55 replies to this topic

[cpbell]

Following on from the other thread, I'd be interested to hear poster's realistic expectations.  Here are mine:

 

Hamilton will narrowly win the WDC.  His speed will be diminished, but experience will get him over the line.

Having done so, Hamilton will retire.

Verstappen will come 2nd in the WDC, winning several races.

Bottas will win in Russia and, if it happens, China.

Perez will win a race, and will out-qualify Verstappen a couple of times, but will be a much better #2 than Albon was.

Leclerc and Sainz will win 1 GP each.

Vettel will win in Singapore and will be regarded as having partly rediscovered his form with a few other podiums.

Haas will come last in the WCC and will withdraw at the end of the season.

Raikkonen will retire, and Giovinazzi will be dropped, making way for Schumacher Jr. and Mazepin in 2022.

Speaking of which, Mazepin will continue to be a ********.

Gasly will score the occasional podium, and Tsunoda's highest finishing position will be 4th, though he will be a frequent finisher around 6th.

Russell will perform better on Sundays than in 2020 and will replace Hamilton in 2022.

Alonso will be a disappointment, and Ocon will out-score him.

Ricciardo will take several podiums but won't win anything. 

Norris will push Ricciardo, but will end the season behind.

Edited by cpbell, 25 January 2021 - 12:44.

[Calum]

Mercedes: all pole positions, 75%+ wins, double championship.

[cpbell]

Mercedes: all pole positions, 75%+ wins, double championship.

Wrong thread?

[Marklar]

-Red Bull will be closer to Merc but not enough: Max will finish a distant 2nd behind Hamilton
-Perez will proven to be the expected upgrade (although he will at most outqualify Max 1-2 times) and finish 4th behind Bottas, who will be closer to Lewis than in 2020
All 4 drivers will win races; Bottas, Max and Lewis to get poles
-Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin will fight for P3. Podium visits will be more rare than in 2020, and neither will win a race.
-Vettel will dominate Stroll with ease and finish 5th in the WDC as the other team battles will be closer matched.
-Leclerc will win the quali battle vs Sainz with ease, but struggle more in race, still he will win comfortably
-Norris will outperform Ricciardo in the first season half and then drop back again
-Renault will finish 6th: Ocon to win the quali battle, Alonso the race battle
-Tsunoda will start to outperform Gasly in the 2nd half of the season, AT to finish 7th
-Giovinazzi beats Kimi and sends him to retirement, Alfa to finish 8th
-Haas to be quicker than Williams thanks to Ferrari, but drivers will often be beaten by Russell and be very often in the spotlight with shaddy driving
-Latifi to be closer in qualifying to Russell, outqualify him 2 times
-Russell will swap seats with Bottas, Vips will replace Gasly, who will replace Ocon at Renault
-Sauber to move to Renault engines, drivers to be replaced by Renault/Sauber academy drivers
-season will have 19 races, title to be decided with two races in spare

Edited by Marklar, 25 January 2021 - 13:07.

[KWSN - DSM]

Hamilton World Champion (I can not imaging he does not sign a contract and race in 2021).

Mercedes World Champions.

No wins for Ferrari.

All teams score at least 1 point.

Aston Martin minimum 1 podium.

Gasly clearly the better driver at Alpha Tauri.

No podiums for Alonso.

All teams will make it out of Q1 at least once with at least 1 car.

There will be minimum 2 Grands Prix where cars take the start on Rain or Intermediate tires.

Ricciardo finish higher than Norris in WDC standings.

2021 will be Raikkonens last season.

[cpbell]

-Sauber to move to Renault engines, drivers to be replaced by Renault/Sauber academy drivers
 

Surely the Alfa Romeo rebrand wouldn't be allowed to end with the team near the back of the grid?

[jcbc3]

...
-Sauber to move to Renault engines, drivers to be replaced by Renault/Sauber academy drivers
...

 

Did you miss this one, or just don't believe it?

 

https://www.autospor...nership-to-2025

[Branislav]

Following on from the other thread, I'd be interested to hear poster's realistic expectations.  Here are mine:

 

 

Why you think mine wasn't sensible?

[Marklar]

Did you miss this one, or just don't believe it?

https://www.autospor...nership-to-2025

I dont believe it, personally. The relationship seems a bit fractured, loads support moved to Haas, even with Mick a huge Marketing tool. The press in Switzerland seems to doubt that it continues. Plus Renault needs someone.

Even if so, change the prediction then from Renault academy to Ferrari academy

[shure]

1. Mercedes to finish 1-2 again with a bigger margin than in 2020

2. Max and Leclerc to fight it out over 3rd place, with Max edging it

3. Alonso wins the "best of the rest" battle by capitalising on others' mistakes and picking up their pieces

4. A resurgent Vettel finishes 6th, just behind Alonso

5. Sainz, Ricciardo and Perez make up the rest of the Top 10, with Perez performing better than Albon but not getting close to Max.

6. A very tight and accomplished midfield pushes Norris down the order

7. Crystal ball starts getting very murky at this point

[JoshKing]

• Lewis and Mercedes to take their respective championships
• Valtteri to finish P3, being beaten to P2 by Verstappen
• McLaren on the podium a couple of times at least
• Spicy rivalry between Leclerc and Sainz
• Russel to finally get points in a Williams car
• Haas P10 in WCC
• Kimi finally retires (Said this last year... wasn't true)
• Red Bull's second car woes will be exposed by Perez
• One driver at least will miss a race due to COVID
• Midfield will be very close again
• Vettel will find form at AMR

 

But the most sensible prediction of them all:

• Mazepin to crash someone out at some point

[MattK9]

This thread will have less posts then the other thread about BOLD predictions.

 

Unfortunately, the season will be easily predictable. It is a sad state of affairs really that the joke thread is more interesting than the debate about what will actually happen.

[cpbell]

Why you think mine wasn't sensible?

Edited by cpbell, 25 January 2021 - 15:56.

[DutchQuicksilver]

- Hamilton wins the championship again.

- Red Bull’s usual pre season comments not coming true again, though Verstappen will finish ahead of Bottas this season.

- Perez will win at least one race.

- Alonso will surprise us and still have decent pace topped with a few podium finishes.

- Vettel finds his mojo again and finished best of the rest in the championship

- At some tracks McLaren will be very close to Red Bull due to the Mercedes engine. Ricciardo to score multiple podiums.

- Ferrari powered cars will catch up a bit again due to the new power unit. Leclerc will finish on the podium multiple times.

- Sainz will have a difficult time adjusting to a still not so easy to drive Ferrari car.

- Haas will have a very poor season though, possibly scoring no points at all

- Tsunoda will give Gasly a run for his money several times but youth and lack of experience will also mean he will crash a few times or make silly mistakes

- Williams will score at least one point.

 

I guess something like this.

[Anderis]

- Hamilton will win the WDC

- Mercedes will win the WCC

- Bottas will be on average within 1 tenth of Hamilton in Q but not close enough in races to take the WDC fight to the last race

- Perez will be an upgrade over Albon but not enough to beat Verstappen in races barring the odd one (unless Max tries to overdrive fighting Mercs and makes a lot of mistakes)

- Leclerc will beat Sainz comfortably

- Russell will score points

- Alonso will be solid but not stellar

- McLaren will not see significant improvement over their 2020 level (I'm pointing this out because the oppposite seems to be a popular prediction recently )

- Stroll will score at least 75% of Vettel's points

- No major surprises when it comes to teams pecking order

[Afterburner]

My sensible prediction is that none of these will be as exciting as the B O L D predictions.

[absinthedude]

1. Hamilton will take his 8th title and will start openly talking about retirement

2. Haas will pull out at the end of the season unless major funding is found

3. Ferrari will not win a race

4. Checo will hint that RBR aren't giving him everything he needs to battle Max

5. We won't get an Australian grand prix

6. Aston will not be quite as fast as the "pink Mercedes" compared to the opposition

7. Mazepin will earn a race ban during the season, but will not be dropped because...money...

[Beri]

1) Hamilton to win the title

2) Verstappen to be second in the championship

3) Bottas fluctuating in his perfomance yet again

4) McLaren and Alpine to end up on the podium multiple times

5) Alpine to battle McLaren

6) Vettel to beat Stroll, but not outshine him

7) Williams to end up last

8) Mazepin to tell the press to just fudge off (could be an Instagram message or an outburst on camera) because of all the crap is thrown at him due to his tantrums

9) Ferrari on the way up, but not there yet and will not win a race on merit. Only if lucky. Like Perez did in 2020

[B3ndy]

Drivers Standing:

1. Lewis
2. Max
3. Checo
4. Valtteri
5. Seb
6. Lance
7. Charles
8. Lando
9. Carlos
10. Danny Ric
11. Fernando
12. Pierre G
13. Esteban
14. Yuki
15. George
16. Antonio
17. Kimi
18. Mick S
19. Latifi
20. Mazepin

 

General predictions:

1. Hamilton takes 8th, talks about going for 10
2. Ferrari will continue to improve, no race wins
3. McLaren will finish 4th, Norris beating Danny R for the first half of the season, ultimately finishing close with each other
4. George R gets promoted to Merc, announced before the end of the season
5. Alpine implode with Alonso and an improving Ocon battling for supremacy, lack of pit wall experience in F1 shows
6. Hass pull out blaming the 2021 regs, although they finish last
7. Sauber extend licensing deal, but badged up as Masarati
8. Williams finally see progress finishing second last to Hass
9. Red Bull get their engine freeze, develop IP
10. AM win races
11. More races are cancelled

[Rinehart]

This thread will have less posts then the other thread about BOLD predictions.

 

Unfortunately, the season will be easily predictable. It is a sad state of affairs really that the joke thread is more interesting than the debate about what will actually happen.

Exactly, Hamilton will easily win the title, Merc will easily win the constructors, Max and Red Bull will easily be best of the rest. There will be a couple of crazy races. There will be lots of arguments about engine rules. Roll on 2022.... 

[Spillage]

Hamilton will win the WDC.

Mercedes will win the WCC.

Perez will be a solid #2 to Verstappen on race day and will be dominated in qualifying. He will win his second race this season.

Ferrari will not be significantly better than last year and will not win a race.

Both Norris and Sainz will be outperformed by their new teammates.

Vettel will suddenly look good again. (this may be more hope than judgement on my part).

Schumacher will beat Mazepin but will not thrash him.

Alonso will be really fast and outperform Ocon.

There will be at least one totally unexpected winner, similar to Gasly and Perez last season.

The Saudi GP won't happen and without any fans the Dutch GP will be a bit of a damp squib.

By the end of this season F1 will look a bit more 'normal', with full grandstands and perhaps even no facemasks. Again, this one is more of a hope than a prediction.

[pRy]

Verstappen will win the title this year.

[JimmyClark]

I think Mercedes won't be as far ahead as people think. Something for 2021 will trip them up - either the aero or the tyres.

However, saying that, I expect Hamilton to win the title, then retire. 

 

Ferrari will win a race. 

 

Perez will not get near Verstappen in qualifying, probably having a similar gap to Albon in terms of speed, but will get some decent race results. 

 

Vettel will have a rebirth at Aston Martin and destroy Stroll. They will get less points than RP in 2021, but Seb will get 2x podiums. 

 

Alonso will not be as fast as people are expecting, and Ocon will be very close. 

 

My craziest prediction will be that Ricciardo will win a race for McLaren. 

 

Haas will be bought out by the end of the year - maybe by Mazepin, but I can't see their name on the grid in 2022. They will also be beaten by Williams. 

 

Gasly will dominate Tsunoda, but Yuki will keep his seat as he clearly has raw speed. 

 

Alfa will be Alfa. We will barely notice them. 

Edited by JimmyClark, 25 February 2021 - 12:21.

[M66R]

Mercedes will win WCC and Hamilton will win WDC....again.

Merc will win all but 2 races.

[RedKloud]

Hamilton will win his 8th WDC and reveal he has already signed a contract with Ferrari.

Vettel will be a disappointment again and retire at the end of the season. 

Edited by RedKloud, 25 February 2021 - 13:05.

[Ali623]

• There will be some good races, and others will be pretty boring
• Mercedes and Hamilton will win everything easily again
• Bottas will finish second
• Verstappen will have multiple mechanical DNFs
• Aston, Alpine and McLaren driver pairings will all be surprisingly close
• Ferrari will still be in the midfield
• Mazepin and Schumacher will be equally average
• Russell wont score any points
• Gasly will edge Tsunoda in the points

[Laster]

Ham and Mercedes will win the championship with races to spare.

With consistent rules and cars essentially being B versions of last years versions, Red Bull will start off closer to Mercedes than they’ve been in the past, allowing Verstappen to finish 2nd in the championship.

Bottas will win a couple races, various media figures will drum this up as though Bottas has changed in some fundamental way, only for him to continue lacking that consistent speed on race day to beat Ham, and we see the same thing every year since 2017, a defeated Bottas by the halfway mark.

Perez will be closer to Verstappen in the races than the likes of Gasly and Albon, will even win a race, but ultimately he’ll get hammered in qualifying leaving him with a perpetual disadvantage to Verstappen that he constantly has to try and make up come race day.

Ferrari fix their engine issues and restores their competitiveness some what. Not enough to win races, but enough to make getting to the podium difficult for the midfield once more.

Ricciardo does a good job of leading Mclaren, with Norris learning from him but inevitably being outperformed.

Alonso is not as fast he once was and Ocon manages to beat him over a season, but only marginally. Alonso gets a podium.

Vettel continues to spin frequently now he’s back in the thick of the midfield with Aston Martin, but he does ultimately beat Stroll who has some good performances but often goes missing in races.

Alpha Tauri continue to do well being competitive with the midfield and beat Aston Martin, Gasly continues to perform strongly, but Tsunoda begins causing him problems in the second half of the season.

With the improvement of the ferrari engines Alfa Romeo become competitive again, but rarely achieve their ultimate pace due to their drivers being lacking, Raikkonen remains consistent but just not fast enough, while Gio finds some pace but continues to lack consistency.

Haas drop to last in the order, with Mick faster than his teammate who continues to find more controversies on and off the track. These two collide at least twice through the season.

Williams find more performance and Russell gets his first points for the team, beating Haas in the championship. He earns his promotion to Mercedes confirmed before the end of the season. Latifi improves but regularly finds himself racing the Haas.

Twice through the season drivers will have to be replaced due to Covid.

You will see limited fans in grandstands at European races before the end of the season.

[markpenske]

1. Max & Perez hate each other by the end of the season.

2. Hamilton wins every race

[alframsey]

Hamilton wins the WDC with relative ease despite RBR being closer with both their cars.

Max to finish 2nd and Perez and Bottas very close. Perez to score a win and be much more competitive compared to Max than many think.

Alonso to score a podium or two.

Ric will blow Norris away and score McLaren a win.

Ferrari clear 3rd car and potentially as quick as RBR. Leclerc being dominante over Sainz.

Vettel to rediscover his form somewhat and see podiums a few times the season.

Hamilton to re-sign for another two years.

Edited by alframsey, 25 February 2021 - 18:11.

[Branislav]

Hamilton wins the WDC with relative ease despite RBR being closer with both their cars.

Max to finish 2nd and Perez and Bottas very close. Perez to score a win and be much more competitive compared to Max than many think.

Alonso to score a podium or two.

Ric will blow Norris away and score McLaren a win.

Ferrari clear 3rd car and potentially as quick as RBR. Leclerc being dominante over Sainz.

Vettel to rediscover his form somewhat and see podiums a few times the season.

Hamilton to re-sign for another two years.

wishlist

[CrossComparisonOracle]

Assuming that we get 23 races

1. Hamilton - 13 wins
2. Verstappen - 5 wins
3. Bottas - 3 wins
4. Perez - 1 win
5. Vettel - 1 win

[pdac]

No change from 2020

[M66R]

Isn't it a shame that the season is already a foregone conclusion

[BRK]

Sensible prediction - Mercedes will continue to romp home 1-2 in all but a few races. The TV broadcast will focus on midfield battles that few will remember a decade from now. 

 

Other things that will be forgotten - 

• Max will beat Perez handily
• Seb will beat Stroll handily
• Leclerc v Verstappen will provide some flash points throughout the season
• Hulkenberg will feature in a race after COVID19 wave 2.0 strikes

[BRK]

Bumping this back up as testing nears its end. How do y'all reckon the teams stack up for the start of the season? My attempt - 

• Red Bull - Top on pace and reliability for the first few races. Mercedes are very quick as usual, but the lack of testing mileage should have some impact initially. Perhaps RB's best chance to get 1-2 podiums / wins in before Mercedes properly descend. 
• Mercedes - The team to beat for 7 years in a row. You wouldn't put it past them to arrive at the 1st race weekend fully prepared - particularly with respect to reliability. But that would be awfully boring so let's all collectively hope they take their time..
• McLaren - Seems to be a reasonably well-balanced, quick car out of the box. Have the closest thing to a trick diffuser in a carryforward season with few rule changes. Drivers have a positive vibe about them. Is 2021 the year they will start challenging for regular podiums?
• Alpine - Carrying on from their solid midfield form last year. Appear to have taken a small step forward. With Alonso back in business, will they be in the mix for podiums with McLaren, at the front of the midfield? 

• Ferrari - Carrying on from their form last year, still a 'loosey goosey' rear end, especially more so with the loss of rear downforce. Some say it's a team in crisis. Others believe that's BS and that Formula one's greatest team has made a step forward in performance. Few disagree about the livery being awful. 
• Aston Martin - Haven't exactly been setting the track on fire. Some reliability concerns and lost mileage. The car doesn't look fundamentally awful to drive, but not exactly planted. Some say they are sandbagging with heavy fuel loads. But I reckon they should be in the midfield.
• Alpha Tauri - As we saw last year, this car can deliver the goods on tracks that suit it. I'm putting them in the lower half of the midfield as I don't believe they will consistently be up there, but with Gasly's proven pace and the promising Yuki Tsunoda, the sky's the limit for F1's underdog team

• Williams - Not entirely sure about Williams' outright performance, but they're flush with money and energy from the new owners, so I'm expecting them to beat Haas and Alfa at least in the first few races.  
• Haas - With two rookies and an average performance car-wise last year, I'm not expecting Haas to achieve much until the 2nd half of the season. These modern computers cars are difficult to learn and get used to, for Mick and Nikita.  
• Alfa Romeo - Their race sims have looked ok. Giovanazzi hasn't seemed particularly chuffed, apparently. 

Edited by BRK, 14 March 2021 - 14:47.

[TheAviator]

RB
Merc
McL
Ferrari
AM
AT
Alfa
Alpine
Williams
Haas

[Fraser1994]

Mercedes (gap closed)
Red Bull
McLaren
Alpine
Aston Martin
Alpha Tauri
Ferrari
Alpha Romeo
Williams
Haas

[kosmos]

• Hamilton and Mercedes - Most dominant season in the last decade.
• Bottas mediocre from day one.
• Perez will beat Max in a few races but in general Max will dominate.
• Vettel will have a comfortable season.
• Alonso best result will be 5th.
• Sainz and Leclerc equal after the first five races.
• Ricciardo will destroy Norris.
• Kimi will get a lucky podium.

[MotorsportChat]

I've got five to offer:

 

1. A shortened season:

• COVID will continue to be an issue and although vaccines are now available, their effectiveness and availability will remain problematic throughout the entire year.
• It might not be by much - but i'd expect a couple of races to be cancelled at short notice, with Brazil up top.

 

2. Aston Martin to win a race:

• Racing Point already did this, albeit with assistance from a colossal blunder in the Mercedes pit box. Then of course other strong contenders weren’t around - Verstappen and Leclerc crashed out on the first lap, and Hamilton wasn’t even at the race due to having COVID. But I think they'll do it again.
• A combination of a happier Sebastian Vettel and the evolution of the RP20 are my reasons, along with the team looking like they can make the right strategy calls under pressure (i.e. Stroll on pole in Turkey 2020).

 

3. Lewis Hamilton to win an 8^th championship and call it a day:

• It’s the only thing left for Sir Lewis to do. He’s got the most wins ever, most poles ever, won a race in every F1 season he’s ever taken part in. He clearly wants to be forever known as the F1 driver with the most world titles ever, not the F1 driver who is tied with Michael Schumacher for the most world titles ever.
• Despite what's happening in testing, I think Mercedes will still have the best car, he’ll win the title with ease, break the record and then exit the sport on a high after 14 years of surpassing virtually every record under the sun.
• George Russell will then inherit his place as the heir to Hamilton

 

4. The final season for Bottas with Mercedes:

• You may think that if Hamilton leaves the sport after 2021, and George Russell takes his place, surely Mercedes would want to keep Bottas within the team in 2022 for the sake of team continuity. But I think that might not be the case.
• There are other drivers on that grid who will also be free agents as things stand from 2022 and would relish a chance to take a seat in F1’s most successful team ever. Bottas was lucky to finish 2nd in 2020 with Verstappen only nine points off him - especially as the Dutchman had five retirements versus Bottas' one retirement.
• And my last prediction leads on...

 

5. The final season for Verstappen with Red Bull:

• I think the only driver on the grid that would trigger Mercedes to drop Bottas in a heartbeat is Verstappen.
• Hear me out. I also thought Verstappen would be a lifer at Red Bull. But what fun is a predictions video without exploring the possibility of the unthinkable and alternative realities. Above all, it could make logical sense.
• Bringing the Dutchman in would not only give them an all-star line-up built for the future with Russell and Verstappen, but eliminate Verstappen as competition – given that he has been the only driver who has presented a hint of a threat to Hamilton and Bottas in 2020.

• Tactically, it would be a genius move for the silver arrows who will have a significant void to fill with Hamilton now out of the team in this scenario.

• I think Verstappen will lose faith with Red Bull's engine, because despite the freeze, do we really reckon Red Bull will dramatically improve their performance with Honda now largely out in 2022? I'm not saying they'll fall from grace, but can't see how they'll make up the gap to Mercedes engine with an average Honda engine. If you don't have the right power unit, no designer can generate the downforce every driver craves because you can't afford the drag. Newey knows this, Max knows it and Mercedes know it.

• His contract will surely have exit clauses around the engine performance to make this exit possible too.

 

So...there's my thoughts. I'm actually so behind them that I even made a YouTube video about it - so if you want more detail, feel free to click here and check it out. Open to other points of view as always!

[Alfisti]

I am still sticking with my prediction seb will continue to struggle. Not so many spins but barely beating stroll.

[FLB]

I dont believe it, personally. The relationship seems a bit fractured, loads support moved to Haas, even with Mick a huge Marketing tool. The press in Switzerland seems to doubt that it continues. Plus Renault needs someone.

Even if so, change the prediction then from Renault academy to Ferrari academy

I believe it now (the renewal between Ferrari and Sauber) than a couple of months ago. The reason is that Alfa Romeo has been targeted as a key brand for Stellantis, worldwide. For instance, Peugeot will not be coming to North America because they would be targeting the same market segment.

 

New Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato was pushing towards establishing the PSE brand (Peugeot Sport Engineered) as a premium performance brand, à la AMG or M for BMW. He's already promoting Alfa as a legacy sporting brand: https://www.formulap...tam-554290.html

[djparky]

Mercedes will win both championships,
Hamilton and Wolff will do their usual " we are going to struggle" routine then dominate most weeks
Red Bull wont be quite quick enough at the crucial moments
McLaren will be best of the rest
Alonso will beat Ocon
Williams will be quicker than Haas

[M66R]

If Ham & Merc don't win both championships I'll eat my hat.

[MortenF1]

Top two will be Red Bull Honda and Mercedes once again, but even if Red Bull will be closer and Verstappen mount a more serious assault at the championship, Hamilton will fix it. Bottas will take some points off Hamilton here and there, but Perez will not take points from Verstappen. Perez will be around three tenths off the pace of his team-mate.

Mercedes will have a few gremlins which will contribute to making things closer in the constructors championship, but they will clinch it.

McLaren will be a very convincing third fastest package, and will finish third in the constructors. Ricciardo cirka one-two tenths faster than Norris, and will be on it from the get-go, Much like he’s seemingly been now in testing.
One win for Ricciardo, but luck is an element.

Ferrari will finish fourth thanks to a driver-pairing that is enough to off-set the faster Aston. Sainz will be quite close to Leclerc and beat him now and then. It will certainly not be one-sided and all about Leclerc, even if he will have a repeating edge in qualifying.

Aston Martin fifth, just. They will not have an easy time of developing a car they don’t fully understand.
Vettel will take time to settle in but won’t represent an upgrade on Perez. Ie Stroll will be a little closer to him than to Perez.
Having said that Vettel will bloom a little this year, and perform better than he did (closer to his own max potential I mean) last year.

Alpine sixth. That they’re in a fight with Aston will irk them even more with regards to Aston bearing such close resemblance to the Mercedes. There’ll be politics. Alonso will score a few crazy results and also Ocon will have a series of points finishes. Alonso scores two thirds of their points.

Alpha Tauri seventh, and even if their car will fluctuate between third and seventh fastest, they will suffer just slightly from having one rookie, and generally not quite extracting what’s actually in the car..
...but Tsunoda will show convincing pace, but drop some points (as isn’t unusual for a rookie.)

Alfa Romeo eight. Improved chassis and some more ooomp from the power unit. Otherwise it’ll be elements of what we got last year; Räikkönen the faster of the two, and with a couple of stand-out performances. A good few more points this year.

Williams ninth and they too have improved competitiveness. Russell will show a necessary improvement in the races.

Haas last, and that sort of has to be the result with two rookies and the most lukewarm plans with regards to 2021.
Schumacher will be a little better and faster than Mazepin, who will have some questionable happenings also in F1.

-edited 29th of March because I noticed I had managed to, during an edit on the 15th, cut out Aston.

Edited by MortenF1, 29 March 2021 - 15:24.

[Apex11]

Lewis will win the championship
Perez will challenge Max occasionally
Ricciardo will beat Norris comfortably
Sprint races will turn out to be awful/needs rethink
Hass and Latifi will get 0 points
Ferrari won’t win a race
Bottas to leave Mercedes
Hamilton will retire
Räikkönen will retire

[frosty125]

McLaren will get multiple podiums and a race win when unusual events go their way.

Red Bull challenge Mercedes ala like Ferrari did in 2017 and 19 but just won't be able to keep up.

Alpha to have a solid season

Binotto will get fired mid-season

Alpine beat Ferrari because Alonso is a beast.

Haas join Williams at the back.

Aston secure a very solid 4th place in the championship.

Edited by frosty125, 14 March 2021 - 21:06.

[greenman]

- A more competitive WDC and WCC fight between Red Bull and Mercedes, but Hamilton and Mercedes taking it in the end. 

- Verstappen with most wins, but also more retirements. He will beat Perez convincingly on pace, however Perez will score many points, at least one win, and will just about match Bottas in the points.

- McLaren a clear third best team, with Ricciardo scoring a win or two, and several other podiums.

- Tough fight for the best of the midfield, but Ferrari, especially after some Leclerc heroics, take it in the end. No wins though.

- Alonso will have some outstanding results, but no wins. Ocon will be closer than Vandoorne was.

- Vettel's year won't be as good as hoped. He will outscore Stroll, but not much more than that. Aston Martin finish behind Alpine and Ferrari, which is a disappointment, as the car will seem faster than that.

- Alpha Tauri start the year the best of the midfield, but slowly slip down the order. Tsunoda impresses with a couple of top 5 finishes, but he will still be a bit too inconsistent.

- Alfa Romeo will have an under the radar year, with either Kimi or Gio fighting for the spot for second best Ferrari in the race. Will score some points, but end up 8th in the standings.

- Williams will be miles ahead of Haas, but not quite on the pace of others. Russell will have some great qualifying results, and some of his heroics will earn him a couple of 9th or 10th finishes. 

- Schumacher and Mazepin will have an interesting and tied battle between each other. Mick will seem faster of the two towards the end of the year, however if there is a chaotic race, Mazepin will be the one to take advantage of it. Mazepin won't actually have any particularly boneheaded on-track or off-track moments, however he will be heavily scrutinized or criticized for any minor transgression.

 

 

- With longer DRS detection zones, at least one sprint race will have overtaking and retirements, which will be enough for F1 to declare them a success.

- The races in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi at the end of the year will be among the most boring ones of the year, which will bring an anti-climactic end to an otherwise exciting championship battle.

[pRy]

Verstappen will win the title this year.

 

[ARTGP]

- Verstappen with most wins, but also more retirements. He will beat Perez convincingly on pace, however Perez will score many points, at least one win, and will just about match Bottas in the points.

- McLaren a clear third best team, with Ricciardo scoring a win or two, and several other podiums.

- Tough fight for the best of the midfield, but Ferrari, especially after some Leclerc heroics, take it in the end. No wins though.

- Alonso will have some outstanding results, but no wins. Ocon will be closer than Vandoorne was.

- Vettel's year won't be as good as hoped. He will outscore Stroll, but not much more than that. Aston Martin finish behind Alpine and Ferrari, which is a disappointment, as the car will seem faster than that.

 

Surprisingly accurate.

Edited by ARTGP, 12 December 2021 - 18:38.

[jAnO76]

Surprisingly accurate.

Green man is an anagram of nostradamus