Autosport Plus

Autosport: The Schumacher Era

In our series of Best of 2006, this is Nigel Roebuck's column from Autosport Magazine, which was published on November 2nd 2006.

Autosport Magazine Dec 6, 2006, 1:17 PM

Four days after Michael Schumacher's last race came the news that Ross Brawn and Paolo Martinelli are also leaving Ferrari's Formula 1 operation. With Mario Almondo taking over as technical director, and Kimi Raikkonen coming in as Schumacher's replacement, things will indeed be very different in 2007.

How will Raikkonen do in a Ferrari? Pretty well, I'd say. He's as fast as any man and will have car reliability such as he has never known. Throw in Ferrari's unrivalled knowledge of Bridgestone tyres (which all must use next year), Alonso's move from Renault, and the Regie's lack of an established number one driver, and at this stage you'd have to favour Kimi for the world championship. Unless Massa beats him, of course.