For signalling out praise, my team of the season is BAR who have done magnificently this season. How nice it was to see them do well. They have certainnly exceeded all expectations. McLaren bucked up after the introduction of their new Mercedes engine. Hopefully, they'll mount a full-frontall-assault next season. Renault have also had a very good season, but their late substitution of replacing Trulli with Jacques Viellenuve didn't really reap any benefits, and it's a shame he won't have a car that will challenge the big boys next season. It would be interesting to see him renew his rivally both on and off the track with Michael Schumacher, but the two appear to have buried the hatchet.
Most people who hold an interest in formula one will no doubt remember the loss of the Arrows team, who withdrew during the 2003 season. Looks like formula one will lose at least one team, possibly three in the near future. Jaguar are hoping to be bought out beacuse Ford are looking to pull the plug on its formula one involvement due to spiralling costs. The problem here is that Ford supply engines for two other formula one teams. Jordan who lost out to BAR in the engine deal that saw the American Racers gain the Honda engine, were forced to look for another alternative and so Ford stepped in. The other Ford-supplied team are Minardi. Now, I'm sure that Bernie Ecclestone would have no complaints about losing these teams who are not "competative enough" for Bernie's liking. So unless Ford get an investor or these teams sign a new engine deal, these two teams could be lost to the money-driven (thanks for nothing Mr. Ecclestone) world. Let's also remember that a lot of these teams were sponsored by tobacco firms (Marlborough, Benson & Hedges) when these sponsors are banned in many countries (France, for example). Could it be that next season will be worse than this season? I for one don't think that's possible.
Finally, the Silverstone saga. It was always going to be on the cards that the possibilty of the race not being on the calendar was going to arise, I thought it would have been last season. So it's wasn't a suprise when the talk started this season. Bernie Ecclestone has had it in for Silverstone for a long while, and it's been no suprise the situation has arisen. Luckily, there has been no shortage of people trying to save the curcuit. Nigell Mansell was one of the first to intervine. Brands Hatch had been touted to fill in while Silverstone was under development, but who wants to go there, that's a Superbike curcuit isn't it!? Yes, yes, Brands has held Grands prix before, but it's just not Silverstone. All this whilst curcuits with much less in terms of facilities like Interlagos (Brazil) go without comment.
Let's hope next season is a wide open-race and more entertaining than what this season has been. Let's see Renault, a back to form Williams, McLaren and B.A.R all run Ferrari to the wire in the coming season. Failing that winter 2005 sees the new motorsport of A1 Racing debut, which certainlly will be more exciting in competiton terms. Excpect a few Formula One drivers to make the switch to A1 Racing. Will people switch their alliances? If Formula One keeps going the way it is, very possibly.