Renault, whom is going to topple them?

[Peter Nightingale]

with RENAULT performing the way they are, with superior developmental,engineering & organisational skills in F1, who or what is ging to beat them in F1?

[FPV GTHO]

Either Ferrari, McLaren or Williams IMO. Honda havent got the experience, so Red Bull with Newey designing the cars probably have just as much chance.

If recent form dictates it, Ferrari and McLaren.

If you go by teams having moments of glory, then its probably Williams.

[Dutton]

I'm going to go with the PMA approach:

Ferrari.

[Knowlesy]

At this point in time, nobody will topple them.

The team best prepared to do so, however, is McLaren.

[chunterer]

Same basic answer as Knowlesy's...

However, I'm not yet convinced that Renault will carry off this year either.

McLaren are looking like they're about to hit the seet spot and their reliability isn't as bad as last year I don't think.

[avsfan733]

I honestly think it will be Mclaren...They are currently close just need to find a better balance between speed and finishing the race

[BSchneiderFan]

Much depends on how badly the departure of Adrian Newey hurts McLaren's ability to develop the car; he might have designed it, but someone else will have to oversee its development. Equally, though, Ferrari might come good - 2005 might well have been a blip, and if they can get to grips with the Bridgestones (clearly not fundamentally bad tyres this year), there's no reason why they can't bounce back. Luca di Montezemolo has told them to go all out for the win at Imola, and I wouldn't be too taken aback if it happens.

[pole2pole]

When i look at renault i see a team that has everything covered. They have great reliability great tyres can start from the second or even third row of the grid and can still get into the first corner first. They have a fantastic driver in Alonso and fantastic advisers on the pit wall. No other team on the grid has that complete package at the moment. Kimi for me is the only driver out there that could catch him but unfortunately for him his McLaren package as a whole just lacks that last vital 5%. As for as the other teams are concerned Ferrari,Honda,toyota,Willaims,BMW and Red Bull in a way will help Renault because they are all very close on pace and will result in them all swopping points.

[goodhorsehymn]

Whichever team stumps up enough money and gets it all right.

Renault have definitely got everything working brilliantly, but with a smaller budget, I'm not sure whether they'd able to keep up with the pace of Ferrari or McLaren's development in an all out R&D war.

Having said that, they are in a very, very strong state right now.

[Kicking-back]

McLaren are best positioned to do it - and if you take the "if/but" approach to things they could have won all the first three races.

Their reliability seems to be among the best now but you have to admire Renault's ability to do the business race in, race out - reminiscent of Ferrari at their glorious best.

[Marbot]

Minardi could have won Championships "if" everything had gone right for them,"but" it never did.

Welcome back K-b.

[ralf fan]

Renault has the most versatile car ie they are good in all conditions...weather it be cold or warm..... their car has the ability to adjust to varying temperatures the best so until Honda,Ferrari or Mclaren dont sort this out... at the moment no one is going to topple them..

[Dutton]

Renault may well not get toppled at the moment, but they will be at some point. That is the question that has been posed.

Whilst my choice of Ferrari was born out of the PMA approach, I also think there may be a more reality-based justification for it.

For the purpose of this post, I am going to presume three things:

1) Renault will win both championships this year.
2) Bridgestone will secure the tyre contract for 2007.
3) Ferrari's 2007 car will be in-the-region.

Thus, I think that Ferrari may have something of an advantage in pre-season testing/early season over the Usual Suspects. Provided decent reliability, and the avoidance of stupid errors from the drivers, then I feel they could grab an early points lead. From then on, it would set the scene for a fascinating battle (with Ferrari fighting to prevent the loss of too many points for the rest of the season).

[LampCord]

I don't think anyone will catch Renault this year. But if they do, they better make a move THIS WEEK. Either / both Ferrari and McLaren have to show me something this week or I think it will be too late.

If Alonso can keep qualifying 3rd or 4th but blow past the field by the first couple of corners and then just hold on for a win like he has been, they will be tough to stop.

We need to see Ferrari, McLaren, and maybe Williams (long shot) not just outqualifying Renault but actually staying with them off the starting line and winning a few races. And it has to happen very, very soon.

The only realistic chance I see for someone to catch them is either McLaren suddenly gets consistent reliability or we find out that Bridgestone's are better in cooler European climates and suddenly Ferrari is a dangerous team again.

But more likely, we'll see neither. Right now, Renault looks like a team that can win at 90% effort while everyone else has to push it to the absolute limit to hang with them.

And, yes, I know I failed to mention Honda. I just don't think they are good for much more than good qualifying times and spectacular engine fires right now. And I don't see that changing soon enough.

[esorniloc]

Potentially the one way that Renault may be toppled is if Bridgestone come up with a better tyre.
So Ferrari and Williams may be the teams to do it.

Its harder for Honda and McLaren to do it as there is one element (the tyres) which they share with Renault.