BMW #1??

[HondaF1]

Found this on itv-f1.com, found it quite interesting. What do you all think??

Massa: BMW is the team to beat

Felipe Massa believes BMW Sauber currently has the car to beat in Formula 1 judging by its pre-season testing form so far.

The McLaren MP4-22 has been the pace-setter for much of this winter, although Massa put Ferrari’s F2007 at the top of the timesheets on the last day of dry running at Jerez on Wednesday.

But in terms of overall performance the Brazilian has been most impressed by the BMW F1.07, and says the Hinwil-based squad has stolen a march on the field.

“Definitely the McLaren looks fast, but for me the BMW is the best of all at the moment,” Massa told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I say this not just because [Nick Heidfeld] set the fastest time on the last day, but by seeing their consistency over race distance simulations.

“I thought the BMW was impressive at Valencia, and here at Jerez they’ve done some very interesting tests too.

“The McLaren is the fastest car over a single lap, but as far as consistency is concerned the BMW is impressive even if maybe they don’t have the best reliability yet.

“For now I put them ahead of Ferrari and McLaren.”

Renault has yet to make a big impact on the timesheets this winter, but Massa insists the world champion squad should not be written off.

“[The R27] doesn’t seem bad to me,” he said.

“And plus we don’t know what programme they have been on, and how much fuel they’ve been running with.”

Ferrari’s own programme has been set back by the rain that has dogged it from Vallelunga to Jerez.

“To say it’s a pain is an understatement,” Massa admitted.

“We came here to get mileage on the car and to get to know it, but with the rain we weren’t able to always complete our programme.

“You can’t push like in the dry, and you can’t always understand whether the new things you are testing are working or not.”

But although Ferrari has experienced some reliability problems with the F2007, Massa has had enough of an insight into the car to give it a provisional thumbs-up.

“We are in the situation we had expected,” he said.

“The car has definitely proved to be quick and reliable too, and even though we’ve had some problems we know how to solve them.

“We leave Jerez with some good things and other not so good things.

“The car is quick and there’s nothing to worry about.

“We’re managing to do quick times easily and we are close to the guys who are stronger than us at the moment.

“This car is definitely easier to set up: it is very well balanced and stable.”

In common with the rest of the F1 fraternity, Ferrari’s attention is now focused on the final European test of the winter, in Barcelona next week.

“It will be an important test for everyone,” said Massa.

“The car we are using now is very different to the one we’ll be using in Australia, at least aerodynamically, and at Montmelo we’ll start to see some changes.”

[Sausageman]

Heidfeld isn't as good a driver as Alonso or Raikkonen and Kubica still has to properly adapt to the new tyres which, according to him, don't suit his style at all. I think we're going to see a repeat of last season where BMW only becomes competitive halfway through.

[-Cpt. J.-]

Its just winter testing. It is completely useless to try and decide the teams during this time. I do hope BMW manages better than last year but don't take Massa's words too seriously. He might say that to take the focus off Ferrari for a while so they can breathe alittle. Dunno. Winter testing means nothing to the fans. Australia, thats when we see wich team can compete.

[Red_Bull]

The BMW's are quick and last year their improvement was massive. If they continue that trend there's no reason why they shouldn't challenge for consistent points and even podiums. As for the championship, no, they wont challenge McLaren or Ferrari in any serious way, but I expect they can be ahead of Honda.

[Sausageman]

Originally Posted by Red_Bull

The BMW's are quick and last year their improvement was massive. If they continue that trend there's no reason why they shouldn't challenge for consistent points and even podiums. As for the championship, no, they wont challenge McLaren or Ferrari in any serious way, but I expect they can be ahead of Honda.

Ahead of Barrichello perhaps, but not Button.

[HondaF1]

Originally Posted by Red_Bull

The BMW's are quick and last year their improvement was massive. If they continue that trend there's no reason why they shouldn't challenge for consistent points and even podiums. As for the championship, no, they wont challenge McLaren or Ferrari in any serious way, but I expect they can be ahead of Honda.

No way. Honda will kick BMW's arse.

[Hazardous]

Originally Posted by HondaF1

No way. Honda will kick BMW's arse.

We shall see

I'm expecting to see BMW in contention for podiums, maybe even race wins with a bit of luck this year. They improved a lot last year, they have looked good in testing and they have capable drivers in Heidfeld and Kubica.

Of course, we won't know for sure until Melbourne. Only five weeks to go! 8)