Williams/BMW (williams.bmwf1.com)

These last two previews really need not even be done. I mean the whole world knows about Frank Williams and his F1 team as well as they know the Scuderia Ferrari team. Both teams have had legendary pasts and are at this time at the top of their games.

However, change is afoot at Williams. First off is the brand new, radically designed FW26. Some pundits have called it the ugliest car on the grid, but begrudgingly say it may also be the fastest. The car has what can almost be described as 2 arms reaching forward from the front and holding the front wing.

There has never been any question of the power of the BMW P84 V-10 engine and in the hands of Juan Montoya and Ralf Schumacher the team may finally get past the Maranello gang. As has been the case the past couple of years the Williams team will have Michelin Tyres.

HP and Allianz are once again the main sponsors, but Budweiser has extended and actually increased their sponsorship of the team.

Testing has gone well for the team. Estimates from the team and independent sources place the testing program at 5 tracks in 33 days and over 20,000 kilometers. Montoya and Schumacher have been at or near the top of the speed chart in every session.

This season there seems to be only two things standing in the teams’ way of both a driver and constructor title. One, and it is an 800 pound gorilla, is Ferrari. With Michael Schumacher and Rubens back in the saddle they will be nearly impossible to beat. The other, and probably even more ominous problem they are facing is their driver situation.

Montoya is gone at the end of the season for McLaren. The big questions are how hard will he drive for his team since he knows he will be leaving and how much of a car or information will the team give JP since he will be going to the competition. The answers to these questions will probably be revealed as the season unfolds and really no sooner. And finally, how much of a big baby will Ralfie boy be. He started out spring testing talking about who he would like to have as JP’s replacement. But recently he has expressed that he too may depart after the season. For Williams, losing Montoya is going to be a blow, losing Schumacher would be a blessing in my opinion. That guy is overated.