Who will be 2016 WDC?

[nate]

Thought it might be worthwhile to have a poll before testing starts!

[Exediron]

It's gonna be a bold man who votes for someone other than Hamilton, and it's not gonna be me.

[mds]

LOL @ the first comedy voter

[KingVoid]

Vettel

Will bump this thread in November to rub it in all your faces when I get proved right.

[mds]

Vettel

Will bump this thread in November to rub it in all your faces when I get proved right.

I hope that happens.

Still voted Hamilton.

[Zoue]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

[stevey]

Lewis Hamilton will be 2016wdc with his nearest competitor being Sebastian in the most exciting season for a while.

[MistaVega23]

I voted Lewis, but would love it if Seb could emulate his hero and win the title for Ferrari.

[Kolby]

Logic dictates it will be Lewis Hamilton but the heart wants Alonso to win.

I'll go with Alonso! forza! #14

[AravJ]

Lewis is the obvious choice.
The poll should rather be by how many points

[Blackhander]

Gone with the obvious choice. In fact I think we could have shortened the list to just Hamilton and Rosberg and asked which Mercedes driver would win the world championship... But maybe that's a little too cynical.

Also, whoever voted for Gutierrez gave me a good chuckle

[hittheapex]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

I agree. I think Hamilton and Mercedes will have a harder time of it this year but short of a 2012-esque run of bad luck, I see Hamilton taking it in a closer but not a tooth-and-nail battle with Vettel and Ferrari.

[owenmahamilton]

I voted for Hamilton as I'd think he's the favourite, I can see Vettel beating Rosberg to 2nd place. If that happens, surely that's Rosberg's chance of ever winning the title effectively over as his contract expires at the end of 2016.

[mcdo]

I'm not expecting an upset by Rosberg or Ferrari, although I hope I'm wrong and we do get a good title fight

[F1 MERCENARY]

OK someone voted Gutierrez… Are we on candid camera?

LOL

[pokerman]

I just have a feeling Vettel will win it.

[Amon]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

[Zoue]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

[JamWalsh]

Went out on a limb and went for Rosberg.

[Herb]

OK someone voted Gutierrez… Are we on candid camera?

LOL

Maybe Esteban has an account on PF1?


Ps. Hamilton for the WDC, Seb second.

[j man]

It's hard for me to believe that Mercedes would lose the massive superiority they had last year over the winter. Can't look beyond Hamilton making it three in a row.

[davidheath461]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

The cars are rarely equal. Even if they were, what makes you think Vettel will take it? He had a far superior car in 2010 and 2012, yet he only just about managed to win those.

[davidheath461]

Alot of optimism for Ferrari and Vettel...why though?

[Amon]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

Well with a better car he was only able to beat Alonso with a small margin on 2 occasions.
If Ferrari had the superior car yeah he would take it easily with Kimi as teammate.
I'm unsure why Seb gets so much praise while he hasn't done anything better than Alonso has done before at Ferrari?

[Amon]

Alot of optimism for Ferrari and Vettel...why though?

After 2 years of Mercedes dominance they want a change I guess. They should be careful what to wish though. Schumi's 5 in a row (2000-20004) were one of the most boring periods in F1. And we already had 4 in a row for Seb. I rather have a comeback from RBR and McLaren than Ferrari.

[Zoue]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

The cars are rarely equal. Even if they were, what makes you think Vettel will take it? He had a far superior car in 2010 and 2012, yet he only just about managed to win those.

2010 was his first title - you can understand a bit of nerves there. Lewis can also look at 2007 as the one that got away after all and he wasn't exactly blameless in throwing away a substantial lead in 2010. Besides, in 2010 the RBR was the best car but I wouldn't say it was head and shoulders above everything else. Vettel came back from behind and had a fantastic 2nd half.

In 2012 Vettel had a very patchy first half but the fact we had seven different winners from the first seven races shows that everyone was taking time to get used to the tyres. Again, Vettel got his head down in the second half and gave a pretty good performance.

Twice coming from quite far behind in such a way to take the title tells me that Vettel's pretty good under pressure. And he would only have learned from those seasons. That's why I think he'd have a pretty good chance of taking it if he's given a car capable of it. I'm not trying to claim it would be a sure thing, but I think he's shown that he's got what it takes.

[davidheath461]

Alot of optimism for Ferrari and Vettel...why though?

After 2 years of Mercedes dominance they want a change I guess. They should be careful what to wish though. Schumi's 5 in a row (2000-20004) were one of the most boring periods in F1. And we already had 4 in a row for Seb. I rather have a comeback from RBR and McLaren than Ferrari.

Agreed, seems more like wishful thinking that anything.

[davidheath461]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

Well with a better car he was only able to beat Alonso with a small margin on 2 occasions.
If Ferrari had the superior car yeah he would take it easily with Kimi as teammate.
I'm unsure why Seb gets so much praise while he hasn't done anything better than Alonso has done before at Ferrari?

He did worse than Alonso with a better car.

[aice]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

The cars are rarely equal. Even if they were, what makes you think Vettel will take it? He had a far superior car in 2010 and 2012, yet he only just about managed to win those.

Seb is a good driver but maybe this optimism is enhanced by the Ferrari policy of usually backing one horse. You can bet your bottom dollar that should Seb get a sniff at that title, Ferrari will throw their entire weight behind him. With the Mercedes policy of equality of treatment for both drivers, there maybe a reluctance to back one horse - the result being Rosberg & Hamilton taking vital points off one another. A bit like Hamilton v Alonso in 2007. Toto has intimated in the past that should this situation arise, they may have to re think this policy but the Rosberg/Hamilton on track rivalry is so intense, it's difficult to envisage either of their drivers wanting to officially play second fiddle.

[Black_Flag_11]

Alot of optimism for Ferrari and Vettel...why though?

After 2 years of Mercedes dominance they want a change I guess. They should be careful what to wish though. Schumi's 5 in a row (2000-20004) were one of the most boring periods in F1. And we already had 4 in a row for Seb. I rather have a comeback from RBR and McLaren than Ferrari.

Agreed, seems more like wishful thinking that anything.

On the basis of last season I don't think it's absurd to think Ferrari could beat Mercedes this year.

It probably is wishful thinking to some extent, but it's also logical, if anyone is going to beat Mercedes & Hamilton (which will happen at some point soon) then you would have to say that's most likely going to be Ferrari & Vettel from what we saw last season.

[davidheath461]

2010 was his first title - you can understand a bit of nerves there. Lewis can also look at 2007 as the one that got away after all and he wasn't exactly blameless in throwing away a substantial lead in 2010. Besides, in 2010 the RBR was the best car but I wouldn't say it was head and shoulders above everything else. Vettel came back from behind and had a fantastic 2nd half.

2007 was different - the Ferrari was better than the Mclaren. This is even more clear having seen Alonso trounce both Massa and Kimi. The fact that Alonso and Hamilton got anywhere near the title was a great achievement.

Vettel didn't have a fantastic 2nd half of the season - he just stopped screwing up and did what he was expected to do all season (i.e. win pretty much all the races with ease).

In 2012 Vettel had a very patchy first half but the fact we had seven different winners from the first seven races shows that everyone was taking time to get used to the tyres. Again, Vettel got his head down in the second half and gave a pretty good performance.

What you actually mean is that Newey dug Vettel out with a mega upgrade at Singapore and Japan. Vettel should have won that easily. RB was better than Ferrari at the vast majority of races that year.

Twice coming from quite far behind in such a way to take the title tells me that Vettel's pretty good under pressure. And he would only have learned from those seasons. That's why I think he'd have a pretty good chance of taking it if he's given a car capable of it. I'm not trying to claim it would be a sure thing, but I think he's shown that he's got what it takes.

Coming from behind shows good determination, and that he doesn't give up or let his head drop. Generally, he is pretty decent under pressure but he had a tendency to get a bit hot-headed at times. Maybe he has matured now. Would be interesting to see him in another title fight, particularly if he doesn't get the car advantage this time. It's something we've never seen before, and let's be honest, it is likely that Merc will still have the car advantage, even if Ferrari are closer.

[davidheath461]

Alot of optimism for Ferrari and Vettel...why though?

After 2 years of Mercedes dominance they want a change I guess. They should be careful what to wish though. Schumi's 5 in a row (2000-20004) were one of the most boring periods in F1. And we already had 4 in a row for Seb. I rather have a comeback from RBR and McLaren than Ferrari.

Agreed, seems more like wishful thinking that anything.

On the basis of last season I don't think it's absurd to think Ferrari could beat Mercedes this year.

It probably is wishful thinking to some extent, but it's also logical, if anyone is going to beat Mercedes & Hamilton (which will happen at some point soon) then you would have to say that's most likely going to be Ferrari & Vettel from what we saw last season.

I don't think anyone will beat Merc/Hamilton under this set of rules. Same way no one was able to beat Vettel/Red Bull from 2010-13.

[Zoue]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

Well with a better car he was only able to beat Alonso with a small margin on 2 occasions.
If Ferrari had the superior car yeah he would take it easily with Kimi as teammate.
I'm unsure why Seb gets so much praise while he hasn't done anything better than Alonso has done before at Ferrari?

Well Alonso also got praise for his tenure at Ferrari: it's not as though Seb's the only one.

You may as well ask what has Lewis done better than Seb? He won two of his titles in a car that had an arguably bigger advantage than almost any car in the history of the sport. And his other title he won by the skin of his teeth against fairly lacklustre opposition: luck played arguably as much a part as skill in that particular WDC. At least Seb can claim that he's never lost a title he's been in the hunt for.

I'm a little confused by all the negativity surrounding Seb, I have to say. He's won four titles on the trot, when his team mate has never even come 2nd (and once he was 6th!). And last year he made podiums look effortless while his former WDC team mate was all over the place. What exactly does he have to do to get any recognition from some people?

I don't have a problem if people think Lewis would triumph over him, but I don't understand why some are so keen to downplay his ability or record.

[Zoue]

2007 was different - the Ferrari was better than the Mclaren. This is even more clear having seen Alonso trounce both Massa and Kimi. The fact that Alonso and Hamilton got anywhere near the title was a great achievement.

I'm sorry but this is just silly. The title in 2007 was Lewis' to throw away and he did. First year nerves is understandable but let's not try to paint it as anything other than it was. The Mclaren wasn't any kind of underdog and the fact that they walked the WCC (before their DSQ) and should have had the WDC but for errors demonstrates that

Vettel didn't have a fantastic 2nd half of the season - he just stopped screwing up and did what he was expected to do all season (i.e. win pretty much all the races with ease).

I know you don't like Vettel at all but I'm afraid your letting your personal animosity cloud your judgment here. I don't know who expected him to do anything that season - he wasn't even a particular name at that point. He did make mistakes that year but ultimately he triumphed and the fact that Webber and, arguably, Alonso both let it slip from their grasp at the end shows that it wasn't as easy as you're making it out to be. he can be proud of that title IMO.

What you actually mean is that Newey dug Vettel out with a mega upgrade at Singapore and Japan. Vettel should have won that easily. RB was better than Ferrari at the vast majority of races that year.

No, what I mean is exactly what I said. He had very tough opposition in Alonso and even Webber should have won it if only he hadn't messed up in Korea. Vettel delivered in the end. Yes he had a good car but it's not like he could cruise around without a care. He most certainly had to fight for it

Coming from behind shows good determination, and that he doesn't give up or let his head drop. Generally, he is pretty decent under pressure but he had a tendency to get a bit hot-headed at times. Maybe he has matured now. Would be interesting to see him in another title fight, particularly if he doesn't get the car advantage this time. It's something we've never seen before, and let's be honest, it is likely that Merc will still have the car advantage, even if Ferrari are closer.

I think you're making a bigger deal of Vettel's car advantages than was actually the case. Certainly he's never enjoyed the kind of advantage Lewis has. Of course he's needed a competitive car to win but so does everybody. At the very least he's demonstrated that given half a chance he'll seize the opportunity, which is all I've been saying really. I agree there have been times where he's been hot headed in the past but considering his main opposition this year is most likely to be Lewis it's not like he's going to be alone in that, is it?

[Zoue]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

Well with a better car he was only able to beat Alonso with a small margin on 2 occasions.
If Ferrari had the superior car yeah he would take it easily with Kimi as teammate.
I'm unsure why Seb gets so much praise while he hasn't done anything better than Alonso has done before at Ferrari?

He did worse than Alonso with a better car.

This conversation has been had before. No, he didn't

[UnlikeUday]

I was going to vote for Kimi but then he said to me "leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!"

[mds]

In 2012 Vettel had a very patchy first half but the fact we had seven different winners from the first seven races shows that everyone was taking time to get used to the tyres. Again, Vettel got his head down in the second half and gave a pretty good performance.

What you actually mean is that Newey dug Vettel out with a mega upgrade at Singapore and Japan. Vettel should have won that easily. RB was better than Ferrari at the vast majority of races that year.

If his RBR wouldn't have given up on some random occasions while in the process of scoring a lot of points, and if a certain driver hadn't slashed his tyre, he would have done just that.
Some like to just generalize that season into "the RBR was a lot better" without taking into account he lost a load of points through no fault of his own.

[babararacucudada]

If the cars are at all equal, my money would be on Vettel to win. If it's the same scenario as the last two years then I don't see Rosberg beating Lewis.

If ALL cars were equal I would not count out Alonso or Ricciardo. I don't think Seb can beat Lewis on a consistent basis.

Should have made it clear I was talking about Ferrari and McLaren I guess, although I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't think it would be a walkover either way, but I think Vettel would edge it.

Well with a better car he was only able to beat Alonso with a small margin on 2 occasions.
If Ferrari had the superior car yeah he would take it easily with Kimi as teammate.
I'm unsure why Seb gets so much praise while he hasn't done anything better than Alonso has done before at Ferrari?

Well Alonso also got praise for his tenure at Ferrari: it's not as though Seb's the only one.

You may as well ask what has Lewis done better than Seb? He won two of his titles in a car that had an arguably bigger advantage than almost any car in the history of the sport. And his other title he won by the skin of his teeth against fairly lacklustre opposition: luck played arguably as much a part as skill in that particular WDC. At least Seb can claim that he's never lost a title he's been in the hunt for.

I'm a little confused by all the negativity surrounding Seb, I have to say. He's won four titles on the trot, when his team mate has never even come 2nd (and once he was 6th!). And last year he made podiums look effortless while his former WDC team mate was all over the place. What exactly does he have to do to get any recognition from some people?

I don't have a problem if people think Lewis would triumph over him, but I don't understand why some are so keen to downplay his ability or record.

Vettel consistently finished 3rd in the Ferrari - which was the second best car on the grid in 2015.
His most impressive performance was in qualifying at Sepang. Improving his lap time when he didn't have to, showed how skilful he is in qualifying.

Mercedes have been running at conservative engine settings in 2015.

[mcdo]

Besides, in 2010 the RBR was the best car but I wouldn't say it was head and shoulders above everything else.

I dunno, Newey did say the RB6 probably had the most downforce of any car in F1 history. And that era was very much a downforce game. They struggled at the likes of Spa and Monza but the car was able to do things the others just couldn't do at nearly all other tracks

[dizlexik]

I voted: Vettel