Formula One 2011: Who's Doing What And Where And How

Right, one of the few posts on this blog that decicated to opinions on sport over anything else. And this time formula one has come under my radar, below is a quick snippit of each of the drivers for this season, along with my predictions for each of them, followed by a quick overview of everything at the end...expect this to be fairly long, theres 24 drivers, 12 teams and alot of changes to go through.

1. Sebastian Vettel: The defending champion for this year, with a teams complete backing, and a stupid amount of talent yet untapped, i cant exactly see him doing any worse this year...and that irritates me to pick a champion this early, but ive got to. Top 5 finish, my pick for champion

2. Mark Webber: Now dont get me wrong, he's in the best car on the grid and more than capable of summoning the ability to defeat anyone...but i expect the team to side entirely with vettel, while this may galvanise him, i can see his determination being tested to the limit this year, most want his seat, including his own team (to give to someone else of course) so expect the highest of scrutiny as well. Top 5 finish, will retire at the end of this year

3. Lewis Hamilton: For the purpose of this blog i will ignore patriotic influences...he's one of only three drivers on the grid that can easily make a car do what it shouldnt, but as usual, he's going into the season knowing its exactly that...he's got a dog of a car and in anyone else's hands would just fall apart...but watch this space, McLaren have a habit of turning water into wine with cars. Top 5 finish

4. Jenson Button: If anyone is looking forward to the new tyres more, its this guy. Last years champion is looking a serious contender not through ability alone but through his knack of making tyres do what they really shouldnt...his finish this year depends entirely on pirelli and a perfect car...yeah...about the second one... Top 5 Finish, unless pirelli matter, then world champion

5. Fernando Alonso: Again, i have to avoid bias in this report (as i hate the guy) but its clear to see that ferarri are close to regaining the schumi-esque dominance of old...and alonso is the sole reason for that, fierce, talented and with a lapdog for a teammate, you can expect alonso to be the big challenger to vettel's crown this year...unless reliability ends them again (which looks unlikely this year). Top 5 Finish, Above massa regardless

6. Felipe Massa: I feel sorry for this guy, he's got the talent to be a world champion if he's in the right car, but the major problem is that while he's in a team with the likes of alonso, he stands no chance whatsoever of doing better than his team mate...whileever he's in ferrari, he's destined to finish second best, only now without team orders being banned...this season will show it all to clearly. Regardless of finish, its behind Alonso

7. Micheal Schumacher: Oh god, thats the last thing we need...schumi with a car built to him that actually looks fast...he's always been brutally honest with his opinions so when he sets the fastest ever testing time this season, plus is wearing a huge smile on his face...im feeling rather worried he might just get another title. Dont get me wrong i fully expect youth to beat experience this season, but still. Anywhere in the top 10

8. Nico Rosberg: Hmmm, this is a tricky one...we all know the car is built to his schumi-ness, and not to rosberg...but this guy happens to be young enough to alter his driving style to adapt, so his finish entirely depends on how fast he does that, past then, its anyone's guess... Top 10 finish, will win his first race this season

9. Nick Heidfeld: This guy has to be the luckiest man alive, seriously three times he's been on the brink of the abyss, and every time something comes up, while he is in effectively the darkest seat in the paddock this year, heidfeld is the type to put that to one side and make the most of the situation. Top 10 finish, but will retire at most once all season

10. Vitaly Petrov: Come on petrov this year is your chance, heidfeld is old and on his way out, and you dont have a juggernought like Kubica to deal with...renault will look to petrov this year to up his game, and if he doesnt i can imagine the only reason he'd stay in next season to be because of his sponsors. im yet to be convinced of his ability to do anything but annoy the front runners however. Mid table finish, pays for his seat next season, suicidal bank manager as a result

11. Rubens Barrichello: This guy just will not give up! youd think after 300+ races and endless near misses he would just retire, but clearly not. barrichello will front the williams revival and i fully expect him to do that well...the big question will be the next man on this list, as rubens's points are consistent if not small. Mid table finish, maybe the odd podium threat

12. Pastor Maldonado: Now i know nothing about this guy apart from being the defending GP2 champion, as such i expect decent things from his, largely because of the drivers that have won it in the past. Mid table finish, you never know though

13. Why the hell do they miss this number out?!

14. Adrian Sutil: Im bored to death of sutil being considered a good driver, because in formula one his skills have been VERY wide ranging, one minute he's on the cusp of a podium, the next he crashes through his own doing...inconsistency does not breed champions, although a certian hamilton would disagree with that. Mid table finish, Position tenative

15. Paul Di Resta: YES!!! ive been waiting for this guy to make his debut for quite some time, and finally he gets the chance to prove his worth, throughout his younger career he's beaten the people that in F1 are considered the best, so it will be nice to see it again, force india have a package...but could paul be the 4th to create chances that just shouldnt exist with said package? Mid table finish, but one of my two darkhorses this season, will NOT be in force india for long

16. Kamui Kobayashi: Yikes, the japanese tsunami was one of the most feared on record. and the wave was pretty strong too. seriously though kobayashi is one of those drivers that just doesnt care about his car's 5 million plus price tag, he'd sooner bury it into the wall getting a space than sit back and take anything less...if sauber's package is as good as some are saying, we may just have a lunatic with a good car...funtimes ahead. Mid table finish, but that will be off the back of massive results, and massive crashes along the way, my second darkhorse this season

17. Sergio Perez: If his talent is anything close to the wallet that brought this seat, then we could have a shocker on our hands, but i highly doubt that, yes he topped the timesheets one session, but that was a qualifying pace...wait isnt that half of the work? oh yeah... Mid to bottom table finish, but will last about as long as his wallet does, and no longer, expect his results to directly correlate to his bank balance

18. Sebastian Buemi: Now this guy annoys the living hell out of me, he's an ok driver, but by no means brilliant, i cant see his making much headway this season apart from a few decent finishes, but the seat he will inevitably get in red bull at the end of this season is NOT deserved in anyway shape or form...good job hamilton become avaliable the year after then i guess... Bottom table finish, will end the season not deserving of the red bull seat, but end up getting it anyway

19. Jamie Alguersuari: Simply put i rate jamie over buemi, but the only downside is i cant imagine him being the best of the two at the end of the season, which is a shame...this is a team that is pretty much an auto-promotion to the bigger times...and i dont reckon that idea works, but oh well...oh and yeah, sort your super liscence out, as it stands your a drag racer, not an f1 driver! Bottom table finish, may get the red bull seat but will seriously have to pull a rabbit out of his backside to make it happen

20. Jarno Trulli: He is beginning to stagnate about as much as his wine...and be about as repulsive to the senses as well (ive drank the stuff, its crap)...while he used to have that spark back in the day he's falling from grace like all drivers do, the only downside is he's slating everyone on the way down as well... Bottom table finish, i hear the vineyards calling...

21. Heikki Kovalainen: Far too good to be in the team he is but lotus are making serious noises that theyve improved, and i believe it, its just that the flying finn really should be flying...to another team, and fast. he wasnt good enough for mclaren, but he's too good for this outfit. Bottom table finish, but will score the teams first points...he would be one of those "gets more out of the car" types...but this low down, thats not hard

22. Narain Karthikeyan: didnt you retire? why didnt you stay that way?...the only reason he scored points was because of THAT race...and to be honest its a wonder he scored any then either (yes, it was impossible not to score, im aware of this...), its good to see an indian on the grid for the new race, but really? your entire earnings from america? really?? Bottom table finish, what a waste of money

23. Timo Glock: I really dont know what to make of this guy, in toyota he looked decent, but down here he looks awful, im sure its just the car...or at least i hope it is, but down here he stands no chance of ever making it back out, basically what timo did was crawl down a pit then threw away his own key going to virgin. Bottom table finish, key still missing

24. Jerome D'ambrosio: I'm sorry, anyone named after a custard is going to flop in my book, and judging by the car, it looks about as flimsy as well. if i knew something about this guy i could say more, but he's about as unknown as anyone could be. Bottom table finish, my pick for the wooden spoon