It's certainly a popular question for World Cup discussion, so why not for boring old F1?

With the form guide well and truly established, every fan is well placed to make a rational pick.


My tips:

WDC: Button
WCC: McLaren
Why?: Red Bull are just not good enough. Developments - ok. Car was fast last season was single deck diffuser, no f-duct, no diffuser driven exhaust + no constant flow rate qually ecu setting last year - so the base design (regardless of trick bits that they might add, and others that might copy off them) is sound and will continue to be one of the best designed cars - but the team is just not enough.

Ferrari is operating more like Toyota. Expensive drivers, average car, keep churning out expensive developments that just do not make it go much faster...

McLaren - Well positioned with very fast car at this point of season. Number 1 for developments going to track from the factory and making the car go faster. Development program will continue at full steam for remaining races, constantly adding pace to the car. Two very high quality drivers. The ultra-consistent Button is well placed to take the drivers IMO.

I fail to see how Button will win it over Hamilton UNLESS he fixes his quali issues and close down the gap in pace. He cannot simply rely on fluke circumstances and luck to win the WDC. At some point, he WILL have to be faster than LH, which he hasn't really been since... well, uh... forever, I think.

Ask the psychic octopus!

I picked McLaren for the Constructors not because I'm a homer, but they are the best team this year that has won the WCC previously, and therefore they know how to do it.

Red Bull started the season with an amazing car, but for various reasons, they didn't fully strike while the iron was hot (ala Brawn GP in 2009). The loads of points they frittered away early will come back and bite them, IMHO.

I do regular reviews of the WDC and WCC standing and odds. So I'm up to date with the situation as of Valencia.



From the table you see that Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Webber and Alonso should have chances.



But that doesn't translate directly into the odds they get by the bookies and punters. Hamilton and Vettel are the favorites followed by tier two drivers Alonso, Button and Webber. I agree with that classing. Personally I think that Red Bull have the higher development level and capability. They should get on top of their reliability and driver management issues and Vettel should make WDC IMO.



In the WCC table McLaren clearly leads.



This does not translate so clearly into the odds. In this graph the odds btw are all shown relative to the leader. That is why McLaren have a 1.0.

Vettel and Red Bull.

Great Britain RB
Germany McL/RB
Hungary RB
Belgium McL
Italy McL
Singapore RB
Japan RB
Korea ?
Brazil RB/McL
Abu Dhabi RB

Even Vettel can't throw it away.

why can't I vote for Michael Schumacher in this poll> ????

Are you feeling ok?

Am simply pondering about the question: " How would outerspace smell like? "



and there's a final or something in my brain and I can't see un-orange at all anymore ......

vettel & red bull! no question

I voted for Alonso and McLaren. I don't have any doubt that McLaren is going to win the WCC, as for Alonso I have a lot of faith but I know that Vettel and Hamilton have better chances right now.

Hamilton / McLaren



or Schumacher

Hamilton and McLaren.

Karma for Vettel and more so RBR.

It's looking like a runaway success for Hamilton/McLaren so far.

Why is Massa in the poll who is 16 points behind Kubica?

I bet if this poll was at the beginning of the season Schumacher would be the leading candidate for the title!

What the majority voted.

I believe there was one ... and I did click that ...


"the power of the click"

It's down to two IMHO, Vetttel and Hamilton.

theres no guarantee that their updates will continue to be as successful all the time, but agree, he has less work to do than the rest. wouldnt write red bull off yet though.

I believe Hamilton will just shade the WDC.

Little in it between all of them but Hamilton has historically had all the luck. I believe that this will be the deciding factor.

Fernando Alonso (WDC) and Mclaren (WCC)

I tried but it only predicted the top eight and refused to go into more detail!

It's a curious thing but you'll find Hamilton continues to "have luck" all through his career. You're gonna be singing the same bitchy song in 2020 .

british bulletin board is british.


Every thread with a poll ends up with mclaren/hamilton/button leading the poll, unless it's a negative poll,cause then it's raikkönen/vettel and sometimes alonso, because they are hated by most brits.

I dont believe this thread is anything to do with who people "want" to win. I'm a Ferrari fan but I'll concede the chances of Ferrari winning the WCC as from zero to nil. I just cant see past Mclaren or Red Bull. The WDC is anyones guess atm. I think its between Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso. But although I'm British, it has not influenced me to pick Mclaren as the favourites for the WCC. It is simply down to their performance.

you don't think it has something to do with the fact they're leading both championships at the moment?

Yeah ok whatever you think


McLaren have got the constructors for sure, Button and Hamilton are simply better than any other driver combination. For the drivers it's less easy, Hamilton is the favourite at the moment - but I'm giving Button the chance as well.

Ask me again at the last race ;-)!

The way I see it atm is that its between Lewis, Button, Vettel, Webber and Alonso!

We've seen that no single driver can take dominance over a season. Maybe 1 or 2 weekends but the next weekend it could well be another driver.

I live here:



Very far from England. Hamilton and McLaren FTWs.

I still think this is Red Bull's championship, they clearly have the best car. Without the Valencia crash I would have said Mark was in with a good chance to take it all, but I think Seb will probably come out on top. That said I would love to see Lewis, or alternatively Jenson, and McLaren snatch this years titles, I'm hoping for an epic battle down the stretch.

WCC - McLaren

But for WDC I am currently undecided. Hamilton looks the favourite at the moment, but we've already seen how quickly things can change in two races. I would say the WDC will be one of Hamilton, Vettel or Webber. As I see it, there are currently 5 contenders, but I don't think Ferrari will be consistently strong at enough tracks for Alonso to steal it. I know its controversial to eliminate Button, but I just can't see him beating Lewis over a season unless he sorts out his qualifying soon, even if he is strong on Sundays. So therefore I think if its a McLaren driver, it will be Hamilton, while I'm currently undecided on the Red Bull drivers.

The bookies give Webber 8.5 and Vettel 3.3. That looks about right to me considering that Webber's failures to score were largely self inflicted compared to Vettel's caused by reliability. Red Bull will get the reliability right in the second half of the season but they cannot maker Mark Webber better than he is.

Hamilton's odds were 2.8 after Valencia but his car looks certainly not as sorted as the Red Bull and the circuits will not be favoring them as they did for the last races. So expect Vettel to take the lead in the odds after this weekend and be on top at the end.

McLaren may still make it to WCC having picked up more points in the first half of the season.

I want to see button/mclaren win ... however if i honestly think about it then in my opinion If red bull can fix their reliability issues they will probabaly win with vettel edging webber. That redbull car this year just seems to keep going faster and faster.

Yep, still.

I voted with both my heart and my head.

My heart wants Mark Webber to win the WDC.

My head tells me that McLaren will most likely win the WCC.

Vettel and Red Bull.

I don't know how people are writting Ferrari off the WCC.
Any team can grab as much as 42 points per race for WCC standings, so the big advantage McLaren and Red Bull have right now can dissapear pretty quickly.
It is still early days (we have not reached mid season yet).

I voted with my heart - Hamilton/McLaren. But I do feel more confident about McLaren then about Hamilton. Vettel can win this easily if he fixes his driving and RBR fixes their reliability issues.

Don't forget that does mean two 1-2 finishes while McLaren fails to any score points, in order to get ahead. There are many races left indeed, but where will Ferrari score any 1-2's then?

Yep

Is it unrealistical to expect such results? I mean, the do actually lead both championships and are stepping up in form with respect to start of the season.

Not a british here, btw., if I were choosing by nationality I'd be closest to Kubica probably

Hamilton with three times more votes than Vettel, with the RB being the best car? Preety unrealistic at this stage yes.

To place some outlandish tips for the titles:

Fernando Alonso
RBR
Oranje

Yet both McLaren drivers are ahead of both Red Bull drivers in WCC and WDC, how's that for a little realism?

I already said it. They are ahead of Vettel the equivalent or 5-6 points with the old system, and Hamilton, Button, Vettel and Webber are within the equivalent of 10 points (a race). The Red Bull is the fastest car by quite a big margin. There are 10 races left. So I don't know how 3x more votes for Hamilton than Vettel can be realistic. But hey, it's just a poll

Probably because Hamilton is a far better driver than Vettel ever will be ;)

But yeah, the Red Bull is the car to beat at the moment, but at the moment isn't what everybody looks at when they vote.