Posted on by Steve Murray Sports

Formula One Season Preview: Predictions

Welcome to part three of The Lowdown’s preview of the 2009 Formula One World Championship. With an examination of the teams and rules out of the way, it’s time to move on to predictions for the 2009 season. The new rules with the point system make picking a champion and sorting out the standings very difficult. However, as The Lowdown’s motto on the radio says: How hard can it be?

Drivers’ Championship

  1. Kimi Raikkonen
  2. Jenson Button
  3. Filipe Massa
  4. Robert Kubica
  5. Nick Heidfeld

For the three days that the world championship was going to be determined by race wins, I thought Ferrari was the smart choice.  Now that things have gone back to the proper order of the world, I won’t change my mind.  I went with Kimi over Filipe simply because Raikkonen will be motivated to beat his teammate and if it wasn’t for some bad luck, he would have been in the middle of that fight with Lewis last season.  The speed of the Brawn will keep Button up high in the points standings but his track record makes me think he won’t be consistent enough to win it all.  The BMW will be very competitive and I think Kubica will prove he is the better of the two Beemer boys.

Constructors’ Championship

  1. Ferrari
  2. BMW Sauber
  3. Brawn Grand Prix
  4. Red Bull Racing
  5. Toyota

Ferrari should take the title simply based on who they are.  I’ve said before that the BMW should be competitive but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep pace with the Scuderia.  Brawn should start the season strong but without the money that BMW and Ferrari have, they might fade from the front of the pack without proper development.  The Red Bull car is the best looking of the bunch.  Combine that with the improved Renault engine (improved apparently to be more competitive with the rest and not than the rest) and Red Bull has a strong chance at being the head of the midfield.  I don’t like Toyota in 5th but when backed into a corner, the German-based team could lash out.  If they don’t make a charge to the front, they’re dead.

2009 F1 Preview:
Part 1: Teams
Part 2: Rules
Part 3: Predictions

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