IT'S HERE! 2016 F1 SEASON (played through Grand Prix 2)!

[jens]

P1 & P3 - Mercedes
P2 & P4 - Ferrari
P5 & P6 - Williams
P7 & P8 - Red Bull
P9 - Force India
P10 - McLaren
etc

Some race results have been weird and Hamilton has had unrealistically much unluck, but looking at championship standings, it seems very realistic, how the teams are positioned. Almost like last year.

[rjbetty]

ROUND 15: UNITED STATES GP
Starting Grid
1.Rosberg
2.Vettel +0.038
3.Button +0.393
4.Hamilton +0.514
5.Raikkonen +0.680
6.Ricciardo +0.680
7.Sainz +0.760
8.Perez +0.833
9.Massa +1.066
10.Bottas +1.079
11.Verstappen +1.114
12.Kvyat +1.267
13.Alonso +1.349
14.Ericsson +1.390
15.Hulkenberg +1.513
16.Wehrlein +1.872
17.Grosjean +2.064
18.Palmer +2.147
19.Magnussen +2.228
20.Nasr +2.271
21.Gutierrez +2.903
22.Haryanto +4.022


Race Day
Hamilton bursts into the lead but Vettel eventually reels both Mercedes in and passes them into the lead.
He pits early but still comes out just behind Rosberg who has been really slow today and is only 6th!

And now Raikkonen is challenging Hamilton for 2nd, but on lap 22 as Vettel comes to race his team-mate, they collide and are both out! A catastrophe! This means Rosberg can win the title today by finishing 5th.

There are quite a lot of retirements again but Rosberg makes it home in 2nd - and is champion! Well I was hoping this could have gone to the last race but oh well, it's much better than Hamilton's whitewash last year. Manor score another point at last and Mercedes also take the constructors championship with a race to go!

Result
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg +22.985
3.Ricciardo +40.053
4.Massa +50.632
5.Button +53.066
6.Kvyat +1:12.662
7.Verstappen -1 lap
8.Sainz -1 lap
9.Bottas -1 lap
10.Wehrlein -1 lap
11.Palmer -1 lap
12.Gutierrez -2 laps
R.Magnussen - DNF
R.Alonso - Engine
R.Hulkenberg - DNF
R.Vettel - DNF
R.Raikkonen - DNF
R.Ericsson - DNF
R.Perez - DF
R.Nasr - DNF
R.Haryanto - DNF

Fastest Lap Top 3: Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton


Championship Standings after Round 15
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 238pts
2.Vettel - 204pts
3.Hamilton - 186pts
4.Raikkonen - 140pts
5.Bottas - 112pts
6.Massa - 105pts
7.Ricciardo - 97pts
8.Kvyat - 84pts
9.Hulkenberg - 67pts
10.Button - 50pts
11.Verstappen - 50pts
12.Alonso - 48pts
13.Perez - 48pts
14.Sainz - 44pts
15.Nasr - 20pts
16.Gutierrez - 6pts
17.Ericsson - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 4pts
19.Wehrlein - 3pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 424pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 344pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 217pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 181pts
5.Force India - Mercedes - 115pts
6.McLaren - Honda - 98pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 94pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 26pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 6pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 3pts

[Bezza]

RJBetty, loved reading all these. I hope the real season is as exciting!

Wanted to know though what you did to simulate the F1 season. I remember having Grand Prix 3 and downloading an editor which allowed you to alter team performances accordingly - you could set highs and lows and also how much the performance could fluctuate. GP3 was based on the 1998 season but I also had skins for 2001 season.

Does your game do all this - I would be interested if you could get 2015/2016 skins for these old classic games!

[rjbetty]

RJBetty, loved reading all these. I hope the real season is as exciting!

Wanted to know though what you did to simulate the F1 season. I remember having Grand Prix 3 and downloading an editor which allowed you to alter team performances accordingly - you could set highs and lows and also how much the performance could fluctuate. GP3 was based on the 1998 season but I also had skins for 2001 season.

Does your game do all this - I would be interested if you could get 2015/2016 skins for these old classic games!

Thank you very much, hopefully it's provided some fun in this quiet period while waiting for testing.

Yeah I get all my utilities from this place http://grandprix2.de/

I use Steven Young's GP2edit which is quite comprehensive; Driver performances and fluctuations, team reliability, how easily cars get damaged and have to retire, championship points and much more.

I also use GP2 Slot/Magic Data Editor which is also on the utilities page on that site. You can set for each track the likelihood of driver mistakes, fuel consumption, tire wear, AI performance for that track and more. They have a 2015 carset up, plus for every other year.


As for this season, I found the damage was slightly high, more like what you'd get 15 years ago. In real life these days, cars are so strong they can survive a pretty good clattering into each other and just continue whereas in the past it would be instant DNF for both drivers. Other than that, this crazy season has just gone this way by chance. It wasn't artificial. I had realistic settings as for the previous 2 years I did this but it's just turned out this way. There have been an unusually high occurrence of bugs, such as the one where cars following a backmarker start driving all over the place till they spin or go wide. It's quite rare and I consider it fair game when it does happen.

For example, Japan was fantastic and chaotic, yet only had an AI mistake rate of 50, which is light/moderate only, yet just by chance we got a crazy race. Overall it's just been a crazy season. The US race was too artificial though which is my mistake, but the rest of it hasn't been.


Final round in Brazil coming up...

[rjbetty]

ROUND 16 - SEASON FINALE: BRAZILIAN GP
So this is it, the final race. The title race may have sadly been decided already, but there is plenty that can still happen and the standings can be finalised for good.

Qualifying
The Williams are first to set a time, Bottas first. Then Massa goes just 0.075 quicker. Max Verstappen posts a time 0.065 quicker than Massa. Then Button sets an identical time to Bottas. The Saubers are also very competitive here. Rosberg, Kvyat, Sainz, Perez and Vettel don't get good times in but they will get another chance.

Perez improves to 9th, while Vettel goes 4th, but only 0.074 off provisional pole, in this very tight grid so far. Kvyat, Rosberg and Sainz hit more traffic and neither improve their laps, so they are stuck in only 11th, 9th and 12th out of 12 cars so far!

Of the second wave of cars, Gutierrez comes first, and after 2 sectors, he is raising eyebrows greatly by being only 0.3s off! He goes a stunning 7th! Hamilton is 3 tenths up on polesitter Verstappen in sector 1 alone, and an enormous 6 tenths up in sector 2, but he is about to catch Grosjean. He doesn't however and it's a clear run to provisional pole almost 1sec quicker! Surely no-one can beat that now...

Raikkonen has a shocking sector 1, ending up only 12th quickest but he will get another lap. Meanwhile Ricciardo is hugely quick, only 0.034 down on Hamilton after sector 2, but the final sector is for powerful engines only... Sure enough he's 2nd, but only slightly short. Grosjean goes 17th as Kvyat, having another go, improves from 16th to 3rd. Alonso looks very quick in sector 1 but is held up by Palmer (who himself sets a lap over 10sec off the pace!), Alonso goes 8th. Kimi's much awaited second lap is almost completed, and he shoots up to 3rd.

Max Verstappen is having another go, and improves his time, but is 0.001 down on Kvyat and only slightly further off Kimi. Wehrlein goes 10th and Alonso improves to 3rd.

Starting Grid
1.Hamilton
2.Ricciardo +0.142
3.Alonso +0.605
4.Raikkonen +0.794
5.Kvyat +0.872
6.Verstappen +0.873
7.Bottas +1.013
8.Button +1.013
9.Vettel +1.022
10.Massa +1.088
11.Ericsson +1.295
12.Wehrlein +1.396
13.Gutierrez +1.400
14.Nasr +1.401
15.Hulkenberg +1.439
16.Rosberg +1.634
17.Haryanto +1.786
18.Magnussen +2.085
19.Perez +2.469
20.Grosjean +2.545
21.Sainz +3.579
22.Palmer +9.748


Race Day
GO! Hamilton keeps the lead, but Wehrlein jumps way up into 7th! Vettel is only 13th and needs to get a move on if he's to hold on to 2nd in the championship ahead of Hamilton. What a shame Wehrlein (and his team-mate) is on what I can tell is the wrong strategy, as well as Gutierrez, both having qualified so well.

Wehrlein moves up into 6th past Kvyat at turn 3(!) while Vettel is up to 11th. But Ricciardo has gotten through to take the lead! Coming into the second lap, now Alonso is challenging Hamilton and he too passes him into turn 1, as Massa comes from way back to fly back past Vettel in a great move. But Vettel retakes him into turn 3.

Into lap 3, and Wehrlein finally surrenders 6th to Bottas while Massa has got past Vettel again! Nasr grabs an impressive 8th from Kvyat, the Saubers running well today. A lap later and Nasr is past Wehrlein but Rosberg is only 17th and Vettel still yet to break into the top 10. Hamilton is now down to 4th, he too on the wrong strategy, behind Raikkonen. This could give Vettel a chance later on...

It takes till lap 8 for Wehrlein, on a too slow strategy, to finally fall out of the top 10. Rosberg is still only 15th despite a good trategy, but suddenly he puts a wheel wrong and has a spin! He drops to 20th as Bottas retires.

Lap 15 and Ricciardo is the first to pit, in from the lead. He drops to 7th as unfortunately Wehrlein has dropped well down the field with problems. He would have been back into the top 10 during the stops... Alonso is now leading for 7 laps until he and Raikkonen pit on lap 22, as does Nasr from 4th(!) Gutierrez is 10th now but is relieved of his position by Rosberg, who himself pits exiting only 19th and close to being lapped by Hamilton, now the leader. Gutierrez is back into 10th for a bit. Massa soon gets past but then Hulkenberg retires on the back straight from 9th, smoke pouring out from his engine, giving Gutierrez another chance in the top 10.

Hamilton makes his only stop on lap 35, dropping to 5th behind Ricciardo, who is now running pretty disappointingly and is passed by Vettel for 3rd. Gutuerrez gets another go in 10th for a few laps before his only stop. Rosberg is still only 13th at this halfway stage and has caught Ericsson.

On lap 38 Rosberg breaks into the top 10 but Button retires from the points elevating Rosberg another position. On lap 47 Raikkonen pits from 2nd while Hamilton takes Vettel for what will become 2nd. A lap later and Alonso is in from the lead, having led for 12 laps. Alonso comes out 2nd but is only 4.3sec behind Hamilton on fresh tyres - it could be a sensational win after all these frustrating times!!

With 20 laps to go, Alonso is right behind Hamilton, only +0.453 behind! And Raikkonen less than 4sec behind Alonso! Rosberg is now 8th just over a minute down, but is 6sec behind Verstappen. 5 laps later and the top 3 are 1.Alonso 2.Hamilton+2.4 3.Raikkonen+4.8 Rosberg is still 8th and now 4sec behind Verstappen.

Just 10 laps to go and Hamilton is now pegging the gap but Kimi is dropping back a little and may even be under threat from Vettel. Rosberg is up to 7th with Kvyat in his sights.

Now with just 2 laps left Hamilton is catching Alonso again but is almost 2sec behind. Rosberg is 6th. Into the final lap and Alonso still leads by 1.7sec, and coming round the final lap, he does it, and becomes the 7th different winner of this amazing season - what a turnaround for McLaren after all their hard times, and Alonso after so many missed results this season! Hamilton is just 1.4sec behind in the end. Kimi, then Vettel cross the line next, followed by Nasr and Ericsson in another double points finish for Sauber in a lapped 9th and 10th.

Gutierrez crosses the line 13th, just 16.9sec out of the points, and on a bad strategy to boot... Wehrlein comes 16th, +35.1sec out of the points, having lost at least that amount of time earlier on, and also on a bad strategy...

Race Result
1.Alonso
2.Hamilton +1.404
3.Raikkonen +7.046
4.Vettel +13.500
5.Ricciardo +30.327
6.Rosberg +1:02.364
7.Kvyat +1:09.273
8.Verstappen +1:15.720
9.Nasr -1 lap
10.Ericsson -1 lap
11.Massa -1 lap
12.Perez -1 lap
13.Gutierrez -1 lap
14.Magnussen -1 lap
15.Haryanto -1 lap
16.Wehrlein -1 lap
17.Grosjean -2 laps
18.Sainz -3 laps
19.Palmer -8 laps
R.Button - Suspension
R.Hulkenberg - Water Leak
R.Bottas - Transmission

Fastest Lap Top 3: Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen

[rjbetty]

FINAL 2015 PREVIEW SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Drivers
1.Rosberg - 246pts
2.Vettel - 216pts
3.Hamilton - 204pts
4.Raikkonen - 155pts
5.Bottas - 112pts
6.Ricciardo - 107pts
7.Massa - 105pts
8.Kvyat - 90pts
9.Alonso - 73pts
10.Hulkenberg - 67pts
11.Verstappen - 54pts
12.Button - 50pts
13.Perez - 48pts
14.Sainz - 44pts
15.Nasr - 22pts
16.Ericsson - 7pts
17.Gutierrez - 6pts
18.Magnussen - 4pts
19.Wehrlein - 3pts
20.Palmer - 2pts
21.Grosjean - 1pt
22.Haryanto - best finish 12th

Constructors
1.Mercedes - Mercedes - 450pts
2.Ferrari - Ferrari - 371pts
3.Williams - Mercedes - 217pts
4.Red Bull - Tag Heuer - 197pts
5.McLaren - Honda - 123pts
6.Force India - Mercedes - 115pts
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari - 98pts
8.Sauber - Ferrari - 29pts
9.Haas - Ferrari - 7pts
10.Renault - Renault - 6pts
11.Manor - Mercedes - 3pts



So there we have it - what an unexpectedly exciting and fantastic season that turned out to be - so much better than last year. Now we have a new champion and 7 different winners, and so many drivers were able to shine at some point this season. I don't expect the real season to be like this, but hopefully it's some sort of a sign of more interesting things to come.



So while I'm at it, here are my quick(ish) predictions before any testing starts.


1.Mercedes - Mercedes
Yes yes huge shock, but this year is possibly the least certain out of the 3 under these regs so far. Rosberg is being talked up again, but I just don't see him beating Hamilton on merit over a full season, unless Hamilton has a 2011 repeat. Maybe talk of a 'radical' car can upset things a bit with reliability...

2.Ferrari - Ferrari
Seem pretty set for 2nd again. Hopefully they won't enter many years of domination from 2017 though. Vettel will get the job done, whatever job is possible to do with his great consistency (he's fast too). Apparently Ferrari are having a pushrod suspension like everyone else now, so this should help Kimi. But sadly we have heard this before and I think regardless of anything else, Kimi is simply past his best now and just ain't wot 'e used to be. Hopefully he can grab a swansong win somewhere if the car really is that competitive.

3.McLaren - Honda
I just don't learn do I? Anyone who has seen my predictions will know that every single year without fail, despite being nothing of the sort of a McLaren fanboy, I always manage to predict big things for them, only for them to spectacularly fail every time. Well I say to you, if I keep doing this, one of these days I'm going to get it right. So I'm going to stick my neck out and state, that McLaren in 2016 will be (to some extent) the Williams of 2014 and the Ferrari of 2015 This ranking is dependent on reliability, which I am in no way confident in - otherwise I will put them 4th or 5th. They will get that podium this year Taz.


4.Williams - Mercedes
A 'radical' design being talked of apparently? This more often than not results in cars which are... 'difficult', so it's a risk. With Mercedes pegging back their performance as they see fit, I don't see much more than a slight step if any. And with other teams catching up, they could be in the pack a little more. Will still probably get 3rd by sheer accumulation of points, while not really looking that impressive doing it. 2015 can be excused for Bottas with a bad back possibly, but if he doesn't finally fully assert himself over Massa this time, he will be keeping Hulkenberg company in nearly man's land.

5.Red Bull - Tag Heuer
I guess they might pip Force India by the skin of their teeth maybe. Kvyat has more experience and Ricciardo is capable of a little more, but Newey steps back further and it depends on what they can do with that lump in the back. Doesn't look like a huge amount maybe.

6.Force India - Mercedes (what's happened to that Aston Martin thing then?)
I can't see them beating Williams, but they could possibly beat Red Bull if Red Bull don't improve much as they say, and McLaren turn out to not be so great (which does always happen) so 4th is possible. But I will say their usual 6th place in the end, although a pretty strong one.

7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari (2015)
How will they manage fitting the Ferrari into their car? I don't at all think it will be this huge boost, but maybe a small one, even over a 2016 Renault possibly. Both drivers will be quicker in their 2nd year, and I expect Verstappen to race very strongly, and if the car allows I fully see a Vettel 2008 kind of season happening, with a lot of points being accumulated. Sainz was quick against Verstappen last year but I expect he may be left behind somewhat this time with a similar points difference as in 2015, but this time being representative.

8.Sauber - Ferrari
Simply through experience I will put them above Haas in points, though this isn't certain. Money troubles mean missing the first test which is never a good thing. Drivers more experienced and quicker now though. I'm guessing 8th, but by default really.

9.Haas - Ferrari
Another huge unknown alongside McLaren. The negatives are Dallara, who I don't rate, and simply being so new. However, Dallara are being given much more to work with this time, and they aren't solely responsible for everything. History is also in their favour as teams which have had a full year of preparation (think Stewart and Toyota) always seem to be respectable. They also have some experienced people and a driver who I believe is VERY quick in Grosjean (I expect him to have a full half-second on Gutierrez). I don't think they will sink without trace at the very back. In fact, I reckon they could very well be able to beat Sauber, but too many opportunities lost through inexperience will probably put paid to this.

10.Renault - Renault
Oh dear. The chassis was better in 2015 but tbh I think the main difference was simply having a Mercedes engine. That's gone now, and with not having the strongest driver line-up on the grid, I think it's back to 2014 for this lot and they will do pretty well to simply beat their 2014 total of 10pts. Renault input is probably too late and money was SO bad throughout last year...

N.B. Maldonado is gone now and while many are rejoicing and the criticism die get out of hand rbh, I can't really blame anyone since he brought that reputation on himself. He seems quite nice and polite out of the car and there was a decent chance it was actually coming together for him. However, he had 5 years to show what he can do, which is long enough at this level where there are a surplus of so many good drivers and precious few opportunities available.

11.Manor - Mercedes
Well this is it - works Mercedes engines and some decent tech people. Though a Williams rear end and the rest of it can't hurt, I don't set too much store by this since Caterham had Red Bull parts (when RBR were good) and Marussia had McLaren tech support but it didn't vault them up the grid. A 2016 Mercedes over a 2014 Ferrari should be a HUGE boost, plus a new chassis. Judging by 2014, if they had a Mercedes engine they would have been matching Sauber on pure pace so it looks good. Weak pay drivers will let them down badly though, and even if points are scored (they should be if you consider they got 2x12th places in 2015) it won't be enough to overhaul anyone else sadly.

[rjbetty]

Summary of podium finishes in season

AUS
1.Hamilton
2.Alonso
3.Bottas

MAL
1.Vettel
2.Rosberg
3.Raikkonen

CHI
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton
3.Rosberg

BAH
1.Rosberg
2.Massa
3.Kvyat

SPA
1.Vettel
2.Ricciardo
3.Raikkonen

MON
1.Raikkonen
2.Rosberg
3.Sainz

CAN
1.Rosberg
2.Raikkonen
3.Vettel

AUT
1.Rosberg
2.Hamilton
3.Vettel

BRI
1.Vettel
2.Hamilton
3.Rosberg

HUN
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg
3.Vettel

BEL
1.Bottas
2.Hamilton
3.Hulkenberg

ITA
1.Raikkonen
2.Rosberg
3.Hamilton

JAP
1.Massa
2.Vettel
3.Perez

RUS
1.Rosberg
2.Hamilton
3.Vettel

USA
1.Hamilton
2.Rosberg
3.Ricciardo

BRA
1.Alonso
2.Hamilton
3.Raikkonen


Total Winners: 7
Vettel - 4 wins
Rosberg - 4 wins
Hamilton - 3 wins
Raikkonen - 2 wins
Massa - 1 win
Alonso - 1 win
Bottas - 1 win

Mercedes - 7 wins
Ferrari - 6 wins
Williams - 2 wins
McLaren - 1 win

Total Podium Finishers: 12
Rosberg - 11 podiums
Hamilton - 10 podiums
Vettel - 9 podiums
Raikkonen - 6 podiums
Massa - 2 podiums
Alonso - 2 podiums
Bottas - 2 podiums
Ricciardo - 2 podiums
Perez - 1 podium
Kvyat - 1 podium
Hulkenberg - 1 podium
Sainz - 1 podium

Mercedes - 19 podiums
Ferrari - 15 podiums
Williams - 4 podiums
Red Bull - 3 podiums
McLaren - 2 podiums
Force India - 2 podiums
Toro Rosso - 1 podium


Table of results

3.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) - 1 R 2 R 6 R R 2 2 1 2 3 10 3 1 2
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) - R 2 3 1 4 2 1 1 3 2 R 2 7 1 2 6

2.Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 4 1 1 10 1 R 3 3 1 3 R 5 2 2 R 4
4.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) - 5 3 R 8 3 1 2 7 R 5 R 1 R 4 R 3

5.Valtteri Bottas (Williams) - 3 6 6 5 11 4 4 R 11 R 1 4 R 6 9 R
7.Felipe Massa (Williams) - 7 5 15 2 9 6 7 12 9 8 4 11 1 R 4 11

8.Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull) - R 8 5 3 R R 6 6 10 4 5 9 R 7 6 7
6.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - 13 7 8 6 2 9 5 8 R R 6 13 4 5 3 5

13.Sergio Perez (Force India) - R 12 12 9 7 11 13 4 4 R R 10 3 18 R 12
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) - R 13 7 4 10 10 9 5 14 R 3 6 5 9 R R

18.Kevin Magnussen (Renault) - R 10 R 13 13 17 11 13 12 R 9 12 14 10 R 14
20.Jolyon Palmer (Renault) - R R 19 R 16 14 R 17 R 9 R 14 17 14 11 19

11.Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) - 6 R 9 7 14 7 8 9 R 6 R R 8 8 7 8
14.Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) - R 9 10 R 8 3 10 R 6 10 R R 6 11 8 18

15.Felipe Nasr (Sauber) - 8 11 18 R 15 13 R 18 7 R 8 7 R 12 R 9
16.Marcus Ericsson (Sauber) - 10 14 13 11 12 15 15 14 8 R 10 R 12 17 R 10

9.Fernando Alonso (McLaren) - 2 R 4 R R 5 R R 13 7 R R 9 R R 1
12.Jenson Button (McLaren) - R 4 11 R 5 8 R 11 5 R R 8 13 15 5 R

22.Rio Haryanto (Manor) - 12 R R 14 R R 16 16 15 15 R 13 16 R 20 R 15
19.Pascal Wehrlein (Manor) - 9 15 16 12 R 12 12 R 16 R 11 R 11 13 10 16

21.Romain Grosjean (Haas) - 11 R 17 R R 18 14 10 R R 12 R R 16 R 17
17.Esteban Gutierrez (Haas) - R 16 14 R 17 R R 16 R 11 7 15 15 19 12 13

[rjbetty]

Pole Positions
Hamilton - 6 pole positions
Rosberg - 6 pole positions
Vettel - 3 pole positions
Alonso - 1 pole position

Mercedes - 12 pole positions
Ferrari - 3 pole positions
McLaren - 1 pole position


Fastest Laps
Vettel - 5 fastest laps
Raikkonen - 4 fastest laps
Hamilton - 3 fastest laps
Rosberg - 1 fastest lap
Ricciardo - 1 fastest lap
Bottas - 1 fastest lap
Massa - 1 fastest lap

Ferrari - 9 fastest laps
Mercedes - 4 fastest laps
Williams - 1 fastest lap
Red Bull - 1 fastest lap

[jens]

3.McLaren - Honda
I just don't learn do I?

You are right. LOL.

Well I say to you, if I keep doing this, one of these days I'm going to get it right.

I bet Williams fans have been saying that for almost 20 years by now.

---

Anyway... Good to see you back in business for now, rj.

[jens]

Wanted to add that...
Actually I don't rule out McLaren might indeed finish in top 3 one day. But guess it is more likely to happen in 2017 or 2018 or ... later.

But fight for P3 in WCC is indeed potentially interesting. A lot depends on what Williams can deliver. They have the best engine, so they need at least a decent chassis to complement it. From what I read, they go with a completely 'new' design as opposed to evolutionary approach. It could be a bit of a flop, but could be decent. Reminds me, how in 2003 Williams was a firm top 3 team in WCC, but had a radical Walrus nose in 2004 and dropped out of Top 3. Of course this is an old example already and not much to do with current game... Red Bull is vulnerable. Should have a good chassis again, but they have lost the works status as well now, so could face 'integration' problems during the second half of 2016 - a bit like McLaren in 2014.

8.Sauber - Ferrari
Simply through experience I will put them above Haas in points, though this isn't certain. Money troubles mean missing the first test which is never a good thing. Drivers more experienced and quicker now though. I'm guessing 8th, but by default really.

By the way, last year Force India also missed some winter testing, yet achieved their best ever WCC result.

So missing tests is hardly the death knell for the Sauber team. The most important thing is inherent depth in the team, irrespective of "outside factors". Of course this "depth" can vary and change! Which has happened to the Enstone-Lotus-Renault team, so they need to rebuild. And what also happened to McLaren already a few years ago.