Help me win a steak!

[wkdtk]

That's right. A thick, juicy Ruth's Chris steak.
Myself and two friends have had this F1 Pool going for 4 years now. We each alternate in choosing drivers until we have the grid split into 3 groups.
We then add each groups WC scores and compare totals.

The winner at the end of the championship gets his meal paid for by the other 2. On that same night, the drivers for the next year are chosen... and here we are.

In the next few days, I will be going to eat my FREE steak (My first win in 4 years) and will be doing my best to get a streak going.

I would like to get a discussion going and put it in your capable hands to help me in ranking all individual drivers relative to each other as you see them finishing the championship.

This is a much harder task than it might appear.

-You will be setting loyalty to teams or favorite drivers aside (Some of my favorites are way down the list).

-You should take history into consideration (ie. McLaren will get their act together at some point in the season).

-Of course you must interpret pre season testing to the best of your ability.

- You must consider trends, both in team performance and driver career. (ie. Honda should be getting close to their first win and Michael isn't getting any younger)

There may be tactics involved. For example, if one of my opponents is given the chance to have both drivers in one team, I may have to swipe one of them in exchange for a higher ranked driver to avoid any surprises in case that team performs beyond expected. (ie. Last year I had both Renaults)

This is not about who is the best driver, or which team deserves to win. I got burned several times following my heart.

Every year there are major surprises in our pool, and the little guys end up deciding the end result. I've lost by less than 5 points on two occasions.

I would like to hear your opinions and comments on the rankings for next year. Tell me I'm wrong, but tell me why.
Thanks in advance!

This is my ever changing rank chart and reasons:

1- Alonso (history)
2- Michael (history)
3- Button (it's time)
4- Kimi (reliability)
5- Montoya (reliability)
6- Barrichello (kinda fast)
7- Massa (?)
8- Fisichella (kinda fast)
9- Trulli (?)
10- Ralf (?)
11- Webber (?)
12- Villeneuve (something to prove)
13- Heidfeld (reliable)
14- Rosberg (?)
15- Coulthard (?)
16- Klien (?)
17- Liuzzi (?)
18- Speed (?)
19- Monteiro (?)
20- Albers (?)
21- Sato (power to change results by crashing into others)
22- Ide (?)

[manchild]

http://www.peta.org/

[Sawtooth-spike]

i think i have a few issue,

The words "love Animals" brings bad images to mind

[Miki Kologranic]

I would probably put Kimi in front of Schumi...
I really would like to see Barichello be closer to Schumi, it would be interesting to see two of them actually compete...


Cheers,
Miki K.

[DaveKillens]

Montoya has a lot to prove, and is my personal pick to win the title. He can race anyone, is as quick as Kimi, and if he can avoid running into backmarkers, can make a lot of folks say "wow".
Fisi? He will finish 1st or 2nd at the end of the season.
Shu and Ferrari have something to prove, that makes them very dangerous, and very capable of dominating again.
Kimi will either win every race, or DNF. As well, expect mclaren to behind the 8-ball for the first few races of the season, they are having a crappy pre-season.
Trulli and Ralf are in Toyotas, this will be their year. They will be lightning quick, but prone to mistakes and poor strategy.
Alonso.. I don't know. last season Renault got it right. Part because of great strategy and a sound car development program. Renault will most likely have a good car, but more teams will try to follow in their tracks.. reliability, consistency, discipline. But Alonso burned his bridges at Renault and pissed off Flavio. Expect him not to get preferential treatment, or even valid information. Expect Fisi to be Flavio's golden boy this year.
Barrichello can get it done, if his Honda is good enough. He's got all the tools, doesn't make as many mistakes as most, and will do better than Button.
Quick Nick is BMW's favorite son, and will do well, probably finish 6th to 10th.
Button? Quality driver, but terribly over-hyped by the English press. A hundred races and no wins.....unless Honda comes up with a killer car, expect the same as last season.
DC will now have a very good car in a well financed team. He is very motivated, and will do even better than last year. I expect to see him on the podium two or three times, but finish around 10th.
Webber is an unknown quantity. if his car is good enough, he will get 1 or 2 wins this season. But he makes mistakes, and won't finish better than 5th.
Massa? Dog food, Shu will definitely invoke his preferential driver clause, and make Massa sit at the back of the bus.
Rosberg is a decent rookie in an unproven car. Expect flashes of brilliance but a long, troubled season.
JV? I love the guy, but I don't expect much from him.
The rest I rate equally, probably all going to be backmarkers.
Ide will stay out of trouble and at least appear respectable.
Sato.....the very definition of a disaster waiting to happen. This will be his last season in F1 because he will embarass Honda and most likely get a lifetime ban from Bernie.

[wkdtk]

Thanks for your input.

Is that it?
Do I take it that I'm not that far off, by the lack of replies?...
Does your silence mean I am guaranteed to win?

Oh, and Manchild; I'm actually a vegetarian (due to health issues), but on this day I make an exception. Sorry.