27 replies to this topic

[MotorsportFerrari]

Mercedes's costumer team won't have any chance because Merc won't give them the best material - Williams only got the best electronics package in Austria this year.

 

Red Bull and Ferrari will have a hard time to find such a leap, in fact I can't see them finding about 40 horsepower over Merc.

 

McLaren-Honda is a question mark, but Honda might lack of experience while the three other engine manufacturer have a year of experience in their pocket.

[rmac923]

I think Mercedes is beatable.

 

Red Bull will find some new innovation for their chassis, and if Renault can find a little more power, I expect Ricciardo and possibly Kvyat to win next year.

 

McLaren is a wild card, if they build a good chassis, if the Honda PU can at least match Renault, and if Alsonso is in his usual form, he should be strong next year. (A lot of if's, but they're plausible ones).

 

Ferrari have way too many problems to solve, and I think next year, we're going to see how far they've really fallen.

[George Costanza]

The only chance IMO is McLaren-Honda.... But even still, Mercedes will have to beat themselves.

[Clatter]

Can they be beaten. Of course they can, but at this point they are the red hot favourites.

[vsubravet]

Extremely difficult for any team to beat the Champions anytime soon. Sure the others will win a few races but the WDC/WCC are out of reach

[BadVoice]

The safest bet to place now is for Merc to win WCC even if Honda bring a monster - I cant see Alonso and Mag getting more points than Nico / Lewis.

[SirT]

Only McLaren Honda with Alonso I reckon.

 

Would love to see a massive Lewis v Fernando battle. Both with 2 WDC's and 33 and 32 wins respectively.

[Imateria]

Yes on both counts. Of course it's possible for the others to take on Merc, quite a bit of the engine can be changed for next year and Renault and Ferrari haven't been sitting on their hands this year. Of course, even if the other teams don't step up to the plate as long as Lewis and Nico go at it hammer and tongs next year again I'll love it.

[topical]

It's a long shot, but who would've thought Vettel would fail to get a single victory or pole position in 2014 after the way he dominated 2013? Things can change unexpectedly. but if I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Hamilton cruising to the WDC next year...

[BadVoice]

Only McLaren Honda with Alonso I reckon.

 

Would love to see a massive Lewis v Fernando battle. Both with 2 WDC's and 33 and 32 wins respectiv

 

 

You better add Nico to the mix as he will take points off both of them

[HeadFirst]

Of course they can, but I wouldn't bet on it. I expect Red Bull and McLaren to be closer and Williams may challenge if Bottas continues to improve, but so much depends on chassis design and who nails the aero without going outside the rules.

[scheivlak]

Mercedes were already beaten 3 times this year.

[Ricciardo2014]

Mercedes were already beaten 3 times this year.

Exactly.

Give Daniel a half decent engine and he will shake thing up ;)

[ArkZ]

Don't think Redbull will be a serious title contender next year, F1 goes in cycles, Redbull just ended his domination, they will be strong next year no doubt, few wins next year, another few year after that just like Ferrari in recent years but not a serious title contender, many people left them they will have to regroup and back in 4-5 years, Ferrari and McLaren will rise now, probably not in 2015 but in 2016 they will put serious challenge to Merc.

Edited by ArkZ, 23 November 2014 - 16:23.

[MissingTheApex]

Mercedes were already beaten 3 times this year.

 

I'd rather think they beat themselves 3 times this year to be honest.  With perfect reliability and no Rosberg brain farts, they could easily have won all 19 races.  In March I put £100 on them at good odds to win at least 15 and never once felt the money wasn't already mine.  Today, after 24 laps, they were almost half a lap up on the field.  The car is ludicrously fast.  I cannot, genuinely, see anyone getting near them until 2016 when the engines regs will be shaken up.

[Pistol_Peto]

It's going to be very difficult to beat Mercedes.  They have the engine advantage and they have the works advantage.

 

As important they also have:

• Team continuity (assuming they will sign Lewis to a long term contract as Niki says) in drivers and in management
• The strongest driver line-up in F1 - pushing each other every week.
• A very strong technical group.
• The combination of these three will help develop the car each year.
• The backing of a deep pocketed team majority owner.

I think it will 2016 when they find their first week to week competitor and a couple years after that till they lose their next constructors.

 

I wish it wasn't so actually - I'd love to have four or five teams in contention each week.

[Jamiednm]

Only McLaren Honda with Alonso I reckon.

 

Would love to see a massive Lewis v Fernando battle. Both with 2 WDC's and 33 and 32 wins respectively.

 

That's what I want to see in 2015. The two best drivers rekindling their war of 2007.

[turssi]

Honda and RBR might take the fight tô them if they break some rules but don't get caught.

[ForzaGTR]

It depends how much room is left for improvement within the current design parameters, are Merc near the development ceiling? I would guess that Williams will improve on what is already a solid car. Red Bull will be stronger for sure. Ferrari and Mclaren are just impossible to predict especially with the addition of Honda. The problem is future development of the Ferrari and Renualt engines are hindered by the engine freeze. Honda have a chance of course to capitalize on this.

 

I expect Merc will be the fastest again next year but others will hopefully reduce the gap, I'd like to see a situation where if a Merc driver is out of position for whatever reason, they are not able to just cruise back through the field to the podium.

[gotthard]

It depends how much room is left for improvement within the current design parameters, are Merc near the development ceiling? I would guess that Williams will improve on what is already a solid car. Red Bull will be stronger for sure. Ferrari and Mclaren are just impossible to predict especially with the addition of Honda. The problem is future development of the Ferrari and Renualt engines are hindered by the engine freeze. Honda have a chance of course to capitalize on this.

 

I expect Merc will be the fastest again next year but others will hopefully reduce the gap, I'd like to see a situation where if a Merc driver is out of position for whatever reason, they are not able to just cruise back through the field to the podium.

Engine freeze that Merc are responsible for, they are the one that`s denying the rules ghange...

[BadVoice]

Exactly.

Give Daniel a half decent engine and he will shake thing up ;)

 

 

With his awful starts he will only be another Webber  

[HammyHamiltonFan]

no & yes, Hamilton fan so hoping Merc dominate again next year!

[Fatgadget]

The only way to beat Merc is to come up with a better overall package than they have.

Good luck!

[ApexOversteer]

"Can Mercedes be beaten? "

 

Yes.

 

"Will it happen?"

 

Probably not.

[loki0420]

Only if McLaren Honda come up with something special. I do believe that Merc were holding them down due to this transition otherwise they had the chance to be more like Williams. Also i think they on focused on next year's car way more than the others, so if Honda didn't screw with engine it's the only option who could give at least a proper fight to Mercedes. RB would anyway be weaker without Seb and there's no light for Ferrari at this rate of changes at the top, not for next year for sure. Assuming Merc clients are no threat for title anyway.

[GrumpyYoungMan]

Engine freeze that Merc are responsible for, they are the one that`s denying the rules ghange...

That isn't strictly true... all teams agreed to the engine freeze. So its only Mercedes who want to stick to the agreement.

[GoldenColt]

Somehow I expect Mercedes do drop a bit of performance.

 

I'm going to watch the whole season no matter what tho.

[SophieB]

Please stop starting new threads with such minor variations on a theme.

 

http://forums.autosp...e-last-forever/