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2013 Formula One World Championship

CumbrianRam

By CumbrianRam
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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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Just over two weeks until the start of the F1 season and the driver line up is finally, announced with Adrian Sutil returning to Force India after a GBH conviction made him miss out last year.

Plenty of changes to the driving line-ups, quite a few rookies with money becoming a major factor in F1 now, HRT shut down shortly after the Brazilian Grand Prix and Force India and Marussia have had rumours spread about their future existence.

Here are the eleven teams and twenty driver that will compete in 2013:
Red Bull RB9 – Renault
1.Sebastian Vettel (Germany), 2010, 2011 and 2012 Champion, the favourite going into the season.

2. Mark Webber (Australia), 3rd in 2010 and 2011, 9 Grands Prix wins, great in some race, nowhere in other races, 2010 was his best shot of a title but blew it with crash in Korea. Could be last season in F1, oldest driver on the grid.

Ferrari F138
3. Fernando Alonso (Spain), 2005 and 2006 Champion, narrowly missed out in 2007, 2010 and 2012, the main contender along with Vettel

4. Felipe Massa (Brazil), 2008 runner up, 11 wins, last win in 2008, improved from at the end of 2012 gave him a year long contract but if he wants any chance of title he will have to start well.

McLaren MP4-28 Mercedes
5. Jenson Button (United Kingdom), 2009 Champion, 2011 runner up, with no Hamilton, Button may find it easier to fight for title but can he regain the consistency he had at Brawn and in late 2011, win in Brazil should give him confidence. Now the most experienced driver on the grid, his 14th season!

6. Sergio Perez (Mexico), three podiums last year, could have won in Malaysia, has looked good in testing can fight for title if car is strong, big pressure though as Hamilton replacement and will be under pressure if he has any bad races.

Lotus E21 Renault
7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland), 2007 Champion, 2003 & 2005 runner up, 2nd year of come back after win in Abu Dhabi, if the car is as good as it looks in testing could improve in his 3rd place from last season

8. Romain Grosjean (France), won every junior series he’s been in, was quick last season, three podiums but got involved in too many crashes, on a final warning by team. Has to pace to win, but does he have the mentality?

Mercedes W04
9. Nico Rosberg (Germany), finally won after 111 attempts in China and fine 2nd in Monaco, but after that that car got worse and he hasn’t scored since September.

10. Lewis Hamilton (United Kingdom), big money move from McLaren for 2008 champ, says it is a year not to fight for title but I wouldn’t rule out a win or two. Hamilton and Rosberg former karting teamamtes in 2000!

Sauber C33 Ferrari
11.Nico Hulkenberg (Germany), Pole for Williams in Brazil 2010, could have won for Force India in 2012 but crashed out, impressed in the way he beat di Resta at Force India last year, Sauber could be seen as a sideways move but they have looked good in testing if they were as good as they were last year, he can win a race.

12. Esteban Gutiérrez (Mexico), first of the rookies coming up against Hulkenberg is tough but he has the back of Carlos Slim and the 21 year will see this as a learning year.

Force India VJM06 Mercedes
14. Paul di Resta (Great Britain), Started season strongly and had a great 4th place in Singapore but at the end the season suffered from a lack of confidence and self-esteem possibly due to losing a chance of a top drive, make a break year for him.

15. Adrian Sutil (Germany), reunited 2011 partnership, Sutil maybe a rusty after a season of not racing in any series, to be honest I would have preferred French rookie Jules Bianchi here, but Sutil in 2010 and 2011 was a solid pair of hand after being crash prone in 2009. Boring line-up in my opinion.

Williams FW35 Renault
16. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela), big fan of this guy, winner of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix after being under pressure from Alonso at home race, but got involved in far too many silly crashes, but had spells of bad luck in Singapore and Abu Dhabi if the car is good, expect podiums. Demon qualifier, best on the grid last year in my view.

17. Valtteri Bottas (Finland), rookie steps up to race seat after showing strong pace in testing, highly rated by the team and the paddock alike I’m very interested to see how he will do this season. I just hope we aren’t seeing another Tonio Liuzzi here.

Toro Rosso STR8 Ferrari
18. Jean Eric-Vergne (France), was outpaced by teammate Ricciardo in 2012, however he got more points in the wet weather races, if he wants any hope of replacing Webber has to up his qualifying pace.

19.Daniel Riccairdo (Australia), showed a decent turn of pace last season, out of this world Q effort in Bahrain 2012, but suffered some back luck in races. If he wants to replace Webber he has to be more consistent.

Caterham CT03 Renault
20. Charles Pic (France), driver moved from fellow back marker Marussia in the post season, did well against Timo Glock last year, but at 23 being the teams most experienced race driver is an odd situation to be in.

21. Geido van der Garde (Holland), finally gets an F1 after a decade in feeder series where he was OK to mediocre at best, beat Russian Vitaly Petrov to this seat mainly down to the back he gets from Dutch fashion company McGregor.

Marussia MR02 Cosworth
22. Jules Bianchi (France), rookie who finished 2nd in Formula Renault was a late replacement for Luiz Razia who had sponsorship issues. Jules was highly rated in 2009, but since then has had several disappointing season, there is no doubt that the Frenchman has speed, but in 2011 GP2 he was a bit crash prone, should beat teammate.


23. Max Chilton (United Kingdom), finshed 4th in GP2 last and got promotion from test driver to race driver after backing from his father’s Aon company, his brother Tom races in World Touring cars. Max expected to learn from Glock but may find this season tough in a poor car and he doesn’t have a reputation for being a great talent.

Final test in Barcelona from 28 February-3 March, before lights out in Melbourne on 18 March the likely 19 race calendar, there is a planned 20th race to replace New Jersey but this doubtful

Season Calendar:
[url=http://www.formula1.com/races/calendar.html]http://www.formula1....s/calendar.html

2013 F1 Cars:
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21261099]http://www.bbc.co.uk...rmula1/21261099

BBC Live race info:
[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/17238688]http://www.bbc.co.uk...rmula1/17238688

Sky coverage:
[url=http://www1.skysports.com/f1-on-sky-sports]http://www1.skysport...1-on-sky-sports

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Duracell

Duracell

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My dark horse this year is Bottas in the Williams. This guy is quick, and the Williams looks like a good car - or, at least, it looks good from the first test.

When I say dark horse, I mean a dark horse for surprise podiums. You might see Lotus get a few more wins this season but the top teams will largely be the same.

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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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Jules Bianchi replaces Luiz Razia at Marussia, Jules was highly rated in 2009, but since then has had several disappointing season, there is no doubt that the Frenchman has speed, but in 2011 GP2 he was a bit crash prone, should beat Max Chilton though,

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