F1 preview...

the first qualifying round for F1 for this year has ended and there has been some surprises thrown up already.....to start up my predictions for this race and for the season ahead, i'll start with what's not surprising....

alonso is on the front row, although in a mclaren and alongside him in pole position is a ferrari of raikkonen....given the pre-season test results, i am not surprised to see that the first row is a what it is....in fact, i am predicting both teams to battle for the constructors title.....another result which wasn't surprising is that spyker is propping up the qualifying times.....i don't think that they will score points this season although they're running ferrari engines....

but one of the huge suprise of the qualifying sessions is that super aguri has qualified in 10th and 11th position....considering they almost always finished last or DNF last season, i certainly am surprised they actually qualified this high.....if they can do well in the race itself, i think they may have an outside chance of pulling a couple more surprises as the season progresses...also somewhat of a surprise is bmw-sauber's qualification....they have managed to out-qualify some of the more fancied teams like renault and toyota....another surprise is webber bringing the red bull car to 7th on the grid.....considering they didn't do well last season, it is surprising to see one of their cars this high.....

as for my predictions for the australian gp, i think it will be a close fight between raikonnen and alonso....could come down to pit stop strategy.....wouldn't rule out hamilton who's in a good position and massa though....both have fast cars with pre-season timing to back it up......but i think massa could just edge out hamilton for 3rd place as he has more experience......

over the course of the season, i see ferrari and mclaren battling out for the constructors title with the main man in both teams - namely raikonnen and alonso - battling out for the driver's title.....i think massa will get 3rd place and perhaps and outside chance at 2nd if he races well this season and alonso falters at some point - assuming that the ferrari doesn't run into mechanical problem......i'm not sure if hamilton has enough to secure 4th place due to is inexperience.....i think he may finish in 5th with fischicella probably finishing in 4th....but i wouldn't be surprised if, button can finish around 4th or 5th in table come the end of the season if he can get some good results over the course of the season.....

more to come once the aussie gp is over.....the review of the race plus updated predictions on how the season will progress....

NB: the predictions above are just my views. i hold no responsibilities if you decide to take my predictions seriously.