We’re still nearly 3 months from the start of the 2005 F1 season, but that doesn’t mean that there has been no activity since we left off in October.

Most of the teams are in the process of unveiling their 2005 cars and hitting the circuits for preseason practice. BAR in fact (if that is what they will be called this year) has already been to Barcelona, got mad and left because of the condition of the track surface.

The offseason has seen Bernie in court, the amazing uprising of the A1 Grand Prix series, revelations by a former Ferrari doctor that some of the drivers are coked up, the impending, yet doomed sale of Eddie Jordan’s team, the purchase of BAR by BAT and Honda and the ongoing saga of Jaguar.

Other than to say that Ferrari will once again be dominant it is probably too early to speculate on how the season will shake out. Last year BAR was fast in testing, but no one really bought their reported times. However, when it came down to it, the Brackley team ended up second in the constructors race.

There has been some changes in the driver-car lineups for this year. In addition, it appears as thought Antonio Pizzonia will end up in the second Williams car despite some tension between him and Mark Webber. Here is the lineup as of December:
1, Michael Schumacher (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro), Ferrari;
2, Rubens Barrichello (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro), Ferrari
3, Jenson Button (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), BAR-Honda
4, Takuma Sato (Lucky Strike BAR Honda), BAR-Honda
5, Fernando Alonso (Mild Seven Renault), Renault
6, Giancarlo Fisichella (Mild Seven Renault), Renault
7, Mark Webber (BMW Williams), Williams-BMW
8, TBA (BMW Williams), Williams-BMW
9, Kimi Raikkonen (West McLaren Mercedes), McLaren-Mercedes
10, Juan Pablo Montoya (West McLaren Mercedes), McLaren-Mercedes
11, Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber Petronas) Sauber Petronas
12, Felipe Massa (Sauber Petronas) Sauber Petronas
14, TBA (Jaguar Racing) Jaguar-Cosworth
15, TBA (Jaguar Racing) Jaguar-Cosworth
16, Jarno Trulli (Panasonic Toyota Racing), Toyota
17, Ralf Schumacher (Panasonic Toyota Racing), Toyota
18, TBA (Jordan Grand Prix) Jordan-Toyota
19, TBA (Jordan Grand Prix) Jordan-Toyota
20, TBA (TBA Minardi TBA) Minardi-TBA
21, TBA (TBA Minardi TBA) Minardi-TBA.

As you can see the teams at the back of the pack are where they usually are at this time of the year, without a solid driver commitment.
Well that is going to be it for today. I’ll have more as the next month unfolds and all of the teams hit the tracks. Full coverage of each team and their outlooks plus there will be NASCAR reports when Daytona rolls around in a month. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.