

Prospects for 2008: The future is interesting. As they are getting more established, Super Aguri are receiving less aid from Honda and need to rely more on their own program to improve.

Despite trouble with their financing, they still showed a nice improvement over their 2006 performance, claiming four points and finishing most of their races, so they are heading in the right direction.

The only problem is that there is a big difference between closing the performance advantage to the teams ahead, and actually doing a better job!

Fan Satisfaction: Pleasantly surprised

It has been another tough season for the ex-Jordan, ex-Midland and now ex-Spyker outfit. From the outset, not only did they struggle with pace, but with the parent company struggling just as hard financially, it seemed inevitable that another change of ownership would be forthcoming.

With poor performance on the track, they worked on politics - and are pursuing Toro Rosso for using a customer car.

Despite the initial struggles, the team has shown considerable progress. On track, they took on a bill payer in Sakon Yamamoto to replace Christian Albers, who was let down by his sponsors - though not until Markus Winkelhock had stood in for a race, which he led for six laps in chaotic conditions.

They also introduced a significantly new car, designed by their star designer Mike Gascoyne that showed a considerable step forward - enough that they started being able to challenge midfield runners for places.

Off track, the company was purchased by Vijay Mallya, owner of the Kingfisher brand amongst others. The team will be renamed Force India for next season, and are anticipating better funding along with strong continuity from the management.

Prospects for 2008: With Gascoyne clearly making his influence felt in the design of the car and the promise of better funding, the team should continue closing the gap to the front-runners. They should be able to get off the back of the grid regularly.

Fan Satisfaction: Disappointing season, but promising momentum.

Despite their place at the bottom of the points table, there is no doubt that McLaren were a very different team this season, compared with their performances from recent years.

Quick straight out of the box, they have been consistently a top two performer on every outing and looked the class of the field more often than not.

Not only did the team get on top of their traditional reliability problems, but with only two DNFs all year, they did so without compromising speed at any point. This team was undoubtedly the most improved coming in to the 2007 season.

It did no harm that they had a world champion in the car alongside what was probably the most groomed rookie in the history of the sport - both were impressively quick, right out of the box, and whilst they made mistakes, they were infrequent.

However, it is what took place off track that wrecked the season for McLaren. The spying saga not only took time and effort away from the focus on winning, it ultimately led the FIA to remove their points for the constructors' championship.

Adding insult to injury, the team let Raikkonen slip past to claim the drivers' championship as they faltered at the final hurdle, Brazil.

There is more to come. The FIA are to look over the designs for the 2008 car, with a view to considering further penalties for the outfit if they believe there is any Ferrari influence.

Besides that, they are heading towards a protest meeting regarding the fuel temperature issue that involved Williams and BMW Sauber at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Prospects for 2008: Should the FIA not hamstring them on reviewing the new car, they have tremendous momentum and ought to challenge for both championships.

Fan Satisfaction: Very pleased on track, despite losing out on both championships; dismayed about the off-track shenanigans.

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- The Autosport.com Team

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