All the previews are in and it is time to go racing for the F1 boys! Starting this weekend in Melbourne, new team configurations, rules and cars will be pushed to the limit to give an early glimpse into how the 2004 FIA World Championship will shake out.

While next year will offer the most intriguing driver changes, the fact that some of those changes are already known could play a part in this seasons action. Williams may actually feature two lame duck drivers if Ralfie boy doesn’t get his contract with Frank Williams worked out. David Coulthard will be departing McLaren after the season and I don’t see him taking a second class ride so I think he will retire. And what of Michael Schumacher? At age 35 he is old by F1 driver standards but he doesn’t seem to have missed a beat. Will he retire at the end of the season? I doubt it, but if he wins the title he just might.

Elsewhere, only Renault seems set with its lineup for the foreseeable future.

A change the fans will notice is the weekend schedule. Last year’s Friday morning (Thursday at Monaco) practice is gone. Some of the teams at the back of the grid who gained experience with those sessions will suffer this loss the most.

There will be two one-hour sessions on Friday in which all teams except the top 4 from last season will be able to run three cars. In fact, that third car can sport alternate livery of the team

Saturday will feature 2 45 minute practice sessions followed by 2 qualifying sessions. The qualifying sessions will follow last years guidelines i.e. one lap per car in the first session and those times will determine the order of the second session which will also be one lap.

The other big weekend change is the “one engine” rule. If a driver ruins an engine prior to qualifying he will be charged 10 positions on the starting grid for a replacement. If it happens in qualifying or after, he will have to start at the rear of the grid.

Also, launch control and automatic transmissions have been outlawed this year.

Finally, the season has been changed. Despite the Concorde Agreement’s mandate of a maximum of 16 races, this season will feature 18 races with new stops at Bahrain and in China. The Canadian stop, originally thought to be gone was reinstated as was Belgium after a one year hiatus. The US race has been moved to June and the Brazil race is now the season ender.

Here is the complete schedule courtesy of SpeedTV.com…

Australia
Practice Thu, Mar 4 11pm SD
Qualifying Fri, Mar 5 12am SD
Australian Grand Prix Sat, Mar 6 9:30pm LIVE

Malaysia
Practice Thu, Mar 18 1am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Mar 19 2am LIVE
Malaysia Grand Prix Sat, Mar 20 1:30am LIVE

Bahrain
Practice Fri, Apr 2 6am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Apr 3 7am LIVE
Grand Prix of Bahrain Sun, Apr 4 7am LIVE

San Marino
Practice Fri, Apr 23 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Apr 24 9am LIVE
San Marino Grand Prix Sun, Apr 25 7:30am LIVE

Spain
Practice Fri, May 7 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 8 9am LIVE
Spanish Grand Prix Sun, May 9 7:30am LIVE

Monaco
Practice Thu, May 20 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 22 9am LIVE
Monaco Grand Prix Sun, May 23 7:30am LIVE

Europe (Nurburg)
Practice Fri, May 28 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, May 29 9am LIVE
Grand Prix of Europe Sun, May 30 7:30am LIVE

Canada
Practice Fri, Jun 11 2pm LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jun 12 2pm LIVE
Canadian Grand Prix Sun, Jun 13 12 noon LIVE

USA
Practice Sat, Jun 19 10am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jun 19 2pm LIVE
United States Grand Prix Sun, Jun 20 12:30pm LIVE

France
Practice Fri, Jul 2 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 3 9am LIVE
French Grand Prix Sun, Jul 4 7:30am LIVE

Britain
Practice Fri, Jul 9 9am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 10 10am LIVE
British Grand Prix Sun, Jul 11 7:30am LIVE

Germany
Practice Fri, Jul 23 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Jul 24 9am LIVE
German Grand Prix Sun, Jul 25 7:30am LIVE

Hungary
Practice Fri, Aug 13 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Aug 14 9am LIVE
Hungarian Grand Prix Sun, Aug 15 7:30am LIVE

Belgium
Practice Fri, Aug 27 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Aug 28 9am LIVE
Grand Prix of Belgium Sun, Aug 29 7:30am LIVE

Italy
Practice Fri, Sep 10 8am LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Sep 11 9am LIVE
Italian Grand Prix Sun, Sep 12 7:30am LIVE

China (Shanghai)
Practice Thu, Sep 23 2am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Sep 24 3am LIVE
Grand Prix of China Sat, Sep 25 1:30am LIVE

Japan
Practice Thu, Oct 7 1am LIVE
Qualifying Fri, Oct 8 2am LIVE
Japanese Grand Prix Sat, Oct 9 1am LIVE

Brazil
Practice Fri, Oct 22 12pm LIVE
Qualifying Sat, Oct 23 3:30pm SD
Brazilian Grand Prix Sun, Oct 24 12:30pm LIVE

Events from Australia, Malaysia, China and Japan which begin after midnight Eastern Time are listed as occurring on the previous day. For example, Australia qualifying begins at midnight Friday, and will be found in Friday’s listings on Speed’s Program Schedule page.

SD = Same Day Delay



So what does it all mean? Are we going to have any surprises this season? My thoughts are this: Unfortunately I don’t see any team beating Ferrari for the championship. And having said that it is tough to pick against Schumacher to win his seventh title. Honestly I don’t think Juan will have much incentive to get his team the title although he sounds like he is focused and ready to do the job. Ralfie sucks and wouldn’t win against me.

Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard are a little more intriguing. Raikkonen was only 2 points back at the end of the season last year and you know he wants to get a title this year to lord over Juan when he gets there next year. And Coulthard wants to show the team they are making a mistake by letting him go. Unfortunately theirs may come down to a car issue. The McLaren is always a thing of beauty, but the Mercedes engine winds so high. It has been detuned to help it last the weekend, but at what cost?

Renault will have a say so in some races, but I don’t feel they are ready yet to challenge for the constructors or drivers titles.

Here are my predictions for the 2004 season…

World Champion – Michael Schumacher
Runner up – Juan Montoya
Third – Rubens Barichello

Constructor Champion – Ferrari
Runner up - Williams – BMW
Third – Renault
Fourth – McLaren-Mercedes
Fifth – BAR – Honda
Sixth – Toyota
Seventh – Sauber
Eighth – Jordan
Ninth – Jaguar
Tenth - Minardi

Enjoy the season, stay tuned for more and I’ll see you at Indy in June!