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So what are your predictions for the 2013 season?

Here's some categories to get things started.

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward?
Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment?
What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies?
What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport?
Will we have a new winner (team or driver)?
Who will win the WDC and WCC?
Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in?

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Formerly kai_

I reckon it will be closer this year.

The top 4 teams of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Merc will all win races. So will Lotus.

I can see all these teams drivers winning races. The best of the rest will be Sauber. Bottom will be Caterham just pipped by Marrusia. Force India to slip back behind Toro Rosso and Williams

To answer the categories:
Marussia and Pic altough Pic's in a different team.
Lotus.
Perez/Guitierrez
What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies? - Mercedes or Red Bull.
What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport? - Some technichal design.
Will we have a new winner (team or driver)? - Sauber, Hulkenburg (Maybe SP)
Who will win the WDC - Vettel. And WCC? - Macca.
Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in? - Lewis (just), Button.

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Lewis Hamilton - 2008 World Drivers Champion! Mercedes - 10 Grand Prix Victories.

There will be racing cars doing some racing on racing tracks.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Oh come on Laura. I know this is a prediction thread but let`s try and stay somewhere in the realms of possibility shall we.

I predict

Ferrari will be red,
Red Bull will be blue,
But McLaren will be faster,
Than either of these two.

Here`s hoping any way.

I am expecting 2013 in the end will have the same top four teams battling it out, in no particular order, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus. We may even see Red Bull win it all again as the last season of the V8 era.

I expect the majority of the 2013 season to be focused on the 2014 rule changes.

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward? - Perez by default of being with a top team

Will we have a new winner (team or driver)? - Perez, maybe Hulky

Who will win the WDC and WCC? - I go for Vettel. Alonso has a chance and Button is a dark horse.

Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in? - Lewis will beat Rosberg, but not by a landslide.

Button will beat Perez, as Perez is not the best qualifier and Button's race pace can match Perez. Button is much more seasoned and should win by a modest margin.

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All Time Favorite: Ayrton Senna

Others: Damon Hill
Montoya

Current: Lewis Hamilition

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward?
Caterham... they should anyway, also McLaren should get their act together after some "errors" last year. As for drivers, Perez and Grosjean probably.
Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment?
Hard to say really...
What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies?
Probably passive DDRS, I think that at some point Merc or Lotus will run it in race conditions and gain enough pace to justify the copy for others.
What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport?
At the start of the season I reckon quite a few moans about Pirelli tyres affecting championship more than even in 2012 (ok, the first part at least :p).
Will we have a new winner (team or driver)?
Yes, Perez is the most likely but Grosjean will have a chance if only he completes Lap 1 without a bump in something/someone
Who will win the WDC and WCC?
Probably same as last year so Vettel/RBR, not that I will be pleased though...
Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in?
Hamilton, Button, Kimi, Vettel, Alonso... other pairs will be less entertaining for me but I am interested to see how Hulk will do.

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No pain, no gain!

1. Marussia to beat Caterham. Merc will improve but not win more than a couple of races, McLaren will be the car to beat at the start of the season, followed by the Red Bull. Ferrari will slip back at the start but improve over the season as per usual.

2. Dissapointment is so subjective. Ferrari might struggle.

3. By definition impossible to answer. If you can predict what it will be then it's not really an innovation.

4. Something rules related.

5. I don't think so.

6. Vettel for WDC and McLaren for WCC.

7. Hamilton narrowly, Button comfortably.

Perez isnt a good qualifier, but Button hasnt been THAT great either in recent seasons.

Marussia should take a good step forward. They did pretty well in 2012, and in 2013 they have better tools to develop the car (e.g Wind Tunnel, Williams Kers, etc)
I'd have thought Caterham will take a step forward too.

Driver wise, I'd hope that Perez will show his true worth, and that Massa gets back on form.


Probably Toro Rosso mainly due to the team having zero goal or purpose in the sport. You hear very little about them, they dont seem to make any improvements, ever, etc.

Driver wise, I dont see Max Chiltern being all that good given his history.



Tough one. Something that exploits the 'cover up' for the ugly noses. For 2013 they can put a thin cover over it to make the nose look more appealing. You can guarantee someone will try something clever with it despite it having pretty strict rules.


I was going to say something on the RedBull cars. But actually something's telling me that Mercades may actually have a few tricks up their sleeve this year. So I'm going to say the Merc car will have something that pushes the rules to the limit, and Ferrari and Lotus will make a complaint.


Mercades (Hamilton), McLaren (Perez - towards the end of the season), other than that the rest of the midfield are very mediocre.


I'm going to stick my neck out on the line and say Button. I know I'm probably very wrong, but there we go.


Hamilton
Button

The Caterham/Marussia battle is pretty interesting. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see one of them get into the points (barely) this year.

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Ok I'll get serious,

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward? - I don't think much will change if I'm honest. I can't see Force India moving up the grid any further than they are now, nor can I see Caterham and Marussia making such an improvement they'll find themselves getting regular points. I can see Di Resta being shunted out of F1 at the end of the season, Chilton not impressing, Pic getting a move to a proper midfield team and Hulkenburg to shine. Perez should take his first win if the McLaren is quick.

Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment? - Rosberg. I don't think he'll be a challenge for Hamilton at all. Hamilton has a turn of speed Rosberg can only dream of and once Lewis turns on the style Nico will be miles back.

What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies? - Got a feeling Newey is going to do something fancy with that modesty panel for the nose cones.

What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport? - It's about time one of the teams was caught for actually cheating, we haven't had that since 2005.

Will we have a new winner (team or driver)? - Perez. Possibly Hulk if the Sauber is just as good as last season on a wet day.

Who will win the WDC and WCC? - WDC will be Vettel again sadly. WCC to finally go to McLaren.

Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in? - Hamilton to beat Rosberg, Button to beat Perez, Massa to be much closer to Alonso.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

cant argue with any of that assessment to be honest.

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward?Williams back in the top 5
Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Sauber
Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment? Webber
What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies? Lotus DRD
What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport? Something to do with pirelli
Will we have a new winner (team or driver)? perez and grosjean
Who will win the WDC and WCC? Kimi and Lotus
Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in? Hamilton & Button respectively

my bold prediction is that Bottas will be rubbish.

That really wouldn't shock me given he hasn't raced in over a year now. He should be alright in Qualifying but in race conditions he could struggle big time, especially at the start of the season.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Respectively:

Williams to win more races
Mercedes to slip back further
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Marussia designs the thing everyone else copies. They seemed to do well sans KERS last year.
Perez will be dropped mid season for never getting out of Q2 and scoring less than 10 points. He will be replaced by Super Pedro. People will be sad about this, hence the controversy.
New winners will be Grosjean and Bottas.
WDC will go to Button, WCC to Red Bull.
Winners of team mate battles will be: Webber, Button, Massa, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Sutil (if he gets signed, otherwise I will revise this), Bottas, Vergne, Kimi, Glock and Petrov (again, should he get signed).

Some pretty mental predictions there, lets see what happens

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward?
Not so much a step forward, but I think Rosberg will start getting the recognition I think he deserves when he gives Hamilton a bit of a challenge.

Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment?
I think Sauber may disappoint this year. I think they really overperformed in 2012 and they seemed to tail off toward the end of the year.

What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies?
If I knew that I'd be working for one of the teams

What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport?
A minor design feature of whichever car is fastest

Will we have a new winner (team or driver)?
I expect Perez to take his first win

Who will win the WDC and WCC?
Vettel is surely the favourite again. I'm not sure McLaren have the drivers capable of beating him and I have little confidence in Ferrari being able to produce a good enough car

Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in?
Hamilton will come out on top at Mercedes but it'll be closer than many seem to be expecting. I'd also expect Button's experience to show through in the McLaren battle. Perez was a little error-prone last season and has a few things still to learn.

Still not bitter Perez beat Kobayashi in 2012 then...

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Not at all I just think he'll fail epically Kovalainen style. And I rate Heikki more than Perez, by that logic he'll be lucky to score many points at all.

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Official Kamui Kobayashi Fanboy

Hmm. Get over the fact Kobyashi just didn't make the grade dude. The digs at Perez will get old fast on here.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

To be honest it's more about how you develop the car over the season, and not getting "knocked back" a la McLaren in 2012, that determines how well you can do.

That's my biggest worry about Merc, for example. I do think the most likely WDC after Vettel is either Webber or Button. Alonso will do what he can.

I predict an absolutely amazing duel between Jev and Riccardio.

I think Lotus will be fast, and the title will be between Alonso and Raikkonen.

Mercedes-engined cars will be nowhere. Although it will be coincidence that all 3 teams produce a below-par chassis and not because the engines aren't any good.

Chilton will score the first points for Marussia. Although he will generally be rubbish and spin out a lot.

I'd just leave it be Laura. Perez was the wrong choice and McLaren are doomed without Hamilton.

And of course, the moment Perez turns out to be half decent, we'll all hear about how really he isn't anything special and how he couldn't possibly have failed since the expectations were so low.

Reminds me of another McLaren driver....


... Anyway, to address the OP


Which, if any, team and/or driver will take a step forward? Ricciardo will take a big step forward. He was really impressive towards the end of last season. I expect Grosjean to become more consistent. I think Hulkenberg will show he can start a season in a half decent way, but the results won't reflect it because Sauber won't be as strong as before.
As for teams, I think Toro Rosso will take a significant step forward. They've been a pretty consistent midfield team before last year. I'm sure things can only get better for them. Also, their driver line up is underrated and should give them an advantage over Sauber, Williams and possibly Force India who may all have rookies in their team.
Which, if any, team will get it wrong? Which, if any driver, will be a disappointment? Not every team who did well last year can succeed again in 2013. I predict Lotus will be the biggest fallers, followed by Sauber. Williams will have a decent year, but they won't fight for victories.
However, the biggest disappointment will be Ferrari. They'll be in a hole too deep for Alonso to drag them out of this year. I predict he'll win no more than two races and finish no higher than fourth in the WDC.
What, if any, will be the innovative design that a team will come up with that everyone else copies? If I knew this, I'd be designing it, not posting about it on a forum.
What, if any, will be the major controversy in the sport? Gotta be something to do with budget restrictions. To be fair, I anticipate a huge scandal to come from nowhere this year. We haven't had one for a few years now.
Will we have a new winner (team or driver)? Perez. Possibly on multiple occasions.
Who will win the WDC and WCC? Vettel and RBR will completely dominate both championships.
Who will come out on top in Hamilton vs Rosberg, Button vs Perez and any other battles you're interested in? Hamilton will thrash Rosberg. Button will beat Perez, but it'll be closer than you think. Alonso will still beat Massa but they'll be much closer.

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I don't follow F1 so I don't know what I'm talking about

The development point is very true, It's where Vettel has the greatest advantage as Red Bull have been briliant at developing their car in each of the past 4 seasons. I'd say that they are the strongest team in this department. I still think Alonso will be Vettel's closest challenger though.

I don't see Mercedes being in contention this year. They'd need to make a massive step forward, which is very tough when there are no major rule changes.

ill predict the team places, but im still not sure about drivers champion...

1 Red Bull
2 McLaren
3 Lotus
4 Ferrari
5 Mercedes
6 Sauber
7 Williams
8 Toro Rosso
9 Force India
10 Caterham
11 Marussia

Still not bitter Rosberg beat Schumi in 2010, 2011 and 2012 then...

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

I don't see any signs of bitterness..

Exactly. I just don't think Rosberg will beat Hamilton. Hamilton's speed is phenonemal, I rate Button much higher than Nico and Button only just beat Hamilton on points over the three seasons they spent together.

I also predicted in late 2009 that Hamilton would beat Button fairly comfortable after an even start and look what happened there. Everyone on this forum knows I am no Hamilton fan, so there is no bitterness here at all for eiteh driver.

If the question had been "will Hamilton beat Schumacher?" then guess what? The answer would have been Hamilton.

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1994 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004