Ignoring the race for the championship (which Alonso will win in the end – my prediction), the two most interesting teams at the moment are Honda and BMW Sauber. Both seem to have caught Toyota for performance and are now locked in a battle that may decide whether either of them join the top three teams next year.

Jenson Button has come on song for Honda in the latter part of the season and was fastest in testing at Jerez this week. The car is over its mid-season problems and improving all the time. Given that the team was expected to do much better than they have this year, the sudden up-turn in their fortunes does make them look a good bet for 2007. Honda is steeped in racing and they were bound to get it right sooner or later.

For some reason, the constant improvement in the BMW Sauber impresses me even more, however. They look like a team that has the determination and technical innovation to start winning races very soon. I hate to say it but their somewhat shabby treatment of Jacques Villeneuve is an indication of a team that is going places. Faced with a situation where their test driver, Robert Kubica, seemed to be quicker and hungrier than their aging star, they did the ruthless thing and put the younger driver in the racing seat.

But it is the car that impresses most. There is an old saying in racing that “what looks right, is right” and the BMW certainly looks good. Everything about it speaks of quality, its compact design, careful presentation and tasteful paint job. On the track it has confirmed that it has the potential to be a winner, especially now that Kubica is showing that he has a race brain as well as speed.

Toyota remain the biggest disappointment of the year. They have all the necessary elements and have shared the Bridgestone tire advantage that Ferrari has enjoyed mid-season. Yet the results just will not come – they pick up points but really should be fighting for the lead by now. As I have said before, it looks quite likely that the company will buy Williams and amalgamate the two teams in the end, thereby adding a long experience of successful racing to their existing technical skills.

With all three of the top teams experiencing big changes for next year, it becomes very hard to predict a result. Raikkonen looks to be favorite for the championship but we have yet to see how Ferrari will fare without Michael Schumacher. Both Renault and McLaren will have less than the team they wanted (since McLaren wanted to keep Raikkonen and Renault Alonso) and they may struggle for a while. Which opens up the competition a little and gives an opportunity for new teams to grab some of the glory.

Watch BMW Sauber – if anyone can upset the big three, they are the ones to do it.

The FIA has issued a press release detailing its plans for the future of F1. Much of the document is concerned with the intent to force greater fuel economy in racing, to spur research and development in this area, in fact.

The drive to limit the amount the teams can spend on development continues, with the engine freeze brought forward to cover 2007 as well as 2008. But more time has been given (to 2009) for the FIA to develop new rules on aerodynamic advances. Interestingly, it is specified that 18 races will be held in 2007, whereas only 17 are listed in the FIA’s calendar. This must surely give renewed hope to the Imola officials that their circuit will be used next year.

Essentially, the document tells us nothing new; it merely confirms previous suggestions and makes them official. Another and more recent press release is a bit more controversial, however.

The FIA has ruled in the matter of the politicizing of the awards ceremony at the Turkish Grand Prix. The decision is brief enough to quote in its entirety:

WORLD MOTOR SPORT COUNCIL
2006 TURKISH GRAND PRIX – PODIUM CEREMONY
19.09.2006

The World Motor Sport Council has found against the National Sporting Authority of Turkey (TOSFED) and the Organisers of the Turkish Grand Prix (MSO) on all counts.

The organisations have been fined a combined total of $5 million.

That’s a huge fine to you or me but, to TOSFED and MSO, it must amount to chickenfeed, especially as they were in danger of losing their race completely. Remembering how Jerez lost its right to hold Grands Prix in 1997, I cannot help but feel that the FIA is demonstrating massive inconsistency here. Here’s what the Wikipedia has to say on the subject of the Jerez ban:

The track itself was banned from hosting FIA-sanctioned racing again after an incident where the mayor of the town disrupted the podium ceremonies. The people chosen to present the trophies were dependent on the race order, with Daimler-Benz chairman Jurgen Schrempp only willing to make a presentation to a McLaren-Mercedes driver. As the McLarens of Häkkinen and Coulthard passed Villeneuve’s Williams on the last lap, this would have meant he could present either the trophy for first or second position or the winning constructor trophy. There was some confusion due to the late changes in position and whilst the Mayor and the president of the region presented trophies, Schrempp did nothing. FIA president Max Mosely later announced “The disruption caused embarrassment and inconvenience to those presenting the trophies and therefore, no further rounds of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Jerez circuit.”

Embarrassment and inconvenience, hey? What, no misuse of the award ceremony for political purposes? It seems to me that it may be a case of one rule for the rich and another for the poor.