Can Formula One bounce back?

Mar 6, 2008, 10:29 GMT

German Formula One pilot Nick Heilfeld of BMW Sauber team takes a bend during the second training session held at Montmelo racetrack 27 February 2008, in Barcelona, north-eastern Spain. The first F1 race of the season takes place next month in Australia. EPA/TONI ALBIR

Hamburg - World champion Kimi Raikkonen hopes to beat British sensation Lewis Hamilton again for the Formula One title in the 2008 season in a year which everyone involved in the sport hopes racing only makes the headlines.

Raikkonen won the drivers' title in dramatic fashion by one point over the McLaren-Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. His Ferrari team was gifted the constructors' crown as well when McLaren were punished over a spying affair.

While F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone insisted that the sport will bounce back from the spying case involving the two top teams, the affair has damaged the image of McLaren boss Ron Dennis.

So did the intense rivalry between Hamilton and ex-champion Alonso which the team found hard to contain and prompted the Spaniard to return to Renault after just one season at the silver arrows.

Briton Hamilton was the target of racist slurs from Spanish fans in pre-season testing but peace has been restored and the two Spanish races in Barcelona and Valencia no longer endangered.

The Valencia street race on August 24 has been added to the calendar as the European Grand Prix. Six weeks later the sport will see its first ever F1 race under floodlights in Singapore.

The season starts March 16 in Australia and ends November 2 in Brazil.

The Singapore race is the latest sign that F1 is looking east, a fact also manifested by the presence of a Force India team, the former Spyker outfit bought up by Indian businessman Vijay Mallya together with Dutchman Michiel Mol.

Rule changes add to the new flavour, most notably the end of traction control which used to keep the cars stable.

'Falling back into my old style of driving has been pretty easy. I drove without traction control for many years, so it is what I am used to - there is nothing new,' said Hamilton.

The 23-year-old showed plenty of talent in his rookie season in 2007, coming agonizingly close to the title. Hamilton knows that his honeymoon is over, but he wants good results again.

Good results should restore the team's battered image, with Hamilton the star and Finland's Heikki Kovalainen his new team-mate after the departure of Alonso.

According to many experts, Hamilton is looking ahead at an extraordinary career in which he could one day challenge Michael Schumacher's record seven world titles.

'Unless something goes dramatically wrong, he will win several world championships. If he races for as long as Michael did then he may very well beat his record,' said Max Mosley, head of the ruling motorsport body FIA.

Schumacher retired in 2006 and gave way for Raikkonen at Ferrari, and the Finn delivered instantly in his first season for the Italians in a move from McLaren - fully living up to the 'Iceman' image as a cool and concentrated driver.

'It must be our aim to win both titles again,' said Raikkonen, who can hardly wait for the season-opener in Melbourne.

'We have done everything we can. It is nice to be back racing again and in Melbourne we are going to see who is fast and who's not. But we will be ready.'

The new car and the pre-season testing results have received the royal blessing from Schumacher, who said: 'We are very well prepared for the season.'

Alonso, for his part, is happy to be back at Renault after the turmoil at McLaren, but the 2005 and 2006 champion will likely have to be content with a place further down the F1 pecking order this time around.

'I'm enjoying life with Renault again and I think it will be a good year for me even if in the end we cannot fight for the title,' he recently told the BBC.

Renault will hope to be the third-best team again but face a stiff challenge from BMW with its established drivers Nick Heidfeld of Germany and Robert Kubica of Poland.

'It is our clear aim to win a race,' said Heidfeld at the car's presentation at BMW's Munich headquarters.

Williams and Red Bull can possibly challenge for a podium place if McLaren and Ferrari meet disaster, while Toyota, Toro Rosso, Honda, Super Aguri and Force India are further down in the pecking order.

'We should look to racing properly with the midfield as soon as possible,' was the modest outlook of Force India technical director Mark Gascoyne.