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Formula One
SPECIAL: Sean Kelly’s F1 Preview
SPEED's F1 stat man looks ahead to the season starting this weekend on the streets of Melbourne, Australia.
Sean Kelly  |  Posted March 11, 2008   Melbourne, Australia
Raikkonen has established himself at Ferrari, but Massa will try to change the pecking order. (LAT photo)

After one of the most controversial seasons in history, followed by yet further argument in the off-season, Formula 1 gets ready for its first day back at school next weekend in much calmer waters.

If you’re at Ferrari right now, life is good. Kimi Raikkonen mugged the McLaren duo at the last race of 2007 to become World Champion – the first man ever to do so when starting the day outside the top two in points since Giuseppe Farina overcame Juan-Manuel Fangio and Luigi Fagioli to win the inaugural world title at Monza in 1950, a season that only had 7 races.

Raikkonen therefore became the first man since Jody Scheckter in 1979 to win the world title in his first season for the Scuderia, and he will be no doubt hoping that his second season is not similar to that experienced by the South African. In what proved to be his swansong year at the age of just 30, Scheckter scored just two points all year and never qualified in the top seven on the grid. The nadir came at Montreal, where he failed to qualify altogether.

The odds are against such worries affecting Kimi this year judging by the winter testing pace of the F2008, but Raikkonen will be looking to make a better start to his campaign that he did in 2007. That may seem a strange thing to say after winning from pole in Melbourne 12 months ago, but after round seven at Indianapolis, Raikkonen found himself fourth in the championship, 26 points behind then-leader Lewis Hamilton. Victories in three of the last four races snatched the title away from McLaren – and if Ferrari had not erred on tire selection at Fuji, he might have taken four in a row.

Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa enters this season with much to prove, having been overshadowed by Kimi in the season run-in (although admittedly Massa would probably have won Interlagos had the championship not come into play). The Brazilian is looking to break his Melbourne jinx, having never finished in the top five or qualified in the top eight on this circuit.

Massa always seems to come a-cropper in Australia, having been eliminated in the massive first corner pile-up on his F1 debut in 2002, been the man on track during one-lap qualifying in 2005 when it started raining, and having a mechanical failure during knockout qualifying last year. Add in his first corner crash in 2006, and Felipe always seems to be having an adventure here.
Best known last year for his Canada crash, Kubica seeks to push teammate Heidfeld harder this year at BMW Sauber. (LAT photo)

BMW enters the season on the back of scoring points in every race of a season for the first time ever. Nick Heidfeld was the only driver not from the McLaren-Ferrari juggernaut to score more than one podium or start on the front row of the grid, and his goal will doubtless be a first victory. Should it happen, he will break Rubens Barrichello’s record for longest wait for a maiden win – Melbourne will be Heidfeld’s 133rd start, eclipsing Rubens’ victory at the 124th attempt at Hockenheim in 2000 (from 18th on the grid for good measure).

Robert Kubica will be looking to overturn his qualifying form relative to Heidfeld, as the German beat him 12-4 last year. Consistent driving saw Kubica score in 7 of the last 9 races after returning from his Montreal crash, and of the other two races, he was a frustrated ninth at Spa after an engine change, and was leading the Chinese Grand Prix when he suffered hydraulic failure. Only the sheer dominance of the leading two teams prevented him from adding to his only career podium so far, at the 2006 Italian GP.
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