Predictions for 2013 season

[JimClarkFan]

As the title suggests.

I will make one prediction:
-Mclaren will have the best car at the start of 2013

Reasoning. Effectively out of the title hunt from Singapore onwards. Of the top teams they will have the most time to work on their new car. They also have a car in a specification which, from my admittedly limited knowledge, seems to be the closer to the specifications required this year so they are very much building on what they have already done. All in all, I think they have a running start on the competition from under performing last year.

[Neno]

As the title suggests.

I will make one prediction:
-Mclaren will have the best car at the start of 2013

Reasoning. Effectively out of the title hunt from Singapore onwards. Of the top teams they will have the most time to work on their new car. They also have a car in a specification which, from my admittedly limited knowledge, seems to be the closer to the specifications required this year so they are very much building on what they have already done. All in all, I think they have a running start on the competition from under performing last year.

i dont know, they will have good car but they probably have worst driver duo from all five big teams. I dont know really, Button never seemed like good car devoloper, if car dose not work for him he will have terrible weekend.

[JimClarkFan]

As the title suggests.

I will make one prediction:
-Mclaren will have the best car at the start of 2013

Reasoning. Effectively out of the title hunt from Singapore onwards. Of the top teams they will have the most time to work on their new car. They also have a car in a specification which, from my admittedly limited knowledge, seems to be the closer to the specifications required this year so they are very much building on what they have already done. All in all, I think they have a running start on the competition from under performing last year.

i dont know, they will have good car but they probably have worst driver duo from all five big teams. I dont know really, Button never seemed like good car devoloper, if car dose not work for him he will have terrible weekend.

I would have to agree with you, I think they probably are the worst driver line up out of the top 5. Never the less, I don't agree with you wrt to Button being bad at developing a car. Look at the plight of Mercedes ever since he left, during the Honda years they were never in contention of winning the title but they were always in touch. Look at how Mclaren's performance has improved since he arrived. Those are two things that can be correlated with Button which reduces the chances of it being incidental. Added to that, Button has never really had a team, devoted totally to his own aspirations on how a car should be set up. This will be the first season he has ever been a true 'de facto' number 1.

Button's strength is my opinion, is his ability to develop a car, because he works within a narrower range.

[Juzh]

I dont expect any major surprises. The usual mclaren/red bull on top, with mclaren just edging out. then ferrari/lotus.

[Lycoming]

Correlation does not imply causation.

Or more specifically, I don't see any good reason that suggests Button helps develop the car. Also during the last few Honda years, they were definitely not "in touch" of the title.

[JimClarkFan]

Correlation does not imply causation.

Or more specifically, I don't see any good reason that suggests Button helps develop the car. Also during the last few Honda years, they were definitely not "in touch" of the title.

Yes, and I pretty much said all that above, and mentioned that the two being correlated makes it less likely to be incidental.

This year, we will see who is right, and we will all make up our mind on where we stand with button.

[scuderiafan]

I predict Grosjean will win a race in 2013.

[dren]

The field will be very tight. Kimi will win the championship, Button will be 2nd. Red Bull will win the constructors. Mercedes will finish in 3rd place. Hamilton will have a few front row starts.

[PlatinumZealot]

Correlation does not imply causation.

Or more specifically, I don't see any good reason that suggests Button helps develop the car. Also during the last few Honda years, they were definitely not "in touch" of the title.

Yes, and I pretty much said all that above, and mentioned that the two being correlated makes it less likely to be incidental.

This year, we will see who is right, and we will all make up our mind on where we stand with button.

Button had to use Barichello's setup for many races, and he did the same from Hamilton at Mclaren. Heck Mclaren were out at sea trying to decide why Button couldn't get a handle on the car for 6 races this year. They had to go through his teammate's telemetry with a fine tooth comb to find out what he was doing wrong. If Button was the number 1 driver in 2012 it would be hard to rank the '27 as the fastest car. Not the hallmarks of a development driver if you asked me.

On the other hand, one could argue that getting the car to work for Button means you have found the best setup possible.

I don't believe that cars are designed around drivers, but for those who do, Paddy Lowe said that the '28 was designed with Hamilton in mind. Whatever that means I don't know how much of that was tailored towards Button's.

What I am expecting of the MP4-28 is a car that is should be capable of winning the WDC... but with tighter aero tests, tyres that are easier to heat up, restrained use of DRS in qualifying.. The cars are going to be more equal than ever and It's gonna be an outright dog-fight in qualifying and every 10th is going to mean making it into Q3 or not! I can't see a dominant car from any team. There are going to be 4 or 5 WDC capable cars, and those 3 tenths are what Button is going to need to bring Mclaren to the front.

I am predicting some wins for him despite that though. I can see him with two wins in 2013 with one for Checo.

[ringo]

Grosjean to beat Kimi over the year.
He is the faster but less experienced and less skillful, i think he will come into his own this year.

Mclaren will be very good, based on the last 3 races. Redbull to be even more monstrous in qualifying with the new rules for DRS. There will be less compromise between qualifying and the race as drs strategy will be the same for both.
Redbull will just turn the downforce up all the way. Mclaren's smart use of drs in quali will disappear.

[raymondu999]

I predict that by 2014's end,

- Vettel will not be a 3-time champion.
- Hamilton will have won at LEAST 2 more races than Rosberg
- Button will have won at LEAST 2 more races than Perez.
- Red Bull to regain qualifying dominance, thanks to being limiter-limited for less in qualifying.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think Vettel will be a 4XWDC as much as I don't want it to happen.

[raymondu999]

Regardless of my personal desire/nondesire, my head tells me that Vettel will win at least 1 title in the thread's timeframe.

[jamsbong]

It is hard to predict anything with any accuracy prior to testing, so I will do my best based on what I know.

Rules have not changed much so that means RedBull's dominance will diminish. Vettel will not runaway like he did in 2011. In fact, he may have an even slimmer chance of winning than 2012.

Seems like Ferrari is getting more new people so there is a lack of continuity. They probably will not be strong.

Kimi will have a very strong season, all depending on his team. But if history is to repeat itself, the team that brought Alonso and Schumacher their respective 2 champions, will give Kimi a strong chance.
Grosjean is lucky to have Total's support and a great car to drive in. He still have a lot to learn. The fact is - Kimi's Racecraft is light years ahead of Grosjean.

Mercedes and Hamilton will be interesting to watch. My prediction is that Hamilton will be fast (as always) but less consistent than Rosberg. Hamilton will also chew up all his tires before the race goes halfway as the mercedes cars are fame for overheating their rear tires.
I think Mercedes will want to put their money on 2014 engine and the major rule changes. So again, they will not be fast in 2013.

Mclaren should be very strong next year. But Button needs a car with 0.5 to 1 second faster than others to get a championship.

In summary,
Best chance - Kimi/Vettel
2nd places - Alonso/Button
3rd places - Massa/Grosjean

[turbof1]

It is hard to predict anything with any accuracy prior to testing, so I will do my best based on what I know.

Rules have not changed much so that means RedBull's dominance will diminish. Vettel will not runaway like he did in 2011. In fact, he may have an even slimmer chance of winning than 2012.

Seems like Ferrari is getting more new people so there is a lack of continuity. They probably will not be strong.

Kimi will have a very strong season, all depending on his team. But if history is to repeat itself, the team that brought Alonso and Schumacher their respective 2 champions, will give Kimi a strong chance.
Grosjean is lucky to have Total's support and a great car to drive in. He still have a lot to learn. The fact is - Kimi's Racecraft is light years ahead of Grosjean.

Mercedes and Hamilton will be interesting to watch. My prediction is that Hamilton will be fast (as always) but less consistent than Rosberg. Hamilton will also chew up all his tires before the race goes halfway as the mercedes cars are fame for overheating their rear tires.
I think Mercedes will want to put their money on 2014 engine and the major rule changes. So again, they will not be fast in 2013.

Mclaren should be very strong next year. But Button needs a car with 0.5 to 1 second faster than others to get a championship.

In summary,
Best chance - Kimi/Vettel
2nd places - Alonso/Button
3rd places - Massa/Grosjean

Hamilton looked like he had good control over the 2012 tires, more so then Button who could not get any heat into them in many races. However: different car, different tires for 2013. Mercedes is known the last 3 years to chew quickly through its tires, and the 2013 tires have been said to be easier to get into the window and degrade faster; something that suits Button more. Though I still see Hamilton beat Rosberg; Rosberg isn't really known to be either conservative or agressive with his tires, Hamilton is known to be able to get on top of the tires. He learned that.

A shame really the pirelli's push towards being conservative. If they would make tires that degrade no matter how careful you are with them, the show would be better.