TBK-Light.com

These will probably be laughed at 6 months from now.

Red Bull - Renault

1. Vettel - He is under contract, and the way things are going I don't see a reason for him to leave.
2. Ricciardo - Both Didi and Tost are quite high on him. If he has a stellar European season I think he'll have the seat locked up.

Ferrari - Ferrari

3. Alonso - Duh!
4. Hulkenberg - Ferrari realises that they have to move if they want to hold onto the Hulk and promote him.

Lotus - Renault

5. Raikkonen - Kimi hangs around for one more season after the Red Bull rumours go nowhere.
6. Massa - Is seen as the best free agent who wants to stay in F1, and is cheap.

Mercedes - Mercedes

7. Hamilton
8. Rosberg

Force India - Mercedes

9. Sutil - Continues to impress, team keeps him on.
10. Magnussen - McLaren persuade FIF1 to give him a shot.

McLaren - Mercedes

11. Button
12. Perez - Will continue to gain the upper hand on Jenson and will establish himself as the no.1 driver before this season is out.

STR - Renault

14. Da Costa - Will build momentum in WSbR and will move from there to F1.
15. Vergne\Evans - Might keep JEV around as a benchmark for AFdC, might not.

Williams - Mercedes

16. Maldonado - Chavez' heir consolidates power, PDVSA's money keeps flowing, Williams stays in business.
17. Wickens\Bird - As part of the new engine deal, Mercedes parachute another of their young drivers in 3 years too late. Could also be Wehrlein.

Sauber - Ferrari

18. Bianchi - Jules remains in a holding pattern until Alonso is ready to give it up.
19. Frijns - Monisha realises the team is making a net loss on Gutierrez and chucks him for someone who might actually trouble the points.

Caterham - Renault

20. Pic - Brings money, isn't slow
21. van de Garde - Brings money, isn't terribly slow. Might also be Rossi if he finds something down the back of a sofa.

Marussia - Ferrari

22. Biggest wallet - Whoever brings the cash. Not entirely sure how much Chilton is bringing. Could well be booted for someone with more funding.
23. Marciello - Storms to European F3 title. Next highest on the FDA ladder behind Bianchi.

Webber leaves to drive Porsches and di Resta has a major falling-out with his team, leading to his dismissal.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

He's not a bad driver, but his team radio sometimes sounds like they are 2 minutes away from a domestic. Paddock whispers suggest he's pretty hard to work with too, and you can only get away with that if you are really, really good (Raikkonen, Kubica, Kyle Busch).

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

I'd agree with most of RtN's choices to be honest.

Perhaps Felipe Nasr will find somewhere, ditto Alexander Rossi with Caterham. Pic has a long term deal with Caterham. I'd be surprised if Gutierrez was dropped already because it'd prove Sauber's investments now worthless. They don't usually can someone after one season.

I also think Di Resta will stay with Force India for one more season. A lot of deals will depend on finances, naturally. For that reason I'd expect Bottas to stay at Williams considering his ties with Wolff.

As we know, driver moves can be totally unexpected. After Monaco 2012, who'd have put money on Hulkenberg going to Sauber, Perez to McLaren, Massa still at Ferrari, Sutil back at Force India and Hamilton to Mercedes?

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

Isn't Cosworth planning of moving out of F1 because they don't have/ want to invest in the new turbo engines?

Yes, they're pulling out at the end of 2013.

_________________
Dan Wheldon | 1978 - 2011

What we need Phil is for you to make some rather boring predictions about the 2014 grid, which (knowing your prediction accuracy) will be totally wrong and therefore the 2014 grid will be very different and exciting.

Predict away.

Yours,

kals

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

I just feel like predicting the grid, will be fun to look back on

Red Bull:
Vettel
Ricciardo

Ferrari:
Alonso
Kobayashi

McLaren:
Button
Perez

Lotus:
Raikkonen
Sutil

Mercedes:
Hamilton
Rosberg

Sauber:
Hulkenberg
Frijns

Force India:
Bianchi
Di Resta

Williams:
Maldonado
Bottas

Toro Rosso:
Vergne
da Costa

Caterham:
Pic
Kovalainen

Marussia:
Chilton
Rich GP2 driver

And just for the sake of it, my predicted calendar changes:

Spanish GP will stay at Barcelona.
The Russian GP will be the only new GP on the calendar, while New Jersey and Thai will not happen.

Coletti will probably get second race seat at Toro Rosso, GP2 title will definitely help

Is Coletti a Red Bull junior driver?

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

He was, I assume he still is.

According to his wiki page he was dropped from the Red Bull junior program in 2008. I can't see any Red Bull logos on his website either.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

Sutil at Lotus? Any rumours or just a random guess? I can't really see him joining the team of Eric Lux

F1 needs another new team IMO. Room for 2 more (drivers) would make things a little more exciting giving more opportunities to the great up ad coming talent. F1 becomes stagnant so quickly, Medicare drivers holding seats for 2/3/4 seasons before they are given the final boot. But by the time this has passed, those new talents have gone down alternative routes which very rarely lead back to F1.

Petrov will back for Sochi 2014

_________________

Needed to put someone in that seat, and figured after Grosjean they probably would want someone with experience rather than another gp2/support driver, but I completely forgot about the Lux/Sutil thing, pretty much guarantees that not happening. I don't know who Lotus would want, maybe Valsecchi or D'ambrosio?

D'Ambrosio's chances are gone to be honest, don't expect him on the grid anymore. (1 season still made me feel proud!)

we should focus on Stoffel now.

Some silly silly season:

Red Bull:
Vettel
Raikkonen

Ferrari:
Alonso
Bianchi

McLaren:
Button
Perez

Lotus:
Grosjean
Vergne

Mercedes:
Hamilton
Rosberg

Sauber:
Hulkenberg
Guttierez

Force India:
Massa
Di Resta

Williams:
Webber
Bottas

Toro Rosso:
Ricciardo
da Costa

Caterham:
Pic
Frijns

Marussia:
Chilton
Coletti

Webber back to Williams? I hope those knife wounds to the backs of the Williams team members have healed well enough.

_________________
BTCC Pick Em's Champion 2010
Formula Fun Cup Champion 2013
http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk

LOLZ

Red Bull:
Vettel
Ricciardo

Ferrari:
Alonso
Bianchi

McLaren:
Button
Perez

Lotus:
Raikkonen
Hulkenberg

Mercedes:
Hamilton
Rosberg

Sauber:
Massa
Guttierez

Force India:
Alguersuari
Frijns

Williams:
Vergne
Bottas

Toro Rosso:
Buemi
da Costa

Caterham:
Pic
Rossi

Marussia:
Marciello
Chilton

_________________
#29
Pittsburgh Steelers