Despite being more than three weeks away from the first Formula 1 race of the 2008 season, Jarno Trulli has already predicted that Ferrari will win the 2008 championship. After testing in the Toyota alongside Ferrari in Bahrain, Trulli declared that "the championship already looks over to me before it has started." The F2008 was noticeably quicker than the competition, posting lap times half a second quicker than even McLaren. Meanwhile, Trulli seemed depressed about the Toyota TF108, saying that it was "unrealistic to talk about podiums."
[Source: F1-Live.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Zane @ Feb 20th 2008 9:29AM
And I predict there shall be a Russian GP within the next 5 years.
Quattrofan @ Feb 20th 2008 9:40AM
:Sigh: So another season of Ferrari domination. I hoped McLaren, BMW and Renault will be competitive this year, but it surely doesn't look like it. Bummer.
Squiderman @ Feb 20th 2008 9:57AM
Hmm... Let's see, an Italian flattering Ferrari, I wonder if he has a motive...
Seriously though, everybody knows that any pre-season tests are not indicative of anything. They are all running different fuel levels, they are trying different parts and setups. The goal may not even be to go fast, but to get some performance curve for the engineers to look at. Until the first race it's wide open.
He maybe right about Toyota chances though :)
Mobius_1 @ Feb 20th 2008 10:00AM
Wow, that is truly morale-boosting talk from Trulli ahead of a new season, (maybe he wants to go to Ferrari)
I do hope he is right though!
F1Mikal @ Feb 20th 2008 10:07AM
Testing has shown that the current World Champions will dominate (a.k.a. 'spank') all comers from the beginning of the season. SPANK.
Therefore we should make a proposal/online petition to give the Driver's and Constructors' trophies to Ferrari now.
And there are sound financial reasons FOM should do this; primarily to not lose the audience that F1 has.
The moment that the spanking begins, viewers will switch off.
No-one really likes to watch this kind of torture on those other poor teams. Spending all their sponsor money and still lagging at least .5 seconds behind each lap.
Because once people switch off, it will take years to get them to return.
And by that time, the american series nascar could have a chance to invade and steamroll F1 into oblivion.
My 2 cents/ 2 p
Our only hope...is that the 11 other F1 teams are sandbagging. All 11 of them.
Cameron @ Feb 20th 2008 10:57AM
How about reward weight?
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 20th 2008 11:06AM
This is good news as it will save Formula 1 the trouble of changing the rules or disqualifying teams midseason in order to ensure Ferrari wins.
Gooch @ Feb 20th 2008 11:21AM
Ferrari is fast -- no doubt about it. Jarno's Toyota, by comparison, is a slug. No doubt.
But the season has not begun. Raikkonen is not Schumacher -- the performance of the team will fall off, I believe, due to the Iceman's noted lack of intensity and willingness to leave the track as soon as possible. Kimi has shown that he is blazingly fast no matter the car, but I just don't think the car will be as reliable as it was last year.
And yes, I think McLaren and Renault are sandbagging. Big time. In fact, McLaren ALWAYS sandbags. It standard operating procedure.
As they say, the proof is in the first qualifying in Australia. I do like Ferrari's chances at the constructor's and driver's titles, but I do not discount McLaren or Renault.
Gooch @ Feb 20th 2008 11:22AM
"It standard operating procedure" should be "It's standard operating procedure."
Franz @ Feb 20th 2008 12:29PM
I can't believe Trulli actually said that out loud. Way to knock the wind out of your own sails before the season's first race even gets underway.
I wouldn't bet on Ferrari just yet. I've watched F1 long enough (since the late '80s) to know that topping the time sheets in early testing does not guarantee a championship. And regardless of all the restrictions on development that the FIA has implemented, none of the teams will be contented to sit still. They'll be fighting for an advantage anywhere there's a gray area in the rule book.
And never forget the importance of the human factor: drivers are not always on top of their game 100%. All it takes is a few mistakes or a couple bad races to tip the balance in someone else's favor (look what happened to Hamilton's title challenge?), and I'm sure there'll be plenty of those with the absence of traction control this year.
And besides, teams... especially McLaren... don't always show their full hand during testing. I'm sure they've got a few tricks up their sleeve... not to mention different cars handle different tracks better than others (high speed stabilty, braking, cornering speeds... each chassis has it's own unique characteristics). I for one can't wait till March 16th.
pmiddle5 @ Feb 20th 2008 4:44PM
Jarno's spirits are being crushed by an uncompetitive car and if he keeps this attitude up it will be insanely difficult for him to help motivate his team or get into any team that is championship material...
@ SquiderMan. Jarno has no reason at all to flatter Ferrari. By the time their two drivers contracts are up Jarno will be in his twilight years
May @ Feb 22nd 2008 5:50PM
Ferrari back on track!!! Nice!