Formula 1 - 2013 Season

[Dave Baumann]

Minimal changes in store for 2013 (everyone wondering what on earth is going to happen with the new engine formula in 2014), just some tweaks to remove active double DRS, a noscone "vanity cover" and some new, softer compounds. Probably the biggest change of interest is how Hamilton will fare at his new home and whether Perez will sink or swim at McLaren. Oh, and I'm sure that everyone will lament the lack of HRT on the grid...

Lets get F1 2013 underway! :smile:

2013 pre-season dates

[b]Car launches[/b]
Team          Date
Lotus         January 28 (Online)
McLaren       January 31
Ferrari       February 1
Force India   February 1
Sauber        February 2
Red Bull      February 3
Mercedes      February 4
Toro Rosso    February 4
Caterham      February 5
Williams      February 19


[b]Testing[/b]
Venue         Date
Jerez         5-8 February
Barcelona     19-22 February
Barcelona     28 February-3 March

History threads: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

 

[RobertR1]

I imagine Redbull, Ferrari, Mclaren will be key teams next year with lotus being a regular spoiler.

If Massa's form of late carries into next season he will give Alonso a hard time and take points away similar to how Webber is able to take points from Vettel.

If Sebb wins his 4th in either 2011 or 2012 fashion, I'd be down to see it happen. Wining this third one will really mature him in the manner he had to win. His driver today was superb.

 

[jimbo75]

We might see an improvement in Button next year now that he doesn't have the shadow of Hamilton's raw pace haunting him. The jury is still out on Perez.

Apart from Button I can't see anybody really getting close to Vettel.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Button closer to vettel than anyone else? lol. Button is an overrated driver if you asked me. Time and time again he shows he just isn't up there with the best all the time. Kinda like webber and massa. They are close, but not the absolute top drivers.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I don't see any reason at this point why Alonso couldn't also fight for the title next year.

 

[Phil]

So HRT is leaving F1. Will the cut-off point between Q1 and Q2 be the same? Or does it stay the way that the last 7 drivers drop out - with one team less, that would be 15th/16th instead of 17th/18th as it was the last couple of seasons?

 

[Gerry]

So HRT is leaving F1. Will the cut-off point between Q1 and Q2 be the same? Or does it stay the way that the last 7 drivers drop out - with one team less, that would be 15th/16th instead of 17th/18th as it was the last couple of seasons?

Is that confirmed now?

I'd drop the Q1/Q2 to 16 if that happens. 10+6+6 seems neat enough.

 

[RobertR1]

I don't see any reason at this point why Alonso couldn't also fight for the title next year.

Going back to my earlier point. If Massa's recent form carries into next year, he'll give Alonso a hard time and take points form him in races.

He's been on pace or faster than Alonso regularly since he signed the contract. We won't know if this will last until the new season though.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Going back to my earlier point. If Massa's recent form carries into next year, he'll give Alonso a hard time and take points form him in races.

He's been on pace or faster than Alonso regularly since he signed the contract. We won't know if this will last until the new season though.

Yeah, but still to say that Button is the only one who has a chance against Vettel is a bit much at this point, when the performance of next year cars is still at least somewhat unknown.

I do think Button is going to be strong, unless the new tires also prove difficult at the beginning like this year.

BTW just a reminder for those who think Hamilton is a uber driver and Button vastly overrated. They drove three seasons together at McLaren and their points total was:

Button 672 (217,270,188)
Hamilton 657 (240,217,190)

Button didn't do too bad imo, despite being haunted by Hamilton ...Shows that a season is long and few flashy drives here and there is not all that matters.

 

[jimbo75]

Button stayed a lot closer to Hamilton than I thought he would do. Yes he was beaten more often than not but a lot of that time was this year when he just couldn't get the tyres to work.

Ferrari are half a second behind right now, and much of Alonso's good season was due to him being able to cope with the tyres earlier in the year while the Red Bulls were floundering. Unless we get a similar situation next year I basically see Vettel doing what he did at the end of this season, and only the McLaren will be fast enough to stop him. Perez will need time, that leaves Button as the only driver likely to press him next season, imo.

Webber etc will be up there for a while but won't last the season. I'm not sure about Button being overrated - I think most people realise he's not in the same class as Hamilton and Alonso but he certainly impressed me moving to McLaren and being good competition for Hamilton.

 

[Phil]

Button 672 (217,270,188)
Hamilton 657 (240,217,190)

Button didn't do too bad imo, despite being haunted by Hamilton ...Shows that a season is long and few flashy drives here and there is not all that matters.

The point scoring is favoring Button highly though, but if you think about all the points Hamilton lost this year through superb driving, he would be far, far ahead in points (Hamilton lost over a 100 points through car and team error alone and through no fault of his this season). There's simply no comparison. Button is lucky that he closed this year this close. Mid season, he was no where.

 

[jimbo75]

The point scoring is favoring Button highly though, but if you think about all the points Hamilton lost this year through superb driving, he would be far, far ahead in points (Hamilton lost over a 100 points through car and team error alone and through no fault of his this season). There's simply no comparison. Button is lucky that he closed this year this close. Mid season, he was no where.

I agree with you that Hamilton should have had a lot more points (he should have won it tbh), but Button seemed to have more problems with the tyres than anyone else in the field. Apart from that horrible spell in the middle, he was pretty solid and actually beat Hamilton on pace in a few races. Not many drivers do that.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Is that confirmed now?

I think, at this point, it is all but.

The team was put up for sale a few weeks ago and the stories are that the race crew had redundancy notices for the end of Brazil while the factory staff had a little longer notice period.

 

[Dave Baumann]

The point scoring is favoring Button highly though, but if you think about all the points Hamilton lost this year through superb driving, he would be far, far ahead in points (Hamilton lost over a 100 points through car and team error alone and through no fault of his this season). There's simply no comparison. Button is lucky that he
closed this year this close. Mid season, he was no where.

Hamilton is a little more binary in his point scoring - its either lots or nothing. Last year this was more of his doing, this year probably more of the team's doing.

BTW, I was wondering how McLaren's "Tooned" would handle Hamilton's departure, I think their solution to it was quite inventive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2cz_83a_U

 

[jimbo75]

BTW, I was wondering how McLaren's "Tooned" would handle Hamilton's departure, I think their solution to it was quite inventive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2cz_83a_U

Brilliant.

 

[Lightman]

Hamilton is a little more binary in his point scoring - its either lots or nothing. Last year this was more of his doing, this year probably more of the team's doing.

BTW, I was wondering how McLaren's "Tooned" would handle Hamilton's departure, I think their solution to it was quite inventive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg2cz_83a_U

I loved that episode! Brilliant, and to hear Ron's voice in animation ... they are really trying to soften their corporate image :smile:.

This last episode sort of confirms McLaren is sticking with this little project for next season as well, which is good because it draws my young one to watch F1 with more interest!

PS. Anyone here knows when winter testing begins?

 

[Kaotik]

Infiniti Red Bull Racing:
1. Sebastian Vettel GER
2. Mark Webber AUS

Scuderia Ferrari:
3. Fernando Alonso SPA
4. Felipe Massa BRA
(Davide Rigon ITA)

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes:
5. Jenson Button GBR
6. Sergio Pérez MEX

Lotus F1 Team:
7. Kimi Räikkönen FIN
8. -

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team:
9. Lewis Hamilton GBR
10. Nico Rosberg GER

Sauber F1 Team:
11. Esteban Gutiérrez MEX
12. Nico Hülkenberg GER
(Robin Frijns NDL)

Sahara Force India F1 Team:
14. Paul di Resta GBR
15. -

Williams F1 Team:
16. -
17. -

Scuderia Toro Rosso:
18. Daniel Ricciardo AUS
19. Jean-Éric Vergne FRA

Caterham F1 Team:
20. Charles pic FRA
21. -

Marussia F1 Team:
22. Timo Glock GER
23. -

HRT F1 Team:
24. Pedro de la Rosa SPA
25. -

Current contracts as far as I know.
Also:
-Valtteri Bottas is 99.99% surely race driver for Williams this season
-Vitali Petrov is reportedly negotiating with Marussia
-Heikki Kovalainen is reportedly negotiating with Lotus (Grosjean is according to rumors losing his TOTAL sponsor money)
-HRT is for sale

 

[RobertR1]

Unless the Torro Rosso boys have a breakout year next year, both will be out of a job.

 

[jimbo75]

Seems unlikely that Lotus would take Kovalainen. He was on UK TV after qualifying saying how he wouldn't pay to drive (actually he did say that he would pay to drive only if it was for Ferrari or McLaren but maybe Lotus are counted in that too).

Anyway, Maldonado pays and would probably be ahead of him for the place if Grosjean gets the boot. Ditto Senna. Even Di Resta could be poached from Force India, which could give Kovalainen a place there.

Barrichello in talks with Caterham apparently.

 

[Kaotik]

Seems unlikely that Lotus would take Kovalainen. He was on UK TV after qualifying saying how he wouldn't pay to drive (actually he did say that he would pay to drive only if it was for Ferrari or McLaren but maybe Lotus are counted in that too).

In Finnish interviews he has only said that he wouldn't pay for driving in the bottom teams [tongue]
(and with Coca-Cola sponsoring Lotus with Burn energy drink and rumors of Samsung sponsoring them next season too, they might not need a paying driver to begin with)

Anyway, Maldonado pays and would probably be ahead of him for the place if Grosjean gets the boot. Ditto Senna. Even Di Resta could be poached from Force India, which could give Kovalainen a place there.

I'm quite sure Maldonado is staying at Williams, and I'm quite sure they would pick Kovalainen before Senna - they definitely want a solid, reliable driver after Grosjean (and for what it's worth, Senna got his chance at the "Enstone team" for half a season or so and was anything but reliable)