Who will win their 5th world championship first

Agreed

 

If Ferrari improves like they have done in recent years, by that logic they'll win the title next year:
leading driver | Nearest Ferrari
2014 384 161
2015 381 278
2016 385 212
2017 363 317

Despite Mercedes reliability being 100% on their lead car (their first time ever), and Ferrari nowhere near the amount of finishes with their lead car, Mercedes has not scored many fewer points than years before when their reliability wasn't as good as now. Fewer mistakes from Vettel are needed and Ferrari. Ferrari has promised they've spend huge amounts of money on reliability for next year so it's up to Vettel.

 

Problem is it is not just reliability. Vettel can do all he wants but unless they get another 10-20 hp out of that engine, i don't see how they can compete for victories on a lot of the tracks.

 

True...According to Marchionne they've spend half a billion on the engine next year (utter ******** in my opinion, but a lot has been spend of that I'm sure!). This is for reliability but I'm also more power. They couldn't upgrade this during the season due to the idiotic way it's set up by the FIA. It remains to be seen what can happen. Fact is the Mercedes is near the end of it's development possibility as they didn't change their car's philosophy since 2014, Ferrari has with a completely new concept for 2017 so their development ceiling is higher...they obviously had decent base car to work off. It remains to be seen what can happen but I'm keeping faith Ferrari will be even closer next year.

To be honest I don't care who does it....even Mclaren. Anyone to dethrone Mercedes.

 

This last race proved just how far ahead Merc is. I don't see anything stopping Hamilton next year. At least when he was racing against Rosberg he had some competition. Bottas seems content to be Hamilton's number 2 and follow team orders.

 

Bite your tongue!

 

Yeah, i hear you. And I too hope Ferrari keeps moving in the right direction; not trying to be a downer with my post, but i just don't think the same engine, without improvement, will get the job done next year given Mercedes' ability to find that extra time in a lot of qualifying and on straights.

 

Consistency
!

 

Quite

 

If Ferrari get their reliability and hp up....which is all they have to do really cuz this SF70-H chassis and aero were on target(I would not change that dept.)....then Seb has a shot at the WDC title.

 

So how many years have we heard the same thing in a row?

 

I know I know....but at least this year was somewhat closer than the other 3 given this era of hybrid formula.

 

Hamilton cruised to the WDC this year. Alonso was right in that he had no competition. Mercedes was never in doubt about winning the WCC. Ferrari has a ton of work to do. Hamilton is no slouch. The guy can drive. That's a factor too. You have to damage his ego to get under his skin and force mistakes. Rosberg did that pretty well. Bottas never will.

 

A change would be nice!

 

Its a long shot but I hope Ferrari can challenge longer into the season. Strategy and reliability are their downfalls. Have been for years. They're getting there, and it would be awesome if the investment pays off next year.

Another long shot would be McLaren challenging, what an underdog story that would be!

 

Some of Ferrari's "reliability" problems with DNF's lie at the feet of Vettel causing three wide collisions at multiple GP's. These collisions impacted Kimi pretty badly, and also sometimes Vettel.

Vettel would go into T1 like he was the only driver on the track; when he wasn't.

To some extent it is a psychological attack on other drivers, you better move out of my way; I won't. It results in short term crashes, but can lead to long term results that may be good or not. Vettel hitting Hamilton behind the pace car is a good example of Vettel saying "I'm better than you, get out of the way".

It works on a lot of drivers, but will it work against the drivers of Red Bull and Mercedes? I suppose we'll find out next season.

I don't look down on Vettel for what he's done, I see it as part of being a competitive race driver. If he didn't, he'd be just a fast driver. Fast driver's won't win races and championships in a competitive environment. Only fast competition oriented race drivers will do this.

Vettel has the Alpha mindset and a lot of talent.

Ferrari put together an amazing advance this year. I like the idea of them winning next year, so until the flag drops I'll just imagine they're improving more than Mercedes.

 

The problem is there are really only 2 teams competing for the WCC and WDC. IF RB can raise their game and take away points from Mercedes once and a while that would tighten the championship.

I don't blame Mercedes. I blame Ferrari and RB for not being strong enough to run with them.

 

I would like to see Seb get #5 as for Hammy perhaps they get him on tax evasion and hr gets comfortable with his cell mate

 

Seb...but in rality none of them should have more than 2.

 

Yep, Mercedes run with their engines turned down most of the time.

 

If he went to Mercedes, I reckon lil Maxine might get his fifth First, liberty need to sort out the rules to remove the inbuilt advantage of that car. To bet against them for race wins or championships is a waste of time at the moment, their advantage is locked in for a couple more years at this rate at least.

 

Whoever has the best car. Eddie sums up this current era very well. The only possible exception is the new kid on block, Max

 

Eddie is starting to look more and more like Eddie Jordan as the years roll by