planetf1.com

Sorry to start this so late (I'm turning in for the night). Somehow only a couple of team mate matchups have got my adrenaline going. I think it's a given that Jenson, Vettel, Alonso and Kimi are going to rule their respective teams. If Grosjean is retained, Kimi's life will be more complicated but he should eventually prevail. Situation in FI is unknown right now. Hamilton v Rosberg is definitely a good story. I am of course going to bet on Hamilton but it is going to be interesting. Maldonado will not have any problems at Williams. Nico Hulkenberg ditto at Sauber. STR is a toss up. Bottom two don't particularly interest me so I can't say with authority who might win. What do you guys think? I also think Jenson's going to win it all.

Red Bull: Vettel will be occasionally matched by Webber but not enough to make a difference. Vettel clear leader and probably another WDC.

McLaren: Hard to tell since Perez is young and talented. Button's steadiness should prevail at the end but the Mexican might pull out a few surprises.

Ferrari: Providing Massa is allowed the same previliges as Alonso and given a free hand to race (and assuming what just flew past my window was a bird and not a pig ), things should be closer between the teammmates but Alonso should come out on top.

Lotus: Raikkonen the clear leader irrespective of who his teammate turns out to be.

Mercedes: Very interesting. Popular opinion says Hamilton should finish in front of Rosberg but one never knows. I prefer to wait and see on this one.

Sauber: I expect Hulkenburg to do well, probably even a race win by the end of the season.

Williams: Probably Maldonado ahead, but will all the expectation surrounding Bottas, the youngster may get close towards the end of the season.

_________________
Vettel / Raikkonen / Button

As above and:

At Williams I'd go for Bottas over Maldonado. His speed should be there, on paper it should be superior if anything. Normally I'd be worried about the rookie making more mistakes, hopefully an unnecessary concern in this case.

I reckon Mercedes will look like McLaren: Hamilton clearly quicker but other factors may conspire to keep both drivers close on results. But if Hamilton's smart and reasonably lucky he should take Rosberg.

_________________
Klaus Kinski: making me question my heroes since January 2013

You guys obviously have high hopes for Bottas. Is there any indication from his testing sessions?
Regarding Rosberg, the fact that Schumacher matched him for speed in 2012 doesn't bode well for him.
I was actually thinking that Grosjean if given another chance might give Kimi a run for his money.

I agree about Grosjean, too bad that Lotus seem intending on signing someone who has no chance (actually Kobayashi has some potential, but it seems very harsh on RoGro). There is not a huge gain from signing someone else, although I like Kobayashi.

Too bad he crashed again in Brazil. Nail in coffin?

Maybe. Grosjean is not so great in the wet.

Guys like Vettel, Schumacher, Button, Hamilton, all showed pace in the wet immediately when they stepped into F1.

Force India, Marussia and Caterham left out because of one empty seat and lack of clear favourite, such as Lotus has.

Red Bull: Vettel will be on top, even though Webber can be really close if he can get his game back to where it has been, most lately in the first half of 2012.

Ferrari: The Alonso Show looks likely, but if Massa can keep up his newly-found pace, the two could be surprisingly close and cause Alonso some headache. I still don't think there's any way Massa would come out on top if things go by normally.

McLaren: Button is more experienced and most likely faster than Pérez. This is one of the most difficult pairings to predict, but I'd think Button wins by a reasonable margin. Pérez can definitely be on top in some races though.

Lotus: No matter who the other driver is at Lotus, there don't seem to be too many candidates for the seat who look set to beat Räikkönen. 3rd in the WDC 2012 versus whoever is coming is strong. The margins are impossible to predict until we know who is in the seat. My guess would be a simple "moderate", take it as you wish.

Mercedes: Another difficult pairing to predict. Hamilton and Rosberg will battle it out, but in the end Hamilton seems like the one who will come out on top. Not necessarily by much, but he's likely to.

Sauber: Nico Hülkenberg, who was good in the second part of 2012, against Esteban Gutiérrez, a rookie who I wouldn't consider the best rookie in 2013. Hülkenberg appears to be the likely winner.

Williams: Maldonado is extremely quick, and if he can become more consistent, he may turn out to be a stable contender for top5 positions in races - in a Williams. Bottas has shown promise and should be able to challenge Maldonado, but Maldonado's earlier experience at least should keep him on top.

Toro Rosso: Difficult to predict anything here, but I'm going to say Vergne as the one to get more points. He looks like a very good racer just waiting to happen, and if he can close up to Ricciardo in qualifying, things could get interesting. Counting out Ricciardo would be pretty much insanity though - he has one-lap pace, and can develop in any direction really.

Perez reminds me of Button but without the consistency. Button has been Button longer than Perez so I think he will win.

Red Bull - Vettel to finish a couple of places higher in the standings
Ferrari - Alonso, but much closer than this year in the championship
McLaren - Button, since Hamilton is far superior to Perez and Button managed to out-point him over the three years.
Lotus - Raikkonen, even if Grosjean is kept on and outqualifies Raikkonen, Kimi has better race pace (when Grosjean survives the first lap)
Mercedes - Hamilton, But by less than 20 points
Sauber - Hulkenberg, I feel Gutierrez will not make it out of Q1 a lot. Especially now there will be 2 "old team" cars going out in the session.
Force India - If they go for Sutil or Alguersuari, there will only be a few points in it. Anyone else available, di Resta will take it.
Torro Rosso - Vergne will either step it up massively or be out by mid-season. Ricciardo looks like another Buemi, neither will be in a Red Bull in the future unless Webber retires and Vettel goes to Ferrari.
Caterham - If Kovalainen stays, he will outqualify Pic, anyone else and it will be quite even.
Marussia - Glock as usual.

Red Bull - Vettel
Ferrari - Alonso
McLaren - Perez
Lotus - probably Kimi if RoGro is kept, if there's a change you can bet all your savings on Raikkonen
Mercedes - Hamilton
Sauber - Hulkenberg
Force India - we don't know who will be in 2nd seat, if Sutil then I bet on draw
Williams - Bottas
Toro Rosso - Ricciardo
Caterham - no idea until 2nd seat is confirmed
Marussia - Glock will trash Chilton if he'll take 2nd seat




Autosport says: Some within the team reckon that Bottas is fundamentally the quickest of this year's three drivers. That's saying something considering Pastor Maldonado's mercurial qualifying performances.

Surprised that you think Rosberg-Hamilton will be that close. Is it because the Merc will be finishing lower in the order with less points to play with? Agree with Sutil, he is good.

Interesting! I will watch him closely.

I think with Mercedes that Hamilton may take Alonsos "2008 and 2009" approach of single races meaning more than championships. So take risks.

This win or crash has typically been a feature of Lewis for many years so comes as no surprise.

_________________
Supporting in 2012:
Mark Webber.
Lewis Hamilton.