Kelly Smith | Made in Seattle

Those who know me well know I’m a car guy. I love cars. Always have. I’m also a HUGE formula 1 fan. Since Formula 1 gets very little coverage in the US compared to Nascar, I often get asked why I’m such a fanatic. There are several reasons. Mainly, its the technology. It always cracks me up to watch the Speed Channel and listen to how high tech Nascar vehicles are when in fact they are very, very low tech. The cars rev very low RPM’s compared to a Formula 1 car and even though they have higher displacement, they still put out less horsepower. Further, you are not going to find any of tomorrow’s technology on a Nascar. There is no carbon fiber or fancy magnesium/metal compounds to lighten key components. I remember one year that a Formula 1 team even made their gearbox out of carbon fiber! While F1 cars are the fastest, coolest cars on the planet, I do admit that there is one huge downside to the sport. Cost. These teams go through tens of millions of dollars to put on this show each and every year and the barrier to entry is so high that we rarely see new teams get involved.

Last year was a breath of fresh air anyway. Finally, Michael Schumacher didn’t win the championship. This year should be very interesting and I can’t wait. In fact, if all goes well I’ll be in Monaco for the race this year. I know many of our friends will be there and its basically going to be one huge party! In the meantime, I’ve been admiring the new Ferrari design for 2006. This car’s official launch date is January 24 in Maranello.

Since this blog is tending to be about predictions I’ll go ahead and make my prediction for F1 2006 World Champion. Its going to be Fernando Alonso. Again. Don’t agree? Tell me why!