After three races: who's still in the title hunt?

[DaveKillens]

Brawn, RBR, Toyota are definitely contenders. McLaren are slowly fighting their way back to the top, while BMW are struggling, while Ferrari have crashed and burned.

[waynes]

Hamilton (if the mac keeps on closing the gap and fast!)

dont be silly, he cant keep the car pointing the right way long enough

[ISLAMATRON]

It will be Button vs. Vettel this season.

This is what I think as well. Webber isn't as hot as Vettel. It is no coincidence that Vettel scored two wins versus Webbers zero. Sebastian is very complete in his skills. He is technical and bloody good at developing a car with the engineers. He could be the natural successor to Michael Schumacher. The Red Bull is the fastest single diffusor car and Newey is working flat out to make it the fastest double diffusor soon.

Dont forget Webbo would have 1 win on the board had it not been for Vettel ramming him in Japan!

I think not, Webber would have never gotten past Hamilton. But it would have been a nice 2nd place for him.

[djos]

Dont forget Webbo would have 1 win on the board had it not been for Vettel ramming him in Japan!

I think not, Webber would have never gotten past Hamilton. But it would have been a nice 2nd place for him.

I beg to differ, iirc Webbo was catching Hamilton at around 2secs a lap before the SC was called out.

[kilcoo316]

Why has no-one mentioned Alonso yet?

The Renault is as least as fast as the McLaren, significantly better than the Ferrari or BMW as things stand at the minute...



Button is still an average driver in a great car. When push comes to shove and he's asked to make the difference....

[xpensive]

I can see another 1979, where teams are taking turns leading the aerodynamic developments, while someone consistent enough, like Alonso or Hamilton, will amass the most points at the end.

[ISLAMATRON]

Why has no-one mentioned Alonso yet?

The Renault is as least as fast as the McLaren, significantly better than the Ferrari or BMW as things stand at the minute...

Button is still an average driver in a great car. When push comes to shove and he's asked to make the difference....

Alonso was in a points paying position in Malaysia when he put it in the kitty litter. He was also in the points when he spun late race and gave up the points again. He is making too many mistakes, as is his team with their silly strategies... and bad communication... why pit behind the SC 1 lap before it comes in? HE lost all types of track position and started the race in last place... shoulda stayed behind the RBR's.

The McLaren was faster in Q2, and they took a sensible strategy unless the stupidity of the renault squad. I look to see the McLaren develop at a much faster pace than the renault.

Hamilton made some mistakes in China but drove brilliantly the first 2 races, but they need to staop making mistakes that let the FIA continue their vendetta against the squad.

Button is not an average (F1) driver, he may not be top 5 but he's not far from it.

[Metar]

why pit behind the SC 1 lap before it comes in?

Because it was announced only the very moment he entered the pits.

[ISLAMATRON]

why pit behind the SC 1 lap before it comes in?

Because it was announced only the very moment he entered the pits.

So he was was going to run out of fuel after 7 laps behind the SC? no he wasnt it was a bad decision regardless... and I saw the anouncement before he pitted. Plus they were asking all the drivers whetherr to go green and they all said yes including Alonso.

[Metar]

Indeed, I myself would've kept him out on the track: Every analysis gave him 10-11 laps of fuel, which, with safety-car savings, would've meant lap 12. On that lap, assuming he stuck to within 5 seconds of Vettel, he would've exited the pits in 5th-6th place, instead of the 14th-or-so he had at the time.

The safety-car graphic on the FOM broadcast came on just as he turned into his box.

[n smikle]

Yup very true..

Hamilton (if the mac keeps on closing the gap and fast!)

dont be silly, he cant keep the car pointing the right way long enough

Nice try You are throwing bait for us Hamilton fans.

We all know what could be the causes of those spins.. but it definitely was not driver skill.. That is a man that overtook a slew people multiple times in the rain.

Hmm.. I need to keep track of Hamilton's overtaking tally..

[sticky667]

we don't have a true pecking order yet because we've only had 3 races! one on a street circuit and two of them were wet. hopefully bahrain will show the true pace of the entire field on a full race distance. obviously, we they return to europe, we will see who has the development in line as well.

[ESPImperium]

Its Button Vs Vettel this year, but i do see Glock and Trulli being an annoyance and both their team mates scoring at least one win. I can see Hamilton and Alonso also scoring a win, but the big thing that Button and Vettel will have to make shure it that they have a compeditive car. I can also see Buemi scoring a lucky one as well.

In result, i can see no driver scoring no more than 5 wins (10 between Vettel and Button), 2 wins for Toyota, a single victory for Webber and Rubens, leaving 3 other victories up for grabs by others.

Brawn need to get as much cash injections from new (or Ex-Honda) sponsors to keep their developments apace that they are. The Red Bull needs the development aero wise, as well to prove relyability. I will right-off Toyota at your peril as i can see Glock being the main annoyance as he could pick up a ton of second and 3rd places, as im shure that he has had one of his 2 bad races out the way.

Hamilton will be up at the sharp end by middle of the season.
Alonso will be running up there as well, once Renault have all their new bits on the car.
Ferarri, i can see having a massivly bad year, probably their worst since the mid 90s.
Williams, i think are developing, but not fast enough.
STR, will be up to the sister teams pace soon enough.
Force India, will be mixing it soon as well, as i think that they will be testing out the DDD for the Maccas.

I think the most intresting season ever has only just begun.

[WhiteBlue]

I agree with the view that Ferrari have dug themselves into a hole they cannot get out this year.

Regarding Webber vs. Vettel I would just look at the last 10 races to see who of the two guys is having more potential.

Nick versus Jacques Villeneuve was never an issue. BMW though Kubica was a decent replacement which turned out quite correct. Nick had a shoot out against Pizzonia which we won hands down. In my view he is not world champion material but was good enough in a third and second rated car. BMW need top drawer drivers now.

Alonso will battle through to podiums and the occasional win but will not be contender this season.

Brawn will stay ahead of McLaren for at least half of the season and although Button isn't as good as Hamilton it will be good enough to make him the leading Mercedes contender in my view. I see a good chance that Brawn will commit to Merc for further years and will be given a KERS solution for the second half of the year.

[andartop]

Here we go again about Nick Heidfeld.. just like last year!
Last time I checked the guy had the same amount of points as Alonso, Kovi and Lewis, when Kimi, Massa and Kubica still have nil.
Give him a break, ok?
He might not be quite the crowd pleaser but he IS a very solid driver.
I would say he is easily as good as Button, and possibly better than Rubens as well.
We KNOW he scored better than Kimi at Sauber in 2001, better than Massa at the same team in 2002, better than Pantano ( ) and Glock at Jordan in 2004, almost as good as Webber at Williams in 2005, better than JV and Kubica at BMW in 2006, better than Kubica at BMW in 2007!
Yeah, he is not the next Schumacher, but he surely deserves his place methinks..