hey Jim,
just read your´ post and i certainly agree with many of the things you said. Especially about ferrari, I really get the feeling they are doing everything wrong in the past couple of season, mainly since 2009 and the big rules change. They couldnt adapt to the new regulations and they werent able to use even the chance that opened itself with the new tyre supplier in Pirelli. Still, no matter how many races Macca win, and how faster they are on pure pace basis, they still only have a single drivers title in
2008 with a whole load of luck (not only because of glock and interlagos, but also because of races such as hungary and singapore). So really, i'd actually say that macca and maybe ferrari in the last 3 years have this BAR HONDA pattern of being up there with the rest, but doing nothing more than from a few to several race wins per season.
Mercedes on the other hand... well you dont have a single thing you can say about them not being up there, dont you. Brawn, Willis, Costa and Bob Bell, Haug and Schuey and of course Nico in there as well. To be honest i think they are the best team package after red bull, looking at the names of course, not the results
However you cant really assume they will be top quality either. I havent got the slightest of idea how the hell will they get out of that no man's zone between the top 3 and the rest. o.k. they brought a few people in, but what i think will make most of the difference is another the car designer. And right now i cant see anyone challenging Newey for designing a better car. Blindingly fast in qualy, super fast in races, very easy on tyres and absolutely 100 percent reliable (at least the last season).
In the end i'd only like ti give you another point of view on the things... no matter who dominated the season in modern formula one, was newer on that untouchable TOP performance level in the next season. a few example are:
brawn 2009, 2010
ferrari 2004, 2005
ferrari 2002, 2003.
mclaren 1998, 1999.
williams 1996, 1997... and so on.
P.S. in the past some teams used to beginn the season with their last years car, and were introducing an aboslute cracking car after that, e.g. ferrari in 2002 or 2003 i dont remember. Why are all the teams introcuding their cars before the start of the season nowadays ?