Scottish Elises

Anyone else getting excited about the new season? Now just a week away. Must be the most eagerly anticipated in years. Incredibly hard to predict this year, but my best guess:

- Alonso for his third title, making mincemeat of Massa along the way.

- Vettel in second place.

- Schumi to win the odd race but not challenge seriously for the title.

- Hamilton to comprehensively outshine Button at Mclaren (sadly).

Mark

PS I predicted that Brawn would be running around at the back of the pack chasing Force India last year, so what do I know

There was quite a lot of chat at the Sir Jackie Stewart event on Wednesday evening. He reckons the stage is set for one of the best seasons in 30 years. He says its been a long time since we have geniunly had a decent number of drivers and teams at the top, all of whom are likely to get some wins, and be there to challange for the championship. There was also some interesting comment about schumi.

I certainly think there will be a lot of different winners. I agree that Hamilton is likely to out class Button, although Button's maturity may keep him up in the points. I suspect (hope to be proven wrong) that Lotus may not do too well in their first season.

I know I'm quite excited about the first race!

Dom

Hard to see past Vettle for the title at the moment.

Agree Alonso will trump Massa and most likely push Vettle all the way for the title.

Button could well be out of his depth and comfort zone. However saying that he is good on his tyres and with heavy fuel that could be a god send for the boy.


Very excited, and of course Schumi, always been a fan and all his underhand tricks only endeared him to me more (i like that win at all cost mentality) on top of that hate or love him he is a supremely talented individual and can do things in a car which seem impossible - I wouldn't like to be Rosberg (actually I would ).

1. Vettle
2. Alonso
3. Hamilton

I am really looking forward to this season too.
Really hard to predict with so many ex champions and potentially quite a few drivers/teams with good potential.
I think Alonso will be hard to beat but hope that McLaren finish on top- I reckon Hamilton will have the upper hand over Button

And really looking forward to Lotus being back

I see-saw between thinking that the new rules might actually suit Button more than Hamilton - perhaps see Lewis bugger off at the beginning of stints and suffer as he shreds the tyres on a heavy car...

As for the rest? Most unpredictable season in years. No refuelling will have a massive effect on styles and car design - the status quo could be upset again (although there will be a few design departments going back to basic after some high-profile turds last year - Ferrari and Mclaren's year starting cars...)

Shumi is far too wily to have come back without feeling he had a real stab at it - certainly doesn't need the money and he's very very clever. Alonso will be up for it in the Ferrari and if they give him the car he wants, he could walk away. Massa will be 900% fired up to stop that - it's his team in his eyes and he doesn't give a f**k how many championships his team mate has.

Vettel? Gotta be in for it. Several others too.

Fact is, it's impossible to call - which makes it genuinely exciting. Hopefully we get a season that sees the shifting sands like last year - would be a horrible let-down if we got to the first race and someone with a budget had a massive advantage - the only reason last season wasn't a cakewalk for Brawn is that they had to develop on a shoestring, so the others caught up (and passed them technically)

1. Hamilton
2. Vettel
3. Alonso

But I think it will be a very close title... so could be those 3 in any order.
I reckon Schumi (& Mercedes in general) may be a disappointment (but I really hope not !!!).

Andy.

Team mate challenges

Hamilton > Button
Alonso > Massa
Vettel > Webber
Schuhuffer > Rosberg

Drivers championship, after a monumental battle between good and evil, Hamilton will beat Alonso.

1) Hamilton
2) Alonso
3) Vettel
4) Webber
5) Massa
6) Button
7) Schumacher

I'd like it to be Alonso's year as I like him and he's in the right colour of car.

I'm giong to go against the grain with McLaren and say that Button will outperform Hamilton. Lewis has endless skill beyond Button's dreams, but I think Button will settle better with the new rules, and will be performing at 120% following last years high. Give him the sniff of a win and he'll grab it.

Schumacher is the odd ball, I think it'll be between him and Alonso.
Vettel could pull something special out of the bag mind. Vettel's biggest concern I reckon will be Webber pulling out all the stops to show he's still got it.
Points going to the wrong Red Bull in a season likely to be this tightly fought could cost the championship.

In fact I think the team mate rivalries could well be what costs someone the championship.

Long term, if Schumacher stays in F1 for a couple of years and Rosberg gets under his wing, Rosberg could become unstoppable...

As others have said Lotus will have a pretty development-esque year, i'd predict some points, not bottom of the table, and possibly a wet-weather podium.

Alonso (sadly)
Vettel
Hamilton
Webber
Button
Schumacher
Rosberg

Surprise package: Sutil in the Force India.

Schumacher wouldn't come back if he didn't think he could win, and after seeing him in the race of champions he has definitely still got it. Weather the car is good enough we will have to wait and see. As much as I prefer Button to Hamilton I still think Hammy will have the legs on his team mate, he's been in the team longer and is more comfortable because of it and has nothing to prove. Button on the other hand will need to settle in and has the added pressure of being defending champion, so results are expected.
Going to be a good year, lot of in team cat fighting going to take place me thinks as well as one track, that with new regs the first few rounds will be a bit of a lottery. Once it settles down I think you see the cream float to the top.

1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Schumacher
4. Vettel
5. Alonso
6. Massa

I'd like to see Button do well and make a good enough showing to ensure his career for a few more seasons with Maclaren, not sure if he'll beat Hamilton, but keeping fingers crossed for a solid season.

Alonso's consistency is going to be the power this season IMO. With the rule changes etc, constant point scoring is going to win the day. Massa's a great driver, but results maybe aren't the most consistent.

As far as Shumi is concerned, I just hope he leaves his 'I'm above the law' appraoch at home. He could be amazing with Ross Brawn again and could be the making of Rosberg which is long overdue.

I'm a Redbull fan and hope they cash in on the progress they made last year. I think Christian Horner is massively talented and will be fighting hard for the title.

Thoroughly looking forward to it....just hope it lives up to the expectation.

Quite liking the new points scoring system with 25 for the win, 18 for second, 15 for third and so on all the way down to a point for finishing tenth!
Hamilton and Alonso will probably have a few battles on the way to the title

I've thought long and hard about this, and.............tbh, I am in agreement with Mark. I'd like to see Lotus finish races in the top 10!

ryallm wrote:Anyone else getting excited about the new season? Now just a week away. Must be the most eagerly anticipated in years. Incredibly hard to predict this year, but my best guess:

- Alonso for his third title, making mincemeat of Massa along the way.

- Vettel in second place.

- Schumi to win the odd race but not challenge seriously for the title.

- Hamilton to comprehensively outshine Button at Mclaren (sadly).

Mark

PS I predicted that Brawn would be running around at the back of the pack chasing Force India last year, so what do I know

Come to the conclusion that there is no way to predict, just too many variables.

In actual fact, I do not really mind, I am just not Nationalistic with F1, so may the best man win.

tut

Prior to the recent testing, I would have said Vettel (with engine reliability caveat)... but Red Bull have been too hard on their tyres on long runs reportedly. Not easy to fix. So I'll say it'll be Hamilton (provided FIA approve McLaren's rear wing arrangement - as expected), winning a close battle with Alonso.

Really hoping to see Williams finally have a good season again , and I suppose it would be nice to see Lotus getting lots of points finishes of course but that is very, very unlikely unless they find millions-upon-millions to develop the car during the season. If the 107% rule is still live (not sure if it is?), they and Virgin could be struggling to make the grid.

[rant on] But I am sick to death of the press and everybody involved in F1 telling us in Jan/Feb/Mr every bl**dy year that this coming season is going to be the best yet/ever/etc [/rant off]