Favorite F1 Team of 2004?

Minardi-Cosworth is definitely my favorite team this year mainly because they at least have the balls to stay in F1 and keep trying their hand. Zsolt Baumgartner even managed to get a point for the team this year. So I voted for Minardi-Cosworth in this poll as my favorite F1 team of 2004.

BAR-Honda deserves honorable mention, they’ve definitely improved a lot this year. Both Jenson Button and Takuma Sato are excellent drivers not to mention that the car has improved greatly as well.

Now how about the rest of you, which is your favorite team this year?

Voted for BAR. Only a matter of time before Jenson gets his first win, and Taku's aggressive overtaking is fun to watch. Last year, I didn't care at all about this team, but they really have turned it around. Really fun to watch this year, along with Renault.

My favorite team over the years has been Williams, with Mansell as my all time favorite driver. They are hard to watch this year, although JPM has had some good moments.

Next year, I'm hoping Toyota can finally get their act together since they'll have my favorite two current drivers, R Schumacher (assuming the fractures heal enough for him to return) and Trulli.

And all hail Zsolt. First point for Minardi I can remember. A lot of people saying Zsolt doesn't belong in F-1, and he's almost always outqualified by his teammate, but he's hung in. Can't wait to see what his home crowd is like in 2 weeks...

It's weird how entertaining a season it's been, even though there's no competition for the championship. I can hum the national anthems of Germany and Italy in my sleep.

The team that scares me a little bit is Toyota. It's only a matter of time before they get it right with all the damn money they have. Definitely a wise decision for Ralf to go to Toyota.

Lets Gekiga In said:

The team that scares me a little bit is Toyota. It's only a matter of time before they get it right with all the damn money they have. Definitely a wise decision for Ralf to go to Toyota.

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And Jarno! I can't wait. Williams is looking up as well with Webber headed over there...can't wait to see who the second driver is. Nice to see Fisichi finally get a good drive (Renault) as well.

It will definitely be an interesting season, although I don't know about some of the new regs (1 engine for 2 races, 1 set of tires per race) they're trying to force through.

SouthtownKid said:

And Jarno! I can't wait. Williams is looking up as well with Webber headed over there...can't wait to see who the second driver is. Nice to see Fisichi finally get a good drive (Renault) as well.

It will definitely be an interesting season, although I don't know about some of the new regs (1 engine for 2 races, 1 set of tires per race) they're trying to force through.

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How could I forget about Trulli and Webber? It's always good seeing former Minardi drivers go on to do well in F1 with other teams.

Whats the point of voting in this poll? We all know Ferrari rules F1 with Micheal Shumacher. Instead of calling it F1, they should call it "The Ferrari show starring Micheal Shumacher". But Honda and Toyota are teams I like, Honda has shown it can compete with the big boys and its only a matter of time before Toyota can get with the big boys.

K_Dash said:

Whats the point of voting in this poll? We all know Ferrari rules F1 with Micheal Shumacher. Instead of calling it F1, they should call it "The Ferrari show starring Micheal Shumacher". But Honda and Toyota are teams I like, Honda has shown it can compete with the big boys and its only a matter of time before Toyota can get with the big boys.

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Schumacher will retire eventually, it's only a matter of time...

Lets Gekiga In said:

Schumacher will retire eventually, it's only a matter of time...

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The day that happens is the day I start watching F1 on a regular basis like I do with the WRC.

K_Dash said:

The day that happens is the day I start watching F1 on a regular basis like I do with the WRC.

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You should watch it anyway; this season has been great. they spend about 4 minutes covering Schumacher as he pulls away in the beginning, and the rest of the 2 hours covering the phenominal battles for 2nd-6th between Renault, BAR and Barrichello. Of course, WRC is great also. But that's another thread.

Anyone who says there's no overtaking in F1, hasn't been watching this year. And I don't want Schumacher to leave until he's been legitimately beaten by someone (the season, not just a single race).

I don't watch F1 much anymore, WRC is my thing. Then again I'm also training to be a rally driver, but still.

My vote goes in to Jaguar-Cosworth.

Fernando Alonso is the next Schumacher

This season he've made two of the best starts in the recen history of F1 (One was in canada, when Ralph Schumacher had that accident and alonso tire blown up when he was 2nd. From 6th to 2th BEFORE the first turn, moving from side to side of the road... just awesome)

Setsuna1982 said:

Fernando Alonso is the next Schumacher

This season he've made two of the best starts in the recen history of F1 (One was in canada, when Ralph Schumacher had that accident and alonso tire blown up when he was 2nd. From 6th to 2th BEFORE the first turn, moving from side to side of the road... just awesome)

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I'm a big fan of Trulli, so I really hate to say this, but I think there may be some kind of driver's aid on the Renaults this year, that is helping them get all these amazing launches. Takuma's also had a couple real good starts this year, but they come as much from aggressive driving as leaping off the line.

As for Fred Alonso, he's got a lot of talent, and like Schumacher, he'll do pretty much anything he needs to get ahead, like break checking DC last year, running him off the road. I wonder if he'll still be at Renault next year with Fisichi, or if Williams will grab him.

Setsuna1982 said:

Fernando Alonso is the next Schumacher

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He may be the next Schumacher, but nobody will ever be the next Ayrton Senna.

Lets Gekiga In said:

He may be the next Schumacher, but nobody will ever be the next Ayrton Senna.

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Hard to say how it would've been if Prost hadn't retired and Senna had stayed at McLaren in '95... But Schumacher was real strong at Benetton that year. And he had already shown he could beat them, as well as Mansell, Damon Hill, DC, etc.

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s, a lot of people were reluctant to call Senna "the best ever", although he may have been. Same with Schumacher now. It's unpopular to say, but it's possible he may be better than Senna was. He's definitely on another level from all his current competition. It's not just having a great car, he's also an amazing talent.

Also, you heard Minardi lost their sposorship?

SouthtownKid said:

Hard to say how it would've been if Prost hadn't retired and Senna had stayed at McLaren in '95... But Schumacher was real strong at Benetton that year. And he had already shown he could beat them, as well as Mansell, Damon Hill, DC, etc.

I remember in the late 80s/early 90s, a lot of people were reluctant to call Senna "the best ever", although he may have been. Same with Schumacher now. It's unpopular to say, but it's possible he may be better than Senna was. He's definitely on another level from all his current competition. It's not just having a great car, he's also an amazing talent.

Also, you heard Minardi lost their sposorship?

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Ayrton Senna is mostly considered to be the best F1 driver or possibly even best driver ever. Michael Schumacher is an excellent racer, so he may be the best F1 racer. He also has the backing of the best team right now and therefore I'd consider Michael Schumacher more of the complete package. But as I said earlier, Ayrton Senna is most likely the best driver ever.

Yep, Minardi lost it's sponsorship from Wilux supposedly because of the decision of Minardi's to pay tribute to John Walton on the car. Really ridiculous of Wilux to do such things to Minardi. It seems like Wilux just did that to change their sponsorship to Jordan...

I'm rooting for Toyota since they started at F1, little time ago.

Lets Gekiga In said:

Ayrton Senna is mostly considered to be the best F1 driver or possibly even best driver ever. Michael Schumacher is an excellent racer, so he may be the best F1 racer. He also has the backing of the best team right now and therefore I'd consider Michael Schumacher more of the complete package. But as I said earlier, Ayrton Senna is most likely the best driver ever.

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That seems to be the concensus, but my point is that Schumacher was already winning a race in his first full season against Senna, Mansell, Prost, Berger, and everyone else, while he was driving for Benetton Ford, which was not the best car on the track. Second full season, he did it again. Third full season, he dominated. He won all three races Senna was in that year. But like I said, who knows what would have happened. I would have loved for them to have become rivals, like Senna was with Prost...

And I'll definitely be rooting for Toyota next year with Ralf and Jarno (I think they probably have one more lean year ahead of them, though). Looks stupid for me to wear a Williams hat when I drive a Corolla.

SouthtownKid said:

That seems to be the concensus, but my point is that Schumacher was already winning a race in his first full season against Senna, Mansell, Prost, Berger, and everyone else, while he was driving for Benetton Ford, which was not the best car on the track. Second full season, he did it again. Third full season, he dominated. He won all three races Senna was in that year. But like I said, who knows what would have happened. I would have loved for them to have become rivals, like Senna was with Prost...

And I'll definitely be rooting for Toyota next year with Ralf and Jarno (I think they probably have one more lean year ahead of them, though). Looks stupid for me to wear a Williams hat when I drive a Corolla.

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Yeah, but Benetton and McLaren were pretty much the same point wise in the early 90s (both also had Ford) and notice that Benetton finally overtook McLaren in 1994 but we of course know that Senna passed away that year and McLaren switched to Peugeot. When you watch a few races from back then on Speed channel (10th anniversary) from when Senna was driving, he was keeping up with Prost even though his car was definitely underpowered. Not to mention that Schumacher still hasn't surpassed Senna's record number of pole positions (65). We all know that Schumacher now has qualified a bunch more times than Senna now.

I still consider Senna the best driver ever.

To be honest, I'm only half arguing. The other half is trying to keep the thread from dropping off the front page. They could have had some great battles. But I didn't really think Senna was better than Mansell when they were racing. Meaning, back when those races were actually going on, I knew he was great, but it never occurred to me he might be the best ever, and I don't remember him being called that. He was just one of many great drivers of the period. And when McLaren was powered by Honda (and after Honda dropped Williams), you got the feeling a lot of it was the car, the same way people talk about Ferrari now. When Mansell didn't have an engine falure, McLaren would send freaking Berger after him like a Mansell-seeking missle to take him out.

And you can't really talk about both teams (McLaren and Benetton) being powered by Ford. It comes down to the individual team and their budget. Honda used to power a few teams, and although it's an extreme example, no one expects Sauber to keep up with their year old Ferrari engines.

Senna was great, no doubt, easily one of the greatest, and possibly the greatest ever. I just don't know if people would hold him quite as high if he had retired instead of dying. Look at Prost.

SouthtownKid said:

To be honest, I'm only half arguing. The other half is trying to keep the thread from dropping off the front page. They could have had some great battles. But I didn't really think Senna was better than Mansell when they were racing. Meaning, back when those races were actually going on, I knew he was great, but it never occurred to me he might be the best ever, and I don't remember him being called that. He was just one of many great drivers of the period. And when McLaren was powered by Honda (and after Honda dropped Williams), you got the feeling a lot of it was the car, the same way people talk about Ferrari now. When Mansell didn't have an engine falure, McLaren would send freaking Berger after him like a Mansell-seeking missle to take him out.

And you can't really talk about both teams (McLaren and Benetton) being powered by Ford. It comes down to the individual team and their budget. Honda used to power a few teams, and although it's an extreme example, no one expects Sauber to keep up with their year old Ferrari engines.

Senna was great, no doubt, easily one of the greatest, and possibly the greatest ever. I just don't know if people would hold him quite as high if he had retired instead of dying. Look at Prost.

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Yeah, I'm not really trying to argue either. My father happened to like Senna a lot and I always admired Senna greatly. As a matter of fact, if I was born a few years later I would've been named Ayrton.

And you're doing the same as me to make sure this one doesn't get booted off page one.

Honda has my support. Taku is a great prospect, and Button is doing great. I'm hoping he will overtake Barichello for 2nd in the drivers race. I also fully expect BAR to pass Renault for 2nd in the constructors championship.

And Aryton Senna was far better than MS will ever be. MS has the best car and the best team, where Senna didnt always have all those advantages and had to rely purely on his skill.
so FUCK m.s.

Plus, Senna's favorite car was the mighty Honda NSX, which IMO says alot about both.

I love F1, but this season hasnt been as exciting as i would like. I am quite happy that all the races are shown on broadcast TV here, so i can watch them (or ignore them after the start if i choose). The general US public is too fucking stupid to appreciate F1, and thus it isnt given much airtime there.

MotoGP however, has been a blast this year.

Rassilon said:

I love F1, but this season hasnt been as exciting as i would like. I am quite happy that all the races are shown on broadcast TV here, so i can watch them (or ignore them after the start if i choose). The general US public is too fucking stupid to appreciate F1, and thus it isnt given much airtime there.

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I don't know when you were last here, but it's given plenty of airtime now. We get pre-qualifying live on Friday, qualifying live on Saturday with a replay later in the day, and the race live on Sunday with 2 replays...one in the afternoon, and one that night. Compared to the early '90s, when ESPN might sometimes cover a race or not, depending if the world series of poker was finished...things are a lot better now.

I'm also expecting Honda to surpass Renault this year.

Schumacher hasn't always had the best car or the best team, but he's shown his ability from his first race. He drives aggressively and always pushes himself. People have outqualified him on heavier fuel loads, and still haven't been able to capitalize. That said, he's my least favorite driver to watch. I also think last year's championship wasn't won by him, but by Bridgestone. The way they held their complaint about the Michellines until right before the testing ban was cheap as hell. The last 6 races would have come out completely differently if Williams and McLaren hadn't had to scramble to adapt to the inferior compounds.

He obviously has the best car...but that's part of the sport. This year's crap Williams BMW is something like a second faster than the pole setters of last year. An improvement, but Ferrari improved more. I think a lot of the new regs meant to slow down Ferrari actually have hurt the other teams more, preventing them from building up momentum.

Whether it's possible he's as good as Senna was can never be proven now, they only ever faced each other a certain number of races at the very beginning of Schumacher's career. What is pretty certain, is that besides having the best car, he's also the best driver from the current crop.

ALL HAIL FERNANDO ALONSO!



Apart from being a kickass driver, he's an Asturian compatriot of mine.

SouthtownKid said:

I don't know when you were last here, but it's given plenty of airtime now. We get pre-qualifying live on Friday, qualifying live on Saturday with a replay later in the day, and the race live on Sunday with 2 replays...one in the afternoon, and one that night. Compared to the early '90s, when ESPN might sometimes cover a race or not, depending if the world series of poker was finished...things are a lot better now.

I'm also expecting Honda to surpass Renault this year.

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I was in the US last year. But i should add, that i didnt have cable, and the F1 coverage was very minimal on broadcast tv, from what i remember.

I agree that MS is probably the best current driver, but i dont think he is as far ahead of some of the others as he appears this year.

Rassilon said:

I was in the US last year. But i should add, that i didnt have cable, and the F1 coverage was very minimal on broadcast tv, from what i remember.

I agree that MS is probably the best current driver, but i dont think he is as far ahead of some of the others as he appears this year.

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Yeah, you have to have cable...Speed channel is a dream come true for me, even though they spend way too much airtime on Nascar. But as long as I can watch F1 and WRC, I'm happy. Network tv is a joke for F1; I saw a report about Ralf's crash that described him as the 6-time world champion.