After a serious of rule changes, new car designs and a chaotic Winter testing period, Formula 1 returns for 2014 in Melbourne this weekend. As we count down to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, we gave BurnFM Sport’s two biggest Formula One enthusiasts Alex Seftel and Joe McDowell the slightly unenviable task of predicting what might happen in the year ahead.
Drivers World Champion
JMcD: As a fan of Formula one this is the season I think I’ve been waiting for since at least 2010 maybe even as far back as 2005. We honestly don’t know who is going to emerge victorious in Melbourne, let alone who will be on the top step come Brazil at the seasons end. But it is precisely because of this that I have decided to go with the new Ferrari Ice man, Kimi Raikkonen, as my pick for the title.
With new engines and major changes to the cars for this season early advancement and car development will be key and with two of the most experienced men on the Grid driving for Ferrari, the Scuderia will be determined to prove they are still a front runner in the championship and a force to be reckoned with. As we’ve seen from testing so far there is a great deal of uncertainty as to what may happen when the lights go out and the season begins and to capitalise on that you need a driver who is level headed and ‘knows what he’s doing’.
2014 WORLD CHAMPION: Kimi Raikkonen
AS: Having seen one man dominate Formula One for the last four seasons, I’m looking forward to seeing some closer racing between the top teams. But there is an ominous trap to fall into. We’ve seen Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing struggle in testing and he has already ruled himself out of this weekend’s event in Melbourne. But, with the pedigree and experience of winning that the two of them have, you would put them off at your peril. That said, we have sometimes seen the German struggle when conditions aren’t quite to his liking.
All considered, I think this could be a season of two halves. A lot will depend on how far Mercedes and Ferrari can finish ahead Red Bull in the early races before the team from Milton Keynes begin to assert an advantage. Hoping the former can hang on, I’m backing Lewis Hamilton to be a consistent winner this season and pick up the points that will get him over the line first. The Brit is at a point now where he should stand to benefit from a fresh start in Formula One and with a fast, reliable car, he’ll have no more excuses if he fails to perform this year.
2014 WORLD CHAMPION: Lewis Hamilton
Constructors Title
JMcD: For this you have to look beyond any one driver and look to the team, right now you really can’t look beyond the teams that use Mercedes engines as they just have so much more power than any other team. The success of Red Bull over the past 4 years should in my view be attributed as much to Webber as to Vettel as it was his consistent podium and high points finishing when Vettel was taking the limelight that left teams such as Mclaren, Lotus and indeed Ferrari trailing in their wake and secured them back to back wins in the arguably more important, if less glamorous of the two championships. For me then given the engine as well as the promise and talent of the driver line up its got to be Mercedes GP going one better than in 2013 for the Constructors title this year.
2014 CONSTRUCTORS TITLE: Mercedes GP
AS: Just as tough to predict, albeit with the inexperienced Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo stepping up to the Red Bull senior team this year, you would doubt Red Bull Racing’s ability to be as strong again in this particular race. The strength of both the Mercedes and Ferrari driver line-ups makes it tough to call it between them. Much has been said of the rivalry between Alonso and Raikkonen who may struggle to play the ‘team game’ for the latter this year with only eyes for the main prize.
However, do not underestimate the determination of Nico Rosberg in trying to out-qualify and out-score Hamilton. Furthermore, for me, there are still doubts over the consistency and speed of the Mercedes race-pace. We will find out a lot more once the laps unfold at Albert Park on Sunday, but I feel that the Ferrari package will deliver more across the season. With Alonso and Raikkonen taking too many points and wins off of each other to secure the Driver’s Championship, they will end up disappointed, yet their Team Principal Stefano Domenicalli will walk away delighted.
2014 CONSTRUCTORS TITLE: Ferrari
The Surprise Package
JMcD: For this season Williams have switched from Cosworth to Mercedes engines and the difference is already noticeable. Combine this serious power advantage, especially over teams using Renault engines, with the new driver line up that mixes the experience of Veteran Massa (coming to the team of the back of his best season for Ferrari in a number of yearsand settling well in to the position as out and out driver number one) and the young Finn, Bottas who impressed overall in his first season and I think Williams could be a serious contender especially in the first half of the year to some of the teams in the mid order battling for 4th this in 2014.
2014 SURPRISE PACKAGE: Williams F1/Felipe Massa & Valtteri Bottas
AS: In many ways, as it is difficult to see past the top three teams winning races this year, it is not easy picking a driver and team combination that will exceed expectations. Williams have shown strong form throughout winter testing, however they have been touted as dark-horses before and failed to deliver in races. That said, tempting Felipe Massa and former race engineer Rob Smedley to a fresh-looking team for 2014 could pay dividends if they can add a race-finishing finesse and reliability to their apparent track-speed.
My tip to turn a few heads this season would be former-McLaren misfit Sergio Perez who has joined Force India. The Mexican has the vibrancy and direct approach needed to bring positive results to mid-table team, even if he lacks the professional rigidity to be a consistent achiever in an underperforming car as he was last season. Such is the Indian teams’ faith in him that they’ve palmed the highly rated Adrian Sutil over to Sauber for this year and I fully expect that decision to repaid in points and maybe even a couple of podium finishes.
2014 SURPRISE PACKAGE: Force India/Sergio Perez
With everything to play for heading to Australia, let’s hope that’s still the case in 19 races time. If the last 2 months have taught us anything about Formula 1 2014, it’s that we should expect the unexpected between now and the end of November.
