With the departure of so many key people from Ferrari, there are many F1 pundits who believe that the once passionate but undisciplined team might be in for another championship drought, much like their 21-year absence from the drivers’ championship top step that started after 1979.
But what do the DailyF1News readers think?
Almost 33% believe that Kimi will be key in Ferrari’s ongoing success, stating that they will maintain winning form for as long as the highly-rated Finn stays. The team itself also has a lot of faith from the Tifosi, with 31% saying that Ferrari are set up for many more years of success.
21%, however, believe that they have but one more year of success in them, after which the slump will begin, with just 15% believing that 2007 will see the start of a championship drought that will not end for many years.
Is Kimi the key? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, we ask you to look into the crystal ball once more and tell us whether you think it was a good thing for Hamilton to enter a top team next to a double world champion in his rookie year.
Many (including F1 veteran David Coulthard) beleive that this will put far too much pressure on the young Briton. Very few top teams have ever given a race drive to a driver who has not come through the ranks – or at least driven for a lesser team with less pressure first. Williams did it with Villeneuve and it paid off, but Villneuve was a seasoned racer in a top American series so it’s a difficult comparison. Flavio, for instance, placed a very promising Alonso with Minardi first, then had him test with Renault and then only did he give him a race drive. That strategy seems to have paid of handsomely.
This year two top teams have signed rookies – Renault with Kovalainen and the Silver Arrows with Hamilton. While Kovalainen faces competition only from a seemingly off-form Fisi however, Hamilton faces Alonso – indisputably one of the top two drivers in F1. Will this baptism of fire make him, or will it break him? Cast your vote on the home page…
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