TinyPic" border="0">Anyway it was interesting to look over my pre season predictions and compare it to where we are now. I seem to have been a fair bit WRONG about many things.
1 - Red Bull Racing & Mark Webber
Wow, so I knew RBR were going to be good but 6 poles from 6 races, 3 fastest laps and 3 wins. Out of the 3 wins, 2 come from Webber, back to back. One of those wins is in Monaco. No chance I would have ever predicted this. One thing I did say is true thou, this is the most important season in Webber's career. He seems to have used that pressure and turned it into some amazing performances! The reason I didn't have Webber in my predictions was the fact that I was sure he wouldn't be able to manage the tires as in the past he has been a very aggressive driver. Well it seems that a combination of Brigestone developing some great tires and the Red Bull car being light on them have worked perfectly for Mark and he is now co-leading the drivers championship. The Red Bull is fast but it seems to handle slower tracks as well so I would expect either Red Bull driver to now be favourite for the drivers championship unless something drastic happens with other teams.
2 - The Dominance of Ferrari, or Not?
Ferrari started the season being outright favourite for the whole thing. Alonso was meant to win the drivers title and Ferrari were considered to dominate the constructors. This is a weird one, the car still shows signs of being exactly what we thought it was going to be but just hasn't showed it since Bahrain. Felipe Massa seems like a shadow of who he used to be. Gone is the outspoken Massa who would always have something to say about every situation. We hardly even see him on television during the races, it's like he doesn't exist? He's still had some solid drives but his presence has completely evaporated with the arrival of Alonso. Fernando started off great, everyone thought Ferrari was back with a vengeance and that the season would end well for them. Alonso and Massa have finished 5th on average all season, yet they have been outclassed by the Red Bulls and on occasion the McLarens. I think they will get it together before not too long and be back up there but it's going to be hard to stop the RBR machine.
3 - Renault, I Mean Kubica, Are Good?
So I totally overlooked Renault. Well they weren't meant to do any good, I mean their team was unprepared and still recovering from the shit storm Flavio left them in. A long time ago I was convinced Robert Kubica was destined for glory or at least had the talent you'd expect from a world champion and it seems this talent has helped Renault stay alive and actually achieve 2 podiums so far! I think it's not just Kubica's talent that has got the results, Renault have obviously built the car around Kubica and for him. It suits him perfectly and the team could do this because their second driver, Petrov aka Russian Bankroll, is only in the team because he bought the cash in. They don't care about him and fair enough really, so they've gone all out to make Robby K and car fit seamlessly. If you minus Bahrain, Kubica hasn't finished less than 8th. Not bad.
4 - Michael Schumacher.
Ouch for Schumi. Looks like I was VERY keen in calling him my 3rd pick for the WDC. So obviously he's not going to win it, I mean anything can happen but I don't think so. I'm very biased when it comes down to God, uh I mean Schumacher, and I still think he has the talent. Obviously at least 7 other drivers have that same talent nowadays thou and competing against them in a car that isn't at the top has proven to be hard for Schumi. I strongly believe that the Mercedes will improve all year and this will help Schumi get better and better results but the fact is that his teammate, Nico Rosberg, has been doing a fair bit better than him. Rosberg is a good driver, he's proven that he can be fast and has 2 podium finishes this year to show for it. Last time Schumacher was on the podium was China 2006, he came 4th in Spain so who knows, maybe the next one is just around the corner?
Lotus do look to be the best of the rest and should hold that position. Niko Hulkenburg hasn't really shown his full potential and I think he'll have a big battle all season but I still think we will see him in a top 6 finish at least once this season.
