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The 2020 F1 Season

Tony Lockhart

Avoiding Stress, at Every Opportunity
The last year of the current cars.
The last year before Lewis joins Ferrari?
Will the cars be closer?
Will there be a major shake up at Ferrari?
Will Sauber’s Alfa project produce fruit ;)

I don’t have a clue, but I’ll enjoy it as I always do. If only I could weevil my way into a team, spanners in hands for the British GP!
 
Will Ferrari's engine performance be found out or is it legit?
Can Verstappen and Leclerc come out of the starting blocks at full speed?
Will McLaren take another step forward?
Can Williams design a car to at least mix it in the midfield? (I hope so)
Will Hamilton reach 92 wins? (I can't believe we are even talking about this... Schuey's record looked unbeatable just 10 years ago)
 
For the next 2 seasons my predictions are Hamilton equalling Schumacher’s record in the Mercedes, then beats it in a Ferrari. That’s my guess (hopes) anyway!
 
I predict Honda and Red Bull to get much stronger within new regs.

Vettel to retire.

Hamilton to nail 7th WC with MB and spurn Fezza courting.

MB remaining strong.

Maclaren to come out of blocks well but be threatened by engine supply if Reggie quits

Renault shit or bust in 2020, likely to withdraw fir 2021
 
Mclaren already switched engine supplies for future so must be concern for REnault quitting .
Hamilton going hard for another championship without doubt .
Williams have to do better and at least be challenging for points , not sure what has gone so badly wrong there
 
The longest "will he won't he" story of all year will be the HAM to Ferrari story but will ultimately stick with Merc as he will know what their new car looks like and they have consistently dealt with technology changes better than any other team in the past 6 years - not that there have been that many.

In rough order
Merc will win again, they are still the best team with a top 3 car at every track and the top car in around 50% of them.
Ferrari will sharpen up their team game but we will not see the extreme speed differences to the same extent VET will continue to disappoint, LEC will become the official team leader
Red Bull will still be carried by VER and good strategy but the car is not quite fast enough for championship tilt. I hope Albon will do enough to stay but he is up against a generational talent.
McLaren will retain 4th best and will get 2 podiums but lucky ones. SAI and NOR will remain the most friendly team mates.
Renoo will be overtaken by Racing point and maybe Torro Rosso (Alpha Tauri - stupid name) RIC will trigger an escape clause
Sauber/Alfa will occasionally pop into the top 10 but not often (Sorry Ian)
Haas are in trouble I think and will be the first team to be overtaken by....
A resurgent Williams. They stood still in '19 whilst working on '20 car which will be time well spent and with two decent young drivers but a long way to go.

HAM staying at Merc will cause VER to stick, LEC will also stay with the red car to be partnered by RIC after another poor year with Renoo

Names, characters, business, events and incidents are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ... This novel's story and characters are fictitious
 
OK I was thinking this morning... let's say Hamilton wins his seventh title in 2020 and surpasses Schumacher's wins record. Let's also say Merc decide to stay in F1 for 2021and beyond. What would you do if you were Merc?

I'd try and keep Hamilton which I think makes sense... but bear in mind he could do a Rosberg at any time... he'd have nothing left to prove so.... stick Ricciardo in the other car and have a proper ding dong between him and Lewis until Lewis decides to call it a day. What do you think?

Ricciardo deserves a shot at a championship and can definitely win one in the right car!
 
OK I was thinking this morning... let's say Hamilton wins his seventh title in 2020 and surpasses Schumacher's wins record. Let's also say Merc decide to stay in F1 for 2021and beyond. What would you do if you were Merc?

I'd try and keep Hamilton which I think makes sense... but bear in mind he could do a Rosberg at any time... he'd have nothing left to prove so.... stick Ricciardo in the other car and have a proper ding dong between him and Lewis until Lewis decides to call it a day. What do you think?

Ricciardo deserves a shot at a championship and can definitely win one in the right car!

How about Ric in a red one if Vettel steps away?
 
Based on late season performance I think Verstappen will make life very hard for Hamilton next year. I think one of them will win the title, but I'd hate to put money on which one. It could make for some great racing, though. It's hard to see either Ferrari driver competing for the title - the team, the cars, and the drivers are too variable, though LeClerc is young, and could easily mature the way Verstappen did last season. A 3 way fight for the title (4 if you include Bottas, who is no slouch, but clearly not quite up with Hamilton) would make for good viewing My preferred outcome is a 4 way fight that goes to the final race, with Hamilton taking his final drivers title and then retiring.
 
Ferrari has announced that it is completely overhauling its engine design for 2020. That could go either way...
 
You wouldn’t know if it was illegal, obviously, because there’s no way the FIA would let you know.

Very true. To dive a little deeper, I don't think it is/was strictly illegal anyway. I believe they had some features that were not explicitly forbidden but equally not explicitly permitted and that is the trick in F1. Just look at Renaults Mass Damper or Mercedes FRIC system, they were not illegal until protested and specifically banned. That is the game that Red Bull have been playing with Ferrari, trying to work out or guess what Ferrari have been up to and then requesting a clarification from the FIA.

It is all fair IMO and Ferrari have been past masters in doing this as well so I don't feel they are being hard done by at all.
 


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