This ought to be an interesting topic People will say Red Bull, Brawn, etc, but bear in mind that not everyone can be top dog - for some to move up, others have to fall back. So the teams we have: McLaren Ferrari Red Bull BrawnGP Renault Toyota (or whoever they morph into) STR Force India Sauber Williams Lotus USF1 Manor CamposMeta Obviously one of them can't be on the grid next year, and I say it will be USF1. I think Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari will be fighting for wins next year. I think whichever of the new teams make the grid will be at the back. I think Force India will move up a bit. I think Williams will fall further back than they are now. I think Toyota (or whever they are in '10) will fall back quite a bit. I think STR will probably remain roughly where they are. I think Brawn will fall back a bit, maybe in roughly the spot that Toyota is in this past year, just behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull. Assuming Sauber makes the grid, I think they will be roughly on par with Force India, maybe even nipping at STR. So my pecking order would be McLaren Ferrari Red Bull BrawnGP Renault STR Sauber Toyota (or whoever they morph into) Force India Williams Lotus Manor CamposMeta . . . . . . USF1 (in the parking lot) What do you think?
Without testing its all going to come down to Computer design, simulations, experience of the designer, and core strength of the team. Also their seriousness about F1. As such Ferrari and Mclaren have the best chance yet once again. Newey at Red Bull and the momentum they have built will carry them along. Ross and the HONDA team will go down a notch or two as they blew their wad this year both financially and development wise. As much as I like Williams I think they are in it for the money and you cant make a lot "throwing it away" on development. Force India; every once in awhile a blind hog finds an acorn. They found it in 09. Renault will resurge but there is alot of damage control going on there. But without that Btard Alonso no WCC. Perhaps finishing fourth. Cant say anything about the new teams as I dont know squat about them.
Just my 'horse sense' 1. Brawn 2. Red Bull 3. McLaren Hope I'm wrong.... would love Ferrari to be back on top.
Ferrari McLaren Red Bull I think the larger fuel tanks will cause problems for the smaller teams in terms of development....
1 Mclaren through their improved performance in the second half of this year convince me that they will be the force to be reckoned with in 2010, especially if they pair "the ego" with Kimi. History says Mclaren are never out of contention for very long. 2 Red Bull were arguably the most consistent team in 2009 for mine and they will likely remain near the top of the tree in 2010. A terrific driver pairing and equally great car/race development team should guaranty them continued success. 3/4 Brawn's great success in 2009 came in the off season where they managed to develop a car far superior than everyone else thus allowing them to launch an early and ultimately insurmountable lead. This advantage was slowly lost over the course of the year albeit never completely. The pairing of Button & Rosberg should work extremely well but it will be difficult to make a repeat of their success in 2010. 3/4 Ferrari. I still find it strange that Ferrari stopped development of this year's car so early given the rule changes next year seem fairly minimal and any gains this year would likely have equaled advances next year. Anyway I am sure they had their reasons. The Alonso/Massa pairing should be interesting however I expect that there will be teathing problems, both in the pairing but also within the team. I hope I am wrong and the Horsies are on the top step more than not, but I think 2011 is more likely the year we will see the WCC & WDC return to their rightful home.
I'll go with the Beast on this, but I'd say Brawn will be the solid fourth team, then a gap to the Sauber/Renault/Toyota/Williams/ crowd.
I think Brawn will be on the podium as much as anyone. The second half of the season was not disastrous at all. They had 5 podiums after JB's last win. How will that be mid pack? What makes you think they will do worse next year? Obviously they wont have the diffuser advantage, but they didn't have that after mid season this year either. I also never count out the genius that is Ross. AND there is no KERS, that should make it more even. I also assume that the MB engine won't be shoe horned in, but part of the design. That may have been addressed already this year, I don't know if that is a factor. I guess the only downside is who the second driver will be. I wish it were RB. Oh yeah, I forgot about funding. You may be right.
Ferrari just cant have another disappointing year. So I believe the Scuderia will work twice it hard to have a winning car again. So here is my pick: Ferrari Red Bull McLaren
010 is going to be quite different from this year with all the driver moves, cossie engines and the no refueling rule. As we saw last year a change can really shake things up so while it is way to early to make an informed guess I'll have to go with the usual suspects Ferrari and McLaren.
Williams is going to do even worse than this year, IMO. They are way way down on funding, and getting a new engine that will likely be the slowest. I expect Williams to move way back in the grid, along with Toyota (or whoever runs the Toyota team next year).
They stopped development when they realized they needed to build a car with respect to the double diffuser and no KERS from a clean sheet of paper. The F60 was so far out of whack in regards to those parameters they had no choice really. Given they've done that, there's sure to be a lot of pressure to pull a 'Brawn' and dominate right out of the box next year.
Red Bull. Newey is a pimp. A driver lineup which is comparable to that of Ferrari/Mclaren. Red Bull McLaren Ferrari Williams Renault