That depends if Ferrari can get their act together or not. There's only one person they can pull in and straighten that team up, and that's Brawn. Fools for letting him go...
You could go as far as to say that Vettel may not see success with that team in his career. But a youngster will do later into the future.
And it isn't just a question of gathering together a team of top talent, they all have to harmonise perfectly. And I believe there's an element of chance in that. Not to mention that harmony isn't a word I'd apply to either Ferrari or McLaren.
Ricciardo for me... Though I don't want RBR to win jack because I just can't be doing with Horner. 4 titles with Vettel and they're playing silly buggers with him on his exit.
I think Honda will deliver a top engine. These guys have only had this new technology on their minds since they agreed to come back. They will have learnt from this years teams and they are a bit more specialist, similar to the Mercedes works team. Ron Dennis has got a key man in Prodromou and the aero will be a lot better. McLaren have done some really solid restructuring and have catered for all the key areas. 2015 will see improvement but 2016 should see their finished article. It sounds like Alonso has signed a 2 year deal minimum, possibly with the 3rd year option.
Did everyone miss EJ's "scoop" earlier that subject to the right personnel/rule changes, he's going to head up a 2017 entry from VW/Audi. Would be awesome if that happened. On the Honda engine, I think the fact they've got something ready to test already is a very positive sign. Obviously we'll see what the initial lap times are like, but you'd certainly expect them to have ironed out most of the basic reliability issues that plagued Renault during pre-season and the early races.
And caught cheating again too. I noticed that Newey's been playing the victim about that too. That aside, Ricciardo and Bottas have been the revelations of the season and I'd like to see them both step up again next year. I had previously thought the fuss about Bottas was misplaced but I was very wrong there!
[video=youtube;FrPAzMrgc0g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrPAzMrgc0g[/video] please log in to view this image
In case people haven't seen it. After the chequered flag Mercedes told Hamilton to use "Driver Default 44", which brought this up on his dash: please log in to view this image
Until Ferrari sort the aero, they have no chance of anything. Reckon their attempts to get Newey was driven by Alonso telling them he'd walk unless he saw improvement in that area and not getting him was the turning point, whereas McLaren have a works engine deal, the ex head of the best aero cars of the last decade etc. He might still not have the outright fastest car on the grid with that, but i bet he'll have a much better car than the red one (which i suspect will be better than this years, but everyone will improve a little), one he can at least get into a fight for podiums and the odd win should the Mercs fail or trip over each other ala Danny Ric this season, as well as having the potential to get on terms with them.
Ferrari going further downhill before any uphill then? Mclaren have a huge chance for success again now though. Alonso and Honda...
I have it on good authority that Ferrari will be around six tenths slower next season whilst McLaren are looking to be six tenths faster
I'm sure on another thread there were reports that the 2015 Ferrari was aero-tested and was worse than the 2014 car.
So do we think we've seen the last of Jenson? I really hope not. He's a driver that's only got better has he's matured. A great asset to any team. Though I'll gladly take him in Indy. Come on Jenson... come Stateside!
Said elsewhere on here, but today Buttons result today pretty much covered his salary and a bit more, whereas KMag failed when the pressure was on and McLaren were only rescued by Button. KMag, whilst undoubtedly a good driver, isn't ready to partner somebody like Alonso. It's a no brainer, Button for another year is the only sensible choice.
