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  1. #1
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    What would be the pecking order of the 2018 grid?

    I think the 2018 season would be exciting and harder at the sharp end and for the midfield teams for a number of reasons. Firstly, teams are now only allowed to use three engines for the entire season. Renault and Honda powered teams would be very wary of this. But we expect Renault to improve their engine and its reliability by the start of 2018 season at Australia.

    Secondly, seeing how close Ferrari were to the Mercedes in 2017, it is looking very tantalizingly likely that they would be even more closer in 2018. The lovely thing about 2017 was that Ferrari has tasted better success than they have been able to achieve since Kimi won their last driver title over a decade ago. The winning mentality within the team would be consolidated in 2018 without a doubt. But they have to be flawless to beat the mighty Mercedes in 2018. Vettel would be more determined to pip Hamilton to five driver world championship titles. But the Englishman is at the very top of his game but handicapped by the fact that he has to overcome internal rivalry before he can take the fight to Vettel that is guaranteed not to have anything in his way fighting for the drivers title.

    Thirdly, Mclaren switching to Renault power unit could mix up the sharp end of the grid. I doubt they would bother Mercedes too much but they would certainly be a real bother for Redbull and Force India. There is an outside chance that both Redbull and Mclaren may also be a real bother for Ferrari.

    Fourthly, with Paddy Lowe joining Williams in 2017, we can expect some transfer of Mercedes knowledge to the Williams team. Hence one can expect a better Williams car in 2018. You may say that Williams are likely to be directly in the mix with Redbull, Mclaren and possibly Force India forming the second group clear of the midfiled but behind the sharp end. If Paddy is successful at turning the Williams design issues around, Williams have the potential to step up the grid to their customary [2014/5] third place. Williams could be a real bother to Redbull Mclaren and Force India which may effectively cause the sharp end to break away from this group but energize this group to break away from what use to be the midfield. We may well return to a three tier grid of sharp end , midfield and back markers.

    I wonder how things would shape out for Sauber with a 2018 Ferrari engine. They may well be the surprise of the 2018 season but my expectation is dampened somewhat because they do not have a driver of Werhlein's ability and experience in their 2018 car. My guess is they would do well but be very much in the third tier as usual.

    Then there is Torro Rosso switching to the Honda power unit. While it was disappointing that the Mclaren-Honda partnership failed to deliver on their promise of jointly building a package that could be disruptive to the frontend of the grid, Honda has over the years attained some very valuable knowledge and experience of the F1 hybrid formula. I think, Honda would overcome their reliability issues in 2018 and begin to explore the true potential of their engine. Hence l would not be surprised if the Honda is on par or even better than the Renault engine in 2018. If James Key can turn out another excellent chassis for 2018, Torro Rooso may also be a delightful surprise in 2018. There is promise that they may well be in the same group as Redbull, Williams, Mclaren and Force India. But if we go by current 2017 performances, you would probably say, they would firmly be in the back marker group.

    So how would one guess what the pecking order might be come Abu Dhabi 2018?

    2018 Constructors World Champion - Mercedes [Strongly]
    2018 Constructors Second place - Ferrari
    2018 ConstructorsThird Place - ??? [Could be any of the following - Redbull, Mclaren or Williams]


    2018 Driver World Champion - ???
    [Vettel would be favorite as he would not have internal competition but we cannot rule out Hamilton if the Mercedes is better in 2018]
    2018 Driver second place - ???
    2018 Driver third place - ???
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 18th December 2017 at 10:57.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  2. Likes: andyone (11th February 2018)

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