59 replies to this topic

[tghik]

Beating your teammate is what counts the most for any driver. And I think what also counts for the fans, using the same equipment who beats who, the most reliable measure of the driver value we have in racing. On that front 2019 looks like the most exciting season in a long time, maybe in history. Spectacular battles all around, Vettel vs Leclerc, Sainz vs Norris or Hul vs Ricciardo, and more.
 
I want to divide this interesting topic into 2 parts, end of the 2018 season, before the teammates are pitched against in other in testing, and just before 2019 season starts. It will give us an insight about fans expectations. After having first sight of them pitched against each other in the pre-season tests. I expect the results of the poll change after we see them "compete" in the tests.
 
Most drivers meet their opponent for the first time, but there are old wars also included in the poll, like Hamilton vs Bottas.

Edited by jcbc3, 11 December 2018 - 14:23.

[sopa]

Next year's line-ups will certainly be interesting, at least initially with all the uncertainty going on. Because we have 8 (!) new match-ups. I don't know if that's a record (doubt it), but certainly we haven't seen such a thorough turnaround for a while. 

 

My first thoughts going team-by team:

 

Mercedes - Hamilton comfortably beats Bottas.

Ferrari - too close to call at the moment. Could be as much a psychological battle as an on-track battle.

Red Bull - Verstappen very comfortably.

Renault - Ricciardo is more consistent in races (qualifying closely matched).

Force Stroll - Perez very comfortably.

Haas - gonna be closely matched with both drivers taking their turns in being "on" and "off" form.

McLaren - very hard to call. Likely close.

Sauber - Raikkonen will probably edge it with his experience and consistency. Gio will have his moments though.

Toro Rosso - qualifying is hard to call, but Albon more consistent in races.

Williams - Russell betters Kubica (unsure about the margin).

[Auzz]

It was easier then I thought. Hope at some teams I’m wrong though.

[Heyli]

It was easier then I thought. Hope at some teams I’m wrong though.

I didnt have to think twice with any team tbh, but I´m sure I´m not 100% either...

 

Just pretty clear on my gut feeling for all of them.

 

Vettel (I wouldnt be surprised if leClerc get´s him though)

Verstappen

Perez

Kubica (probably more wishful thinking...)

Rici

Kvyat

Grosjean

Sainz

Kimi

Lewis

 

I guess Bottas is signed up on this forum as well...?

[Silberpfeil]

Mercedes
Not a contest. Here, the bigger question is whether Bottas can do enough to once again be matched against Hamilton in 2020. He needs to be closer to HAM overall, and be in contention for victory more often than he was this year. Considering his rather woeful run of form as of late, I‘m cautiously pessimistic.

Ferrari
It will be closer than Vettel would like, but he will hold on overall. Barely. One interesting question will be whether Leclerc will take enough of Vettel‘s attention away that Ferrari‘s bid for a WDC might become compromised.

Red Bull
If Gasly can beat his team‘s favourite child, he will have my everlasting respect. I somewhat doubt it, though. I’m expecting a 2017 HAM/BOT dynamic.

Renault
The most interesting duel on the grid for me. Palmer was hardly a contest at all, and either the Hulk is on par with Verstappen, or Sainz is not the legitimate heir to Alonso many thought he might be after some inspired performances at Toro Rosso. I expect swings of form for both, but Ricciardo will hang on on points despite losing the qualifying duel. Extra prediction: Hülkenberg will finally break his podium duck and do enough to warrant an extension.

Haas
Again, in true Haas fashion, there will be wild swings of form for both drivers. It‘s a toss-up for me. I‘m going with Danish Dynamite.

McLaren
A close affair, with Sainz ahead on points mainly through some strong performances at the beginning of the year. As McLaren slips down the order over the course of the season, Norris gains the upper hand in the intra-team duel, but the points gap proves too difficult to overcome.

Force Northamptonshire (or whatever they‘ll be called – anything but Racing Point, hopefully)
Stroll will have a couple of good weekends on the tracks he likes, but overall, he will be outshone by Perez. Stroll‘s comparative weakness will cost them at least one place in the WCC, but he will, of course, be retained on grounds of Stroll‘s third full season in F1 being a learning year.

Sauber
Kimi will have the upper hand, but without a certain Monegasque miracle worker at the wheel, Sauber‘s development curve flattens out despite notable names like Resta working on the car.

Toro Rosso
A much improved Kvyat scores the odd points result, but the team fails to make a big impact overall. Alex Albon is replaced by Brendon Hartley midway through the season, after which Dan Ticktum goes on a rampage through the Super Formula field. (That was a joke.) I don‘t expect any one of the serious contenders to make much of an impact. Even should Ticktum get the drive via some winter series black magic, F1 simply comes a year too early for him. My actual prediction for Toro Rosso’s second driver is a mediocre season from Alex Albon, who will soon wish for his nice and safe multi-year contract at Nissan back.

Williams
George Russell starts to beat Kubica by some margin after a stronger start from the Polish comebacker. (Tbh, I‘d love to see Kubica boss it and get some decent results, but I somewhat doubt it, both through Williams‘ continued ineptitude and money struggles and George Russell acclimatising after a tough first part of the season.) I can see a Leclerc/Ericsson situation developing as the year wears on, maybe a bit closer than those two, particularly in qualifying.

[P0inters]

Mercedes - Hamilton comfortably

Ferrari - Leclerc. I rate him very highly and I think he'll surprise some people on just how good he is.

Red Bull - Verstappen comfortably. Don't rate Gasly that highly

Renault - Ricciardo, although I think Hulk is quick and expect it to be pretty close

Haas - Magnussen. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it was Grosjean either

Mclaren - Sainz. Think it will take a while for Norris to settle in, but I expect him to get better as the season goes on.

Force India - Perez easily

Sauber - Raikonnen should have the measure of Giovinazzi as long as he keeps his motivation.

Toro Rosso - Considering Kvyat is the only driver announced I had to go for him

Williams - Russell, although I hope it's Kubica.

[Damsel]

Mercedes: Hamilton obviously. I don’t think Bottas has to try to beat Hamilton to keep his seat though, but he needs to be nr 2 when Lewis is nr 1 and not be beaten by the Ferrari’s and Red Bulls.

Ferrari: I think Vettel wil take it. Leclerc is rated hightly and seems talented, but Vettel is quick and experienced and will not want to loose out to a young gun once again, so he’ll go guns blazing. I do wonder if Ferrari have cost themselves the WDC in advance though, creating a possible fierce battle within.

Red Bull: Seeing the way Verstappen has had the upperhand over Ricciardo I would be very, very surprised if Gasly isn’t comfortably trashed next year. I haven’t been so impressed with him yet and Max seems on another level right now.

Renault: I expect Ricciardo to come out on top, but Hulk won’t be a pushover, I’m sure. This could be a fun one.

Haas: I voted Grosjean, because he seems quicker when he doesn’t crash, but this is a tough one.

Force India: I see Stroll got a vote! That’s funny. It will be Perez.

McLaren: Sainz on experience.

Sauber: Kimi on experience.

Toro Rosso: Kvyat was pretty quick once and I would not be surprised if this 3rd chance is what he needs to be that again.

Williams: Russell. The Kubica story is a great one and I love that he get’s another chance, but if he manages to outperform a young, ablebodied, talented driver, with his disability, I’d be very surprised.

[MaGiK]

Mercedes - Hamilton (no contest)

Ferrari - im gonna go with Leclerc. Charles is gonna be as quick as Seb and alltough Vet has more experience, hes gonna crack under pressure.

Red Bull - Verstappen will crush Gasly

Renault - Ricciardo FTW.

HAAS - hard to say...Kevin is more consistent but Roman is the faster one. If RoGro wont be making as many mistakes he should be ahead.

Racing Point - Perez. But it wont be as dominant as some people think.

Toro Rosso - Kvyat

Sauber - Kimi easily

McLaren - Norris will have an egde from begining. He allready seems to have an upper hand over VAN (i believe in different car would be solid midfielder). And with time hes gonna be one of the top drivers.

Williams - I believe Russell along with Leclerc and Norris is gonna be major force in F1. So if i think Leclerc is going to beat Vettel its hard to expect from Robert beat George. If RK is gonna be anywhere close to GR it should mean he still bloody fast.

[messy]

Mercedes - Hamilton has Bottas beaten. He's absolutely got him in his pocket, making this probably the most comfortable dynamic out of all of them. Bottas will beat him four or five times in qualifying over the season, and at best will be in the Barrichello 'take advantage if something goes wrong for the boss' position. Nothing much else to say. Success for Bottas will be finishing p2 or p3 rather than this season's pretty atrocious P5. Hamilton

Ferrari - I think the arrival of Leclerc will push Vettel a bit harder and maybe give him a kick up the arse. He needs one. He's quick as ever on his day but those awful errors the last two years have killed two possible titles stone dead. Vettel hasn't risen above 8/10 most of the year but there's the potential for him to get back to 9 or 10 and suddenly he's almost Hamilton's equal again. I think Leclerc will give him that kick. As a result the relative Ferrari positions may look rather like this year instead of the Ricciardo 2014 people expect. I don't think that will happen, but if it does Seb is out on his arse and I'm sure he knows that too. Vettel

Red Bull - sorry, I'm not really sold on Gasly yet. He did alright, beat Hartley, got a couple of higlight results but wasn't consistently there in the same way Sainz had been and yet he's the one who gets the drive? Hmm. I mean he's clearly done well in his junior career, but you never know how someone going to stack up and this looks like more of a Kvyat graduation than a Max to me. Verstappen.

Renault - I think Ricciardo will probably be the stronger. There's a reason why Hulkenberg has never quite made the step up, and it's because I don't think he really develops, he hit his ceiling maybe back in 2014 with Force India and has done the same thing every season ever since. He will qualify at the head of midfield regularly, drive cleanly to strong results but he'll have a number of first lap DNFs and when there's a chance of a big result he won't be the one to grab advantage, it'll go to someone else. He's Mr 7.5/10 for me. Ricciardo was shown up by Verstappen this year, but I reckon most drivers eould have been. Revitalised and with a new project to get his teeth into, he'll impress. Ricciardo

Haas - You can never tell. Grosjean is the quicker driver of the two I think, but his form is so up and down, whereas Magnussen tends to start really strongly and fade away a bit. Grosjean like Hulkenberg will probably just continue to do his regular thing but it's less predictable which one will turn up - the one capable of bossing the midfield or the one who looks like he's desperate for a sh*t. no idea

Force India
Perez

McLaren - Sainz is quite underrated based on this season I think, he's just has a bit of a blah season for whatever reason, possibly partly because he's known he was unwanted at Renault since the summer. He matched up to Hulkenberg pretty well actually, in a very similar way to Perez in 2014 - so if he stayed at Renault I could have seen him beating Nico next year. McLaren will get a decent performer there. Norris will be okay, he's a capable racer and knows the team, so you can kinda overlook his disappointing F2 season. But I don't think he'll beat Sainz consistently, if there are points to squeeze out of the car then it'll be Sainz who does it most consistently. Sainz

Toro Rosso - Albon is pretty decent I think, and Kvyat is a bizarre choice to come back, because by the end of 2017 he'd pretty much confirmed that he was a walking disaster. much as Red Bull contributed to that, I can't get over the fact that the muppet that nudged his STR into the wall at Singapore 2017 to finally end his time in F1 is somehow back and driving for that same team. Why? It's stupid. Surely Red Bull aren't that short of choices? Hartley would be worthy of a second year, Ticktum might get enough SL points after all, and instead Kvyat is back in the car? Anyway, dunno which of these will come out ahead. Probably Albon.

Sauber - Kimi was still at a high level in 2018 and if he's still got the fire in him, he'll do a good job next year in that car. But Giovinazzi is no mug and he's experienced enough to jump in and do a decent job right from the start. Think this one might be quite close actually, but I'll say that Kimi will probably just about edge it on experience this year. Raikkonen.

Williams - Russell is brilliant. Properly brilliant. The way he's blazed through the junior series says a lot and I really hope the Williams is more competitive next year because if it is, he'll take his chances to shine. No idea what Kubicas level is going to be, like most people. Think he'll be in the ballpark, but if that actual spark from his BMW days is still there I'll be really impressed. Think it'll be Russell on top.

[sopa]

As a result the relative Ferrari positions may look rather like this year instead of the Ricciardo 2014 people expect. I don't think that will happen, but if it does Seb is out on his arse and I'm sure he knows that too. Vettel
.

 

That 2014 comparison is interesting indeed that now has re-surfaced on the back of what happened then, when a young charger was put against Vettel.

 

I think from psychologial point of view 2019 is different to Vettel than 2014. Back in 2014 Vettel didn't expect quite a lot of things - a) an uncompetitive car leaving him unable to challenge for the title, b) loads of technical problems, c) team-mate quicker than he would have expected. I think the unexpected combination of all made him dispirited during the season and once he realized the Ferrari move was on, which he had dreamt of for years, he was gone.

 

Going into 2019 will be much different. Vettel knows that he can't underestimate Leclerc the new young gun any more, and he also knows he can't just capitulate and live to fight for another day elsewhere. If he wants to continue having a high-profile F1 career, he needs to fight for it and now.

 

Whether such kind of pressure mobilizes him or he wilts under pressure even more, is pretty much an unknown at this moment. Considering Vettel couldn't handle the championship pressure vis-a-vis with Hamilton very well, the initial signs aren't positive though.

[sopa]

Looking at the current poll results I'm a bit surprised that Vettel is pretty clearly preferred over Leclerc. The closest duo according to the poll is Magnussen v Grosjean though. I'm not surprised.    The rest seem fairly one-sided going by the poll though. Kvyat also ahead of his team-mate surprisingly. 

[DutchQuicksilver]

Mercedes: Hamilton with ease. Bottas seemed broken to me this season after so many team orders.
Ferrari: Close call, but Vettel’s experience will give him a slight edge. Cars are the same, so I don’t expect a Ricciardo vs Vettel @ Red Bull scenario.
Red Bull: Verstappen with ease. Gasly’s promotion is too soon, could be a Kvyat scenario for him.
Renault: Close call as well, but I expect Ricciardo to come out on top. They invested a lot of money in him, so will probably get the preferred treatment.
Haas: Close battle, but overall Grosjean is the better driver. If he has a clean season, he should score more points than Magnussen.
Racing Point: Even though Stroll will be the number one I still fully expect Perez to beat him with ease.
McLaren: Norris is being promoted too soon. Sainz to win it by some margin.
Alfa Romeo Sauber: Raikkonen with his experience should beat Giovinazzi by quite some margin.
Toro Rosso: A year at Ferrari could have rejuvenated Kvyat and along with his past experience, he should beat Albon.
Williams: Russell to beat Kubica with ease. I just don’t see it happening for the Pole a full season long with that handicapped arm.

[cravenciak]

 

Mercedes: Hamilton, Bottas is lost unfortunately.
Ferrari: Leclerc will outperform Vettel, generation change coming at Ferrari in 2020.
Red Bull: Verstappen as he's RB's favorite.
Renault: Ricciardo, Hulk with no podium for yet another 21 races.
Haas: Magnussen, because Grosjean will crash too much.
Racing Point: Perez, despite what people think Lawrence Stroll is really smart about his son's development, he knows how important it is to have an experienced driver in the team.
McLaren: Norris, just because Sainz is way to overrated. 
Alfa Romeo Sauber: Raikkonen, just because.
Toro Rosso: I don't think Albon is ready for F1, Kvyat should win that battle.
Williams: With disfunctional arm and eight years out of the sport it's Kubica who will lead the team, both development and speed-wise. Russell is ready to drive a championship winning car, but with so little experience he'll struggle in FW42 which most likely will be really hard to drive and develop. I expect Williams to be 2017 McLaren.

[Quickshifter]

I do not rate Vettel on Alonso/Hamilton level but some serious underestimation of his talent is going on in this thread.

Vettel may not have had a good season in 2018 where he made too many mistakes to put up a consistent world championship battle but he still has that raw pace and tons of experience. I understand Leclerc has done a good job this season but going up against Vettel is not going to be an easy task by any stretch of imagination.

Vettel will be fired up and clearly looking to stamp his authority over Leclerc. From Ericsson to Vettel is a huge leap and similarly a no pressure Sauber to a pressure cooker Ferrari.

[RPM40]

Mercedes: Hamilton with ease. Bottas seemed broken to me this season after so many team orders.
Ferrari: Close call, but Vettel’s experience will give him a slight edge. Cars are the same, so I don’t expect a Ricciardo vs Vettel @ Red Bull scenario.
Red Bull: Verstappen with ease. Gasly’s promotion is too soon, could be a Kvyat scenario for him.
Renault: Close call as well, but I expect Ricciardo to come out on top. They invested a lot of money in him, so will probably get the preferred treatment.
Haas: Close battle, but overall Grosjean is the better driver. If he has a clean season, he should score more points than Magnussen.
Racing Point: Even though Stroll will be the number one I still fully expect Perez to beat him with ease.
McLaren: Norris is being promoted too soon. Sainz to win it by some margin.
Alfa Romeo Sauber: Raikkonen with his experience should beat Giovinazzi by quite some margin.
Toro Rosso: A year at Ferrari could have rejuvenated Kvyat and along with his past experience, he should beat Albon.
Williams: Russell to beat Kubica with ease. I just don’t see it happening for the Pole a full season long with that handicapped arm.

Bottas does seem broken. His performance has really dropped off. 

[RPM40]

I do not rate Vettel on Alonso/Hamilton level but some serious underestimation of his talent is going on in this thread.

Vettel may not have had a good season in 2018 where he made too many mistakes to put up a consistent world championship battle but he still has that raw pace and tons of experience. I understand Leclerc has done a good job this season but going up against Vettel is not going to be an easy task by any stretch of imagination.

Vettel will be fired up and clearly looking to stamp his authority over Leclerc. From Ericsson to Vettel is a huge leap and similarly a no pressure Sauber to a pressure cooker Ferrari.

 

He's fast, but he's also had a very average team mate of late.

I think many forget just how substantially he was beaten by Ricciardo. In races the pace difference was often absurd.

[tghik]

Gasly 0, omg what the hell Marko/Horner are doing ?

[RacingGreen]

I have voted with the majority view except Ferrari where I put LeClerc ahead although being Ferrari internal politics will play it's part and could be the deciding factor.

[messy]

Gasly 0, omg what the hell Marko/Horner are doing ?

I wa to know which two people voted for Stroll over Perez!!

[Jbleroi]

I wa to know which two people voted for Stroll over Perez!!

Lance and Daddy Stroll ofcourse because they “know” more ;)

Edited by Jbleroi, 26 November 2018 - 21:53.

[geralt]

I get the feeling the Hulk/Ric battle may be quite an upset next season. Hulkenberg will already be accustomed to the Renault environment and his driving style seems to have fit the new regulations very well; add to that the fact that his height won't be a disadvantage anymore from next season and he could very well turn out to be a incredible opponent for Ric. 

 

That one and Seb vs Leclerc are the battles I'm most interested in

[Heyli]

I get the feeling the Hulk/Ric battle may be quite an upset next season. Hulkenberg will already be accustomed to the Renault environment and his driving style seems to have fit the new regulations very well; add to that the fact that his height won't be a disadvantage anymore from next season and he could very well turn out to be a incredible opponent for Ric. 

 

That one and Seb vs Leclerc are the battles I'm most interested in

Anyone who has an overview of who profits from the new height/weight regulations...?

[speedx]

10kg difference is about 0.3s.

But,

"As F1 teams are usually able to build cars which are lighter than the minimum weight limit, this does not mean heavier drivers currently have to carry more weight. All the drivers’ cars have ballast added to meet the minimum weight limit.
But as shorter drivers need to add more ballast they can position this in a location which is better for their car’s weight distribution. This puts them at an advantage over heavier drivers."

[sopa]

Hulk may benefit from the new weight regulations, but I don't think it would solve his inherent inconsistency in races, even though when he is "on it", particularly in qualifying, he may look even quicker/more impressive than in the past.

[screamingV16]

I know Hulkenberg's one of the tallest out there, but is Ricciardo really that much smaller/lighter than Hulkenberg? Can't find any recent weights.

 

Edited by screamingV16, 27 November 2018 - 08:56.

[Laster]

The most recent article I can find on the subject is from 2015 - https://www.auto123....rs?artid=176733
It puts Ricciardo at 66kg and Hulk at 74kg. I remember at Austria when Renault fitted the light weight MGU-K to their car they said Hulk had been running 4kg overweight in his car, and that it dropped down to his car running 1.5kg overweight from then on (I’ll try to find the article on it a biy later.) I think how much the car runs overweight affects outright pace, but he’ll probably gain more in finally being on equal footing when balancing the car with ballast which should help long run pace and tyre preservation.

(Edit: https://www.auto-mot...g-renault-haas/ )

Edited by Laster, 27 November 2018 - 09:48.

[screamingV16]

The most recent article I can find on the subject is from 2015 - https://www.auto123....rs?artid=176733
It puts Ricciardo at 66kg and Hulk at 74kg. I remember at Austria when Renault fitted the light weight MGU-K to their car they said Hulk had been running 4kg overweight in his car, and that it dropped down to his car running 1.5kg overweight from then on (I’ll try to find the article on it a biy later.) I think how much the car runs overweight affects outright pace, but he’ll probably gain more in finally being on equal footing when balancing the car with ballast which should help long run pace and tyre preservation.

 

Yeah I saw that, but 3 years out of date and some suspect figures (Hamilton is several cms shorter than 1.74). Surprised Ricciardo is so much lighter and Bottas is 4th heaviest driver. Conversely it will be interesting to see how much smaller drivers are able to bulk up a bit. I thought even smaller drivers like Hamilton/Alonso have had to loose weight in the past?

[PayasYouRace]

Gasly 0, omg what the hell Marko/Horner are doing ?

 

What they usually do. Promoting from Toro Rosso.

 

Verstappen is obviously a supremely quick driver and will be the senior driver at the team next year. As promising as Gasly has been who is actually expecting him to beat Verstappen in year 1? I guess you don't for a start or Gasly would have 1 vote.

 

Who else could they have hired?

[Arundo]

Mercedes: Hamilton will just continue where he left off, dont see Bottas getting closer and actually fade away more. Making room for Ocon in 2020.

Ferrari: Vettel will have his hands full with Leclerc.

Redbull: Verstappen, Gasly will improve during the season but its his first year he needs to adjust to the new team and driving hopefully in the front of the grid. 

Alfa Romeo Sauber: Kimi will beat Giovinazzi on experience and skill. 

Renault: Ricciardo will beat Hulkenburg but it wont be easy for Daniel. 

McLaren: Norris will beat Sainz, Sainz is not the top driver everyone says he is. Has his strong weekends but many weak weekends aswell.

Haas: Again close battle but Magnussen will probably end up on top again as Grosjean is still not consistent. 

Racing Point: Perez dominates Stroll, even daddy's money cant fix that. 

Toro Rosso: Albon will beat Kvyat the final year we will see the Russian in F1.

Williams: As much as I want Kubica to succeed he will probably not and leave F1 after next year beaten by Russell. 

[Bleu]

As there are 21 races, relative performance difference predictions based on that.

 

Hamilton-Bottas 18-3

Vettel-Leclerc 12-9

Verstappen-Gasly 18-3

Ricciardo-Hülkenberg 13-8

Magnussen-Grosjean 11-10

Sainz-Norris 12-9

Perez-Stroll 20-1

Räikkönen-Giovinazzi 15-6

Kvyat-Albon 14-7

Russell-Kubica 16-5

[sopa]

I find it surprising Kvyat is expected to beat Albon. I mean considering, how thorougly Kvyat got outscored by Sainz (who is no top driver), how bad do you expect Albon to be? Of course it's possible that Kvyat would perform better than in his last two seasons, but...

[zanquis]

This is not a topic for debating the drivers (they have their iwn topics for that) just to predict the teambattles and to compare results with end of the year outcome.

At the end of the year who ever predicted the most correctly gets bragging rights.

Edited by zanquis, 11 December 2018 - 11:49.

[CL16]

The red bull driver outcome will be on who has the least Honda retirements.

[maximilian]

I'm predicting four of the youngsters to end up ahead of their more experienced team mates - Leclerc to spell the end of Vettel's reign at Ferrari, Norris to emerge as the real team leader of McLaren, Albon to best Kvyat, and yes, Stroll to gain the upper hand on Perez - keep in mind the team dynamics here, PLUS Lance isn't half as bad as many here seem to think.

Edited by maximilian, 11 December 2018 - 12:24.

[derstatic]

Hamilton will beat Bottas again, although with a smaller margin than 2018 but still quite convincingly. 

Vettel will narrowly beat Leclerc. Experience gets the nod, but it will be very close.

Verstappen will emerge as clear team leader at RB. 

Hulkenberg will win a close fight with Ricciardo. The Hulk is massively underrated. 

Grosjean to beat Magnussen with a few higher highs over the season.

Räikkönen should have Giovinazzi covered. More talent and more experience.

Sainz to beat Norris. Handy midfield driver over an interesting rookie.

Kvyat to beat Albon. K is very quick. If his head is where it should be he is a competent driver. 

Kubica over Russell. I believe Kubica 1.0 was top tier. If he and Williams think he can do it now. I think he can do it now. 

Perez to have a clear upper hand. Very solid midfield driver vs not much improved, still slow in qualifying youngster. 

[Laster]

My votes were bias with respect to some battles due to my own hopes for some drivers. Choosing the likes of Ham, Vers, and Perez over their teammates just seems obvious on he other hand.
Hamilton
Leclerc
Verstappen
Hulkenberg
Grosjean
Giovinazzi
Perez
Norris
Albon
Russel

[Ivanhoe]

We already did this

https://forums.autos...-1-end-of-2018/

[MJB5990]

26 votes in and nobody has voted for Bottas.

 

Even Gasly and Stroll have a vote.

[ANF]

Hamilton, Vettel (?), Verstappen, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Räikkönen, Norris, Kvyat, Russell, Pérez.

[Henri Greuter]

26 votes in and nobody has voted for Bottas.
 
Even Gasly and Stroll have a vote.

If you ask me, that's more because of who he is up against and the team he is in than something against his own abilities. There are a number of drivers among the other 18 within the other 9 teams I would think Bottas could beat instantly......
Besides that, out of those other 18 drivers, who, unlike Bottas would you dare to suggest has a chance to get out better over the season when he was teamed up against Hamilton at Mercedes?

Edited by Henri Greuter, 11 December 2018 - 13:13.

[sopa]

Poor Bottas, nobody gives him a chance...   Ok, I didn't either...

Other votes:

Leclerc (would be disappointed if it wasn't close though)

Verstappen

Ricciardo (shouldn't be a complete walkover though)

Magnussen (only just - in points)

Raikkonen (experience brings more points)

Sainz (ditto)

Albon (because he has to beat Kvyat if he wants to stay in F1 longer, and hope he isn't too shabby)

Russell (cause he is young and talented)

Perez

[Nonesuch]

Even Stroll gets more faith than Bottas. Well done Mercedes, what an inspiring line-up!

 

Of all these, I'm most curious about Hülkenberg-Ricciardo. In some ways it's a meeting of two worlds, although perhaps Ricciardo's stock hasn't really risen as much in recent years as it did when he first arrived at Red Bull.

 

Still, that'll be one to watch.

[ConsiderAndGo]

Peoples utter resentment of Vettel shining through here.

[Ragnar668]

Peoples utter resentment of Vettel shining through here.

Or perhaps people have faith in Leclerc?

[sopa]

Peoples utter resentment of Vettel shining through here.

 

I'm surprised that you say so, because Vettel has got the vast majority (about 2/3) of pro-votes.

 

Or perhaps people have faith in Leclerc?

 

Well, I certainly have. Looking forward to Charles establishing himself as a true great.  (haven't got carried away with a rookie like that for a while, ever since Max and before him god knows who was the last...) And Vettel has looked a bit shaky lately with mistakes.

 

However, Vettel should still put up a good fight, because he should have lots of motivation and a point to prove, unlike during the capitulation of 2014.

 

I'm surprised though that I'm in clear minority in voting for Leclerc though, considering that usually I'm one of bigger Vettel defenders on the forum, lol.

 

But what I also think is that for a change it would be good for Vettel to be the underdog in a battle. You don't expect him to win. And if he puts up a good fight to Leclerc, or - god forbid - Hamilton, then that would be something impressive. I think mentally Vettel needs to be an underdog. In this way he can perform better. Expectations got the better of him in recent seasons.

Edited by sopa, 11 December 2018 - 14:19.

[jcbc3]

Thread merged with previous on same subject.

[Thatfastguy]

I'm predicting four of the youngsters to end up ahead of their more experienced team mates - Leclerc to spell the end of Vettel's reign at Ferrari, Norris to emerge as the real team leader of McLaren, Albon to best Kvyat, and yes, Stroll to gain the upper hand on Perez - keep in mind the team dynamics here, PLUS Lance isn't half as bad as many here seem to think.

 

Saving this comment for some good laughs later on next season. 

[Zilbert]

Getting paid 40 mil or something doesn't give you the luxury of being the under dog, the pressure is there and there is no way around it, either you can handle it or you're not the right man for the job.

[MikeV1987]

Hulk is no push-over and will give Ricciardo a hard time, best driver line up on the grid imo.

[Ivanhoe]

Thread merged with previous on same subject.

Unfortunately all the old votes got lost while doing that, a new poll started.

Edited by Ivanhoe, 11 December 2018 - 18:08.