Who do you think will make the best car in 2011? Red Bull possibly made the best car for the last two years (Brawn was really fast in 2009 but mainly cause of the DD). For 2011, Red Bull might not have the best KERS though as Mclaren (and because of this possibly Mercedes) and Ferrari are more experienced with KERS - as Renault.

It'll also be interesting to see how the new teams find connection and might go for the points. I have high hopes for Lotus next year, might catch a few points.

Please motivate your prediction/opinion! tnx

I think McLaren and Ferrari will be up there, Renault will look promising, and Williams will look the best they have in years.




Then Red Bull will get pole.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will won't get pole.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.
Then Red Bull will get pole again.

Well I've got a feeling that HRT have something in the works. I mean, they've been very secretive so they're obviously working on something and they obviously have a surprise by not announcing the drivers yet!

I think you are missing a few pole positions there.

Based on the last 18 months it would be hard to make a good case for any other team than Red Bull.
KERS is the only potential weakness, I can see.

It will take a very good effort and perhaps a new 'killer' innovation from McLaren or Ferrari to overhaul them.

Hamilton or Alonso are both capable of winning the WDC and McLaren winning the WCC if their cars are slightly closer to the RB7 than they were to the RB6.

and judging by their 2010 performance and development they started to focus early on their 2011-car :x

I think it will initially be between McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes. The reds have usually missed the boat on new aerodynamic tricks. They did not pioneer, double diffusors, F-ducts, exhaust blown diffusors, flexible wings and flors but used superior wealth and resorces to catch up later. With the RRA in place for a head count of 350 in 2011 it will be hard for them to repeat the pattern. I expect the other three to have some engineering excellence and partially the better KERS on their side. If I had to place a bet I would see Mac initially in front but with a tiny margin.

i don't think they focused on the 2010 car at all though

Don't you guys think Ferrari/Mclaren have more resources than Red Bull and might make a better car? Newey had two amazing cars last two seasons but he wasn't always that great, e.g. his end of his Mclaren era.

I think he has a lot more freedom at Red Bull to do what he wants than he did at Mclaren. He has a lot of power and influence in the team.

Ferrari could be very good if the Pirelli tyres suit them as much as the tests suggest. While it is obviously only testing, when the Bridgestone spec tyres were first tested after the 2006 season, it could be seen that McLaren was going to improve, with Renault getting worse, and that is exactly what happened. The 2011 cars are not unlikely to have similar basic characteristics to the current ones in the way they use the tyres, and it is too late now to make major changes.

Newey could indeed have more power and be the highest paid employee at RBR. I bet very little goes on in that company without his blessing. Horner seems to be the mouthpiece and the spin doctor who steps in when things go wrong. He also runs the company issues which do not interest Newey. Important team principal issues like driver selection are done in Austria.

Ferrari will be the best car on the grid.

Then people will say it is because Pirelli are italian and have italian interests.

I have it from reliable sources that Sauber will be best. No one is more surprised than I am.

Red Bull's resources are vastly underrated. They are not much smaller than McLaren, especially considering all the restrictions the FIA have imposed over the last few seasons.

Anyway, I think that Ferrari will get it together and have the best car for next year. Especially considering how well the Pirelli's fit them already. They can't think of anything original to save their lives but they are still good at making a solid car without any weaknesses.

There is a reason why Newey left McLaren. McLaren trust computers and procedures. Newey was just one person and if the CFD computers disagreed with him, they went with the computers. Red Bull trusted him and I believe they will continue to do so for quite a while.

It was a bit of a tank in that respect. However I just cant see passed Red Bull.

Either of Red Bull or Ferrari in my opinion. I can see Mercedes being quite quick too, along with a steep rise in the pace of Williams, but a drop in Renault's pace.

Yeah and what Ferrari did with all its resuorces in this year, remember they abandoned development of F60

If i had to pick just one, i'd go for Red Bull.

Ferrari.

Was Michelin not more pro-Ferrari, and later Bridgestone?

I don't have high expectations for McLaren, for me it's a toss up between Red Bull (obvious first choice) Ferrari and Mercedes. Mercedes is abit of a wildcard, I'm not sure the team can come through both car and driver-wise.

I know what can change this post to good from BS that it is.

Any source

Martin Whitmarsh

McLaren will be up there with a strong car. Why?

1. The MP4-25 started to show promise at Abu Dhabi suggesting they may have finally made ground on both Redbull and Ferrari with some understanding of the existing package.

2. Martin Whitmarsh said they have some new innovative ideas for 2011. Hope they are under the bodywork so nobody gets to know what they are!

OR has Ferrari paid to find out McLaren's innovative secrets by stealing their employees?

Michelin favoured Renault and Bridgestone did indeed develop for Ferrari, that is why all the other teams left Bridgestone.

Remains to be seen on Pirelli

Well theres being mention of a new braking system and different fuel?

You really think McLaren developed and "understood" the car in the week between Brazil and Abu Dhabi? How about something simpler like ... Abu Dhabi just suited the McLaren more.

On Topic ... whoever gets the new DD type innovation on their car, failing that, whoever has better grasp of where Pirelli are going with the tyres.

Didn't said they had.......more in hope that they have made some progress in catching up BUT I agree there is always the possibility that their result could have been circuit related.

That said, very few were suggesting that McLaren would be be a better performer at Abu Dhabi and on paper it wasn't supposed to be a McLaren circuit (although it is a circuit with few bumps suiting their rigid suspension set up).

One thing stands out in the regs for this year, for me, and that's "NO DDD" Last time out, Newey made the best non-DDD car out there by a mile and a half. Teams are going to have to try to get back the downforce they're losing because of that one little detail, and, we know nobody is better at that than Newey.

I can't see anybody overtaking the Bulls, even if they do get closer with the tires fitting them, and we still don't know if they fit RBR even better......

Wonder who said it wasn't a McLaren circuit? it was smooth and had massive straights?

Neweys just one man, I find it unbelievable that no one else is able to innovate aswell. Surly the teams would be scouting for new aero talent all the time and as much as brilliant as Newey is, he still has his mistakes.

Indeed, appart from speculating that the world might end in Dec. 21 2012, what we know so far is that he excels at precisely this.

There was an interview a while back, a podcast I think, where Horner was talking about how Newey encourages his staff to come up with ideas, also he has his aero guy Peter Prodromou, whom he mentioned in Abu. I get the impression they've built a bit of a dream team/culture a bit like Renault in the Dino Toso/Mark Smith days.

They'll take some stopping I think.

RedBull.

Adrian Newey developed the MP4-13 to an incredibly compact and tight design to the degree where they had a large amount of ballast to play with. Consequently they started developing hydraulic KERS as they had so much weight distribution to enjoy. Charlie Whiting approved the design, but after one team in particular (their cars are red) protested KERS it was swiftly declared to be outside FIA regulations. That's not the case for the 2011 season, so i believe Redbull / Newey will hold the advantage with McLaren coming a very close second.

Definately the red bull, but they will be marred by the relatively weaker Kers and engine package of renault. Thats of course unless red bull decides to do KERS in house, which is a good idea given how they pretty much finished the RB7 halfway through this season.

The reason why we mention only Newey is because he is the chief engineer/aerodynamicist. He is the one who determines the direction that development goes in, even if ideas aren't his own, so for that he deserves the credit for steering the team in the right direction. I don't doubt that he is very much a hands-on engineer/aerodynamicist who actually works with the team instead of sitting in an armchair and directing people around though.

Mclaren will be typical Mclaren; close but no cigar.

Newey has been a force since 1990 so its very hard to discount Red Bull.

Ferrari has mega resources to catch up very quickly.

Mercedes have restructured lately and employed new blood which could yield good results. They also have a great engine and the best KERS.


Renault have a great engine and great driver as well as the know how to get the job done.

Williams have a brilliant development driver in Barrichello which is promising for them long term.

Agreed, all but on one point. McLaren have more resources than Ferrari but don't always catch up. They tend to try and innovate which is sometimes costly.

Wrong. Ferrari are STILL BY FAR the richest team with the biggest resources and the best facilities in F1.

Look at this list:



http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_new...es_art_id=40573

That should also show us how well Red Bull used their resources this year. Hats off to them!

Fair play to Redbull, as you say and i echo, well done to the, but i'm not convinced in the slightest that McLaren's budget is less than half of last years total.

Then again, Balfe is a complete and utter total Ferrari apologist, who will take every opportunity to big up his favourite team.

I m sorry but that 2010 budget table is pure unadulterated fiction.

No way does Mercedes have a higher budget than McLaren, no way Torro Rosso has ~65% of RedBull's budget

Christian Sylt does the footwork reasonably accurately usually but then he makes all the wrong conclusion typically. So I would not question the fact that the teams had such budgets. Toro Rosso was a constructor in his own right this year and that needs a healthy budget. Red Bull is probably shown without Red Bull technologies which distorts the picture and Mercedes does not include MBHPE Ltd. which should be another 100m gone away. Nevertheless I stand to my earlier estimate that it will not be Ferrari that makes the best car for 2011. Their budget should go down considerably unless they decide to spend really big for the 2013 engine.

Red Bull

Because Newey will find a way to alter the weight balance of the car in motion to the optimum which will be outside the fixed spec.

Renault .

Seriously, what's the point of making such predictions at this stage, other than killing some time?

Many thought 2010 would see RedBull drop behind both Ferrari and Mclaren...

Its impossible to predict, but its more than likley going to be between RedBull, Ferrari and Mclaren. Mercedes will be up there, but will they have the best car?

I think next year will be a bit of a gamble because any of the top teams could hit the sweet spot with KERS and the Pirelli tyres. But each of them could just as much produce a dog of a car for the same reasons.

I think the more important question is, who will have the best 'trick' for next year.

This year we had the F duct, the blown diffuser and Red Bull 'magic' wings. I'm wondering what combination of innovation and rule bending will appear next?

Ferrari, McLaren and RedBull.

McLaren and Ferrari might have a better start bcs they are very experienced on KERS.

With such a constrained testing season, it will be hard for RedBull to catch them, but its a looong 20 race season

McLaren should hire a Harry Houdini to 'unlock" the potential of the car early in the season.
Ferrari should hire Zun Tsu to make a better racing strategy.


About budgets,
Schumacher said Mercedes is a pauper operation.
HRT and FIndia had problems to pay their bills.
Renault also was short on money, complaining about F1 costs 'higher than expected' and the Petrov factor.
RedBull budget increased dramatically with the WDC/WCC, since Didi Mate promised to pay bonuses to all RB employees.

One can never count Newey out but Red Bull definitely have put alot of resources into the research and development of the current car until the last second of the 2010 campaign.

While Mclaren and Ferrari have experience with KERS and Mercedes is focussing on the 2011 season since what must have been half a year already.

There are some significant rule changes for next year, the last time a team got a big momentum from a new set of rules was Mercedes/Brawn GP/Honda. Back then they had been investing into the 2009 season already early in 2008. Now there are quite some important rule changes to the car again, and its again this team that seems to have switched focus on next year earlier then any other top and midfield team.