It is the 5th round of the F1 championship this weekend in Spain, but what did we learn from the last round at Imola?

It was a damn boring race, that was for sure. The pre-event hype of Big Schumacher versus the Colombian charger did not eventuate. After qualifying, with Schumi on pole and JP Montoya down in 4th and half a second adrift, you could have predicted there was going to be no fireworks show. The final results after 62 laps were almost the identical order they started in, other than substituting Button for Raikkonen.

Heidfeld and Raikkonen

So what else was there to learn? Well, firstly we learned that Rory Byrne has designed a blinder of a car in the F2002 Ferrari. Secondly we learned that Rubens Barichello is definitely number two at Ferrari (if we still didn’t know), no matter how much he would like to fool himself to the contrary. After all, when your team mate studies the computer print-out from your fastest lap and says that there is a difference in the cars and appropriates yours, you’ve got to realise your position in the pecking order, even if your name is Rooby baby and you cry a lot.

BMW Williams were not on the pace at Imola, which was surprising, but were still easily best of the rest. Have they taken a wrong turning, or is it just that the F2002 is so much better? The latter I think.

Another pointer gleaned from Imola is that Jensen Button’s results are no flukes. The kid does have talent and he has more than regained his form of a couple of years ago. After his initial year with Williams he really bombed last year. However, Renault and Button are certainly doing well this year. Flavio Briatore may be the ultimate playboy, but he seems to know how to pick the real racers, even if he does seem to have a problem picking his girlfriends (Hi there, Naomi, how’re things going?).

What else did we note? Well you can say good bye to David Coulthard after this year. Raikkonen out qualified and out drove the Scotsman, who seems destined to have spent his entire F1 career playing rear guard to Finnish fireballs, even if neither of them could be called “funsters”! (At least Raikkonen isn’t married to an ice maiden who is now happily at home pumping out icicles instead of glowering on TV.) There will be changes at McLaren for 2003. Expect to see Heidfeld and Raikkonen team up again, that’s my tip.

Henry Ford and Jaguar F1

We can also see there needs to be changes at McLaren right now. The car is not good enough. Chassis or the engine? The Mercedes (read Ilmor) engine does not seem to really lack that much in the neddy department, and the chassis designer, Adrian Newey, has built some of the best F1 cars in the world. Whatever the problem, Ron Dennis, who has to carry the can in the end, will be pulling out more of his hair unless there is a rapid change.

Sauber did not have one of their better weekends either. Heidfeld visited the pits more times than he visited the loo on Sunday, and his drive-through penalty for speeding must have been the last straw. However, they remain a strong mid-field contender.

After a brilliant start to the season, Toyota bombed badly at Imola. Neither of their drivers were on the pace, and ignore all the tommy twaddle you hear on TV about this being their first race at the circuit etc., etc. A top flight race driver will learn the circuit in 10 laps, and they did a lot more laps than that. Toyota do have the bottomless budget however, and are prepared to use it. Do not write them off.

The Honda engined teams are still in trouble. Nowhere near enough grunt and Jordan is showing a surprising lack of reliability. BAR, despite heads being lopped daily are still nowhere as well. Jacques Villeneuve is supposed to have said that he has so much faith in the new management team that he has signed up again for to 2003 season. Read, was offered so much money he couldn’t refuse, especially since he is now past his prime, in my opinion.

Jaguar? Expect more of the same. Lack-lustre performance and you don’t have to be Einstein to see that 2002 will be the low point for Eddie the Mouth Irvine and undoubtedly his launching pad to obscurity, or at least a less salubrious round of nightclubs. However, with FoMoCo behind Jaguar, I believe they are about to unveil Henry Ford’s answer to the slow as a wet week Jaguar F1 car. See our exclusive photo.

Minardi? Yoong failing to qualify does not come as a shock to anyone closely following the sport. The Super License awarded to the very few top race drivers is supposed to be for talent displayed, not for wealth that’s paid. Mark Webber continues to impress (forgive my parochial pride) and you should see him in a more competitive team next year. To see a Minardi knocking off the Jaguars must do very little for the corporate blood pressures at Ford Motor Corporation.

Who have we left out? Ah yes, Arrows. Did you see one at Imola during the telecast? I think I saw Heinz-Harry Frentzen for a fleeting instant, but that was all. It might have been an optical illusion, however. Frentzen deserves a better team than this, and Tom Walkinshaw can run a better team than this. Let’s hope he stops playing corporate finances and gets down to playing race teams again.

Or in the case of the Toyota FXS that could be thought of as “perversity”. This two place sports car looks very much like that fairly awful Benz concept of a couple of years ago. The car looks to be “different” just for the sake of being different. Look at the wheels, for example. However, despite the comments about its looks, this little baby (the car, not the girl) has a 4.3 litre V8 (the little Lexus all alloy one I imagine) mated to a 6 speed sequential transmission.

Toyota FXS

The new Camry was also on display and it is certainly a fine looking car. I had the opportunity last week to look closely at one of the first models released to the public and it has the usual high standard of finish expected these days from Toyota. The windscreen should have the water repellent glass which is made here by Saint-Gobain Sekurit on the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. Engine choices in Europe for this car are a 2.4 or a 3.0 litre, but I believe that in Asia the choice is the 2.4 and a smaller 2 litre engine. Since the Nissan Cefiro plods along perfectly adequately with a 2 litre mill at the sharp end, I see no reason that the Camry wouldn’t be satisfactory either.

Also on the Toyota stand was a mock-up Toyota F1 car. This is the previous model, but with the rapid inroads being done by Toyota in the highly competitive F1 series, I can see why they would be very happy to show the public their motor sport involvement.

Nissan Z