Saturday, March 2, 2013

Formula One 2013

What will the new Formula 1 season throw up for excitement? The 2012 title went all the way down to the wire, with Sebastian Vettel doing enough in his Red Bull in the final drive of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix to hold off the challenge of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. That gave the German driver his third Drivers’ World Championship title in a row and he will go as the outright favourite for the new season. The Red Bull have launched a brand new design of car for the season ahead and even with a slow start, like they had in 2012, they will probably be the most the adaptable to changes and set ups throughout the year. While many will be backing Sebastian Vettel to go on dominate the sport again, there were some pointers from last season, which suggests and open year ahead.

The start of the 2012 F1 season was remarkable, with the first seven races of the new year being won by a different driver each time. It was a start which no-one really saw coming, but it does throw up interesting connotations for the 2013 Formula 1 season and it may be worth looking at options on the number of different race winners there will be in the 2013 season. This is going to be a split market, with an option of four or less winning drivers, general trading equally alongside five or more. So which way will the F1 season go? Overall in the 2012 season there were a massive eight different winners taking a turn on the podium, and that was out of the 20 races which were ran.

So how to break this down? It is more than likely that Sebastian Vettel will get a win on the board. He finds pace where no-one else can, so too Fernando Alonso, who finished second in last season’s Drivers Championship. With the Red Bull team being so strong, it’s not without reason that Mark Webber may score a win, and the threat of Lotus this year could be immense with Kimi Raikkonen leading the charge. Then you have Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in the unpredictable McLarens and already you can realistically pick out at the very least five winners. Will the season be open again or will Sebastian Vettel dominate like he did in the 2011 season when he took a remarkable 11 wins from 19 races?

Another of the interesting questions about the 2013 Formula 1 season, is when the Drivers Championship will be mathematically decided. How long will the new season remain alive? The 2011 season was over long before the end because of the power of Vettel dominating pole positions and podiums. But last season was a totally different story. Those mix of different winners at the start of the season really kept the season very long. Champion Vettel won only one of the first twelve races of the season before turning the screw over the latter half of year with some remarkable form. Nothing was decided until the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final race of the season. Will the season be over before the penultimate race, the US Grand Prix, or the 18th race of the season in Abu Dhabi or even earlier than that?

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