We could foresee the result of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, yet we should go the entire hoard and say which drivers and teams will be the best and most exceedingly terrible come Abu Dhabi.
At that point, in November, we can pivot to our companions and say: “I disclosed to you so.” Or perhaps not.
Accepting Sauber will be last, Pascal Wehrlein would be relied upon to out-do Marcus Ericsson over a season. In the event that he doesn’t, his F1 career is in all likelihood over. Furthermore, on the premise of a horrendous season for McLaren, Stoffel Vandoorne – promising and luxuriously capable however he is – can’t practically be relied upon to beat Fernando Alonso in his first full season, unless the unavoidable instability is skewed intensely in one heading.
“Had Esteban Gutierrez still been at Haas, he would be on this rundown rather than the Belgian. Be that as it may, Kevin Magnussen is a significantly more grounded suggestion so he and Romain Grosjean ought to be clear of this little ‘fight’.
Going along with us on this insane outing of expectations is boss F1 essayist Andrew Benson, who clarifies his purposes behind his gauges. After which, you can likely get them all totally wrong too. Andrew said, “Let’s make one thing clear before we start – this is a bit of fun, based on not very much evidence at all. So let’s not fall out if it’s wrong.
“Having said that, pre-season testing did give some indications about how the year might shape up. No-one would be surprised if Mercedes turned up in Melbourne and blitzed everyone again. But it does not look that way right now. So assuming the picture so far is accurate, let’s take a deep breath and jump in. If the Mercedes and Ferrari are the two fastest cars, my money would be on Hamilton to beat Vettel to the championship. He’s just that bit faster and better, as long as he can keep weekends such as Baku and Singapore last year to a minimum. It’s a tough call between the two Red Bull drivers, but I’ve gone for Ricciardo to edge it just on the basis of last year. “There was a sense of a momentum swing towards Verstappen at the end of 2016, though, both in races and in the pattern of qualifying. In which case the Dutchman could easily swing it.
