FIA Formula One Championship ~ 2013
Not long to wait now so pull that clutch in and get ready to anticipate the lights because here are a few of my pre-season thoughts on some of the teams and drivers...
This year is going to be interesting for sure. Bearing in mind all the cars are developments of last years items then I would expect the performance levels to be nigh on identical for those drivers who have kept their drives. So I expect Seb and Mark will be as competitive in their Red Bulls as they were last season. I think Nico will show Lewis the way at Mercedes, at least until mid-season, but I don't expect either driver to be challenging for the title towards the end. Lotus will either be near the front of the pack, crying over spilt engine parts and oil or in the gravel. Both of the world titles will elude Lotus this year, they are just not consistent enough as yet.
How the Mclaren pairing of Peres and Button will perform in 2013 is anybodies guess. It could go either way I feel. My hope is that Jenson wakes up from the coma he has been in for a good few months and finally realises that he has a career and seat to protect. When he is on form Jenson is is a joy to watch, remember Canada two season ago when he hounded Vettel off the road to win the Canadian GP? That was a masterful performance and then he went to sleep for 2012. Obviously all that effort was a bit much for him. I am being a little harsh because I like Jenson as a person and rate him as a driver, but I can't help feeling he is finding things just a bit too comfortable at McLaren and has reserved his pool-side lounger where he is planning to see out the rest of his career with a big, fat paycheck. Who know's, perhaps the insertion of a team mate with some real talent and hunger might shake him up a bit.
Ferrari could be the big winners this year though. The team worked hard to turn a pig of a car into something that at least performed well enough to ankle-bite the leaders towards the end of 2012 in the hands of Alonso's prodigious talent and judgement. Now I am on record at various F1 forums for stating that I do not like Alonso, he is a Primadonna and a cry baby to boot. His behaviour at McLaren would have had me throwing him out of the sport had I been in charge, however I respect the guys talent and his performances in the pug ugly 2012 Ferrari were nothing short of epic and he deserved to win the drivers title in my opinion. Not that I begrudge Seb winning it, it is just that Alonso accrued enough points in half the time to be challenging for the title which deserves much recognition in my book.
I do hope that Williams continue to improve this year. They have a good chassis and engine now, and when Maldonado isn't spearing into other cars from all sorts of interesting angles he has demonstrated great talent. I think Frank Williams made a big mistake letting Senna go. Although Senna was disappointing in qualifying he was achieving consistent results in the races and just needed a little more time to develop in my opinion, however Valtteri Bottas will be playing Mutley to Maldonado's Dick Dastardly this season.
And where will Sauber be this year? Nowhere I predict, as they let one of the best driver line ups they have ever had slip through their fingers, a driver pairing that promised big things for the future. Silly Sauber...
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Originally Posted by Audioman
