Well, after the untested HRT's and Marussia's have taken out the entire field in FP1 do to them not being tested and a danger to others, I predict the race will be cancelled as there will be no cars left to race Either that or Vettel on Pole (as usual) with Mr Hamilton taking a close victory from Button may be a bit more beleiveable.
If Mercedes are still experiencing huge drop off in 5-8 laps they won't reach the podium let alone win.
On the final day Hamilton was doing slow laps at the start of a stint and Whitmarsh said before that Red Bull were better at tyre warm up. Could this indicate a problem with getting the tyres to optimal temperature by the first lap? It might cause problems for Button in particular in Q3. Its probably nothing though.
I'm sad to say that I can't see any other winner apart from Vettel. I've got a feeling that the first 3 races all we'll be able to says is how much will Vettel win them by. Hope I'm wrong.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97846 Yesterday: "Raikkonen's 65-lap run on a combination of soft and hard rubber resulted in the lowest drop-off of any driver, his overall pace showed up an approximate 0.2s deficit per lap to Hamilton's McLaren." Sounds promising for Lotus. I reckon even if they do qualify behind Ferrari and Mercedes, those two teams have been killing their tyres so they should be able to catch and pass in the race.
McLaren might have been practising slower starts to a stint and faster finishes to try and make their stints last longer while maintaining reasonable pace. That whole "its temting to take a new set of tyres and thrash em" thing that Brundle goes on about.
Voted for Vettel. But i am not sure which exhaust Red Bull will use in Australia. I wonder if they might go back to the "old" version and use the "new" one in later races?
If Raikkonen wins, imagine that........ It'd be quite some comeback, and I'd start copying Freds predictions
It does appear the old boy has an even tougher time coming up this year. It would be sad if the Merc turns out to be a dog - in a way I'd like to see it more competitive.
