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[OriGinaL IceMaN]

Wow, what a season 2011 was! Action, controversy and above all, great racing! But now, with the arrival of Kimi Raikkonen on the 2012 grid, Formula 1 fans are eagerly anticipating a season with a probable 6 world champions on the grid. The question is however, with more world champions and pirelli's tyres reportedly getting even less durable, can we expect a season even better than the last, and will the trends of 2011 continue? You may not agree with them, but here are my predictions....

Red Bull:
A similar story next year i'm affraid, favourite for both championships im afraid. Fastest car on the grid (although I think it will be much tighter between the top 4 teams) and Sebastian Vettel destroying Mark Webber once again. I expect to see an improvement from Mark next year, although I think that even at his best he cannot live with the form that Seb has shown in 2011.

Championship Predictions:
Sebastian Vettel - 1st, 7 wins
Mark Webber - 3rd/4th, 1 or 2 wins
Red Bull - 1st


McLaren:
After a disappointing 2011, I think Hamilton will come back fighting, although it will once again be extremely close between him and Button. Several wins, and a couple on merit is what I predict, with Hamilton just edging Button.

Championship Predictions:
Jenson Button - 3rd/4th, 2 wins
Lewis Hamilton - 2nd/3rd, 4 wins
McLaren - 2nd


Ferrari:
With Alonso consistently outperforming his car in 2011, it would be a big surprise if he isn't in the hunt for the championship, if the car is competitive that is. Ultra motivated after 3 reletively uncompetitive years, Ferrari will have something to prove. Massa will do better, but will ultimately be demolished by Alonso, and with that so will his confidence, any of it that hasn't already. Several wins and a championship challenge is what I predict.

Championship Predictions:
Fernando Alonso - 2nd/3rd, 4 wins
Felipe Massa - 8th, 0 wins
Ferrari - 3rd


Mercedes:
I expect a more competive car next year, although not a race winning one. If this is the case then we will see Schumacher back to his best i'm sure of it, with Rosberg doing a great job again. Several podiums and a lot closer to the top 3 is what I predict.

Championship Predictions:
Michael Schumacher - 6th, 1 win (if he's lucky in a wet race)
Nico Rosberg - 7th, 0 wins but several podiums
Mercedes - 4th


Lotus:
Raikkonen will return more motivated than ever, although I doubt that will continue when he realises that his car cannot fight for wins, but then again he might surprise me. I suspect Petrov to join him in the other car, but if his performance are below the level that the team will expect then he will be replaced before the end of the season by Grosjean. A couple of podiums, at most, is what I expect.

Championship Predictions:
Kimi Raikkonen - 9th, 0 wins but another mega performance at Spa and a couple of podiums
Vitaly Petrov - 15th, 0 wins and replaced by Grosjean who does no better
Lotus - 5th/6th


Force India:
First of all I expect di resta to be partnered by hulkenberg, who will beat him depsite the fact that Paul has had an extra year of racing at the team. The car will be on a par with the Lotus in terms of pace and both drivers will be consistent point scorers.

Championship Predictions:
Paul Di Resta - 11th, 0 wins
Nico Hulkenberg - 10th, 0 wins
Force India - 5th/6th


Sauber:
Perez will prove he has what it takes to replace Massa at Ferrari for 2013, as he will consistently out perform Kobayashi, who will be replaced for the final few races by Gutierrez. A few point scoring positions, but nothing to write home about.

Championship predictions:
Kamui Kobayashi - 17th, 0 wins and replaced by Gutierrez
Sergio Perez - 13th, 0 wins
Sauber - 9th


Toro Rosso:
I expect the driver line up to be Alguersuari and Ricciardo as Buemi, for me, disappointed last season. They will continue from where they left of in 2011 and could surprise a few people. Watch out for them in 2012.

Championship predictions:
Jaime Alguersuari - 12th, 0 wins
Daniel RIcciardo - 14th, 0 wins
Toro Rosso - 7th


Williams:
Another year at the back although slightly more competitive than 2011. A few points for both Maldonado and Sutil, who I predict will driver there next season.

Championship predictions:
Pastor Maldonado - 19th, 0 wins
Adrian Sutil - 16th, 0 wins
Williams - 8th


Caterham/Marussia/HRT:
Let's be honest do point doing these LOL no points and no improvement from any of them. 10th, 11th and 12th in the ranking respectively, with HRT going bust at the dn of the year.


Some of these predictions may be wrong or you may not agree with them but hey, i've rushed throught this a little and this is just what I think but what about you guys......???????

[LewEngBridewell]

First off, welcome to the forum! Great thread to get the ball rolling! Hopefully, it should be buzzing over the winter.

Not sure really what to predict until the teams get testing again, with their new cars, but here are my "hopes" for next season.

* That things will be much closer at the sharp end... would love to see Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari have some close racing and a fierce championship battle. Maybe Mercedes can finally join them?

* That Raikkonen's come back goes well, and the team advances under the Lotus banner.

* That Williams elevates itself from the back of the midfield.

* That the new teams make some badly-needed progress. Just seeing Caterham mixing it up in the midfield will be pure joy.

There you go! I hope I'm not disappointed!

[Matt_1222]

hopefully the championship will be at least half decent in 2012 and Red Bull doesn't just whizz off again

[bud]

Losing the EBD will be the biggest factor I think. Teams are already experimenting ways in which to use exhaust gasses from the new regs.

[scotty]

Losing the EBD will be the biggest factor I think. Teams are already experimenting ways in which to use exhaust gasses from the new regs.

Agree 100%.

I think that it's impact was fairly clear to see at Silverstone but also towards the end of the season when some midfield teams sorted it and suddenly found a lot of pace - ie STR and Force India. It should really close up the field within the front and midfield packs (i still expect there to be a definite gap in performance), hopefully anyway. Red Bull and McLaren are supposedly going to lose out the most from this with, you would expect, Lotus to gain the most after they painted themselves into a corner in terms of development this season and lost out massively.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact the nose changes have, i would expect that some teams gain a lot by getting that more sorted.

One thing i daren't predict is whether Mercedes can close the gap or not...

I expect a much improved Williams now they're rid of the Cossie engine.

I also think that Caterham will be towards the tail end of the midfield (well, in that group) and getting the odd point. They weren't far off the pace by the end of 2011!

[killem2]

- Bernie passed away after Monaco.

- Kimi puts Lotus into the area of where toro ross is now firmly.

- Sutil put puts around in a virgin or hrt while nico and diresta are challenging Lotus and Merc

- Schumi is on new form and is challenging easy for 3rd.

- Button and lewis scrap it out like crazy on track

- Vettel is challenged more like in 2010.

[andrew]

Vettel Romps to title No. 3 (wahey!), Ferrari continue to fall backwards despite Massa finding new form and showing up Alonso at every race leading him to be fired as he upset on of Ferrari's majour bill payers, Schumacher gives Vettel a good chase for the championship, Whitmarsh continues to treat both drivers equally. Bouyed by his success in the French courts, Max Mosley wins the same case in Papua New Guinea thus reminding everyone of his exposure which everyone has forgotten about for the 3rd time. HRT and Virgin stop having their lap times measured with a sun dial and a Grandfather clock is now used - that's progress for you! Caterham/Lotus/Proton/Malaysia F1 or WhateverbrandTonyFernandesbuysnext F1 Racing Team score their first points.

[racechick]

- Bernie passed away after Monaco.

- Kimi puts Lotus into the area of where toro ross is now firmly.

- Sutil put puts around in a virgin or hrt while nico and diresta are challenging Lotus and Merc

- Schumi is on new form and is challenging easy for 3rd.

- Button and lewis scrap it out like crazy on track

- Vettel is challenged more like in 2010.

I love your first one ..Some of the others arent bad too.

Id want to see Senna back somewhere

And Sutil...I like Sutil

Generally it would be good to see closer racing where the drivers can make more of a difference. DRS used better instead of gifting overtakes to drivers and devaluing genuine ones. The cars closer on performance. Yeah I'll dream on, these arent predictions are they. I guess we'll get same old, same old.

[LewEngBridewell]

I'm sure DRS will be implemented better next season, after the lessons learned from 2011. You'd think so anyway.

[andrew]

This year was a learning year where DRS was concerned. Lessons should be learned on how to use DRS better but I honestly think it is such a bad idea that it can't be used better.

[LewEngBridewell]

Do you think we'll arrive one day at a stage when overtaking can be done properly without the need for things like DRS? Because without DRS, it's nigh on impossible, and with DRS, we run the risk of making it look too easy.

Can such a golden age arise? Or, more to the point, are we likely to see it arise?

[andrew]

It's happened before but I'm not so sure for the future.

Originally the cars were going to be completely changed for 2014 with new engine and aero reg’s which sounded like they would return the emphasis to mechanical grip rather than aero grip which should improve the possibility of overtaking without the need or artificial aides. Sadly the revisions to the aero part of the reg's were scaled back quite a bit so I can't see overtaking improving without aides like DRS and KERS. For proper overtaking, there needs to be more emphasis on driver skill rather than the aero design of the car. I honestly think that had today’s reg's have been applied in 1995, Schumacher (who at the time was undeniably the best driver in F1) would have struggled to get into the lead, if at all, of the Belgian GP so quickly and the win would have been nigh impossible due to the complex aero preventing overtaking. F1 in a way needs to go back in time but I can't see this happening as none of the major teams or the engine manufacturers will want to do this as I would imagine that it'll be seen as a step back rather than a step forward.

Overtaking has always been hard and has always been something that drivers should have to fight hard to accomplish, unless there is a faster driver/car out of position in which case it has always been easier, and it should remain as something that is difficult but DRS makes it far too easy. The number of overtaking manoeuvres this season is ridiculously high. If a happy medium can be found where DRS can still be used then I would be for it but I don't think it is possible to find a happy medium with a device than effectively strips an F1 car of a huge chunk of its downforce so it can breeze past the car in front.

[IceManpjn]

If Lewis can get back in the game....

Drivers Championship:
1) Sebastian Vettel - 8 wins, 14 total podiums
2) Lewis Hamilton - 5 wins, 14 podiums
3) Jenson Button - 3 wins, 10 podiums
4) Fernando Alonso - 3 wins, 9 podiums
5) Mark Webber - 1 win, 5 podiums
6) Felipe Massa - 0 wins, 2 podiums
7) Michael Schumacher - 0 wins, 2 podiums
8) Nico Rosberg - 0 wins, 1 podium
9) Kimi Räikkönen - 0 wins, 1 podium
(2 other 3rd place podium positions going to drivers other than these nine)

Constructors Championship:
1) Red Bull
2) McLaren
3) Ferrari
4) Mercedes
5) Lotus

- Kimi puts Lotus into the area of where toro ross is now firmly.

I'm not sure why Kimi would hurt the team like that. In 2011 Renault finished 5th in the constructors standings, while Toro Rosso was down in 8th. I don't know how Kimi would drop them down to 8th for next year. (Kimi isn't driving for the 2011 Lotus team, which will be Caterham in 2012, but rather will be driving for the new Lotus team which was Renault in 2011.)

[bud]

Losing the EBD will be the biggest factor I think. Teams are already experimenting ways in which to use exhaust gasses from the new regs.

Agree 100%.

I think that it's impact was fairly clear to see at Silverstone but also towards the end of the season when some midfield teams sorted it and suddenly found a lot of pace - ie STR and Force India. It should really close up the field within the front and midfield packs (i still expect there to be a definite gap in performance), hopefully anyway. Red Bull and McLaren are supposedly going to lose out the most from this with, you would expect, Lotus to gain the most after they painted themselves into a corner in terms of development this season and lost out massively.

It'll be interesting to see how much of an impact the nose changes have, i would expect that some teams gain a lot by getting that more sorted.

One thing i daren't predict is whether Mercedes can close the gap or not...

I expect a much improved Williams now they're rid of the Cossie engine.

I also think that Caterham will be towards the tail end of the midfield (well, in that group) and getting the odd point. They weren't far off the pace by the end of 2011!

Thing with silverstone is the teams cars we're designed around the EBD so taking it away showed how much the teams relied on it yes, but I don't think it's a fair comparison to 2012 form. The 2012 cars will be redesigned to sport the new regs so we will see if they can design their way around it or not. I saw some teams were pointing their exhaust to the rear wing now...

[Hammer278]

Do you think we'll arrive one day at a stage when overtaking can be done properly without the need for things like DRS? Because without DRS, it's nigh on impossible, and with DRS, we run the risk of making it look too easy.

Can such a golden age arise? Or, more to the point, are we likely to see it arise?

This is a trick question? You simply need to watch other racing series where there IS a lot of racing and then understand the mechanics of the cars which help create racing.

The fact that F1 is 'pinnacle' is also hurting the racing aspect, as cars are simply too efficient (mechanically and aerodynamically).

The solutions are plenty....get rid of mechanical grip/increase braking distance/etc though politics and marketing comes into question. If we decrease the speeds in F1, the gimmick of 'pinnacle' takes a further hit. We're already taking a hit with the stupid V6ers coming out in a couple of years already.