Feel free to comment and disagree, or share your own thoughts!
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| The 2013 Calender |
1) Who will win the Driver's Championship?
Many will only be considering two drivers this season, and my prediction out of the two is Vettel. I personally believe Alonso deserved the 2012 championship by quite a margin for many reasons, but unless he repeats his amazing performances almost every race then Vettel has the upper hand. If Red Bull struggle for the first half the season however, and Ferrari don't start as catastrophically awful, then Alonso will have the upper hand.
Button and Raikkonen will be dark horses though dependent on their cars pace and reliability, don't count them out.
2) Who will win the Constructor's Championship?
Without Hamilton, McLaren will struggle to challenge this season, and I believe it is Ferrari who will be the main challenge to Red Bull's stranglehold. The real battle here will be Webber vs Massa. If Massa can be in the form that helped him challenge the 2008 title winning races then i'll tip Ferrari, but realistically it's hard to see Red Bull be beaten until the big rule changes next year. I'll say Ferrari just for the risk. Lotus and Mercedes will improve, but not enough to win the title or anything.
3) Best mid-field team (Sauber, Force India, Williams, Toro Rosso)?
Sauber impressed last season with four podiums, and have a good replacement of Perez with the highly rated Nico Hulkenberg. Force India are seeking their second ever podium, whilst Toro Rosso are looking to improve on a poor 2012 car. Williams are looking to build on a solid step forward last year including Maldonado's race win, and have developed an innovative car. My predictions are Williams to make the leap up to sixth, just pipping Sauber, with Force India going back to eighth and Toro Rosso still ninth.
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| The Williams FW35 Looks Much Improved & Has A Solid Yet Exciting Pairing |
4) 10th place Constructor?
Realistically Caterham and Marussia will be fighting it out for tenth and eleventh. Marussia look primed to finally make the jump to tenth, with a car designed with more development possibilities than Caterham, and the highly rated Jules Bianchi in particular at the wheel who is linked to Ferrari and Force India.
5) Rookie of the season?
Determining a rookie usually is difficult as many join back of the grid teams, with those joining midfield teams easier to shine through. This season, 2011 GP3 champion Bottas joins Williams after many free practice sessions last year, and Mexican Gutierrez replaces Perez at fellow midfield team Sauber. Chilton becomes the fourth British driver on the grid at Marussia with the fourth Frenchman Bianchi, whilst van der Garde finally gets an F1 drive at Caterham.
Bottas and Bianchi have the most experience in an F1 car, and I think it will show, as they already have shown noted times. Bottas seems to be impressively matching Maldonado's pace to an extent, who despite some wild race-craft is no slouch at all. Bianchi may be the one to get Marussia into tenth place or even a first point.
6) Most exciting race of the year?
2012 was spoilt for choice, with only a few dull races in the mix after a largely dull 2011. Even usually disappointing venues including Valencia and Abu Dhabi were amongst the best! This year, I think there is so much excitement at the start of the season after such a spectacular 2012 campaign, Melbourne will shine through even more than usual. Malaysia is one of my personal favourites, but I hope and will predict the US Grand Prix will be the most exciting as the penultimate race with much more overtaking, whilst I hope the Indian Grand Prix is much more entertaining than the last two Vettel dominated year's.
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| The Sepang Circuit Always Produces Top Quality Racing |
7) Hamilton or Rosberg?
Hamilton. It's very easy to just say that outright, but his class has shown since day one as a Formula One driver for a reason. Rosberg will no doubt beat Hamilton sometimes, perhaps to podiums and even a race win over Lewis if the car is as promising as many believe, but Hamilton will surpass that, and out qualify Nico more often.
8) Will any of the 'number two's' from the top four teams out-perform their more successful teammates?
By this, we mean Webber challenging Vettel, Massa challenging Alonso, Perez challenging Button and lastly Grosjean challenging Raikkonen. On the surface it's hard to see any of them out-performing them, so, no - I don't think they will. If I had to choose the most likely, i'd say Perez surprising Button, but honestly I see Jenson having his best year at McLaren yet. Nevertheless, i'm more excited for teammate battles throughout the field than ever before!
9) Quickfire teammate battle
Red Bull: VETTEL vs Webber
Ferrari: ALONSO vs Massa
McLaren: BUTTON vs Perez
Lotus: RAIKKONEN vs Grosjean
Mercedes: Rosberg vs HAMILTON
Sauber: HULKENBERG vs Gutierrez
Force India: DI RESTA vs Sutil
Williams: Maldonado vs BOTTAS
Toro Rosso: Vergne vs RICCIARDO
Caterham: Pic vs VAN DER GARDE
Marussia: BIANCHI vs Chilton
Bottas beating Maldonado perhaps my most bold choice there! Most are quite realistic though.
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| di Resta NEEDS To Beat Sutil Convincingly This Season To Be Noticed By Top Teams |
10) Quickfire Constructor's order?
1st - Red Bull
2nd - Ferrari
3rd - McLaren
4th - Lotus
5th - Mercedes
6th - Williams
7th - Sauber
8th - Force India
9th - Toro Rosso
10th - Marussia
11th - Caterham
Let us know your thoughts, if you agree with my selections and what you predict! Join in the discussion right here...
Nick, F1 Hub
I like the most lovely 2nd Generation Ferrari
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