Moore77 wrote: ↑18 Dec 2020, 19:13
Let's start with 2021 predictions.
My prediction.
Mercedes
McLaren/Red Bull
Aston Martin Racing
Ferrari
Renault
Alpha Tauri
Alfa Romeo
Haas
Williams
Cars to be over a second slower than 2020, thanks to Pirelli's 2021 tyres.
As a very proud McLaren fan I applaud you sir... sadly I also think your crazy if you think McLaren will be on par with Redbull
I agree with the bottom 3, I doubt much progress will be made with any of them in the off-season given the limited changes available & obviously Mercedes and Redbull will be out front by some margin again, in the same order
The midfield is going to be very very close close again... my uneducated guess is...
McLaren probably have the greatest scope for both improvement & failure. The engine change instillation will be the decider there. I don’t think the loss of tokens will be a big issue for them as the chassis works fine but they must get on top of their aero updates this year and get the best from the car each weekend to hold third. I think Danny (who was their number 1 choice over Carlos originally) will exceed what Carlos did and with another years experience Lando should not be far behind him
I expect Ferrari to still be in the midfield, not back fighting for wins. Their new engine should provide a boost but I think their chassis issues will continue. Carlos will also be a big boost too and given the points Charles has scored I expect them to move up the order
5th didn’t really do Renault justice this year, they had some great performances, or at least Danny R did. Alonso will be great at Renault but he’ll have a tough time matching Danny’s performance. Ocon is also getting his grove back but overall the car has weaknesses they might not be able to solve for next year
Alpha Tauri have also had a good end to the 2020 season and could be stronger next year too, although their new driver may take time to settle in. I don’t expect them to move up given the strength of their competition
An that leaves Aston Martin who I’m still undecided as to where they will end up. There’s no doubt the W10 was a good car, but the carbon copy clearly had some weakness at some events, most notably Stroll. Why any serious team would have choose off-form Vettel over on-form Perez is beyond me and it may prove their undoing next year. You can’t blame Seb’s poor performance down to 1 bad chassis, it’s been seven years in the making. Perhaps a change of scenery and a different style of car will do him good and he’ll be straight back on his top form. I think we will just have to wait and see, but my guess is they will fit in somewhere between 3rd & 6th, but most likely 4th or 5th
