91 replies to this topic

[PlayboyRacer]

It's the drivers championship battle keeping us all hooked on season 2020. Who you got and why for 4th in the World Championship? Performance levels between the midfield teams have been fluctuating race to race. Will one of the top 6 prevail or can a driver sitting lower catch fire and surprise us all? Who has impressed you most to this point?

Current standings

4th Lando Norris - 65
5th Alex Albon - 64
6th Daniel Ricciardo - 63
7th Charles Leclerc - 57
8th Lance Stroll - 57
9th Sergio Perez - 56
10th Pierre Gasly - 45
11th Carlos Sainz - 41
12th Esteban Ocon - 36
13th Sebastian Vettel - 17
14th Daniil Kvyat - 14

7 races to go!

[Ali623]

Ricciardo, Renault seem to be developing well this season and he seems more at ease with the car and better integrated into the team compared to last year (which is quite sad now he's leaving).  

Edited by Ali623, 30 September 2020 - 10:46.

[KavB]

I voted for Perez. I think it will be between him and Ricciardo. As mentioned, Renault seems to have a good car right now and Ricciardo has been on top form. But I think the RP is a more consistent car hence why I think Perez will snatch it in the end. 

[krapmeister]

From that list I think you can probably discount those below Perez, with the possible exception of Sainz - though he would need to go on one hell of a run.

 

Norris is leading, but I feel as though Mclaren have gone off the boil for one reason or another lately. They are going to need to regain that form if Norris is going to hold on. It will be interesting to see how Norris fares with what is essentially a mini-championship fight.

 

Ricciardo-Renault are coming home with a wet sail at the moment and have been the most consistent (both team and driver) over the last 4 races or so, I think he is the favourite.

 

Apart from Norris I think Racing Point are his biggest challengers tbh, but I am partly basing this one on their potential - as they have kind of wasted the W10 so far this year. If they can start putting whole weekends together more consistently then they are clearly the 3rd best car and should leap frog those above them - I would rate Perez as being the stronger driver and he also has the added incentive of driving for a new contract to stay in F1. Stroll has his moments but I don't see him being the one to potentially get the job done.

 

If Leclerc manages to get 4th it will be certainly some kind of miracle - but I think the general lack of pace in the car, plus the 'Ferrari being Ferrari' will stop him from claiming that spot.

 

Albon? I have no idea. I don't think he would deserve 4th tbh, he is obviously struggling and it is unlikely that it all of a sudden clicks for him - but the RBR (while obviously not an easy car to drive) is the second quickest car (in Max's hands at least). And another a couple of races like Mugello with a late race red flag/restart and he could be there getting a lot of points.

 

Really only going to take a race or two where a team/driver gets it right and the others don't for this to really swing about though. Luck will play a factor as well. Buckle up!

Edited by krapmeister, 30 September 2020 - 11:43.

[PayasYouRace]

At this stage I’d say Ricciardo, as Renault seem to have some good momentum and McLaren haven’t been looking as strong lately.

[pitlanepalpatine]

I went with Norris, Ric and Sainz just have too much bad luck and Leclerc would be better off putting wheels on a lemon.

[Marklar]

no one from Gasly downwards, Leclerc and currently Norris lack the car, I dont see Stroll making it either.

So I think Albon with his car advantage will somehow make it, and Ricciardo/Perez will come close. the latter would have made it without COVID probably

Edited by Marklar, 30 September 2020 - 11:42.

[PlayboyRacer]

From that list I think you can probably discount those below Perez, with the possible exception of Sainz - though he would need to go on one hell of a run.

Norris is leading, but I feel as though Mclaren have gone off the boil for one reason or another lately. They are going to need to regain that form if Norris is going to hold on. It will be interesting to see how Norris fares with what is essentially a mini-championship fight.

Ricciardo-Renault are coming home with a wet sail at the moment and have been the most consistent (both team and driver) over the last 4 races or so, I think he is the favourite.

Apart from Norris I think Racing Point are his biggest challengers tbh, but I am partly basing this one on their potential - as they have kind of wasted the W10 so far this year. If they can start putting whole weekends together more consistently then they are clearly the 3rd best car and should leap frog those above them - I would rate Perez as being the stronger driver and he also has the added incentive of driving for a new contract to stay in F1. Stroll has his moments but I don't see him being the one to potentially get the job done.

If Leclerc manages to get 4th it will be certainly some kind of miracle - but I think the general lack of pace in the car, plus the 'Ferrari being Ferrari' will stop him from claiming that spot.

Albon? I have no idea. I don't think he would deserve 4th tbh, he is obviously struggling and it is unlikely that it all of a sudden clicks for him - but the RBR (while obviously not an easy car to drive) is the second quickest car (in Max's hands at least). And another a couple of races like Mugello with a late race red flag/restart and he could be there getting a lot of points.

Really only going to take a race or two where a team/driver gets it right and the others don't for this to really swing about though. Luck will play a factor as well. Buckle up!

Nice summary. Should be a cracking end to the season. I guess we could call it the Formula 1.5 title battle!

[noikeee]

Albon to limp to 4th.

[Lights]

Norris is leading this pack now, but he's been struggling lately. He started the year so strong but now I just don't see it anymore.

 

Voted Albon, but it might be tight with Ricciardo. Overall I think the performance advantage for Red Bull should be there at the following 4 tracks for Albon to build up a lead and no longer lose it.

 

How Leclerc is 4th on this list is a small miracle, but he's also prone to overdrive and lose more points, so there's no way he's gonna end up in 4th in the WDC. As long as ends up in the top 10 that's already a job well done.

Racing Point (in Perez's hands at least ) was really strong at Sochi, but then again, that is always called a Mercedes track isn't it  . It's hard to gauge where they stand. If they keep up that performance level up the rest of the year, Perez, or Stroll if he regains his luck back, might get it.

 

The rest is too far away, doesn't have the car, the talent, or all three of those..

[PlayboyRacer]

Albon to limp to 4th.

He'll need a serious upswing in form. Sure he's got the best car but generally has no idea how to utilise it.

If he had the ability to put it regularly on the second or third row in qualifying (where it belongs) then you'd think he'd do it easy. Alas qualifying is literally his weakest point...

[Cyanide]

Albon can barely beat Gasly during a weekend, so he will have a tough time against Ricciardo - it's between these two anyway. 

 

I vote Ricciardo, hopefully both him and the team continue this form until the end. 

[danmills]

Ricciardo on current form and I reckon Stroll.

[SenorSjon]

Funny, I partly posted this in the Albon thread

---

 

It is telling that Albon only finished 2/10 races in his optimal position. 4th in Styria after Merc/Max and 3rd in Mugello after Merc/Max DNF. Most of the time there are quite some positions in between him and max. 

Sty: 1

Hun: 3

UK: 6

70: 4

Spain: 6

Bel 3

Rus: 8

 

 

That leads to a very close fight for 4th place with 9 points covering 6 positions. Add Hulk's points to Perez and he would have had 62, making the lot even closer. If this form continues we have the situation that Max is getting the RB WCC ranking all by himself (he is now with 128 vs 106 for McLaren) and that there is a threat the 2nd RB driver would barely make it into the top 10.

 

With Ferrari updating the car the next two races, it could get busy in front of Albon. On certain tracks, he would have 2 mercs, 1 RB, 1-2 RP's, 2 McLarens, 2 Renaults, 1-2 Ferrari's and 1-2 AT's in front of him. That 10-13 cars in front of him, taking him out of the points.

[bibliophagos]

no one from Gasly downwards, Leclerc and currently Norris lack the car, I dont see Stroll making it either.

So I think Albon with his car advantage will somehow make it, and Ricciardo/Perez will come close. the latter would have made it without COVID probably

Agree, Albon will probably just grab it.

[P123]

I think Albon has the car to enable him to get enough chunky points finishes and push him over the line, in between all his off weekends.  He should get 4th, although would not be surprised if it's not by much.

[fed up]

Ricci I'd say. 

 

Norris will bottle it. Stroll is inconsistent. Perez is driving with a team handicap in favor of Stroll. Albon is a dead man walking - his shoulders are so far hunched that I'll be amazed if he somehow scrapes through. Outside bet - Sainz.

[TomNokoe]

Leclerc has that strange Alonso-esque ability of just getting the job done. Wouldn't be surprised if he somehow managed it.

[solochamp07]

No one likes Stroll so I’ll put up a fiver on the lad. He’d be leading this pack comfortably without the bad luck of the last two gps.

Edit - effing typo

Edited by solochamp07, 30 September 2020 - 13:08.

[solochamp07]

Look out for Charles too. If Ferrari keep bringing useful upgrades, he could surprise. He seems to Be dragging that car to places it shouldn’t be. Remaining circuits shouldn’t punish the reds as much as the done races did, I think. LEC is the dark horse for me. And speaking of dark horses, can we not have just kept the Mugello livery, permanent like?

[realracer200]

Im gonna be totally honest i don't care who finishes 4th.

[Augurk]

Im gonna be totally honest i don't care who finishes 4th.

Hey Max!

[PlayboyRacer]

Im gonna be totally honest i don't care who finishes 4th.

That's kinda how I feel about who finishes 2nd lol.

[Ali623]

Im gonna be totally honest i don't care who finishes 4th.

 

Ain't anything else to get excited about.

[Augurk]

Between the lot with current momentum Ricciardo seems to be in the best position. McLaren seems to be slipping a bit plus Sainz takes away points from Norris and vice versa. 

Stroll was on a roll (pun intended) but with a couple of races like the past 2 that seems gone, also Perez seems to have found a bit of his mojo back. 

 

Of couse this shouldn't be a thread at all. Albon should be fiercely up there, but he has to turn something around in order to not keep falling back. 

 

The thing is though with these kinds of point differences any one freak result (Monza f.i.) can turn the tables around incredibly. 

[messy]

Ricciardo versus Perez I think, but it really needs to be Albon if he's serious about staying in F1. 

[noikeee]

Im gonna be totally honest i don't care who finishes 4th.

I'm not sure any of us do? But it's not like there's much to talk between races in this "thrilling" season.

[DutchQuicksilver]

Probably Ricciardo because all upcoming tracks seem to suit their car a lot. No slow tracks with high downforce coming up, besides Abu Dhabi at the end.

[shure]

Albon certainly has the car to do it but he's driving so erratically at the moment that it's hard to see him pull off a consistent run.

 

Lando has the occasional spark but is also not particularly consistent. if the reports of Ferrari having found some potential gains in their floor are true then my money would be on Leclerc as he's the only one I really see punching above his weight.  Difficult one to predict, though

[HeadFirst]

I voted Daniel, but Stroll will be close. He's only 6 points behind, despite having 3 dnf's, none of which were his fault. In the end however, Renault's improved form, and Ricciardo's superior talent will win out.

[JG]

Stroll have 2 straight DNF by no fault of his own, otherwise he would be 4th. I think he will take that position by the end of the season.

[Laster]

It amazes me how both Leclerc and Norris remain so high in the standings, but those early podiums for Leclerc have carried him for much of the season, he’s only had three other points finishes. Norris on the other hand keeps plugging away with decent results, though he’s only managed to finish ahead of Ricciardo once in the last four races. Looking at the results I’m actually surprised to see Perez has finished the points at every race this season (that he has competed in) so that’s very strong consistency from both him and the car right there. Ricciardo has also come on strong as of late, I can see him picking up a podium before the end of the year. I think it would end up between these four, so I’ll guess -
4th Perez
5th Ricciardo
6th Norris
7th Leclerc

Edit - Suddenly realised I have completely forgotten about Albon (which I’m genuinely sorry to say.) But his performances I find very difficult to read. He should be in the points every race, but I never quite know how far off Verstappen he’ll be from one race to the next. (And I’m not sure how much Red Bull will screw up his strategy from one race to the next to compound matters either.)

Edited by Laster, 30 September 2020 - 20:23.

[Heyli]

Go Dan! \o/

[Melbourne Park]

Albon, easily, its a fast car. LeClerc next, as they'll recover. Its suprising Riciardo is as high up as he is, but the Racing P is a faster car, but Stroll may pinch points from Perez, which would allow Ricciado to finished next. It comes down to car, team, and then, the driver. 

[HeadFirst]

I'm not sure any of us do? But it's not like there's much to talk between races in this "thrilling" season. 

 

I care. I've really enjoyed the midfield battle these past few years. The ups and downs in form among the drivers, and the upgrades (or lack of upgrades) for the cars, have made results difficult to predict. That's the way it should be. Forget reverse grids etc., when there are a number of teams close in performance F1 can be fascinating. Hopefully that is a situation we will see go right to the top of the grid in the future.

[Afaf]

Albon should take it, unconvincingly. There'll be a few dull processions to come where Albon will be 5 tenths a lap off Max, but still able to slot into 4th or 5th due to the pace of the RB.

 

Renault look good at the moment but have struggled to keep up their momentum in the past when they looked quick, even Cyril has admitted they don't quite know where the pace came. Mclaren have shown they can understand their issues and bounce back strongly in recent times, so I would expect more jostling between them, Renault, RP and even Ferrari at some tracks for the development edge.

 

Whereas the RB will remain the 2nd best car, and Albon only needs a few non-terrible races to eek out enough of a points gap.

[PlayboyRacer]

I care. I've really enjoyed the midfield battle these past few years. The ups and downs in form among the drivers, and the upgrades (or lack of upgrades) for the cars, have made results difficult to predict. That's the way it should be.

The contrasting elements within this battle is what's making it real interesting.

IMO the two best drivers in this group, comfortably, are Leclerc and Ricciardo. Yet they're both in cars that, overall to this point, haven't been the fastest of this lot. For that it's Red Bull, Racing Point and McLaren imo.

Then you have Albon who clearly has the best car of the lot, yet he's underperforming in a big way. The fact he hasn't cleared this group, this deep into the season, says it all. It should really be a fight for 5th, not 4th. Unless he sorts out his qualifying pace, he'll be in this battle till the end.

Then there is Racing Point and McLaren who, through a variety of reasons, haven't maximised their opportunities but have been relatively consistent. Their levels of performance have been more linear than the rest but I feel they're not as likely to pull a massive result out, like Leclerc and Ricciardo, unless it's crazy circumstances like Monza.

Gasly has had a good season and could still yet spring a surprise or two, the Alpha Tauri has good pace regularly and even Kvyat returned to some form last race. Vettel could do the same if Ferrari make improvements that suit him, which could add yet more regular challengers for points, creating a super tight battle in midfield.

[beachdrifter]

With the unbelievable steps forward Albon takes at every race (according to Horner/Marko/Albon), with his incredible ability to overtake other cars and his natural, breathtaking speed, it's a foregone conclusion he takes 4th. 

 

Although, with his confidence growing so impressively after every weekend supposedly, no matter if he's half a second or a full second back, he may well take 3rd, 2nd or 1st, since sky is obviously the limit with him if Horner is to be believed!

Edited by beachdrifter, 01 October 2020 - 02:43.

[absinthedude]

I suspect it's between RIcciardo, Norris and Leclerc but it only needs someone like Gasly to score another top 2 finish, or Stroll to have a roll of 4ths and that changes. 

 

It *should* be Albon given the car he's in but I don't see it. 

 

I'm going to say Ricciardo as Renault seem to have genuinely unlocked pace in their car. 

[BRG]

How have the mighty fallen.  Null points for Vettel!

 

I voted for Stroll, but only so I could crow at the Stroll haters in the unlikely event he manages it. In fact, i think Norris might go all the way.

[SenorSjon]

The contrasting elements within this battle is what's making it real interesting.

IMO the two best drivers in this group, comfortably, are Leclerc and Ricciardo. Yet they're both in cars that, overall to this point, haven't been the fastest of this lot. For that it's Red Bull, Racing Point and McLaren imo.

Then you have Albon who clearly has the best car of the lot, yet he's underperforming in a big way. The fact he hasn't cleared this group, this deep into the season, says it all. It should really be a fight for 5th, not 4th. Unless he sorts out his qualifying pace, he'll be in this battle till the end.

Then there is Racing Point and McLaren who, through a variety of reasons, haven't maximised their opportunities but have been relatively consistent. Their levels of performance have been more linear than the rest but I feel they're not as likely to pull a massive result out, like Leclerc and Ricciardo, unless it's crazy circumstances like Monza.

Gasly has had a good season and could still yet spring a surprise or two, the Alpha Tauri has good pace regularly and even Kvyat returned to some form last race. Vettel could do the same if Ferrari make improvements that suit him, which could add yet more regular challengers for points, creating a super tight battle in midfield.

 

I doubt Gasly will roll 100 on a 1d100 twice in one season. He is up there due to one mega result. The other finishes are 7,7,8, 9 and 9th. Disregarding his win, he only has 6 points more than Kvyat who did stop during the Monza SC. Actually, Albon's third spot in Mugello reads as much as an anomoly as is Gasly's win.

 

How have the mighty fallen.  Null points for Vettel!

 

I voted for Stroll, but only so I could crow at the Stroll haters in the unlikely event he manages it. In fact, i think Norris might go all the way.

 

Binotto will make sure he doesn't finish ahead of Leclerc.

[ARTGP]

Albon, easily, its a fast car. LeClerc next, as they'll recover. Its suprising Riciardo is as high up as he is, but the Racing P is a faster car, but Stroll may pinch points from Perez, which would allow Ricciado to finished next. It comes down to car, team, and then, the driver. 

 

Not with that engine they won't....they are sitting ducks. A Ferrari can only be made so wide.

Edited by ARTGP, 01 October 2020 - 12:09.

[PlayboyRacer]

I doubt Gasly will roll 100 on a 1d100 twice in one season. He is up there due to one mega result. The other finishes are 7,7,8, 9 and 9th. Disregarding his win, he only has 6 points more than Kvyat who did stop during the Monza SC. Actually, Albon's third spot in Mugello reads as much as an anomoly as is Gasly's win

That's still some decent consistency where he's been getting the results Alpha Tauri are capable of. He's had a good season, I wouldn't say great like some others but he's the lead AT driver comfortably and got the Monza win. It might have taken some lucky circumstances but he still had to close it out. Can't take that away from him.

I think he'll continue to get solid lower points finishes and may surprise somewhere.

[masa90]

Imagine if it was this tight and many turns and developments in a wdc fight 😃

[SenorSjon]

That's still some decent consistency where he's been getting the results Alpha Tauri are capable of. He's had a good season, I wouldn't say great like some others but he's the lead AT driver comfortably and got the Monza win. It might have taken some lucky circumstances but he still had to close it out. Can't take that away from him.

I think he'll continue to get solid lower points finishes and may surprise somewhere.

 

True, but it won't get him 4th overall.

[PlayboyRacer]

True, but it won't get him 4th overall.

Agreed that is unlikely! It'll be one of the top 6 currently I think. Most likely Ricciardo on recent form.

[ATM]

I would go with Albon, probably due to the car. Renault and McLaren have been somewhat inconsistent in heir performances, no guarantee they won’t be around 10th place come next GP.
As for Racing Point, all the miseries in the world have hit their drivers- from technical failures, shunts and accidents, outbraking when practically leading the race, Covid, DNS due to bolt stuck in the clutch bell housing...Except hitting a pair of seagulls, they’ve had it all. So I wouldn’t put my money on them, unless they visit a monastery and light up some candles.

[HeadFirst]

Not with that engine they won't....they are sitting ducks. A Ferrari can only be made so wide.

 

He might have to expand his elimination of the competition tactics, beyond Vettel and Lance Stroll.

[PlayboyRacer]

He might have to expand his elimination of the competition tactics, beyond Vettel and Lance Stroll.

Whatever it takes right ;)

[RPM40]

 

 

Binotto will make sure he doesn't finish ahead of Leclerc.

Considering he typically drives around outside the points how would he overturn a 40 point deficit in 7 races?

 

Thats assuming of course, Leclerc doesn't take part.

Edited by RPM40, 04 October 2020 - 04:28.