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What do you think?

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Lewis Hamilton #1!

Alonso, Kimi, Grosjean, Massa, Bianchi, Hulkenberg, Button, Perez.

Mercedes AMG Petronas
Ferrari
Lotus F1
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

Yes unless Ferrari get it together from rnd 1

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"There's nothing wrong with the car except that it's on fire".
Murray Walker

Hard to say, Red Bull might not be so strong anymore on saturdays with limited DRS. Then again, the rules don't change much and RBR had a strong package at the end of 2012, with the 2013 car essentially being an evolution of last years car I still expect them to be fighting for the WCC and WDC in the final races.

I'm going to say no... Ferrari will be stronger, Red Bull will be weaker on Saturdays and will probably still be hurting from lack of top speed (that's kind of their trademark) on Sundays.

On top of that, a driver just can't keep stringing WDC's until eternity. It has to end sometime and each year we're closer to the end of a successful run.

I'm going for Alonso with Vettel as runner-up. I'd love to be proven otherwise, however.

Knowing my luck - yes

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"I am a believer, but I start each Grand Prix with 195 liters of fuel behind me," he explains. "I don't rely entirely on God, I rely on Prost."

I'm putting money on it.
Not because I want him to, but because that way I'll be happy with either result. If he wins, I get money. If he doesn't win, I'll be happy. Also putting money on Kimi and Jenson for the same thing. If any of the three win, I get money, if none of them win, jammin = happy.

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"You are the universe expressing itself as a Human for a little while..."

No.

If people thought last year was close competition, this year is going to be even closer.

All the teams have had chance to develop last years car to pretty much the same point. I can see the Mclaren/Ferrari/Red Bull/Mercedes/Lotus being very very close in qualifying and race pace, and probably Sauber and Force India will be up there too (if the latter ever picks a second driver).

im thinking just the same, as no big rule change it should be closer.

yes... and lots of interesting driver-pairings...

Jenson needs a very good car that suits him well ... looks like he suffered the most from the loss of downforce through the ban on DD and later on EBD - could be a hard time for macca
Merc is the big "if" - IF the management changes influenced the car development early enough, they could have a real shot in 2013...
Lotus and Kimi are growing better together - he might be a title contender this year
Ferrari got their windtunnel working - well - they are using a replacement tunnel actually, so i expect them to be stronger from the beginning this year - i also count on massa pipping alonso ;D
RBR have a strong foundation from 2013 and will also start stronger than last year

so i'd say it's 4 teams with more or less 7 drivers going after the title in 2013... going to be a close call...

I think he has a very good chance of doing it. I don't see who can challenge the might of Vettel+Newey.

Who knows?

Even come Oz, last year it looked to me like McLaren were going to romp it home with JB and Lewis fighting for the title until the end. Ferrari and Red bull didn't seem like they had that much of a chance. But look how that all turned out.

To be honest, I almost expect Vettel to win it. He usually pulls it off. If the 2009 RBR had been a bit more reliable, he'd have been able to give JB a good run for his money. 2010 and 2012 he somehow kept it all together despite being the outside hope (LH was more outside, but Vettel was too) or somehow kept his car going after a shunt that I honestly believe 99 times out of 100 would have prevented finishing.

So, I don't know. I'll say this, it would not surprise me at all if he was to be crowned a 4x WDC this year. Not at all.

I'm hoping still for a JB vs Kimi vs Alonso vs Vettel vs Lewis fight with interludes from Massa, Webber and Nico Rosberg. But I doubt we'll be that lucky. I'd settle for a season comparable to 2012 - it was a great year.

I see it being more of a Vettel vs Button duel than anything. Macca start strong, win many races, but Red Bull come storming back.

I don't think Button is as fast as Vettel, but if he has the best car he can win, of course.

It's very possible. There is still in force the mighty trio Vettel-Newey-Horner. They showed how good the work in the crisis, under pressure, and on the end they always come on top. At least, till now, so why not in the future? And no, I don't think that it really depends how good car Ferrari will make it, unless it's a true masterpiece, such as were few in the history.

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The end is near

Just by going by last seasons results he has to be favourite, depends on what progress other teams can make but Red Bull will always be competitive

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PFI Pick 10 Competition

Current Standing: 16th

I'd hate to be the one who curbs the enthusiasm, but the cars are looking like evolutions from the 2012 cars. Makes sense, as any innovations will likely be less effective in 2014 when the regulations change, or they will be simply banned due to Bernie's iron fist. I expect more chances to be taken in 2014. As for this season, everybody appears to have started at the same area they were in Brazil. (With minor exceptions.) With that being said, I don't see anyone else other than Vettel winning the WDC, and Red Bull winning the WCC.

Still, I like Jammin78's approach to things.

Got a horrible feeling this season is going to be a rerun of 2011. I hope not i really do.....im still hoping that merc come out strong to give Hamilton a chance to win.

I think betting against Vettel winning the title this year will be like betting that The Bellagio won't make a profit this year.

God no

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He may. Or he may not. Both look equally likely right now. I'll tell you on November 24th.

Yes due to barely changed regs. But it will be his last for a while I'd bet.

Have similar feelings. Knowing my luck, if I bet anything on anyone winning something I would probably lose... So why not putting money on Vettel? If he does win the WDC, I will get the money at least, if not I will be happy that it was someone else. A win-win situation . Though I would not mind Kimi snatching WDC .

BTW. I voted that he will count it 4 at the end of the season...

BTW 2. It is not that I dislike Vettel or anything. I have respect for every driver but I would like someone else to win WDC this time.

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No pain, no gain!

Possibly.

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At the start of the season I will be very surprised if the Mclaren is not the dominant car (based on my understanding of how well RB made use of the DDRS and also the fact that Mclaren had more time at the end of last year to work on 2013 than RB)

I actually think we might see Mclaren>Ferrari>RB
Won't be betting against Vettel when he's behind mid season though

Probably, Maybe, Possibly, we don't even know what half the cars look like, let alone if the Red Bull will be good enough to allow Vettel to win another championship.

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Forza Fernando !

That's about it

Most likely yes. With no major regulation changes it's a very safe bet that Red Bull will be very strong again, especially given their pace in the latter part of last year. I'm not expecting a walkover like 2011 though, it was very close last year and I think Alonso and Button should provide a challenge.

Maybe he will, maybe he won't. It depends more on Adrian Newey's talents than those of Sebastian Vettel. Adrian is the best designer but Seb isn't the best driver atm.

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I hope he doesnt (Simply because I never ever want to see F1 in the position it was in with Ferrari's domination again) but dont hold out much hope for anyone else. If anyone can challenge him its going to be Kimi, Alonso or Button IMO.

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All depends on how much difference the Saturday rule changes will make. If he gets good runs on Saturday with the DRS changes not having much effect then I expect Vettel to run away with it, probably his easiest victory yet.

I don't expect much from McLaren this year, the cars are not likely to be more stable than last year and I don't expect Pirrelli to be doing Jenson any favours by creating more predictable tyres. Ferrari seem to be the most likely close challengers but they seemed to lack consistency last year and how will they change that without personnel changes or major design/rule changes? Merc will take a year at least to get their programme sorted with Hamilton, Lotus are coming up with Kimi but I suspect that they need the 2014 rule changes to level the field again for a championship run.

None of the other teams are close enough to the leading pack yet. Maybe the real interest in this season will be in the midfield, seeing how the battle for progression between Williams, Force India and Mercedes pans out, and whether any of them can start to reel in the distance to the front three and Lotus.

Dont want him to, but he and RedBull will again be favourites this year again. I said it last year as well.

Being Ferrari supported this is last thing I want to see, but they start season as clear favourites. I fear it will again be 1 man fighting against him come the season end and it will be same man this year as well.

I'm sure he will, but hope he doesn't

Still on the fence at the moment. If you put a gun to my head and made me predict a winner though... I'd pick Vettel

We should really wait for testing to get underway so we got an idea how good the Ferrari is!

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#10

Surprised so many people can't see beyond Vettel. Mclaren had a quicker car last year if they fix there reliability and competition issues then you have to fancy Button. Also Alonso very nearly took the tittle last year in an inferior car. if the Ferrari is any closer to the Red Bull in 2013 you have to fancy Fernando for the tittle.

I would remind you that the winning driver in Brazil was Jenson Button in a McLaren.

I agree Vettel will be very strong, but so will Button. I predict them being the main two. Vettel and Button.

Red Bull seem to be the masters of development though

From a poker point of view I’d say that right now after the shuffling, Vettel has pocket Kings, Alonso has a high card ace, Button and Kimi have a high card Queen, Hamilton has yet to disclose his cards while Massa, Perez and Rosberg hold a wild card.

Explanation:

Vettel is the reigning triple WDC. He obviously should have gained more confidence and more experience now and he’s still playing for the same proven winning team. They both seem a perfect fit for each other, hence the high pocket pair. Webber should be listed with Massa and Rosberg as a wild card but I doubt he will become a factor this year after failing in the past two.

Alonso is a great driver and still the number 1 at Ferrari, hence the ace. However Ferrari seems to be sputtering a lot in the recent years so it’s hard to say what card they’ll deliver. They were probably the best team last year but they lacked in speed. If they continue as strong and fix the speed problem they’ll give Alonso another ace and the better odds. I wouldn’t be surprised though if they fix one thing and fail elsewhere.

Button has a team he can call his own now, a proven team that can focus on him. Problem is IMO that McLaren is becoming notorious for self-destruction. When Button started strong they had a “setup” issue, when Hamilton went on strong they had pit stop issues, when they resolved the pit stop problems Hamilton started having reliability ones and when the car was great it was the drivers messing it up.

Kimi seems to be fully back in the sport right now, he added another win and a couple podiums, he got to know the team better and allowed the team to know him better back. However somehow I don’t have much confidence in either of them. After all, it’s hard to delete the image of a driver lost in the backroads with his GPS “recalculating” continuously.

Hamilton, well, who can say anything for certain about him and his new team?

Massa, Perez and Rosberg I expect to play a huge role this year. Now whether it’s positive or negative it’s hard to say at the moment, hence the wild cards. If Massa can keep up his performance of the last few races he can definitely unravel Alonso, especially if Ferrari is not good at the start. Even if not so, if Massa gains confidence and considers himself able to fight with Alonso I expect fireworks in that factory. I somehow doubt he will accept bending over for Alonso if he can raise his stock even at the expense of leaving Ferrari. Rosberg did a good job against one of the biggest names in the sport. I wouldn’t say he shined particularly but he came out the winner. Now he has a chance to go against another big name of the present. His performance might affect seriously Hamilton who is now the new guy in the team. As for Perez, well, if he’s as good as he promises to be he might get some of the focus away from Button, if not most of it.

Button will have to improve alot to be a genuine contender! Far too inconsistent last season

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#10

Well let me check; are Pat Fry and Adrian Newey still in their prospective jobs..... yes.

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I guess the best way to put it is 'quite possibly'. Right now no one can really say but with nothing that would be considered a real game changer happening this year you have to assume we're going to see a vaguely similar order to the grid which means he's in with a good chance but certainly not unchallenged.

Nope, this is going to be Marks year.

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Danger is real, fear is a choice.
PF1 Pick 10 Competition
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