Your predictions for the 2010 F1 Season - Drivers

[Ed]

The 2010 season is about to start so let us see who you think will win the Drivers' Title this year.

Can Button make it two in a row at different teams ? Will Vettel better his result from 2009 and take the title ? Will Hamilton take the title back ? Can Alonso win a third title now that he seem to be in a competitve car ? And what about Michael Schumacher who returns to racing after a 3 year absence ?
Then there is Massa, Webber and Roserg who could also fight for it and could their be a surprise package this year from Renault or Sauber or Toro Rosso or even Force India ?

One thing is for sure, this season looks set to go down to the wire and more than just 2 drivers would be fighting for it.

Go ahead and vote then tell us who you voted for and why. You can also add your predicted top 5 drivers in 2008

Voting closes on the Friday of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

(The list above is sorted according the driver numbers in 2010. If there are any other drivers you want added to the poll let us know)

For reference, here are the top 12 Drivers in 2009 and their points:
1. Jenson Button - 95
2. Sebastian Vettel - 84
3. Rubens Barrichello - 77
4. Mark Webber - 69.5
5. Lewis Hamilton - 49
6. Kimi Raikkonen - 48 (not competing)
7. Nico Rosberg - 34.5
8. Jarno Trulli - 32.5
9. Fernando Alonso - 26
10. Timo Glock - 24
11. Felipe Massa - 22
12. Heikki Kovalainen - 22

Also vote for the team you think will win the 2010 F1 Constructors' Championship here


Predict the results of every race - Join the 10 'n' Pole Competition here

[JayVee]

Alonso will become a 3 time world champion this season. It isn't going to be easy but he is the strongest driver out there (mentaly). He already made his mark at Ferrari so Massa won't be a problem.

I suspect Hamilton and Vettel to be the closest to him and I hope Webber too, I don't expect much from Button, his championship reminds me of Mansell's

Even though Michael will obviously get PT at Mercede, I think Rosberg will surprise many and finish ahead of Michael

Kubica, Sutil and Buemi will do well and I think Kovalainen will too.

I suspect Kobayashi to have a few brilliant races but also a few bad crashes.

[Ed]

It seems that we are embarking on the best Formula 1 season in recent memory and the voting is showing it. Michael coming back, Alonso going to Ferrari with Massa, Hamilton and Button at McLaren and Vettel and Webber at Red Bull, its going to be a great year.

[Julian Mayo]

I have gone for Webbo based on the fact that there is little difference in the skills of the top 8 and :
he has the most to lose in F1,
His mental toughness is second to none i.e.racing with a burned butt, racing with half healed shoulder injury, etc, etc.
His future outside F1 is secured, and he can devote all his attention to the season, as long as he stays away from bloody bicycles.

[Jim Watt]

I hope Julian is right and the Webbo wins the WDC this year. But for that to happen something has to go really wrong with his team-mate --like getting hit in the head by a loose spring or something. And even if that SHOULD, by some miracle, happen, he'd still have to get round Fernando!

No. I voted for Fernando because he is obviously the most talented driver on the grid. And he's driving a Ferrari.

So. Unless they (the team) mess up as they have in the past for Felipe (forgetting to disconnect a hose... something they obviously CAN'T do this year, but they cans still fail to get the wheels on or pull the lollipop when someone's charging down the pit lane), he'll be able to out finesse Michael in the Merc, to out drive Lewis in the McLaren & out smart Sebastien in the Red Bull.

Nobody else will get close. In fact we may well have a year with all the podiums being monopolized by Ferrari, Red Bull, Merc and McLaren!

The season hasn't started and I already miss Kimi And poor little Felipe must REALLY be missing him!

Good Luck, Chaps & may your best man pick up some hardware this year!

Jim Watt

[cheetah]

Hi all,
I would like to Join ED and the rest of the enthusiasts on the Forums as ya'all seem to be a rather intersting group

I have been doing an detailed analysis of the Jerez practice sessions and adding my (totally subjective bias) have the following comments to make on the overall 14 days testing. I know, not all the sessions had the same opportunities but it all washes out as rather interesting.
Best time overall = Button for McLaren at 18.871
Best average time for both drivers = Button/Hamilton for McLaren 19.227

The TOP 6 DRIVERS :
Button - McLaren = 18.871
Kubica - Renault = 19.114 + 0.243
Kobayashi - BMW-Sauber = 19.188 + 0.317
Webber - Red Bull = 19.299 + 0.428
Hamilton - McLaren = 19.583 + 0.712
Liuzzi - Force India = 19.650 + 0.779

The TOP 6 Constructor averages for BOTH DRIVERS :
McLaren = 19.227
BMW-Sauber = 19.962
Force India = 19.915
Toro Rosso = 19.973
Red Bull = 20.252
Mercedes = 20.337
This set provides a first impression of where the Constructors Championship could finish up because of driver combinations and it is a LONG way from the Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes Lotus, Williams which is the vote at this particular moment. I reckon the season is going to be VERY, VERY interesting with many surprises.

To me the most dissappointing driver results (in order) were as follows:
( this includes my subjective expectations and shows my preferences )
Schumacher - 21.277 down 1.742 on best time and 0.552 on Rosberg.
Vettel - 21.203 down 2.332 on best time and 1.904 on Webber
Massa - 21.485 down 2.614 on best time and 1.370 on Alonso
Hamilton - 19.583 down 0.712 on both best time and his partner

The CLOSEST Driver pairings from the tests were:
Lotus = 0.051 ( Trulli and Kovalainen)
Toro Rosso = 0.107 (Alguesuari and Buemi)
Williams = 0.288 (Barrichello and Hulkenberg)
Force India = 0.530 (Liuzzi and Sutil)
Mercedes = 0.552 (Rosberg and Schumacher)
I think that this means even more eciting racing when we start to watch the Driver races within the major event.

I am pretty sad for USF1 hope they can pull out of there financial strife. Peter Windsor must be sooooooo dissappointed

IT IS GOING TO BE A WOW SEASON.

cheers for now,
Cheetah7

[Ed]

Thanks Cheetah7 for your comments and analysis. It is an interesting read.

I want to point out the following:

The pre-season testing so far took place in Valencia (3 days), Jerez (2 sessions totalling 8 days). The final test will take place in Barcelona from the 25th for 4 days.

As only 1 car per team is allowed, direct comparisons between drivers makes it very hard as there are simply too many factors to consider. Add to this, the weather has been more wet than dry making the lap times even harder to analyse.

You would also need to factor in reliability as a number of teams have a few issues in that area

I will post a summary on the pre-season testing thread that may help you with fine tuning your analysis

One thing I would agree with is that this season is set to be a very close and exciting one!

Once again welcome to our Forums and we hope to see you often

[JAZ2222]

I’m so pumped for the upcoming season!!! Obviously, we won’t know the true pecking order of the grid until the cars roll out in Bahrain, but I think it's fair to say the title will be won by a Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren or Ferrari driver. The driver line-ups of these four teams are of considerable interest.

Mercedes has recruited the most successful driver of all time, Michael Schumacher, to partner one of the truly untapped talents of the grid, Nico Rosberg. We all know what Schumacher is capable of, however he is 41 years old now, and certainly not at the peak of his powers. It will be fascinating to see who comes out on top. Schumacher’s natural talent and experience versus Rosberg’s youthful enthusiasm and raw speed. Heads or tails anyone?

Red Bull’s driver line-up of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber will be fighting each other for the number one status within the team. Though many will tell you Vettel should comfortably come out on top. One must remember Webber’s shocking build-up to last year where he broke his leg in a charity event. Due to this unfortunate incident Webber was unable to partake in much of the testing of the 2009 car, and was not fully fit until midway through the season. Now that Webber is injury free, and with a full winter of testing under his belt, the gap between these two drivers will dramatically decrease, and could even sway in Webber’s favour.

McLaren were able to recruit last year’s World Champion, Jenson Button, to partner 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. This will be the first time that two world champions will partner each other in the same team since Prost and Senna in the early 90’s. Hamilton is arguably the faster of the two, and his three year tenure at McLaren means he will have a better working partnership with the mechanics than the newly acquired Button. However, 2010 will see the inclusion of non-refuelling, meaning tyre deterioration will be a massive issue for the drivers. Button, widely regarded as the smoothest and kindest driver to his tyres, will benefit from this. Hamilton should consistently beat Button in qualifying, though Button should be stronger through the middle and ending parts of his tyre stints. Who will finish higher in season 2010? Only time will tell.

Ferrari have arguably the best driver pairing in season 2010, with two world championships and runner ups, as well as 32 wins between them, and both drivers under 30 years old, they have the opportunity to embark on a successful tenure at the Italian team. But who will prove faster this year? Now with Raikkonen racing rally cars and Schumacher in the twilight of his career, Alonso can stake his claim at being the best driver in Formula1. However Massa is no slouch, proving he has matured from the reckless youngster he was into a consistent grand prix winner. His experience of four years at Ferrari will work to his advantage. Alonso’s ability to adapt to his new team will be the difference between the two.

We will not have a clear indication of who will be challenging for this year’s title until round one. Though regardless of which team or teams are on top, with the closeness of the driver line-ups in the top four teams, we can be sure to have one of the closest and widely contested seasons ever. Strap yourselves in F1 supporters. We’re in for one hell of a ride in season 2010!!!

[F1greyhound]

Some interesting posts.

Re.the pre season testing I think it is fair to say you couldnt really take the times achieved as an absolute benchmark. No Team seems to dominate like BRAWN last year and with the new regulations there are so many question marks as never before.

As had been mentioned the top 4 Teams should be FERRARI, MCLAREN, MERCEDES(BRAWN ) and REDBULL. All these Teams have 2 pretty evenly matched drivers, and coping with the new situation(heavy car at the start, tyre wear etc.) will be of the essence.

FERRARI: FERNANDO is favoured by most and the arguments are good. Nothing wrong with him, just the old fact that FELIPE is still much better than most people think, he had been extremely close to MICHAEL and arguably fared better than KIMI in most of the races in the last 3 years. Plus FERNANDO looked somewhat distressed in the only season he had a close opponent in his team, more than MICHAEL ever did...

MCLAREN: LEWIS against JENSON will be a fantastic match and I believe that there is more to lose for LEWIS as expectations seem to be generally this is an easy task for him. It isn`t and the opportunity for JENSON to prove his critics wrong once again is massive. Agree with Jazzz that he may well be favoured by his ability to look after his tyres more than most...

MERCEDES: Actually BRAWN with better funding, the team can really build up on last years domination. Maybe not ideal with 2 new drivers but NICO has fully deserved the move to a leading contender and MICHAEL will renew a cooperation that had led to his 7 WDC`s...Hard to say who comes out on top but if MICHAEL is still at his best he gets the nod.

REDBULL: Maybe the easiest assesssment as I believe that SEBASTIAN is still improving and now has a real strong backing of the team and the fans. While MARK did great last year despite his injuries I cant see him beating the young super talent on merit.

A really open Championship with the WDC certainly coming from these 4 teams...

However, the impression of SAUBER was particularly good and they are the ones most likely to surprise...

Cheers & bring it on!!!

[cosicave]

Very interesting.

I am new to this forum, just finding my way around; but I'm amazed to see that so many people are expecting Schumacher to become World Champion!

I can only think that such votes were cast out of a sense of loyalty or that they expected him to have an advantage with team orders of some nature.

Schumacher's statistics are only part of the story.

I acknowledge his generosity in giving something back to the sport by making his very popular comeback. I also acknowledge his previous, above average ability. But he was shown the door by Alonso for two consecutive years, which many people feel led to his decision to quit.

Alonso has faced fierce competition ever since. In fact it is my opinion that the over all quality of the drivers on the grid is considerably higher now, than when Alonso won his two Championships. On top of all that, Schumacher is three years older. It is unfair to expect miracles from this guy, who previously had so many things in his favour.

Good luck to him. He needs it now more than ever...

[mlittle]

Very interesting.

I am new to this forum, just finding my way around; but I'm amazed to see that so many people are expecting Schumacher to become World Champion!

I can only think that such votes were cast out of a sense of loyalty or that they expected him to have an advantage with team orders of some nature.

Schumacher's statistics are only part of the story.

I acknowledge his generosity in giving something back to the sport by making his very popular comeback. I also acknowledge his previous, above average ability. But he was shown the door by Alonso for two consecutive years, which many people feel led to his decision to quit.

Alonso has faced fierce competition ever since. In fact it is my opinion that the over all quality of the drivers on the grid is considerably higher now, than when Alonso won his two Championships. On top of all that, Schumacher is three years older. It is unfair to expect miracles from this guy, who previously had so many things in his favour.

Good luck to him. He needs it now more than ever...

Welcome to the forums, Cosicave!

[cosicave]

Thanks mlittle.

I hope to learn and to be able to make the occasion, constructive contribution. Thanks.

[Julian Mayo]

Thanks mlittle.

I hope to learn and to be able to make the occasion, constructive contribution. Thanks.

Mate, that is scary.....most of us just slam in our egotistical opinions.........

[mlittle]

Thanks mlittle.

I hope to learn and to be able to make the occasion, constructive contribution. Thanks.

Mate, that is scary.....most of us just slam in our egotistical opinions.........

This is true.......the trick, my friend, is to make them sound constructive.......

Anyway, how's everything going, Julian?

[Julian Mayo]

And so on, sigh.