74 replies to this topic

[FSLIV]

IMHO pecking order after testing.

1. Macca: I give Macca a slight edge over RB because Macca has spent all test season refining there package, particularly their exhaust package. Where as RB (not to be discounted) has shelved their earlier package for a completely new one and now has little test millage on it.

2. Red Bull: I would have still placed RB first had their new exhaust been so revolutionary as it was hyped up to be. But once it was revealed (though it was highly integrated) it appeared to be no more than RB's interpretation on what other teams had been doing since the beginning of the test season. This implied to me that despite all the talk from RB, they did not see this interpretation and thus we see a crack in the armor of what is RB.

3. Lotus: Despite missing a week of testing, Lotus continued to show form. I honestly think that as a result of last season's failed forward facing exhaust, Lotus had to find down-force elsewhere in their package. This gave them an advantage going into the 2012 season.

4. Force Indie, Ferrari, Mercedes: I think FI and Mercedes have shown very good form and Ferrari should not be discounted. Once Ferrari figure their car out their development pace will surprise unless their is a overall flaw in the design.

5. Torro Rosa, Sauber, Williams: I got the impression that these Three teams were behind everyone else but, between them were on equal ground. I could be wrong as I really didn't follow them.

Edited by FSLIV, 05 March 2012 - 17:28.

[Sakae]

1. WDC / WCC no change from 2011.

2. Mercedes shall advance their standing. In Nov P-standing in the range between 2.1 - 3.5

3. FOTA's role will be (probably) massively redefined.

4. Bernie shall retire.

5. Ferrari will suffer from marred image - LDM will react as every hot blooded Italian would do, and after a glass of well chilled Chianti, Domi will go down.

6. Tire craze will end.

7. Rumors that F1 is on the block will intensify.

8. Kubica will not return to active racing.

9. Michael shall extend his contract.

10. FIA will annoy me.

11. Massa out / x-man in

12. New entrants’ applications are to be expected.

13. One or two tail-end teams will leave.

14. Hulk will make impact, Rosberg to disappoint

Edited by Sakae, 06 March 2012 - 17:01.

[Red17]

Bernie will do something stupid. FIA will do something stupid.

Happens every year, tho In Bernie's case it's always part of a bigger plan/scheme.

My prediction:

Vettel dominates first half of the season. Mark is once again besieged by mysterious malfunctions.
Maca with Button puts up a fight in the ocasional GP or two but cannot match the pace.
Ferrari strugles to find speed. Massa fired at the end.
Mercedes starts the season with a couple podiums but are overtaken by Ferrari.
Lotus gets some light thanks to the talent of Kimi. A podium but also lots of frustration, midseason we learn that Kimi replaces Massa.
Force India and Sauber do some good showings, Koba makes a wonder race and nearly gets a podium, Di Resta dominates The Hulk.
Toro Rosso disapoints with both drivers but one is retained for the next year, my bet Verge is sacked.
Williams and Caterham get the end of the midfield pack. Williams leaves Caterham behind because of their bigger experience and equipement eventually battling Toro Rosso. Pastor dominates Bruno. Heiki leaves no room for Petrov.
HRT and Marussia again on emergency life support

Edited by Red17, 05 March 2012 - 21:41.

[ImAnEngineer]

WCC:
Mclaren
RBR
Mercedes
Lotus
Sauber
Ferrari
Force India
Torro Rosso
Caterham
Williams
HRT
Marussia

First race:
1) HAM
2) VET
3) ROS
4) BUT
5) RAI
6) MSC
7) MAS
8) KOB
9) GRO
10) PER

WEB and ALO - DNF

Edited by ImAnEngineer, 05 March 2012 - 21:43.

[787b]

hamilton or vettel for the title
kimi will be like kubica in 2008, there or there abouts, get himself a win
it will be massas last year at ferrari
catherham to score a couple of points
schmacher will get a podium
monaco will be a wet race
massa and hamilton wont have a collision this year
maldonardo gets a race suspension for something stupid

[jj2728]

I gave up on predictions ages ago, but what I'd like to see is:
Rosberg and Schumacher winning a race or 2
Kimi and Lotus doing the same
A Force India surprising everyone and winning
Webber out-performing Vettel
A Williams on the podium
Button and Hamilton coming to loggerheads, I mean, how much longer can those two remain teammates?
One of the bottom 3 or 4 teams surprising everyone during qualifying due to a fluke of nature, ie., rain, and getting a pole position
A championship coming down to the final race with 3 or 4 different drivers able to clinch it
Ferrari going on a tear towards the end of the season so that one of their drivers is in the championship hunt
And that the Ferrari driver be Massa

Like I said, it's what I'd like to see, whether any or none of the above will happen, who knows?
But that's why they have the races......

[PrettyBoy22]

Vettel will be champion again

Lewis will redeem himself and push Vettel all the way in an inferior car

Lewis will be wrongfully punished by the FIA at least three times

Mark Webber will retire

Mercedes will finish 3rd ahead of Ferrari

Michael Schumacher will win a race

Michael Schumacher will sign on for 2013

Alonso will do alot of moaning and try to secure a move to Red Bull

Lotus will start well and fade

[Owen]

From what I can understand the order after testing seems to be :
RBR
McL
Merc
Lotus
Ferrari
ForceIndia
Sauber
Williams
STR.

@f1enigma - twitter

not sure what happened to Marussia or Caterham

[FenderJaguar]

Too bad there are so many prediction threads...this is a good one. No offence intended but can't we try to keep it in 1 thread? Like this for example?
Been looking forward to Sunday and I already know all that is gonna happen but don't know where to write it down...

[Owen]

Too bad there are so many prediction threads...this is a good one. No offence intended but can't we try to keep it in 1 thread? Like this for example?
Been looking forward to Sunday and I already know all that is gonna happen but don't know where to write it down...

Yeh, we had one good prediction thread last year with a list of simple questions (best rookie, biggest surprise, controversy etc). Tried to resurrect that again for this season but it got merged into one of the 10 other ones, none of which seemed very simple or specific.
oh well, winter is over now.

[icecream_man]

Too bad there are so many prediction threads...this is a good one. No offence intended but can't we try to keep it in 1 thread? Like this for example?
Been looking forward to Sunday and I already know all that is gonna happen but don't know where to write it down...

On a postcard and send it to me, so I can make lots of money at the bookies

[FenderJaguar]

I expect this season to be a season where drivers can make a difference once in a while. It will be close between Red Bull and McLaren with the best car but since Vettel is a better driver than both McLaren drivers combined he will take the title once again.

I predict:

Vettel's biggest threat?
will be Mark Webber


Hamilton vs Button?
Hamilton will beat Button but he will still make too many mistakes


Classic, normal or boring season?
A classic season


Schumacher vs Rosberg?
Mercedes have found something. Schumacher will have a decent race or two with a podium and might then sigh and retire by the end of the season. Because Rosberg will still be beating him. Rosberg might win a grand prix.


Alonso vs Massa?
Alonso will make some really good drives in that Ferrari. Massa will leave Ferrari.
Everyone will want to leave Ferrari.


Kimi vs Romain?
Kimi Raikkonen will be very good. He might have trouble in the beginning of the season and Romain will be quite good too. But if the Lotus is near the top teams it is Kimi that will do it.


Force India?
Nico Hulkenberg will beat Di Resta even if he should not. That is because Hulkenberg is a good F1 driver and Di Resta is a good DTM-driver.


Toro Rosso?
Toro Rosso will have the interesting teammate battle but the most surprising thing will be that both drivers get some good results and show things that Buemi and Jaime never did so Jaime will never drive in F1 again.


WDC - Vettel
WCC - Red Bull

Best teams on Sunday in Australia, best teams by the end of the season will be different.

Red Bull
--
McLaren
Mercedes
Lotus
--
Ferrari
Force India
--
Sauber
Toro Rosso
Williams
--
Caterham

Edited by FenderJaguar, 14 March 2012 - 11:43.

[Gaetan]

All the ''experts'' who followed the pre season testing ''knew'' where each team would stand for the beginning of this new season.

Fans, journalists, they seem to all know which team did understeer, oversteer, fuel load, speed etc.

Basically the standing order should be like this (according to experts)

Red Bull/Mclaren
Mercedes
Lotus
Ferrari
Force India
Etc...

In 3 days, we will all know.

[Jimisgod]

Australia: Hamilton
Malaysia: Vettel
China: Rosberg
Bahrain: Vettel
Spain: Hamilton
Monaco: Button
Canada: Rosberg
Europe: Hamilton
Britain: Webber
Germany: Vettel
Hungary: Hamilton
Belgium: Raikkonen

Hey, cool. I have 4/12 thus far.

[garoidb]

Hey, cool. I have 4/12 thus far.

Ferrari (or Alonso anyway) seem to be doing a bit better than expected

Thanks for resurrecting this thread - it is an interesting snapshot in time.

[D.M.N.]

Well it's not November or December, but I guess I may as well see how things are going...

1. Red Bull
2. McLaren
3. Ferrari
4. Lotus
5. Mercedes
6. Force India
7. Sauber
8. Toro Rosso
9. Williams
10. Caterham
11. HRT
12. Marussia

Not fantastically accurate in the mid-field, with three swaps needed.

- Red Bull and McLaren will be the main championship contenders, scrapping back and forth, with Red Bull getting it at the wire and Vettel winning the championship.

True in one sense, but I discounted Alonso.

- Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes scrap over 3rd, Ferrari clawing back after a poor start to the season to grab a win or two towards the end of the season. Raikkonen and Schumacher also win races, but it doesn't stop Ferrari getting third because of Alonso. Massa gets the boot.

True, but Ferrari's wins came earlier than anticipated. Schumacher and Raikkonen winning races is wrong - so far.

- Force India are alone, sometimes mixing it in with Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes, but not often enough to do much while also trying to fight off Sauber and Toro Rosso in some races.

The latter part is more true here than the former.

- Caterham score their first points and are fighting Williams, who unceremoniously dump one of their drivers' mid season after embarrassing performances.

I guess we can call Maldonaldo's performances embarrassing, but Williams as a team haven't dropped even further compared to last year, after all they won in Spain.

[FenderJaguar]

Hey, cool. I have 4/12 thus far.

Great I am very impressed with picking the right place for Rosberg's win.
I like these threads.

[SCUDmissile]

Always interesting to see what the predictions were. i think Everyone expected ferrari to bounce back, but never in the way they did. maybe some egg on a lot of faces!

Jimi, good job, a 1 in 3 correct prediction rate!

[bub]

:
China: Rosberg


The bold are my main predictions.

China: Rosberg

Whoa!

[Jimisgod]

Australia: Hamilton
Malaysia: Vettel
China: Rosberg
Bahrain: Vettel
Spain: Hamilton
Monaco: Button
Canada: Rosberg
Europe: Hamilton
Britain: Webber
Germany: Vettel
Hungary: Hamilton
Belgium: Raikkonen
Italy: Alonso
Singapore: Alonso
Japan: Button
Korea: Hamilton
India: Vettel
Abu Dhabi: Button
United States: "Growjohn"
Brazil: Webber


1st - Hamilton 4th
2nd - Vettel 1st
3rd - Button 5th
4th - Webber 6th
5th - Alonso 2nd
6th - Rosberg 9th
7th - Raikkonen 3rd
8th - Massa 7th
9th - Di Resta 14th
10th - "Growjohn" 8th

Well, I clearly lack the ability to predict results or the WDC.

[Anderis]

Surprised that quite a lot of people predicted Rosberg's win in China.

But I can't believe so many people really thought that 2012 was going to be even worse than 2011 for Williams.

[D.M.N.]

1. Red Bull 1st
2. McLaren 2nd
3. Ferrari 3rd
4. Lotus 4th
5. Mercedes 5th
6. Force India 7th
7. Sauber 6th
8. Toro Rosso 9th
9. Williams 8th
10. Caterham 10th
11. HRT 12th
12. Marussia 11th

- Red Bull and McLaren will be the main championship contenders, scrapping back and forth (false), with Red Bull getting it at the wire and Vettel winning the championship. (true)
- Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes scrap over 3rd, Ferrari clawing back after a poor start to the season to grab a win or two towards the end of the season. (false) Raikkonen and Schumacher also win races, (50%) but it doesn't stop Ferrari getting third because of Alonso. (true) Massa gets the boot. (false)
- Force India are alone, sometimes mixing it in with Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes, but not often enough to do much while also trying to fight off Sauber and Toro Rosso in some races. (false)
- Caterham score their first points and are fighting Williams, who unceremoniously dump one of their drivers' mid season after embarrassing performances. (false)
- HRT beat Marussia at the back. (false)

Not much difference compared to this season, except it's a bit closer, I don't expect any huge leap forward or back to be honest. I'd like to be proven wrong on the above, though. Let's have some surprises!

Must do better.... although I did predict the correct champion and the top five in the Constructors' Championship right!

[sopa]

Must do better.... although I did predict the correct champion and the top five in the Constructors' Championship right!

But Ferrari beat McLaren in constructors. I know, sounds unbelievable.

[fum3s]

Must do better.... although I did predict the correct champion and the top five in the Constructors' Championship right!

Well done. I love reading these prediction threads.

[WonderboyF1]

No one could have ever predicted how this season would pan out, 7 winners from 7 races for a start, i meen who would ever have said that, espc considering only 3 teams shared the wins the past couple of years. I will never forget 2012, what a season!