F1 Fanatic

I’m not sure who has the fastest car, but here’s my prediction of the Aus GP grid:

1. Hamilton
2. Grosjean
3. Rosberg
4. Alonso
5. Webber
6. Raikkonen
7. Vettel
8. Maldonado
9. Button
10. Massa
11. Di Resta
12. Perez
13. Sutil
14. Bottas
15. Hulkenburg
16. Ricciardo
17. Gutierrez
18. Vergne
19. Bianchi
20. Pic
21. Chilton
22. Van De Garde

I’m not necessarily sure the Merc is the fastest car, but I think Hamilton and Rosberg are great qualifiers, and they both seem very comfortable with the car so will be able to push it right to the limit.

For me, Red Bull are struggling a little. It’s been said many times that RB don’t run any lighter than 70kg in testing. Even if this is the case, and we assume that Rosberg had about 10kg when he did his lap, 60kg only counts for 2 seconds of the 2.384 gap between the 2.

Mclaren have a car that they are struggling to get “just right” in terms of set-up etc. and unfortunately for them, they have 2 drivers that need it to be “just right”.

The great thing is that as I went throug the grid, I was constantly thinking “maybe they should be higher”, but I couldn’t find anyone who I thought would drop down in their place, showing just how close it will hopefully be this season!

I think Melbourne will look like this:

1. Mercedes
2. Red Bull
3. McLaren
4. Ferrari
5. Lotus
6. Williams
7. Sauber
8. Force India
9. Torro Rosso
10. Marussia
11. Caterham

However, I expect things to settle down after 3 or 4 races and by the end of the season it should all look like this:

1. Red Bull
2. Ferrari
3. Mercedes
4. McLaren
5. Williams
6. Lotus
7. Sauber
8. Torro Rosso
9. Force India
10. Marussia
11. Caterham

I don’t know why but I think Lotus will be the ones caught off guard this year, since they are already a bit over-confident. That’s never a good sign. Williams look genuinely fast and I reckon they’ll get right in the mix once they manage to fully understand the tyres and once Bottas gets the hang of it. I expect Force India to take a blow in the midst of all the financial issues which will hinder their development programme in mid-season and I reckon Key’s Torro Rosso will take advantage. And Caterham are toast, for sure. Marussia look better on track for now and Bianchi will probably prove to be a much better choice than both Pic and Van Der Garde combined. I don’t expect any of these two to score a point though, unless one of the rookies decides to start a rampage and takes half the field out in St. Devote or La Source.

I’ll probably be dead wrong but…it’s for fun. :)