Living up to expectations

[Railbird]

In your opinion who lived up to or fell short of pre-season promise in Oz?

teams or drivers

My thoughts:

Renault and Alanso were well within the preseason hype.

The FW26 and Juan fell well short with fault seeming to lie with both.

BAR didn't really live up to the hype but they were so much better than they ever have been they earn a pass.

McLaren seemed to live up to all of their pre-season promise.

as did Toyota

Jag managed to show that Webber really might be the second coming of Alan Jones. BTW, now that we are past the Australian weekend do you think we can live without reading about Mark's thoughts on absolutely every topic?

Sauber, yeah well it looks and sounds like a Ferrari.

Jordan, who knows? scrambling for scraps.

Minardi, nice dependability play Paul.

did I leave anyone out?

[jonovision_man]

In your opinion who lived up to or fell short of pre-season promise in Oz?

teams or drivers

My thoughts:

Renault and Alanso were well within the preseason hype.

The FW26 and Juan fell well short with fault seeming to lie with both.

BAR didn't really live up to the hype but they were so much better than they ever have been they earn a pass.

McLaren seemed to live up to all of their pre-season promise.

as did Toyota

Jag managed to show that Webber really might be the second coming of Alan Jones. BTW, now that we are past the Australian weekend do you think we can live without reading about Mark's thoughts on absolutely every topic?

Sauber, yeah well it looks and sounds like a Ferrari.

Jordan, who knows? scrambling for scraps.

Minardi, nice dependability play Paul.

did I leave anyone out?

I assumed Maclaren were sand-bagging a little, I was a bit surprised at just how bad they managed to be.

Sauber looked good for a while there, at least Massa did... surprised to find him ahead of Fisi.

BAR lived up to the skeptical hype... :) Very close in pace to Williams, lots of potential there.

jono

[Insomniac]

I think McLaren really fell off. Renault keeping up even with a new engine was a surprise. I expected a little better from BMW. Toyota was whipped by Honda. Who gets all that money they're spending?

[Dirty Sanchez]

Reliablity of all the teams was better than expected, imo. Oz is notorious for having 50% or better attrition rate...

BAR lived up to the hype and then some. They said they would be challenging the big 3 and that's exactly what they are did. They reckon they've already got McLaren in check... Williams is next. Renault and Ferrari are still a little ways out of reach. Honda power strong and reliable so far.

McLaren were about what I expected... and about what Kimi and DC expected. Not sure how anyone could be fooled into thinking they were sandbagging. The 19 is an evolution of a car that never raced (because it sucked). Long season ahead. Not DC's year. Special thanks to the guy on crapwagon that bet me $100 at 10-1 odds that Raikkonen would outscore Button. Ch-ching.

Ferrari. Awesome. Incredibly awesome. Sepang will be the true test. :thumbup:

BMW-Williams. Disappointing. I don't think they expected to be battling with BAR and behind Renault after round 1. Good thing they have 2 drivers that will score regularly.... should be good enough for 2nd overall... but will be lucky to have a top 3 in WDC standings, imo.

Renault. I have them in my top 3 this year... even with an ineffectual and unlucky Trulli. Very strong on long runs. Alonso will be the guy giving MS fits this year. Not JPM. Not Kimi.... oh yeah... and not Rubens ;)

Minardi. Hard to say you're disappointed with Minardi... but I thought they would at least make the distance. Afterall, that was their rationale for choosing a lower spec Cosworth, right? Thanks for screwing my fantasy team :shakehead :D

Jordan. Whatever.

Sauber. Could be challenging McLaren at certain tracks and may get a podium if they find themselves in a race that drastically favors the Stones... (like Brazil, USGP) last year.

Toyota. I expected them to suck and they do. Personally, I'm glad Honda is getting the best of them.

Jaguar. Ehhh... as long as they're beating Jordan and Minardi I think they're content. Sad. Webber will be a Williams driver next year.

[Chaos]

I thought it was interesting that Ferrari was criticized for their car not looking 'innovative' enough....and they blew away the field. Any you know it wasn't just the engine since Sauber has the same engine (well, assuming they're not getting a B spec engine or something), and they were no where near the Ferraris.

[Joe in LA]

BAR didn't really live up to the hype but they were so much better than they ever have been they earn a pass.

To me, BAR were the most impressive. I assumed the pre season pace was bogus, but the car showed real potential. I think they've made by far the biggest off season improvement--even if Michelin should get a lot of the credit.