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F1 2013 Season Discussion Thread


jimufctna24

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So what is everybody's thoughts on the forthcoming F1 season.

 

As a Lewis fan, I am not exactly positive he will be in the mix. I see a lot of 7th and 8th places for him and maybe a odd podium. He may have a chance in China and Canada, as Mercedes are mega strong in China the past few years and Lewis is always good in Canada.

 

Testing shows that the top 4 teams are all very strong, Button maybe a dark horse this year if he gets his mojo back. After being fantastic in 2011, he was really shown up by Lewis last year, more than the points gap would suggest. Button should beat Perez this year at least and if McLaren have tightened up mistakes and reliability, he may have a chance.

 

Lotus looked pretty good in Jerez testing, but Ted Kraviz believes they are always strong their and further testing could show they have not improved as much as the Jerez test would suggest.

 

Ferrari and Red Bull should be on top. I think the safe money is with Vettel winning number 4. Alonso for my money is better than Vettel (as is Lewis) but Vettel is good enough to comeback from the odd duff Weekend Red Bull may have, and consistent enough to soundly beat Webber. I have more faith in Red Bull being stronger on more weekends than Ferrari this year, as Newey and co proved last year they can adjust after a bad weekend and come back very strong. Despite Alonso being fantastic last year, Ferrari gave him a car that was not up too scratch on too many weekends last year, towards the end of the season especially.

 

I am lucky to have SKY with them having the first two races live, BBC first live race is the 3rd one in. I am glad it is back on my screen, and at least this year when Lewis retires it will not be when he is winning.

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I'm sure Button will be strong with them building the car around him.

 

I'm hoping the rumours of a an under-developed RB are true, so that at least the first half of the season is unpredictable.

 

I do hold out a bit of hope for Hamilton. I class him up there with Alonso as someone who can drag the absolute best out of a car but, like you said, he might well just look good on tracks where he or the Merc have historically looked good. I'd add Monaco to that list. If Schumi could get pole last year, I don't doubt that Hamilton can manage it.

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Good points, I forgot about Monaco/Mercedes and the Button point about the car being developed around him

 

I have not heard about the Red Bull being under-developed, but I hope it is. In terms of consistently getting points, Kimi was top notch last year. I hope he can turn some of those finishes to more wins this year. Romain maybe one to watch as well if Lotus are strong.

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I think Hamilton will win a grand prix, but possibly not more than one.

 

Like Coco, I reckon Button will be stronger this year; he was having some MASSIVE tyre degradation issues for a large part of last year, which is unlike him, and it took too long for them to work out why.

 

I think the championship will be a battle between Alonso, Vettel and Raikonnen and I fancy Alonso to pip it if he's given even a half-decent car this year.

 

Can't wait!

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I have not heard about the Red Bull being under-developed, but I hope it is.

It's all down to them spending so much time towards the end of last season still developing the current car. If it's true, I'm sure they'll catch up at some point but it would be nice if they didn't start too strongly. There's also the banning of double-drs and the limiting of DRS in practise and quali to the DRS zones to consider. Most of their gains towards the end of last year were in exploiting double-drs in quali. That's not going to happen this year.

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Makes sense Coco.

 

Red Bull were slow off the mark last year if I recall right. I think the early stages are always the most unpredictable, I mean Rosberg and Pastor won races in the early stages last year. Webber also won races in the mid way point, but as he is prone to do faded away as the season went on.

 

I have heard the DRS point, should make things more interesting. Like, Loki I cannot wait, 2014 is going to be madness with the new regulations but this year has enough about it where I am counting down the days.

 

As a Lewis and Kimi fan if Alonso was to win, I would still be happy. Same with Button. Vettel is a nice guy, but I cannot warm to Red Bull racing, they lack the heart of the other teams.

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Hoping for Alonso or Button to win this year.

 

I can't feel any affinity for Red Bull. I honestly don't think Vettel would have been in the same league as Alonso (if the cars were closer) last year...Plus he looks a bit like Chris Martin which just boosts my dislike of him.

 

If Ferrari can design a good car this year I can't look beyond Alonso, brilliant driver and I sometimes forget he has only won two championships. Hamilton will struggle barring a miraculous improvement of the Mercedes, they were achingly mid level last year and despite Hamilton being better than a 43 year old Schumacher, it's not going to bridge the gap unless the car is dramatically better than in 2012. Button is the dark horse for the championship in my view, if he can regain the form he had a couple of years ago (entirely possible with the added advantage of being the no.1 driver at McLaren) he will have a good shout.

 

If it's anywhere near as fun as last year, then it will be a treat to watch. Just don't win this year Vettel, please.

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I honestly don't think Vettel would have been in the same league as Alonso (if the cars were closer) last year...

It sounds harsh, but I agree. Vettel fans get very defensive about it, but I think Alonso is the most complete driver on the grid and Lewis is the fastest. Vettel for me would lose to both if the cars were equal and reliability was similar.

 

I know it sounds biased with Vettel winning 3 titles in a row, but from the races last year I really felt Lewis and Alonso were in a class of their own and although I do like him, I am not a massive Alonso fan.

 

The reliability problems Lewis faced last year were almost as bad as the ones Senna faced in 1989 or Kimi in 2005. Yes, I have been watching season reviews on SKY over the winter.

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Can I sneakily make the request that we make this the general motorsport thread for the year? Last year we had some good discussion going on about other events like WEC races, Indycar and the bikes. F1 dominates, but there's still some good stuff out there.

 

It's always difficult to read too much into what is actually happening during testing since the teams want to establish baseline set-ups with cars and try out race simulation runs, as well as getting to grips with the new tyres (pun intended). Of course, when you don't know what fuel levels the cars are on when they're setting their fastest laps, it makes things pretty tricky. Then again, the cars that are going around Spain at the moment are going to be completely different cars from the ones that roll out of the garages on Friday morning in Melbourne. It's the same as always, we won't know who has the fastest car on pure pace until maybe FP3 on Saturday morning, or even qualifying.

 

I think Red Bull admitted last season that they weren't where they wanted to be with this year's car because they'd been developing the 2012 car right until the very end, but the same can be said for most other teams. If I'm honest, provided they can get eight trouble-free days in the final two tests (or even have problems on one or two of those days), it shouldn't be a major problem for them in the early races.

 

Immediately, it seems clear Ferrari are in a much better position than they were last year. The car was missing two or three tenths on Saturdays and that hindered them on Sundays, even though their race pace was usually very very good. If they get that sorted, then Alonso could be looking good. My money is still on Vettel to make it four in a row because I feel they've got the consistency there and with Newey always scribbling away and coming up with some sort of innovative idea, you can't write them off. Again, Lotus look pretty decent and if they can be in a similar position to where they finished 2012, there's no reason to suggest that Kimi couldn't be in with a shot of winning the title again.

 

For Hamilton, it's pretty much a year of hoping for the best. Things *should* come good for the team in 2014 with the new rule changes if they've got their heads screwed on properly, so that's when he should be thinking of being able to regularly challenge for wins again. This year, I suspect we'll see a slightly different side to Hamilton. It'll definitely be a big learning experience for him but provided he doesn't get frustrated and start throwing the car around in anger when he's struggling to break into the Top 5 on race day, he'll come out of this year as a better driver. I don't write Nico off though...and I think they'll be a lot more evenly matched than most people are giving Nico credit for.

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Tom - You could search for the old general motor racing thread, but if you want to use this one that is fine by me. I enjoy your posts in these threads. Maybe best to ask the mods though as they are the ones with the authority.

 

I agree Nico should not be written off. I think Lewis will beat him, but with it being a new team for Lewis it could be very close. Also, I am not sure how good Nico is, he did match/outperform Grandad Schumi the past 3 years, but that is not a fair reflection of how good he actually is. Lewis has been in this situation before in 2009 and did perform okay that year. Other than 2011, I think he has been great every year since he debuted but I am a massive fan and therefore a tad biased.

 

If Kimi is fighting for the title, I will be a very happy man.

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I'm hoping Kimi or Alonso win the title this year but I get the feeling Vettel will take it. I can't see Button doing a lot to be honest, and I think over the season Perez might actually beat him as he gets to grips with the car and the team. Grosjean gets my pick as the dark horse if he can stay out of trouble, he is extremely quick. Hamilton is playing down his chances but I think he and Rosberg will both win races this season.

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