New F1 Season

[Bazile]

The F1 season is upon us ( wasn't that quick , eh ?)

It's obviously too early to have a good idea of how the teams have done over the interveining period ; but what's your guess / hope as to how you think , the various runners and riders will perform over the season ?

Please , if your'e not interested , then dont bother posting along the lines of
' cars going around in circles ' etc etc

[albaqwerty]

I'm afraid the thrill has been somewhat diluted with the TV overage split.

I'm hoping Jenson will come out tops this season.

[Frank97]

I'll go for a bold prediction, based on nothing,
1st Hamilton
2nd Vettal
3rd Alonso

I should add, that my ability to predict anything is diabolical!

[Bazile]

He was 2.3 seconds off the pace in practice and according to him the car has "quite a few weaknesses"

Sergio Perez says the car is "unpredictable" and "difficult to drive".

[Frank97]

Hamilton was 2.3 off the pace?

[Bazile]

Frank97 - do you mean for the race or the championship result .

Either way , that's a bold prediction for Hamilton

[Bazile]

No - my post was in response to albaqwerty .

Jensen is 2.3 seconds off the pace

[Frank97]

Overall, but I wouldn't put money on it!

[Bazile]

I think that Hamilton is hoping to do at Mercedes , what Shumacher did at Ferrari

[Frank97]

So do I Bazile.

[albaqwerty]

Thanks Bazile, 2.3 seconds is a long long time.

I think I'll keep my powder dry for predicting a winner.

[Mattk]

It is going to be a very open season. Nothing too much can be read into the practice sessions as teams use them for testing more than anything else.

I don't think Red Bull are as strong as the the recent sessions show. Ferrari will be up there from the get-go this year which will be ominous as Alonso pushed Vettel all the way last year in a car that was very much 2nd rate. Mercedes are much stronger than anyone would have thought with McClaren being much weaker.

As for this weekend don't write-off Williams as Maldonado was going really well until he hit his self-destruct button but I predict Alonso for the win and maybe a podium for Hamilton.

[excelsior-1]

i really hope that it will be a more even contest this year

it takes the joy out if it for me when one or two teams streak ahead and leave all the rest behind (don't like ferrari & alonso anyway)

[erin-x]

Fingers crossed it's Alonso's year! Seb stole it from him last year!

What about qualy being rained off?! I'm using twitter to keep up to date since I don't have Sky so if you have any info, please share!! :-)

[Mattk]

"I'm using twitter to keep up to date since I don't have Sky so if you have any info, please share!! :-)"

Qualifyng is live on the BBC.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Albert Park..1.Vettel..2.Button...3.Raikkonen

[erin-x]

It's just highlights, Matt...

[bibblebub]

qualifying takes place (for real) at 00:00GMT

[erin-x]

Not on the bbc though right?

[bibblebub]

live on Radio 5

[erin-x]

I knew that!