Anyways, as I type this the season is about 3 hours and 30 minutes away from beginning in Bahrain so this would be a good time to lay down some predictions for the coming season. I'll name 3 likely picks and then lock in what I think.
You can quote me on these.
MY PICKS:
WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPION
1. Alonso - This is his year to win No. 3. He has moulded into the Ferrari family seamlessly and for the first time since he was at McLaren he has a car that can and should win races. Early testing form shows that he was one of the most switched on drivers and judging from interviews he is supremely confident that he'll be world champ this year. Don't discount Massa for a shot, but when 'Nando wants something and has the chance to get it, I wouldn't bet on anybody else. The fact that tyre management and strategy will be super important this year also helps Alonso as he is one of the most technical drivers on the grid. My choice for World Champion this year!
2. Vettel - Seb has been quiet in the build up to 2010. Red Bull Racing has yet again delivered a very fast car and it seems that in testing no one saw the full potential of this car. No doubt Vettel will be a world champion one day but to do it this season he'll have to knock off his teammate Mark Webber who is in the most important season of his career. Webber HAS to win this year or face the risk of being replaced in 2011 and then disappearing from the headlines forever and with his radical and 'rough' driving style I believe he wont be able to manage the car and tyres efficiently compared to other drivers. Vettel will also have to battle both Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes drivers for the title. If Vettel pulls it off it would be one of the greatest title wins of all time.
3. Schumacher - I'm going to go with Schumi here. Firstly how amazing would it be? But in all seriousness I've left out the McLaren drivers because I'm still not convinced that they have chemistry between them. From what I've known of Button and Hamilton, they are opposites when it comes to driving style which will make car development interesting. All they need is a spark and the team will self implode, but who knows I might be surprised? Schumacher looks like he's keeping up with the other big boys in testing and one he gets a sniff of a win, I imagine that we'll start to see the Schumi of old! The one question is that the Mercedes GP car doesn't look like the fastest car at this point and I have it at 4Th behind Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull at the moment. Knowing Schumi's talent for helping develop a car, don't be surprised if it ends up being the fastest and most stable car by seasons end. If Schumi wins this year...well what can you say. He would simply be re-enforcing that he is the greatest of all time!
WORLD CONSTRUCTORS TITLE:
1. Ferrari - They seem to have the best car at the moment and both Massa and Alonso are capable of bringing home 1-2's all season. I'm saying they are pre season favourites.
2. McLaren - The car design this year has a number of advanced features which other teams will try to copy but McLaren has the head start. 2 Worlds Champions in their team means, like Ferrari, they are capable of 1-2's. The specially designed rear wing apparently gives them a 5 km/h advantage down straight so expect to see them doing well at fast circuits in Asia, the Middle East and especially Monza and Montreal.
3. Red Bull - This one was too close to call. The only reason I'm placing Red Bull above Mercedes is that Nico Rosberg is the least skilled out of any of the drivers for the top 4. But in all honestly calling the Constructors battle at this point is completely impossible!
BEST OF THE REST:
1. Force India - Yeah, that's right. Force India look to be big this season. I'm going to call that they'll finish ahead of Williams and Renault in the final standings. Adrian Sutil will lead the team and he is capable of getting a good result. They still have Mercedes engines and they've designed the car closely on last years which means they'll still be very fast.
2. Williams - Williams look like battling for best of the rest this year and have the drivers to prove it. Rubens in his 18th season of Formula One will be back and as hungry as ever while newcomer Nico 'The Hulk' Hulkenburg looks to be one of the best rookie drivers we've seen in a while. Williams only downfall is that they are using the Cosworth engines, which while they do have a familiarity with them, they don't look to be fast, especially compared to the Renualt, Mercedes or Ferrari.
3. BMW Sauber - Sauber (who have kept the BMW part of their name even thou they are using Ferrari engines) don't look to be much of a threat at this early point of the season but I believe after a slow start they'll be pushing the above two teams for most of the season. They have a veteran in De la Rosa and an exciting young driver in Kobayashi. The Ferrari engines will help and Bridgestone has said that out of all the team the Sauber uses its tyres the best, which could be very handy in 2010.
BEST OF THE NEW TEAMS:
1. Lotus F1 - Out of the three new team Lotus has been on track the most. Their car is designed well, they have 2 experienced drivers and I'm claiming them as my '2nd Team' this season.
2. Virgin Racing - The VR team have made it onto the grid in good time, even with a car designed entirely on computer. Timo Glock should be good for them but the reliability of the car might prove to be their downfall.
3. Hispania Racing Team - This team is a mess, I feel bad for the Senna name. Enough said.
DRIVER TO WATCH:
'The Hulk' - This guy is going to be awesome. He's won everything he's been in before this and his future in the sport is going to be great. Rubens will be a great mentor and I expect him to have a high top 6 finish at least once this season.
DRIVERS NOT TO WATCH:
Karun Chandhok - This guy will be bad, the team will be bad. Enough said.
SO 2 Hours left till the season starts!Check in soon for post Bahrain observations.
