It’s time for the final part of our 2013 Formula One World Championship season preview. Having gone through the new rules, new drivers and team previews for the season, it’s time to put it all together in our predicted results for the upcoming season.

As always, what we’ve seen so far isn’t exactly a complete picture of the upcoming season. The drivers, team bosses and pundits all say that we won’t know who has the best car until a couple of races into the season. But based on what we do know so far, we do have a slightly educated idea as to who will be quick this year.

World Drivers’ Championship

1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Mark Webber
5. Sergio Perez
6. Lewis Hamilton
7. Jenson Button
8. Romain Grosjean
9. Felipe Massa
10. Nico Hulkenberg

I’m a firm believer in the old adage of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Right now, there’s nothing broke about Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel. Adrian Newey has this set of rules right and consistently has the fastest car on the grid, with the exception of the first half of 2009. Alonso may be the best driver on the grid but Vettel has enough pace, both from his own skill and the car’s raw pace, to stay ahead of the Spaniard.

Speaking of pace, that how Raikkonen stays third. Since I’m buying in on the RB9, I have Webber up to 4th in the WDC. My first big prediction is that Perez out duels Button. Unless the McLaren understeers like a pig, which would be more to Button’s liking than Perez, Sergio’s ability to make the tyres last should give him an advantage over his more experienced teammate.

I’m also not buying in on Mercedes and Felipe Massa this year. Mercedes fell off the pace so dramatically last season that I just have no faith right now. That’s why Lewis is out of the top five and Rosberg is out of the top ten. Massa won’t get any support from the team this year because he’s likely on his way out and all the support will be behind Alonso. Look for Hulkenberg to have a statement year on his way to the second Ferrari seat next year.

World Constructors’ Championship

1. Red Bull – Renault
2. Ferrari
3. Lotus – Renault
4. McLaren – Mercedes
5. Mercedes AMG
6. Sauber – Ferrari
7. Force India – Mercedes
8. Toro Rosso – Ferrari
9. Williams – Renault
10. Marussia – Cosworth

As I said above, I like Red Bull to take its fourth-straight World Constructors’ Championship in keeping with my philosophy of not betting against Adrian Newey. And if he drops the ball this year, it’s probably because he’s too busy getting a jump on next year. After all, Newey has a track record of being very good at getting a jump on a new set of rules.

Behind that, I expect Lotus to be able to jump ahead of McLaren in the Constructors’ Standings on the back of another big season from Raikkonen. From Mercedes through Force India, I don’t expect a change from 2012.

Apart from a couple of good runs by Maldonado, Williams didn’t look too impressive last season. I expect the two Toro Rosso drivers to be motivated to keep their jobs and be able to power past Williams but only by the slimmest of margins. As for the battle at the back between Caterham and Marussia, I give this year to Marussia solely based on the law of averages.