The 2009 season is half over. Webber won his first race ever. Button and Brawn GP don't look so invincible anymore. Here is my take:1. Brawn GP (112 points). Button is still favored to win the championship, barely. Vettel has a decent shot of overtaking Button in points. As long as the weather in the remaining venues is warm or hot, then Brawn should be okay. As Vettel gets closer to Button, it will become increasingly less likely for Button and Brawn to "give" Barrichello a token win. Button will stay with Brawn next season. So will old timer Barrichello.
2. Red Bull (92.5). As I write this, I'm growing more confident that Red Bull will win the constructor's title. They are on a hot streak and Brawn is slowly fading. Who knows, Mark Webber may win another one this season.
3. Toyota (34.5). The only thing I can predict about Toyota is that it will be unpredictable.
4. Ferrari (32). With Kimi scoring only 10 points so far, I predict that he will retire at the end of the season and go to rallying full time. Massa, the loyal soldier, will stay on. Neither driver will wow anyone for the rest of the season.
5. Williams (20.5). Both Rosberg and Nakajima are clearly talented but their average cars don't help.
6. McLaren (14). McLaren needs to forget about 2009 and focus on 2010. I feel bad for the engineers.
7. Renault (13). Renault may surge, just like Alonso did in the second half of last season. Look for Piquet to bow out of F1 and Alonso to go to Ferrari to replace Kimi next season.
8. BMW (8). With Heidfeld finishing ahead of Kubica in 6 out of 9 races, it should be Kubica that should be worried about his future at BMW. But alas, I have a feeling that Heidfeld will move to Renault or one of the new start-ups next season. The only good thing to come out of today's win for Webber is that Heidfeld's records for most number of points without a win and most number of podiums without a win are no longer under threat. Plus, he continues to hold the record for most completed races (29 and counting). Go Quick Nick!
9. Toro Rosso (5). Bourdais probably drove his last race today. A shame.
10. Force India (0). Too bad about Sutil today. There is Twitter activity of Sutil rounding up a posse and going to Kimi's yacht for a beat down.
I hope and think that you're wrong about McLaren scrapping their car and starting work on next year's car. They showed good speed at Nurburgring and if not for Hamilton's over-ambitious overtaking at the first corner,
ReplyDeletethings may have ended up better. (I'm not saying he shouldn't have done it)
Furthermore, with McLaren being a part of FOTA and there being vast uncertainty as to whether there'll even be an FIA F1 championship next year or what the rules will be, it's a bit risky to start work on a new car at this point.
With regards to Ferrari, it is said that a good driver is measured by how well he handles a bad car. In that sense, Massa has shone beautifully this year. Apart from his obligatory bad results at the start of each season, he has brought the car home with as many points as the car would allow him to. Unlike Hamilton or Alonso who have been up and down all season.
Too bad for Sutil... He needs to start watching out for black cats, stop walking beneath ladders and the like...
An article that might interest you with regards to Turkmenistan:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31884168/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia//