137 replies to this topic

[Red5ive]

Verstappen - WDC for the final time.

Norris and Piastri spend the year taking points off each other due to "Papaya Rules"

McLaren win the WCC again

Ferrari do a Ferrari and manage to not win either championship whilst having the fastest, most consistent car.

Leclerc beats Hamilton easily

Hamilton retires at the end of the season

Alonso retires at the end of the season

Russell beats Antonelli and everyone decide KImi wasnt the special one after all.

Doohan dropped pretty quickly in favour of Colapinto - who also does badly.

Lawson destroyed by Verstappen and exits F1 never to be seen again.

Bearman and Bortoleto do okay - nothing spectacular but enough to retain their seats.

Sainz beats Albon but scores only a single figure of points.

[cyclist]

- Mclaren overplay their hand with the new car, which is a bit of a diva much like the RB20 – occasionally very fast, but often troublesome to get into the window.

- Despite this, Piastri wins the opening race with Lando only 4th, already putting pressure on Norris, who has a disappointing campaign.

- Ferrari has the best car in qualifying, with Charles clearly beating Lewis and getting the most poles

- The Ferrari is a bit of a nightmare on it's tires though, which Lewis handles much better than Charles, which leads to painful situations in the races with Lewis having to overtake Leclerc

- The 2 Ferrari drivers take quite a few points off eachother and the atmosphere gets quite tense. This benefits the Mclaren and Red Bull teams

- The Red Bull car is more docile than the RB20, but not the fastest car, again only 3rd in the order.

- Max makes the most of the situation again and consistently scores podiums and some wins

- Mercedes is the 4th team again, with occasional highlights.

- Antonelli proves to be fast, but makes a lot of mistakes. He lucks into a podium in the 2nd race, only for him to have crashes in the following three races.

- Russell feels the pressure of a potential Verstappen move as well as Antonellis pace and decides to shop around for a seat mid season, ending up at Alpine.

- The WDC fight goes to the last race between Verstappen, Lewis, Piastri and Leclerc. Verstappen wins and leaves for Aston Martin.

- Wolff needs a new driver next to Antonelli now that Verstappen is moving to AM and Russell leaving, and end up buying out Bortoletos contract.

- Sainz can pick between Red Bull or Mercedes, and decides to go to Red Bull for fear of Antonelli

- Aston Martin make a jump in the order with Alonso, getting an occasional podium and a win.

- Stroll otoh is disappointing again, and to make room for Verstappen, he is "promoted" to the Hypercar team at the end of the season.

- Alpine fight with AM for 5th in the WDC with Gasly. The 2nd seat changes at least 2 times in the season.

- Williams build a decent car, and are in a consistent midfield fight with Sauber and Haas. All of these 3 teams get a podium once in the season.

- Sainz gets some highlight results and benfits from the chaotic driver market to go to Red Bull.

- The VCARB is the slowest car. Hadjar is decent, but Tsunoda starts making lots of errors again and is replaced before the end of the season by Lindblad.

- Best rookies are Antonelli and Bortoleto, both getting on the podium at least once.

 

So all in all a bit of a 2024 part 2 with some added flavors

Edited by cyclist, 03 January 2025 - 15:08.

[IrvTheSwerve]

I'm going to be really boring, in a good way - and say that I have absolutely no idea how this season is going to pan out.

 

McLaren may carry on in the same vein and win both WDC and WCC...they may have a poor start again and we see a repeat of 2024.

 

Ferrari may absolutely dominate with their new driver pairing, they may disappoint with their drivers languishing in the mid-points places, with Lewis getting frustrated at the move.

 

RedBull - no idea - they may once again produce a great car over the winter, with Max gunning for a title again...or he may be struggling to scrap for wins here or there.

 

Mercedes - totally unknown how Antonelli will do, he may be the second coming as many have mooted, or may crumble under the pressure. George may or may not get the better of him, who knows.

 

I'm expecting Sainz to perform well in the Williams and have the measure of Albon. I feel all of the other teams will be a bit 'meh', being fairly close as they were last year. Alonso may well get fed up at AM if he's uncompetitive again.

 

I don't think I've been so clueless/excited about an upcoming season - I hope that I'm not setting myself up to fail if the season ends up being total boredom!

[jonklug]

1. Verstappen to win more races in 2025 than he did in 2024.
2. Carlos Sainz to score a podium in a Williams.
3. Antonelli will start super slow but match or even be faster than Russell in the 2nd part of the season.
4. McLaren to have another part banned/removed and fall down the order.
5. Ferrari winning a single race - with Lewis Hamilton.

[juicy sushi]

1. Hamilton gets straight up beat by Leclerc.

2. Piastri and Norris have some clash which is turned into a major thing by a media desperate for another Senna/Prost feud.

3. Porsche wins the WEC Manufacturers title and Le Mans, but Ferrari win the Driver's title and the most races.

4. McLaughlin wins the Indycar title in a tight battle with Palou.  

5. Pato wins the 500.  Indycar fumbles the moment.

[markpenske]

Going out on a limb here but here is my 2025 prediction:

Max gets angry at team, teammate, media and competitors.

[Risil]

5. Pato wins the 500.  Indycar fumbles the moment.

 

Nailed on

[IrvTheSwerve]

Lewis wins his 8th WDC for Ferrari...at Abu Dhabi

 

Title fight goes down to the wire between Lewis and Max - Max currently leading Abu Dhabi when the race director is taken ill...a couple of laps later a safety car comes out and a song blasts through the PA system around the circuit:

 

 

Michael Masi enters race control smashing all the assistants over the head with steel chairs and furiously starts to type 'all lapped cars may overtake' into the message system, putting Lewis behind Max with a couple of laps to go.

 

Lewis wins the race and title and unexpectedly belts out the Italian national anthem in perfect Italian, much to the crowd's disbelief. 

[PlatenGlass]

Charles Leclerc confirms his position as the greatest qualifier for a generation with a couple of impressive pole positions out of the 24-race season, only one of which was the result of a red flag. He might even be marginally up in the head-to-head against Hamilton if anyone looked at that as well. But they don't need to.

Lawson struggles against Verstappen, and like Perez, Albon and Gasly, it's because he was a terrible driver all along. When news drops that he might be sacked, Tsunoda and Hadjar, level on points, collide on track, and each demands a 10-second stop/go penalty, for himself...

Antonelli finishes an impressive 6th in his debut year, within 50 points of Russell, meaning that he's clearly too good for F1 now, and an even better championship is invented to promote him into for 2026 where he will be the only contender. Meanwhile Bortoleto fights it out for the championship, but no-one notices.

Hulkenberg finally takes his first podium but he's told in no uncertain terms that fixtures and fittings are not to be removed.

Newey starts to work his magic at Aston Martin, and Alonso scores a late win, ready for a title bid next year at the age of 57. But the residual effects of Newey from previous seasons are still clearly being felt at his old team, allowing the title to go to Carlos Sainz at Williams.

However, McLaren comfortably take the constructors' title again, with its drivers 9th and 10th in the standings. Mathematicians spend years working out how that was actually possible.

Edited by PlatenGlass, 03 January 2025 - 23:14.

[flymo]

1. Deluge conditions at Suzuka convince schedule makers that the spring date was a dumb idea.

2. Deluge conditions induce unprecedented number of overtakes during the Monaco Grand Prix (4) as Ocon punts off Bearman.

3. Deluge conditions at Spa surprise nobody.

4. Deluge conditions at Bahrain bring shock all-rookie podium. 

5. Max Verstappen announces team move for 2026.

6. Audi pulls out citing lack of BOP concessions.

7. Fernando re-discovers six tenths and blitzes WDC before announcing retirement.

8. Lewis enjoys life in Italia, retires and opens fashion studio.

[BRG]

In a shock development, Sir Lewis Hamilton, having been fired by Ferrari for daring to go faster than degenerational talent Leclerc, moves to Croydon to open a vegan pasta restaurant in partnership with William Storey, the Rich Energy CEO, who invests enough cans of energy drink to last nearly a whole hour. 

 

In a surprise move, Croydon Council offer Sir Lewis the newly created post of Lord Mayor of Croydon entitling him to drive a flock of goats over the A23 flyover.

[Frood]

All the rookies, even Doohan, are close to their team-mates. Antonelli is on Russell’s pace almost immediately, and gets a string of good results straight away. Bortoleto is also right on Hülkenberg’s case, who is found to have been coasting against Magnussen and has a much tougher time in 2025.

Also defying expectations, Albon consistently stays level with Sainz.

Lawson isn’t particularly close to Verstappen, but still looks better than Pérez did in 2024, despite the Red Bull being worse. Gets sacked anyway.

Tsunoda gets a podium and tells Horner and Marko to **** off in his parc fermé interview. Gets sacked.

Lewis forgets he’s at Ferrari and tries to stop in the Mercedes box a couple of times early on. Also puts out an early decree that “we are checking” is banned from the team radio. Ferrari is fast, but Leclerc loses the championship because Ferrari forget he exists in a late-season race and go radio silent.

Max hits his penalty points limit and gets a one-race ban. Tells MBS to **** off in parc fermé interview. Gets sent to Antarctica for his community service.

Hadjar is the only Red Bull driver left by this point. He can’t carry both teams single-handedly and spontaneously combusts through anger. Gets sacked.

Red Bull try to get special dispensation to run Lindblad, but are denied. With nowhere to turn, they have to bring back Vergne, Buemi, Kvyat, and Hartley. Iwasa leaves Red Bull because they forgot about him.

[PayasYouRace]

Threads merged. Please use the forum search prior to starting a new thread, just in case the topic is already being discussed.

[CPR]

It might be worth keeping this thread as a season long WCC and WDC discussion thread - predictions and analysis of pecking order and final victors, turning points in the championships and general discussions of the main protagonists in the fights. I think it would be hard to separate the two championships so one thread seems better to me.

 

Thoughts?

Edited by CPR, 18 January 2025 - 19:19.

[sladealonso]

It might be worth keeping this thread as a season long WCC and WDC discussion thread - predictions and analysis of pecking order and final victors, turning points in the championships and general discussions of the main protagonists in the fights. I think it would be hard to separate the two championships so one thread seems better to me.

 

Thoughts?

I think it sounds like a good idea. Always potential to spiral out of control with tangents and mud-slinging if I was to play Devil's advocate.

[RainyAfterlifeDaylight]

George Russell to become world champion!

 

Pecking order:

• Mercedes
• Ferrari vs McLaren
• AstonMartin
• RedBull
• HAAS
• Alpine vs Williams
• RB
• Sauber

Ok, Test is done and smoked! Shall we?

 

My new pecking order:

• Mercedes vs McLaren vs RedBull
• Ferrari
• Alpine vs Williams
• HAAS vs AstonMartin
• RB
• Sauber

Edited by RainyAfterlifeDaylight, 28 February 2025 - 18:58.

[pup]

I think at the front things will mostly pick up where they left off; with McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull trading poles and wins. Then development through the season favoring McLaren and Ferrari.

Within those teams, Lewis and Leclerc very close throughout, Antonelli outshines Russel, Verstappen murdering whoever is willing to sit next to him. Lando has the wind to his back and it will show, but Piastri will perhaps outshine him in the end.

Elsewhere, Newey will make little impression at Aston; Alpine continue their slide into oblivion; Williams continue their midfield rise; and Haas, RB and Sauber will continue to show up.

 

Basically unchanged except I'll put a starting order to the top 4:  McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari. 

 

McLaren showed good pace with a remarkable lack of tire deg.  Their only potential hiccups being an unsteady rear end (which Lando complained about but Stella wrote off as track specific).  Perhaps the other teams could hope for some temperature sensitivity or something?

 

Red Bull quick, but with question marks.  Seemed like they struggled to find gains over the winter and so stretched development out to the last minute before rushing the car together.  I think they're struggling with lost personnel and if so, it will just get worse as the season unfolds.

 

Mercedes seemed together but just not quick enough.

 

Ferrari seem like they went backwards with the new suspension, but perhaps they just need the right setup or small tweaks to unlock its potential.

 

I suspect that if McLaren are considerably ahead, everyone will develop until Barcelona and if no one catches up, that's the order as everyone switches development to next year.  I'd gamble that will be the case, so Lando WDC, McLaren WCC.

Edited by pup, 28 February 2025 - 21:15.

[Rabbit]

• World Drivers Champion - Verstappen
• World Constructors Champion - Ferrari
• Gasly - Podium.
• Antonelli - Podium.
• Leclerc better of the two Ferrari drivers.
• Aston Martin to have another sub-par season.
• Haas falling back from this year points wise.
• RB falling back from this year points wise,
• Sauber/Audi what ever they chose to call themselves will score points in more that 7 races.
• Norris the better of the two McLaren drivers in points.

Want to put money on this prediction? 😭😂😂

[kumo7]

1. Norris to become WDC, 2-Piastri, then 3-LeClerk, 4-Russel, 5-Lewis, 6-Max, 7-Antonelli, 8-Tsunoda, 9-Gasley, 10-Alonso, 11-Hulkenberg, 12-Sainz, 13-Stroll, 14-Ocon, 15-Albon, 16-Bearman, 17-Lawson, 18-Doorhan, 19-Bortoleto, 20-Hadjar.

2. McLaren WCC, 2-Ferrari, 3-Mercedes, 4-Red Bull, 5-Alpine, 6-Haas, 7-VCARB, 8-Williams, 9-Aston Martin, 10-Sauber.

3. Lots of talks about Lewis.

4. MBS gone.

5. PU reg change due Red Bull complain on 2026 rule. 

6. Huge protest from RedBull on McLaren rear suspension.

7. Max to crash more cars than he ever did in his all racing. seasons.

8. Max to Aston move becomes more and more serious. 

9. Lance to move to WRC.

10. Disputes on GM.

[RedKloud]

From my post in the 2025 WDC thread:
McLaren will probably be fastest at the beginning of the season only to lose their way after a few races. I expect Ferrari to be the fastest car over the whole season and Leclerc to beat Hamilton after a close fight. Red Bull will be 3rd/4th fastest and Max will either jump ship or retire at the end of 2025.

Also:
Bortoleto will be a revelation.

 

No changes after testing.

[Nemo1965]

Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes will have a dogfight, and now and then even Williams will join the party, all the teammates will be fighting each other like mad, after 20 races we will have 12 different winners and 16 drivers will have regular hissyfits. At the end of the season Max Verstappen will be world-champion a la Niki Lauda in 1977 or Fittipaldi in 1974 or Rosberg in 1982... because he's always there or whereabouts. 

[oli4]

• Red Bull know that the Ford engine is crap and will put everything on Max his 5th knowing 2026 is going to suck anyway: Max WDC
• Ferrari take the WCC
• Doohan will do better then expected.
• Lawson will not be destroyed by Max
• Announcement that Max will replace George at Mercedes for 2026
• Aston Martin will be terrible and go for 2026 very early

[Alfisti]

It should be remembered that the calendar has changed and so has Albert park. There's far more street circuits and fast tracks now, and Albert park is much, much faster than it was.. I don't think it's the outlier it once was anymore.

[KWSN - DSM]

Want to put money on this prediction?

 

Only one I would change is the Sauber points scoring, all other I am good with - Can not place a parlay like that on my gambling app, so not placing any money on it, I would if I could.

[eibyyz]

1. Deluge conditions at Suzuka convince schedule makers that the spring date was a dumb idea.

2. Deluge conditions induce unprecedented number of overtakes during the Monaco Grand Prix (4) as Ocon punts off Bearman.

3. Deluge conditions at Spa surprise nobody.

4. Deluge conditions at Bahrain bring shock all-rookie podium. 

5. Max Verstappen announces team move for 2026.

6. Audi pulls out citing lack of BOP concessions.

7. Fernando re-discovers six tenths and blitzes WDC before announcing retirement.

8. Lewis enjoys life in Italia, retires and opens fashion studio.

 

In that spirit, 7C air temperature at COTA, with sleet.

[FLB]

1. Somebody who isn't visible yet will run for FIA President.

 

Ready to change it.

 

The not-so-visible person will be Susie Wolff. According to an Autosprint article this week (cited by Formula Passion), the reason for Ben Sulayem's inquiry of her and her husband last year was to undermine her credibility, because she's mounting a challenge for the Presidency: Retroscena: perché Sulayem accusò Susie Wolff? Ecco la verità - News - Formula 1 (in italiano)

 

FIA 'launches investigation' into F1 boss after team complaints - GPFans.com

[MortenF1]

Was looking for a dedicated «testing is over, make your predictions-thread» but I guess this the only one.

McLaren continues to have the best/fastest car, and I think they’ll be wise enough to grab this chance to clinch both titles, with both hands. They had a very good test and tried several aero-parts and I’m not sure so many others brought several wings?
I think Norris will be WDC, but I’m not so sure about them getting the constructors title again.

Ferrari will be in close contention for the constructors championship, as they have the best driver line up, but at least now right after testing, I’m not at all sure they will be second fastest even. The season is so long now so who knows how it’ll be after each quarter of the season!
I think Hamilton will just about score more points than Leclerc.

Mercedes third in the championship but maybe fourth in the pecking order? Russell will beat Antonelli quite convincingly, but the rookie will not make a fool of himself. He’ll show why he was signed.

Red Bull fourth I think. It seems «everyone» has McLaren top, but it’s hard to decide between the obvious next three.
Verstappen carries the team of course, and Lawson takes something like the first fourth of the season before he performs noteworthy better than Perez.

Williams and Alpine next up. I think Alpine at least at first, will have the faster car. In most “normal” qualifying session the top 4 spots is occupied by McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, and the last two positions will be fought out between Sainz and Gasly.
Williams are the more sensible team so should beat Alpine to fifth I think.

Close between Aston Martin, Haas and Racing Bulls. I think Aston will come out last in this bunch actually, unless Newey sees some obvious fixes that won’t cost too much. Then they’ll be implemented.
Haas are a little weakened from the loss of Hülkenberg, and I’m unsure about Hadjar, and Tsunoda is very hot and cold himself. Maybe Alonso will carry his team to seventh? Seems a very tall order. Aston finished fifth last year, but ended the season as eight or ninth fastest probably.

I feel sorry for Hülkenberg, but he signed with the hope that they’ll do something in ‘26 as Audi.
Stake will be last but the Hülk will of course show his brilliance every now and then, but it’ll be extremely hard to score the occasional point.

Edited by MortenF1, 05 March 2025 - 21:09.

[nivoglibina]

Mclaren starts the season with a big margin over the next three teams.

As a result they all give up on 2025 early, and we get a very dull wdc "fight".

[noikeee]

My gut feeling is Mercedes will be the closest McLaren challenger, with Russell making an outside bid for the championship but Lando claiming it.

 

McLaren being already ahead at this stage is bad news. Because the recent trend over the last few seasons is they get even faster as the year goes by.

 

Ferrari are never quite as good as they seem in testing. They'll be fighting with Max behind Russell and then the pendulum will swing many ways throughout the season because the field is close.

 

Antonelli will be fast but ragged, Lawson won't be able to do jack **** with the 4th best car, tricky to drive on top of it.

Edited by noikeee, 05 March 2025 - 23:22.

[TomNokoe]

I will take a leaf out of Morten's book and also give my pre-season thoughts.

McLaren start as favourites for the drivers and constructors. They have clear momentum and direction that is lacking in the other top teams. I suspect Norris will retain his edge on Piastri, but he needs to toughen up against the rest of his rivals.

It feels very uncertain at Ferrari. Heavily revised car and a new team dynamic. The big, big positive is that Hamilton really has settled in well. They have a solid history of revising troublesome cars, think early 2015, early 2018, 2019 mid season, 2023 mid season, 2024 mid season. Even if they start on the back foot, they should grow into the year. Calm heads needed.

Mercedes are the big wildcard and impressed me in testing. Russell's comments about how thorough they've been with the 25 car bode well, imo. I think they will be very quick and will shed the inconsistency that has plagued them the last three years. I am certain Antonelli will win races, although driver lineup on the whole maybe not quite enough to push for the constructors.

I don't buy the doom and gloom at Red Bull. Maybe I'm putting too much faith on Verstappen's shoulders, but I think he will be right there again. Perhaps the sheer magnitude of having to fight three strong teams will be too much and thus see him fade from any championship challenge, but you absolutely cannot dismiss him. Lawson is a fighter and won't spiral like Perez. Would be nice if he could ruffle Max's feathers.

I'm backing Williams in the midfield. Their driver lineup is wholly superior to Alpine, as is their race operations. Really interested to see Sainz and Albon push eachother on. On the other hand, I can't get excited about Gasly for some reason, I don't know why. Rooting for Doohan.

In the next mini group I'm backing Haas, for similar reasons. A strong driver line up and great leadership from Komatsu. They may even join the fight for P5 WCC. I hope Ocon reminds everyone just how good he is.

Alonso will no doubt drag the Aston up the grid, but it doesn't look good otherwise. Stroll an irrelevance.

I like Hadjar at Racing Bulls and suspect he will put the final nail in Yuki's Red Bull coffin.

Expecting very little from Sauber and particularly Bortoleto. His main strength seems to be finishing races without incident, which should serve him well at least. Sad to lose Hulkenberg from the midfield.

[vlado]

The gaps will be different but this is likely the pecking order

[Claudius]

McLaren will drive away and Lando will take the title. Probably WCC as well.

Ferrari second best on most tracks, Lec clearly ahead vs his teammate. Same picture as Russell/Ham (I could be very wrong though)

Red Bull falling behind, Max getting a few wins. Getting more frustrated as the season progresses. 

Merc take a step up, second or third best car depending on circuits. Antonelli starting slow and making mistakes. Getting more stable by the end of the year. 

Sainz having a podium, Albon way behind.

Aston Martin staying the same ie going back slowly. Alonso frustrated, his future undecided.

Tsunodas last year in the team

Alpine will deliver at least one surprise during the season.

Hulk still no podium.

 

 

 

[1player]

The amount of McLaren hype brings a tear to my eye, as well as makes me terribly afraid. Please don't f this up lads

[PlatenGlass]

Lawson struggles against Verstappen, and like Perez, Albon and Gasly, it's because he was a terrible driver all along. When news drops that he might be sacked, Tsunoda and Hadjar, level on points, collide on track, and each demands a 10-second stop/go penalty, for himself...

 

Tsunoda has obviously been caught napping with this one, not realising that the swap would happen so early in the season. Hadjar was very clever with what he did in Australia.

[Anderis]

My gut feeling is Mercedes will be the closest McLaren challenger, with Russell making an outside bid for the championship but Lando claiming it.

 

McLaren being already ahead at this stage is bad news. Because the recent trend over the last few seasons is they get even faster as the year goes by.

 

Ferrari are never quite as good as they seem in testing. They'll be fighting with Max behind Russell and then the pendulum will swing many ways throughout the season because the field is close.

 

Antonelli will be fast but ragged, Lawson won't be able to do jack **** with the 4th best car, tricky to drive on top of it.

Going by what we have seen in the first 2 races, this is one of the best predictions in this thread.

 

I would give you an informal award but it was not your only prediction posted here. It's always easier to be right when making multiple predictions.

[noikeee]

Going by what we have seen in the first 2 races, this is one of the best predictions in this thread.

 

I would give you an informal award but it was not your only prediction posted here. It's always easier to be right when making multiple predictions.

 

I'm not even sure on the whole part you quoted, Antonelli looked good in Australia in terms of race pace but not at all in China where he was quite slow, that was a little concerning. Thanks, though. 

Edited by noikeee, 28 March 2025 - 22:29.

[Anderis]

I'm not even sure on the whole part you quoted, Antonelli looked good in Australia in terms of race pace but not at all in China where he was quite slow, that was a little concerning. Thanks, though. 

It's not 100% correct but for such a long post, it's right or about right in a surprisingly high percentage, at least if we go by what happened in the first 2 races because by mid season things may be looking different.

[Sterzo]

Only someone evil-minded would look back at a predictions thread part way through the season, just for the fun of it, so here goes:

• Albon has been found out.
• Antonelli was promoted too soon and has sunk without trace.
• Red Bull is hopeless because of the idiots in charge.