It’s the beginning of the long-awaited 2019 Formula One season and the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. So who is going to prevail at the opening round and the overall title. We asked each of our columnists to make their predictions for the coming season…..
Our resident Australia Supercars and Carrera Cup expert Richard Craill makes the following prediction…..
AS A race fan there’s nothing more I’d like to see than Ferrari finally making good of their potential and winning the World Championship this year. Twice in the last two years Sebastian Vettel has won in Melbourne only for either he, the team or a combination of the pair to engineer themselves out of the championship by season’s end – or earlier. If the management changes in the team can stop that implosion, and the pre-season testing form is a guide and they can make the same fast start to the season they’ve made for the last two years, then perhaps this is the year for Ferrari.
That’s the race fan in me. The realist, however, suggests that while Vettel will probably win a hat-trick of Aussie Grands Prix this weekend it will inevitably end up being Lewis Hamilton winning the World Championship this year.
Peter Whitten, our rally correspondent choses the following….
Australian GP Winner: Sebastian Vettel
While I’d love to go with Daniel Ricciardo, it’s just not going to happen. Sebastian Vettel’s the one – bet against him at your peril. He always seems to start the season off well, and has a fantastic record in Melbourne.
Get through the first lap in Melbourne and you’re a chance to win, but as has been proven time and time again, just doing that is a big task. Like in any F1 race, but particularly in Australia, qualifying on the front two rows is incredibly vital and may be the difference between winning and losing.
F1 title: Lewis Hamilton
Five titles and a locked and loaded car and team – again. Would love to see the title go to someone else, but I’m not sure Ferrari can deliver what is needed to fight Mercedes.
I’m tipping Ricciardo for a top five finish this year though. He’s arguably the most talented driver on the grid, and with a new team, and a new ‘will to win’, he’ll surprise many this season. He may not get that elusive win, but I’m tipping more than one podium for Renault’s new star signing.
Ross MacKay’s take on it is…..
Yes, well, Formula 1 eh? The pinnacle of our sport! More like the pinnacle of the business of our sport, where money is the ultimate arbiter of success or failure. Still I can’t help but stay interested, if for no other reason than to see where some of the karters I have written about over the years end up.
Case in point, Lewis Hamilton. Who can beat Lewis in a Mercedes-Benz? Short answer, no one – on a consistent basis – anyway, meaning he is my #1 pick for title #6 this year. Sure his precocious behaviour (not to mention haircut, body art and jewellery) pisses the traditionalists off. But I still chuckle about the cops and local media getting all hot and bothered when Lewis ‘sparked it up’ (aka did a wee rolling burnout) for fans in his M-B loaner car on the eve of the Aussie F1 GP I attended several years ago now. So in my book, as well as being good, the kid is alright!
As to anyone else of note in this year’s field I’d have to say it’s again going to be ‘the usual suspects.’ In this the mercurial (look it up!) Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari which finally appears to have the goods to be better (though still harder to set up over race distance) than the M-Bs of Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Then there is young gun Max Verstappen in an Aston Martin Red Bull, and old (team) mate Daniel Ricciardo in (this time) a Renault. Of the rest I will be interested to see if buying his son his own team (Force India) will finally get Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll the results (and respect) he believes Lance and he are due.
The jury is still out, too, on McLaren boss Zak Brown’s decision to save money on driver fees and leave the steering to two of the younger blokes on the grid, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Lando Norris.
Finally if there is a wild card in the field this year I think it will be the master of understatement, Kimi Raikkonen, in the Alfa Romeo-badged Sauber. After all, you’ve got to love a guy who, over the team radio, tells his earnest engineer, ‘leave me alone, I know what I’m doing…..’
As for me….
Call it boring but I see a Ferrari winning the Australian Grand Prix and most likely in the hands of Sebastian Vettel. However, I’ll make a wild prediction and give the victory to Charles Leclerc. This young man has the talent to surprise and now with a Ferrari underneath him he will be a contender.
For the overall title, it has to be Lewis Hamilton. He knows what is takes to win a title. Mercedes is ‘stayed’ enough to be more of the same as last season which is utterly professional. They may not, at the start, have the fastest car but you don’t need the fastest car. You need the fastest package and they have that.
Ferrari may be faster and they have the potential to have a complete package for 2019 but that is not necessarily a ‘safe bet’.
I agree with Ross, that Kimi Raikkonen will be the wildcard this season. There’s no pressure, he will be able to enjoy himself and the odds are on that his Alfa Romeo will be competitive. Bring it on I say.
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