Another Promising F1 Season in Store

So many changes will be seen in F1 2006. Amongst them:

• Biggest change is the engine step-down from V10 3-litre to V8 2.4 litre. This change even made Ferrari swap their usual chassis naming from FXXXX (where XXXX is the year of competition. E.g F2005 for season 2005) to 248 F1. The 24 represents the 2.4 litre and the number 8 represents the 8 cylinders in the new engine
• Qualifying format will once again be changed where there'll be 3 stages (2 15-minute sessions and 1 20-minute session) in the the 1-hour session. 1st 15 minutes will be see everyone go out in with any amount of fuel they like and do as many laps as they wish. Bottom 6 will then be knocked-out and take the bottom 6 places for the race the next day. Second session will be the same as well with 16 drivers competing and the slowest 6 be knocked out again. The 12 drivers who were knocked out are allowed to put any amount of fuel they like. The last session will see the top 10 drivers slug it out for the 10 spots with again, no restriction on the number of laps. The only condition is that they must enter the session with the amount of fuel in which they intend to start the race the next day. At then end of the session, they are allowed to fill up to the original amount of fuel. Nice!
• Tyre changing. Michelin-shod team fans wont be happy but Bridgestone fans will be shouting for joy. Drivers can change tyres once again during race. This should make the races more interesting.
• First race of the year will be at Bahrain. Australia is hosting the Commonwealth games this year during March. So the first race will be held at Bahrain (+3GMT). Will be interesting. New cars, lots of sand, new rules, rusty drivers. Nice!

So many things to look forward to. So many drivers I wanna see them do well (M Schumacher, Alonso, Raikonen, Fisichella, Button). I'm hoping that Schummi will win this season and retire at the end. He'll retire with glory with 8 championship wins and let the younger drivers have a go in future seasons. I would like to see Raikonen switch to Ferari in 2007 teaming up with Rossi or Massa. That's my hope. Well, you never know in F1. That's the appeal of it, I guess. All eyes will be glued to Bahrain on March 12 2006. Cant wait!!!!