I’d say that Williams is more thasn just a problem for Ferrari, they completely dominated the Malaysian GP. Ralf Schumacher was on the pace even with a one stop(heavy) fuel load whereas Ferrari where doing a short first stint, two stop fuel load.
Ferrari did pull away but given the differant fuel strategies they should have made more time than they did, and when it comes to pulling out of corners, then the Williams appears to have more torque, though the Ferrari is slightly better under braking.
Ferrari are running last years car, and the question has to be when do they move to the new one with its risks of reliability and the certain liklehood that some tweaks will be needed that have not yet been unearthed, racing does bring out apsects that not amount of testing can.
For now Williams has the power, Mclarens problems seem to stem from their trying to develop the Mercedes engine too quickly, their car is very good under braking and they are reckoned to have the best aerodynamic package around, it looks like this year they wll be relegated to the third team unless they can sort it out very rapidly, and that means within the next three GP’s.
One big dissapointment is Jordan outfit which seems to be getting drawn back into the pack for the fourth placed team and I think that toward the last five or six events they are going to have a struggle to keep ahead of the new Toyota team who can only improve, and they will.
Jaguar are on the skids at the moment, their new car is rumoured to have enough power but does not work well at all, the car badly oversteers and at the moment they are seriously considering going back to last years version, which is not at all easy to do since everything is set up for the new one, such as software, spares manufacturing and a whole host of other things.
They do not yet have any real idea of where their problem lies.
One very significant developement is in tyres and I expect to see some testing of F1 rules and maybe some protests.
F1 tyres must have grooves to a certain depth and width which is intended to reduce grip and so reduce cornering speed, the second most dangerous aspect of F1(starts being the most dangerous-probably)
The Michelin tyres start off with the regulation grooves and don’t work as well as the Bridgestones for the first 90 or so miles, depends on the circuit, but what happens is that those raised parts of the tyres wear down and then they are very much better than anything else out there, and it was very noticeable that when the Williams were in the park-ferme for scrutineering after the race was over that their front tyres were effectively slicks, even the part of the tyres that should be clear of the track were well worn.
Another significant pointer in this was that when Williams came in for their tyre change, those replacements were significantly worn already, as they had been used for the morning practice session.
Seems to me they are playing this factor up to the maximum.
Of course the FIA have a very strong Francophone element and Michlin is French too, so it could be interesting, if nothing is done then the other tyre manufacturers will have to take the same route and the intention of reducing corners speed to make F1 safer for both participants and spectators will be compromised.
Ride height is critical for F1 cars and those grooves wearing down like they do must have a significant effect upon the way the car needs to be set up, it must surely be detrimental to airflow under the cars when they are fresh.
