Intra team battles 2008

Many new driver line-ups this year, and most of them should be intense, along with those who've already spent a season together as team-mates.

So who will have the upper hand?

Ferrari -
Räikkönen vs Massa: I expect Räikkönen to enjoy a clear advantage this year(along with "everyone" else it seems), with a decent and consistent gap to his team-mate in the races especially. Of course Massa will beat him a few times, but he wont look as convincing as last year.

BMW-
Heidfeld vs Kubica: Kubica this year, and I exoect him to look as speedy as he did in those races he did in 2006. Heidfeld wont be embarassed though, he's too good for that to happen, but he'll be beaten.

Renault-
Alonso vs Piquet: Easy, Alonso. I expect Piquet to be able to upstage him in qualifying a few times though (Q2), but I'll be surprised if he'll be within three tenths (0.3 plus) of Alonso's race-pace.

Williams-
Rosberg vs Nakajima: Rosberg undoubtedly. Nakajima will show glimpses of raw speed, but he'll be too inconsistent and make a few too many mistakes. (May be excused some of them though, as he is afterall, a rookie.)

Red Bull Racing-
Coulthard vs Webber: None of them will enjoy a clear upper hand, it will be much like last year, but I'll go with DC to make the slightly, slightly better impression.

Toyota-
Trulli vs Glock: Trulli, but if they stay team-mates in '09, it may be the other way round. Glock will show progress throughout the season, and will beat Trulli to the flag on a good few occasions.

Scuderia Toro Rosso-
Vettel vs Bourdais: A very interesting pairing! I think they'll be evenly mathced and push each other very hard from the second half of the season onwards. Vettel will enjoy a noticeable advantage over one lap though. There can only be one winner though, so I'll go with Vettel. (Initially though, last autumn, I was thinking Bourdais all the way, but judging by his own comments especially, and the picture drawn up from testing, one have to say Vettel looks stronger.)

Honda-
Button vs Barrichello: Button again, even if Barrichello will find extra motivation, and then also speed, from working with Brawn, and he'll take satisfaction from feeling his feedback weighs heavy.

Super Aguri-
Sato vs Davidson: The picture will be unchanged from last year I think. Davidson better in qualifying, but Sato will do better in the races,even if I have a feeling we'll get to see some banzai-moves again this year.

Force India-
Fisichella vs Sutil: Fisichella. I think Sutil made a good impression last year, but it was always based on feel as he wasn't exactly up against creme de la creme. I expect him to show on occasions that he certainly is quick, but I fear he'll be frustrated from not being able to dash his team-mate convincingly, and that will gradually show in his laptimes.

McLaren Mercedes-
Hamilton vs Kovalainen: Hamilton, but in the second half he'll be pushed hard.

"large" > "decent" > "small"

Ferrari - Raikkonen by a decent margin all year
McLaren - Hamilton by a decent margin start of the season, small margin by the end
BMW - Kubica by a small margin all year
Renault - Alonso by a large margin start of the season, decent margin by the end
Williams - Rosberg by a decent margin all year (more due to Nakajima's mistakes rather than any lack of pace on the japanese's part)
Red Bull - Webber by a decent margin all year
Toyota - Trulli by a decent margin start of the season, evens by the end
Toro - Vettel by a small margin all year
Honda - Button by a small margin all year
Force - Fisichella by a small margin all year
Aguri - Davidson by a small margin all year

Ferrari - Kimi
McLaren - Heikki
BMW - Nick
Renault - Fernando
Williams - Nico
Red Bull - Mark
Toyota - Jarno
TR - Vettel
Honda - Jenson
FI - Giancarlo
SA - Takuma

Drivers who will dominate their teammates:

Renault - Alonso
Williams - Rosberg
Red Bull - Webber
Toyota - Trulli
Force India - Fisichella

And the rest

Ferrari - Raikkonen
McLaren - Hamilton
BMW - Kubica
SA - Sato
Rosso - Vettel

IIHTBMY (If I had to bet my life) votes:

Ferrari -
Räikkönen vs Massa: Räikkönen. But I wouldn't be astonished to see it go the other way.

BMW-
Heidfeld vs Kubica: Very close in talent (and very talented). So far Kubica seems to like the car a little more than Nick but for my life... flip a coin.

Renault-
Alonso vs Piquet: Alonso. But Piquet will be very good and get better as the year progresses. A couple of bad races and people will call for his head but supporters need only whisper 'Heikki' and the argument is over.

Williams-
Rosberg vs Nakajima: Rosberg, but Nakajima will impress.

Red Bull Racing-
Coulthard vs Webber: Webber, but DC will prove valuable to the team.

Toyota-
Trulli vs Glock: Trulli, but Glock's another potential star. And I admire the way he's worked his way back into F1.

Scuderia Toro Rosso-
Le Seb vs Der Seb: No idea. One of the most interesting combinations in a field of interesting combinations.

Honda-
Button vs Barrichello: Button.

Super Aguri-
Sato vs Davidson: IIHTBMY, Davidson, who seemed a little faster in the second half of last season.

Force India-
Fisichella vs Sutil: Fisichella? Perhaps the team will bring out his best again. He's seemed better in testing.

McLaren Mercedes-
Hamilton vs Kovalainen: Hamilton, but only because it's my life we're betting on. Heikki will be very good.

Ferrari:
Kimi, though Massa won't be as far off as generally accepted. Kimi to wrap up the back-to-back title.

McLaren:
Lewis will be too strong and too consistent for Heikki, who will play team gunner role.

BMW:
Heidfeld has never been beaten by a team mate, and there are good reasons why. Kubica way too inconsistent to challenge Mr Consistency.

Renault:
FA to school Jnr all season. Briatore throwing in the white towel for mercy on his young pup by season's end.

Williams:
Nakajima will be quick enough to uncover the Rosberg phenomenon, the young star's stock to plummet as fast and hard as the DOW Jones.

Red Bull:
Mark Webber to make the most of RB4 and edge in on points, though it'll be close once again. DC to be retired year end.

Toyota:
Trulli looks to be comfortable in TF108 and will have Glock's measure easily.

TR:
Vettel to make a better start but Bourdais' racing experience and prowess to come on strong as season develops.

Honda:
JB to put Barrichello in his place again. Rubens to open the excuse book once more.

FI:
Sutil to destroy Fisi's confidence and effectively his career.

SA:
Taku easily over Ant, though both will be at least +3 laps down at every meet.

Ferrari: Raikkonen by a very small margin.
BMW: Heidfeld
Renault: Alonso
Williams: Rosberg
Toyota: Trulli
McLaren: Hamilton
Honda: Button
Super Aguri: Sato
Force India: Sutil
Red Bull: Coulthard
Toro Rosso: very hard to preview....Vettel will be faster in the first part of the season and Bourdais in the second.

My answer:

Ferrari: Raikkonen
BMW: Heidfeld
Renault: Alonso
Williams: Rosberg
Toyota: Glock
McLaren: Hamilton
Honda: Button
Super Aguri: Sato
Force India: Fisi...just
Red Bull: Webbo
Toro Rosso: Seems to be the tough one, not quite sure what testing showed us. I'll go with Bourdais

ITV answer:

Ferrari: Hamilton
BMW: Hamilton
Renault: Piquet
Williams: Hamilton
Toyota: Hamilton
McLaren: Hamilton
Honda: Buttilton
Super Aguri: Hamilton
Force India: Hamilton
Red Bull: Hamilton
Toro Rosso: Hamilton.

Raikkonen 85 / 15 Massa
Alonso 90 / 10 Piquet
Hamilton 65 / 35 Kovalainen
Rosberg 90 / 10 Nakajima
Sutil 70 / 30 Fisichella
Button 70 / 30 Barrichello
Webber 60 / 40 Coulthard
Bourdais 25 / 75 Vettel
Heidfeld 50 / 50 Kubica
Trulli 80 / 20 Glock
Sato 70 / 30 Davidson

Ok, I'm gonna play this game too, but, tbh, its very difficult to predict some of the results.

BTW, I assume that having the "upper hand" means finishing the WDC ahead, despite DNFs, poor excuses, etc, right?;)

So:

Ferrari - Massa will melt the ice
McLaren - Lewis, by a comfy margin
BMW - DUNNO. Nicky and Kubica are very equal
Renault - Alonso. But I expect Nelsinho to make Alonso look silly a couple of times.
Williams - Rosberg
Red Bull - Cubey DC
Toyota - Yours Trulli
Toro - Vettel
Honda - Button (yep, even I dont believe Rubinho still got it)
Force - Fisico
Aguri - Satosan

Ferrari:
Kimi , with Massa close behind, I'll bow for Felipe if he manages to dethrone the current WDC.

McLaren:
Lewis but Kova will catch-up later in the season.

BMW:
Heidfeld and Kubica very evenly matched imo but Nick has the upper hand in the end.

Renault:
Fernando all the way, Nelsinho should play it smart and try to be close to FA in the end.

Williams:
Rosberg , Naka will make too many mistakes but will have the speed.

Red Bull:
Webber in qualy, DC when it matters in the race.

Toyota:
Trulli 's last trick, he'll easily beat Glock.

Toro Rosso:
Vettel but Bourdais will get close in the second half of the year.

Honda:
Button but who cares.

Force India:
Sutil , the final demasque of Fisi.

SA:
Taku.

Ferrari; Kimi in dominant fashion. Massa's many mistakes will cost him plenty without driver aids.
McLare; Hamilton. Mostly because Ronald wants it so.
BMW Sauber; Nick on racecraft, while Robert will be close with occasional flashes of speed.
Renault; Alonso by a mile. Mostly because Flavio wants it so and he thinks a rooky should learn in his first year.
Williams; Rosberg by a mile. I still don't understand how Nakajima got the ride.
Red Bull; Webber but not by much and only if he starts using his head to compliment his speed.
Toyota; Glock, with some stunning drives, while Trulli will be more consisten.
Torro Rosso; Vettel is the better of this otherwise good novice pairing.
Honda; Button, or else it would be total humiliation for him.
Force India; Sutil is the better, although Fisi is great in sh!t cars.
Super Aguri; Sato, in spite of his bone-headed moves. Davidson needs to show flashes of brilliance if he wants to be noticed.

Originally posted by metz
Ferrari; Kimi in dominant fashion. Massa's many mistakes will cost him plenty without driver aids.
McLare; Hamilton. Mostly because Ronald wants it so.
BMW Sauber; Nick on racecraft, while Robert will be close with occasional flashes of speed.
Renault; Alonso by a mile. Mostly because Flavio wants it so and he thinks a rooky should learn in his first year.
Williams; Rosberg by a mile. I still don't understand how Nakajima got the ride.
Red Bull; Webber but not by much and only if he starts using his head to compliment his speed.
Toyota; Glock, with some stunning drives, while Trulli will be more consisten.
Torro Rosso; Vettel is the better of this otherwise good novice pairing.
Honda; Button, or else it would be total humiliation for him.
Force India; Sutil is the better, although Fisi is great in sh!t cars.
Super Aguri; Sato, in spite of his bone-headed moves. Davidson needs to show flashes of brilliance if he wants to be noticed.

Nakajima has had only one race. Apart from the mistake in the pits, he has shown that he's got the pace. He hasn't had the chance to prove his consistency or inconsistency.

Originally posted by paranoik0
"large" > "decent" > "small"

Ferrari - Raikkonen by a decent margin all year
McLaren - Hamilton by a decent margin start of the season, small margin by the end
BMW - Kubica by a small margin all year
Renault - Alonso by a large margin start of the season, decent margin by the end
Williams - Rosberg by a decent margin all year (more due to Nakajima's mistakes rather than any lack of pace on the japanese's part)
Red Bull - Webber by a decent margin all year
Toyota - Trulli by a decent margin start of the season, evens by the end
Toro - Vettel by a small margin all year
Honda - Button by a small margin all year
Force - Fisichella by a small margin all year
Aguri - Davidson by a small margin all year

Like the system and agree with almost all the ratings except BMW. I think the consistantly underated Quick Nick continues his career of underratedness and beats Kubica, but by a small margin only.

Ferrari -
Räikkönen vs Massa: Raikkonen should win this (and is my prediction for WDC). If Massa was ever going to beat Raikkonen, it was going to be last year. Raikkonen will be comfortable with the team, with the tyres, and with the F2008. Should still be fairly even in qualifying, but Raikkonen will be consistently quicker in races, albeit by a small margin.

BMW-
Heidfeld vs Kubica: Heidfeld. It'll be closer than last year though, now that Kubica has a new race engineer that he's hopefully happy with. But Heidfeld will still end up with more points at the end of the season.

Renault-
Alonso vs Piquet: Alonso. Briatore will make sure of that, giving Alonso the better strategies, etc. And while Piquet will likely impress in qualifying, Alonso's race pace will be consistently better, and will finish with a sizeable points advantage.

Williams-
Rosberg vs Nakajima: Rosberg. I think it'll be closer than many are predicting though. Nakajima seems reasonably quick, and Rosberg is overrated IMHO.

Red Bull Racing-
Coulthard vs Webber: Webber, again. He was quicker last year too, but hopefully better reliability this year will make this matchup clearer to see. Webber will be the easy victor in qualifying, and will be quicker in races too.

Toyota-
Trulli vs Glock: Trulli. I can't see Glock consistently matching him, although Glock will be quicker occasionally.

Scuderia Toro Rosso-
Vettel vs Bourdais: Now this one is actually hard to call. I'll go with Vettel, but it should be close. Both drivers should impress, and one of them (most likely Vettel) will replace Coulthard at Red Bull next year, who will retire.

Honda-
Button vs Barrichello: I think people underrated Barrichello's drives last year - except for the last few races, IMHO this was dead even. Button should win this one, but very narrowly.

Super Aguri-
Sato vs Davidson: Unchanged from last year, so Davidson in qualifying, but Sato in the races.

Force India-
Fisichella vs Sutil: This one's hard to call, too. In fact I've had more trouble making a prediction here than with any other teammate pairing. Sutil showed a lot of speed last year but was error-prone, but that should no longer be a problem in his second year. On the other hand, Fisichella could potentially be very quick with the pressure now off him. I'll pick Sutil here, but by the slimmest of margins. I predict this one will vary throughout the course of the year, and who wins the points total will probably come down more to luck (i.e. bad reliability at the front of the grid) than skill. But Sutil by the end of the year will demonstrate to be the marginally better driver.

McLaren Mercedes-
Hamilton vs Kovalainen: Hamilton, with the gap to narrow over the course of the season as Kovalainen familiarises himself with McLaren. Hamilton should be the clear winner though.

Here's my take on the intra-team battles for 2008:



Ferrari: Raikonnen over Massa

BMW: Kubica over Heidfeld

Renault: Alonso over Piquet, Jr.

Williams: Rosberg over Nakajima

Red Bull: Webber over Coulthard

Toyota: Trulli over Glock

Toro Rosso: Bourdais over Vettel by a whisker

Honda: Button over Barrichello

Super Aguri: Davidson over Sato

Force India: Sutil over Fisichella

McLaren: Kovalainen over Hamilton


Team Sebastien is the most tantalizing match-up of the season for me. I think Vettel will win the first half of the seaon, but Bourdais will emerge in the second half and pip the young man at the finish.

Ferrari: Raikkonen
BMW: Heidfeld
Renault: Alonso
Williams: Rosberg
Toyota: Glock
McLaren: Hamilton
Honda: Button
Super Aguri: Sato
Force India: Sutil
Red Bull: Webber
Toro Rosso: Vettel

Ferrari- Raikkonen, with much more ease than last season.
BMW- Heidfeld, although they will be close.
Renault- Alonso, by a good margin.
Williams- Rosberg, easy.
Red Bull- Webber, again a close fight.
Toyota- Glock, have a feeling Trulli may not last the season.
Toro Rosso- Vettel, but I think this will be the most interesting battle.
Honda- Button, by a mile.
Super Aguri- Davidson, by a whisker.
Force India- Fisichella, in another close one.
McLaren- Hamilton, but not as easily as expected.

another moment to kill 2 minutes before March 14th:

Ferrari: Raikkonen (EASILY)
BMW: Heidfeld (BY ONE POINT)
Renault: Alonso (EASILY)
Williams: Rosberg (EASILY)
Toyota: Truli (BY 3 POINTS)
McLaren: Hamilton (EASILY)
Honda: Button (EASILY)
Super Aguri: Sato (BY ONE POINT)
Force India: Sutil & Fisico (SAME RESULT)
Red Bull: Webber (BY 3 POINTS)
Toro Rosso: SEBASTIEN (EASILY)

Here's mine...

Ferrari - Raikkonen due to consistency. Both will show the same speed most of the time. Massa will blame his inconsistency on bad luck (again).
McLaren - Hamilton also due to consistency and to having a big advantage early on. Heikki will be very solid in the 2nd half of the season when he will win a couple of races (kind of like ol'Nigel in his first Williams year).
BMW - Heidfeld again. Why don't people understand that he's got what it takes...
Renault - Alonso by leaps and bounds. Nelsinho is fast only when he's comfortable with the equipment and takes a while to do so (in his Williams test against Nico years ago he was a lot slower both times out).
Williams - Rosberg will deal a blow to Nakajima's confidence early on, like he did with Wurz.
Toro Rosso - Vettel due to his qualifying speed. In the race Bourdais will have a slight pace advantage but that will not be enough as he will usually qualify a couple rows behind Vettel. Solid enough to keep him for another year, though.
Toyota - Trulli will destroy Glock. I don't know why anybody thinks he has lost it. He is one of the very best and this year will show that more clearly as traction control is gone.
Super Aguri - Davidson will come good this year and end up on top, but Sato will have moments of brilliance as always.
Red Bull - Webber will finally beat DC as the car will hold together a lot more often. DC will still get almost as many points though, the old fox that he is. DC's last season, say hi to Vettel next year.
Force India - I don't see why Sutil shouldn't blow Fisi away. Fisi's last season, say hi to Tonio next year.
Honda - Button. Though Barrichello will do good this year - Ross will listen to him and his input is very, very good. One of Honda's problems is that they have listened to Button and rejected Rubens' feedback. That has already changed, I am pretty sure.

Originally posted by jez33

BMW:
Heidfeld has never been beaten by a team mate, and there are good reasons why. Kubica way too inconsistent to challenge Mr Consistency.

Actually he lost out to Frentzen in the Sauber 2003 but who can blame him .
HHF - 13points
Heidfeld - 6 Points

Ferrari -
Räikkönen vs Massa: Raikkonen looked comfortably better than Massa once he'd got to grips with the tyres, I expect him to be ahead from the first race.

BMW-
Heidfeld vs Kubica: it will be close, but I expect Kubica to edge it. Heidfeld may accumulate more points over the season, but Kubica will be the one delivering stand-out performances.

Renault-
Alonso vs Piquet: even before the season starts Piquet is bending over the cockpit with his pants round his ankles giving 'come hither' looks to Briatore and Alonso...

Williams-
Rosberg vs Nakajima: I actually have very high hopes for Nakajima, Rosberg will end on top but I think the Japanese driver is going to run him very close.

Red Bull Racing-
Coulthard vs Webber: rather like the BMW pairing, Coulthard is the best chance for accumulating points, Webber for achieving stand-out performances.

Toyota-
Trulli vs Glock: I think Trulli is going to eat Glock for breakfast.

Scuderia Toro Rosso-
Vettel vs Bourdais: Bourdais is looking better than I expected, but Vettel is a genuine star of the future so I think the German will end the year on top.

Honda-
Button vs Barrichello: I think both drivers will be doing their all to impress Brawn, it will be close but I think Button will look the better of the two.

Super Aguri-
Sato vs Davidson: the car will probably be terrible, Sato will look great in it.

Force India-
Fisichella vs Sutil: Fisichella will do a Coulthard, a lacklustre end to his top team career will be followed by a pronounced resurgence in a smaller team. I think Sutil will be good, but Fisichella will look great.

McLaren Mercedes-
Hamilton vs Kovalainen: Kovalainen has admitted that he's not quite as comfortable with the car as Hamilton, but I suspect it's still going to be very close, certainly from the second half onwards. I expect Hamilton will just edge it.