Who will be 2007 WDC?

Evil Weasel · Post 15 Dec 2006, 11:55

Hi all

As my first post I thought I'd kick off with a biggie.

The Ferraris (continue to) look strong in testing, but then so do McLaren and Renault have put in some good times.

At McLaren Alonso must be favoured over Hamilton for the most obvious reasons.

Raikkonen is very fast, but frequently broken - it's already costs him titles and if it continues at the previously reliable Ferrari Massa, with lots of support from Todt, will benefit.

Kovalainen is a bit of an unknown while Fisi is a bit of an under achiever.

Red Bull-Renault-Newey might offer another choice, but until the car has been run-out there are too many unknowns.

Out of the leading contenders I'd have to go for Alonso with Massa as runner up.

Any thoughts.

manchild · Post 15 Dec 2006, 12:39

I think Red Bull will be the biggest surprise. If Newey makes a good car with Renault engine perhaps even DC could break the spell

yin · Post 15 Dec 2006, 12:54

manchild wrote:I think Red Bull will be the biggest surprise. If Newey makes a good car with Renault engine perhaps even DC could break the spell

that's what i'm thinking too,remember about 10 years ago how dominate newey deisign was with the renault engine

RH1300S · Post 15 Dec 2006, 13:18

I would probably have to plump for Alonso.

Reading snippets it seems that the Bridgstones favour cars with a more forward weight distribution (Renault made rearward work over the last few years - maybe this will hurt them a bit this year?). Alonso does not make mistakes and I really believe that McLaren won't have another year like 2006.

Probably Ferrari will have the fastest car, but I think Massa will take some points off Kimi (not many, but more than Hamilton off Alonso).

Red Bull SHOULD have a good car. They have two good drivers (is Webbo as good as Alonso & Kimi?) - but could they put a season together right now? I.e. strategy, development etc.

For me, it's really sad that I'm not thinking of Williams as a challenger

Tom · Post 15 Dec 2006, 13:23

I'm getting a mate to go to the bookies for me as soon as the last test session concludes, at the moment my £10 going on Massa, but I'd love to see DC take the bull by the horns (sorry

) and win the title.

Evil Weasel · Post 15 Dec 2006, 13:24

I'd love DC to to get there (or even get in the sharp end on a regular basis).

I used have a very low opinion of Coulthard, a great car at McLaren but failed to get the title while still managing to mouth-off continuously, but after he went to RBR he shut-up and really. really got the most out the car - a car which was a modified Jag 2004 and scored more points than both Jag drivers did in it. DC was been a bit "outspoken" again this season, but I guess that's frustration. I can't see him being challenged by Webber (who did crap all at Jaguar) so he may stand a chance, but it's must be too early to say until the car as rolled.

Despite this I feel that Alonso has the abilities to communicate effectively with the team in a way that produces good, reliable cars - this is what makes WDCs - although I concede the DC's experience also give him this ability.

monkeyboy1976 · Post 15 Dec 2006, 15:28

DC?? Are you joking?

Although it would be a very welcome surprise and quite an earner; he is 100-1.

Alonso for WDC for same reason as above; Massa and Kimi will take points from each other. However, this means Ferrari are best suited for WCC.

I'll be betting on:-
WDC: Alonso
WCC: Ferrari
I may even have a punt on Button for WDC as there is the potential for the new driver/team combos of Alonso/McLaren and Ferrari/Kimi imploding. Not to mention the big restructuring at Ferrari.

Latest odds:
http://www.oddschecker.com/betting/mode ... sid/534658

f1.redbaron · Post 15 Dec 2006, 16:27

Fisichella has a better chance of winning a WDC than DC.

My picks for 2007:

WCC - tough to say, but I'm leaning towards Ferrari
WDC - again, really tough to say. My guess is that it'll be between Massa and Raikkonen. Massa for now, but if Raikkonen can get used to Ferrari quickly, then I'll take him.

Surprise of the year - Well, we've got several teams which could, potentially, be the surprise of the year - BMW, Honda, RB, and even Toyota.

DaveKillens · Post 15 Dec 2006, 17:01

Hi Evil Weasel, welcome to THE forum.
There are two drivers who still stand out as the cream of the crop, Alonso and Kimi. The question is how quickly they adjust to their new rides, and whether the McLaren can deliver a car that can finish.
Massa has shown great strength, and for the start of the season, sets the benchmark.
I figure the title will be a fight between those three.
Next in line I see Reubens and Jenson, with Fisi and DC fighting for a big chunk of the points.
I expect to see some first time wins, from Toyota, Red Bull, and BMW.
Too early to really stick my neck out, but I pick Kimi finishing the season as the champ.

Spyker MF1 · Post 15 Dec 2006, 17:34

I'm bagging on Massa as Alonso has a poor car (unrealiable) Kimi is still getting to know the team Renault have an underacheiver and an unknown. Whereas Massa was doing superb towards the end of the season with any continued consistancy and speed its hi for the taking

Evil Weasel · Post 15 Dec 2006, 18:55

Spyker MF1 wrote:I'm bagging on Massa as Alonso has a poor car (unrealiable)

I'm far from sure that the poor reliability that Raikkonen has suffered at McLaren is down to the team. If you look at Kimi's results if F1 he has retired an awful lot - in fact if you exclude two years when he had a total of five retirements he only finishes just over 50%. If the same problems plague him next year....

Tom · Post 15 Dec 2006, 19:43

Interesting odds there, my Massa bet could be quite an earner.

Notice how everyones odds have improved since MS' retirment

Spyker MF1 · Post 15 Dec 2006, 19:51

Yea but even non MS fans have to admit he was soooooooooooo amazing inan F1 car (BTW I'm not an MS fan but my jordan avatar was to big and this was the only really nice shot i could find that would fit)

nudge · Post 15 Dec 2006, 22:34

hi all,
my money would go on alonso.
i dont expect reliability to be such an issue next year, rev limited engines and more durable tyres will play into their hands..and the performance problems that this years mclaren suffered are well understood.
i also think alonso will bring a much healthier atmosphere to the whole team.

manchild · Post 15 Dec 2006, 23:02

Spyker MF1 wrote:Yea but even non MS fans have to admit he was soooooooooooo amazing inan F1 car (BTW I'm not an MS fan but my jordan avatar was to big and this was the only really nice shot i could find that would fit)

Send me your Jordan avatar and I'll resize it to fit