We had initially intended to make a prediction post prior to each race this Formula 1 season, but thus far have not managed to due to other commitments, That said we’ve managed to find the time to make our first predictions post of the year, With that let’s get to it.
We’re onto the 3rd race weekend of the 2014 race calender and the initial excitement in building this season up has so far been justified in just 2 races, we hoping that the 3rd round continues to deliver the somewhat unpredictable results and races.
This will be the 10th year Bahrain has hosted an F1 race, and to mix things up a bit, it will change to be a night race. I’m sure this is something the drivers will appreciate as I’m sure the temperatures during the day there are outrageous.
So to the nitty gritty predictions, I’m not going to list the qualifying positions of all participants, but just the top 5, same thing goes for the actual race results, I’ll just go for top 5 there too:
Qualifying –
1st – Lewis Hamilton
2nd – Sebastian Vettel
3rd – Nico Rosberg
4th – Fernando Alonso
5th – Felipe Massa
Bit left field, but I think that Massa can churn out a good qualifying from the Williams in the dry. I’d like to think that Bottas and the 2 McLarens will also have respectable quali’s too in the dry. Ricciardo just missing out on the top 5 for me, but I’m sure he’ll continue to impress.
Finishing –
1st – Lewis Hamilton
2nd – Nico Rosberg
3rd – Sebastian Vettel
4th – Daniel Ricciardo
5th – Fernando Alonso
As much as I’d like to see Williams or McLaren finish higher, barring something happening to the Redbull or Mercedes drivers, I can see them locking out top 4 for a long time now. Considering the less than impressive pre-season for Redbull, It’s evident that the car isn’t as bad as first though with Ricciardo managing to finish on a podium in race 1 (although losing that classification later on) and Seb getting his onto a podium finish in Malaysia. It’s these early races that Mercedes need to take advantage of before Redbull get their act together completely.
But as a battle for best of the rest, I do think that Williams & McLaren will be right up there with Ferrari. If Hulkenberg can continue performing miracles in the Force India like he has in other cars over the years, it could be a strong finish for them too.
Hopefully Magnussen and Bottas can keep up with point finishes.
Is it evident enough I like McLaren & Williams?
So there you go… Silver Arrows 1-2 in Quali and Race.
– Murr
I think the dominance of Mercedes is going to continue for a little while longer, and with that in mind I feel that it will be a Mercedes lockout on the front row for qualifying.
Top 5 for qualifying
1st – Lewis Hamilton
2nd – Nico Rosberg
3rd – Sebastian Vettel
4th – Fernando Alonso
5th – Daniel Ricciardo
Alonso seems to be able to get a little more out of the car than his team mate Raikkonen, and I think he could have the pace and experience to get himself in a good position. Whilst Ricciardo has started the season well he has also had a fair bit of bad luck, but I think getting in the top 5 for quali is possible and a good achievement.
As for the race itself, I have a sneaking suspicion that Vettel is going to pull out a top performance, and grab either 1st or 2nd. Hulkenberg is another driver who I think will perform well this weekend, he has had a great start to this season, and has driven very well at Force India.
Race results
1st – Sebastian Vettel
2nd – Nico Rosberg
3rd – Lewis Hamilton
4th – Nico Hulkenberg
5th – Fernando Alonso
It just feels like one of those weekends where come race time, things aren’t going to go too smoothly for Hamilton, I don’t know why, but I’ve just got a feeling.
– Will