Can't believe nobody else has created this thread yet for the new year?! I'm sure Ken has been chomping at the bit to post up some links to some recent F1 related news articles about Sauber and/or Kobay, so I figured I'd get one going.....

Let the games begin!

Here's to Vettel and RBR securing their 4th straight in 2013!

 

You're crazy...

Go Kimi!!!


Where's the Honda-girl to profess his love for Hami? Have fun watching your boy fight for 8th all season.

Get at meh, B.

 

2013 predictions:

Hami is going to get whooped in the merc. fast in quali, slow in races.

Kimi is going to take it this year. the Lotus will be faster, with the same reliability. in part due to shifting gears to 2013 development earlier then RB and ferrari.

Vettel is going to suffer from exhausting all their resources to secure the 2012 championship and getting to a late start ensuring the 2013 designs are perfect. it should shine later in the year, but to little to late.

it will be alonso and kimi fighting early. ferrari will taper off later and have reliability issues.

mclaren wont have the drivers to compete despite a fast car.

 

^^^^ All of that seems very highly likely, except for one thing.....remember how well RBR did the following season after going down to the wire to win their first championship over Ferrari???? Because of that, I really wouldn't put it past them to have another dominant season like they did in 2011, since once again, the car is an evolution instead of new alltogether design. Of course, we shall see.

I would love to see Kimi come back to form though. He's been my favorite driver for as long as I can remember.

 

Joining the thread early to rep for Sergio Perez! More competitive car and team will hopefully = more podiums in 2013!

 

I like the talk of the Hulk joining RB in 2014 replacing Webber, that would be pretty cool to see.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/...-Red-Bull-move

 

19 race season confirmed by the old man.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227...-only-19-races

 

Getting my post count up early in this thread...

Pedro lands the Ferrari tester/reserve job.

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227...ts-Ferrari-gig

 

guarantee that Hami will finish in the top 5 at the end of the season, or free ice cream for Grillo

 

March 17th cannot come soon enough. Also I would like to see the ice man deliver lotus some more trophies this year. And I believe Vettel will have a slow start to the year but his dominance will come back mid season and will most likely ride it out until the end.

 

Are you saying hami's best finish will be within the top 5 for a given race or Top 5 in points for the season?

Kimi should do well... Hopefully he doesnt sit out for any practices this year....

 

Top 5 at end of season. Probably wont finish better than top 8 for first few race. But we don't know anything for sure since we haven't seen any of the new cars yet.

 

My predictions:

Little is going to change due to the rules staying the same but the grid will be a lot closer in times as the slower teams catch up and faster teams make little progress in the off season.

1. RedBull will still have the fastest car but McLaren and Ferrari will be very close.
2. I predict Ferrari will make more of an improvement in the off season catching up.
3. Merc, Renault and Williams will closely follow. They will be battling it out as Merc will make more progress than Renault and Williams in the off season.
4. Sauber and Force India will be much closer to the 3 teams in front of them followed by the rat pack.
5. The early battle will be between Alonso, Button, Weber and Vettel with an occasional Kimi thrown in the mix.
6. Sergio P. (aka Checo) will be extremely inconsistent with a few podium finishes (when he's lucky) but mostly bottom 10 finishes even with a fast car
7. Hami will be slow at the start but may make a 1 or 2 podiums in the season as the car improves. He'll consistently be 0.1-0.5 sec faster than Nico.
8. Less crashes from Grosjean and Maldonado ... but Maldonado will still have the most crashes at the end of the season.

 

^ I hope #8 holds true. I'll always cheer for Hamilton, but I'm very interested what lotus will have instore for this season. Too bad Kobi didnt have the funds for this season, I hope he finds a ride for next year. RBR is a given,they are still the team to beat. As for Ferrari.... Ehhh.

They are airing on ABC now right? I hope it's live and not pre-recorded.

 

Actually it will be airing on NBC Sports, not sure if it will be live or delayed.