2007 F1 GP is here!!!

Woohoo, another reason to party on Saturdays and Sundays!

Tomorrow the season kicks off in Melbourne. Qualifying's at 10:57am Malaysian time and the actual race day is on Sunday 11:00am. Tune in to Astro Star Sports channel to watch.

I've been a McLaren fan for years but since Kimi Raikonnen (right) has moved to Ferrarri, I'll be rallying behind Ferrarri this season. Go Ice Man, the next world champion!!!

My podium predictions for Melbourne:
#1 - Kimi (of course)
#2 - Alonso
#3 - Massa

Ok, for those who don't know, some race rules have been changed for this season. Not surprising since no season ever goes by without some rule changes. Anyway here's what you can expect.

1. Tyres. The rule I hate the most: all teams will be using only one brand of tyres: Bridgestone. Crap. Of all the races last year, how many wins did Bridgestone score against Michellin? Since most of their development effort has reportedly been to support their #1 customer Ferrari, will they spread development fairly for the other teams? I'm not so sure they will.

2. Practice duration. The duration of the Friday practice sessions have been extended from 60 minutes to 90 minutes.

3. Engines. If an engine breaks down during Friday practice, it can be changed without penalty before the qualifying session and race of Saturday and Sunday. However once changed, it must cover Saturday and Sunday.

4. Safety car. An interesting twist: As soon as a safety car moves onto the track, the pit lane will be closed. They will open again once all the cars have lined up behind the safety car and the yellow flag is withdrawn. This will kill off the old trick whereby whenever a race is temporarily suspended because of a track incident, drivers "cheat" by quickly pitting to refuel or change tyres without incurring much penalty on their time sheets.

Here's the calendar for the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship.

18 March Australia - Melbourne

08 April Malaysia - Sepang

15 April Bahrain - Bahrain International

13 May Spain - Barcelona

27 May Monaco - Monte Carlo

10 June Canada - Montreal

17 June United States - Indianapolis

01 July France - Magny-Cours

08 July Great Britain - Silverstone

22 July Germany - Nurburgring

05 August Hungary - Hungaroring

26 August Turkey - Istanbul

09 September Italy - Monza

16 September Belgium - Spa Francorchamps

30 September Japan - Fiji International

07 October China - Shanghai

21 October Brazil - Interlagos

Something tells me this is gonna be the best F1 season evar!

Kimi's picture source: Here