Ferrari to edge McLaren for constructors’ title, F1 Fanatic readers say

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Ferrari are early favourites for the constructors' championship

Ferrari narrowly lead McLaren as the favourites to win this years constructors’ championship, according to F1 Fanatic readers.

Over 17,500 votes were cast in the polls to name the winner of the 2010 constructors’ championship.

The average finishing position named by readers for Ferrari in this year’s championship was 1.77 – narrowly beating McLaren’s 1.85.

Last year’s constructors’ champions Mercedes (as Brawn) are ranked fourth behind Red Bull.

And Lotus are predicted to beat Vrgin and HRT in the battle for newbie honours.

Here are the championship finishing predictions in full:

Results in full

Where will the teams finish in 2010? - results (click to enlarge)
MCLMERREDFERWILRENFORTORLOTHRTSAUVIR
1113525328912303752128102198
27733113516997930420090
333358145721828934521241
4664892736226316829471581
51548271079825316813302345
63762463365317651512725
701211584063591021651419
81011532532742215607024
90000217994300107201846
1012001533271253776712157
111000728224191335275
120401144101304820215
132266299167641523455
Average1.8522.9432.6381.7745.2666.1026.8398.34710.26511.9345.92210.773

Have we got all (or any) of them right? We’ll know in eight months’ time as the 2010 F1 season starts tomorrow…

See all the articles in the F1 Fanatic 2010 Season Preview

2010 F1 season

Predict the pole sitter and top five finishers in the Bahrain Grand Prix for your chance to win F1 tickets, DVDs, books and more

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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49 comments on “Ferrari to edge McLaren for constructors’ title, F1 Fanatic readers say”

  1. We want turbos
    11th March 2010, 9:44

    Correct me if I’m wrong but 700 votes went to an unobtainable position?

    1. It wasn’t an unobtainable position until last week.

      1. I’m sure I was in an unobtainable position last night ;)

    2. Yes, a lot of imposible votes!! McLaren or Ferrari last??Spying again??

    3. I have checked the results leaving last row out of the equation but it does not make any difference to the order of the teams.

    4. I voted 13 for HRT. Because I don’t think they’ll finish the season :)

      1. Yes, but even that situation, they’ll still finish 12th…

  2. WidowFactory
    11th March 2010, 9:52

    That graph is a pretty good prediction IMO, except I still think McLaren are going to win it. Felipe ‘I can only win from pole’ Massa is really going to struggle this season now the cars are so close together performance-wise. And missing more than half of the last season, not his fault mind, but he’s lost out on valuable experience of the 2009 spec cars.

    1. Massa won Bahrain 08 where Kubica was on pole :p

    2. I think Vettel will suffer worse from this, at least we know Massa is capable of aggression and overtaking. Vettle just blitherly sits there. Wondering about his dinner.

      I think Vettle is going to need to establish himself all over again this year, not over Michael or Webber but against the next superstar German.

      1. completely agree with Scribe.
        Vettel can only win from pole, how many overtakes did he manage last year?
        In the same car Webber landed a couple of candidates for overtake of the year – Vs Alnso @ barca was damn good!

        1. Eje Gustafsson
          11th March 2010, 15:54

          Vettel might not done many overtake moves last year but he really didn’t need to. There wasn’t really any time last year where he had an opportunity to do a overtake. Most of the times he got stuck behind a KERS car. Had this discussion on a different forum. Came to the conclusion there was really only one true overtake (in dry conditions) where a none KERS car overtook a KERS car. Why risk a overtake when you can pass the car on strategy?

          Further everyone goes on about Buttons amazing drive in Brazil and what an amazing overtaker he is but fact of the matter is Vettel started behind him and finished ahead of him…

          Webber did some great passes (Webber on Alonso in Malaysia before the rain). Webber did numerous other passes as well so it seems Vettel is criticized for not being able to overtake when Webber did some. But Webber often started further down the grid then Vettel so had more cars of less speed and grip to overtake. When you start top 4 in most races there are not many other cars to overtake. There are 4 races Vettel race at a lower position then he started not counting the 3 races he DNF’d in all other races he finished higher then he started.

          I am glad KERS is gone because that was not a good thing for overtaking it made overtaking just harder. You could have a slow car in front of you and not be able to pass because as soon you got close to a chance the driver hit the magic button. KERS had the opposite effect then what it was intended for. It prohibited overtaking opportunity. The KERS drivers where generally slower and used it as a defensive weapon preventing the faster cars behind from overtaking. Look back on 08 Vettel did overtakes when he was further down the grid in the STR don’t just base the overtaking capability on the fact it didn’t happen last year unless you look at were the driver started, what cars was infront or what car the driver got stuck behind (read KERS car).

          Back to Brasil. Vettel overtook Grosjean then got slightly hit when trying to overtake Nakajima, Vettel passed Barrichello. Of course these where easy passes could be argued. But still passes none the less.

      2. Mark Hitchcock
        11th March 2010, 15:17

        I think maybe last year Vettel was still in the 08 mindset, where getting a few points was more important to the team than going for risky moves.
        Hopefully he’s got that out of his system and he’ll at least put a bit more pressure on the people he’s following this year.

    3. Dissing Massa even before he drove a single lap… there’s always one.

    4. As a Hamilton fan, my Massa’s most impressive memory was that terrific start at the 2008 Hungarian GP, when Lewis was beaten into the first corner by Felipe, who with utter perfection passed him around the outside. For me, best overtaking maneuver of the year. I confess that, until that moment, I had considered Massa a second-rate only driver. Felipe was deprived from victory only due to engine failure, but, from then on, he doesn’t deserve the ‘I can only win from pole’ alias anymore.

    5. Well, sort of true, but on the other hand I’d rather have Massa than Button. If we assume that Alonso and Hamilton will both score more or less the same amount of points (I still think Alonso will win WDC), McLaren will lose the battle due to Button who will be outscored by Massa.

  3. I ranked Sauber lower in my prediction but overall I seem to be of the same opinion as most readers.

  4. Seems like the order is mostly in agreement with what I’m predicting. Ferrari & McLaren 1&2 (don’t know which way round yet), then Red Bull, Mercedes, Renault, Sauber, Force India, Williams, STR, Virgin, Lotus and HRT. Not far off the consensus.

  5. Looks like we have four battles on our hands:
    1.) Ferrari vs Mclaren
    2.) Mercedes vs Red Bull
    3.) Sauber vs Force India vs Williams vs STR
    4.) The Newbies

    1. With Renault just fighting amongst themselves?

      Actually, I think that FI will finish above Renault, but otherwise agree with the overall standings. Will be interesting to look back at how right (or wrong!) we were at the end of the season…

      1. Eje Gustafsson
        11th March 2010, 16:01

        Will have to agree. Renault is listed way to high. They where slowest and most unstable of the established teams in the testing. I think they might even have trouble with STR. Also believe RBR will be higher then 3rd not sure about win but better then 3rd. Even drivers as well key personal in Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are putting RBR high up there and think they might have the edge at least at the start of the season. Unless Mercedes new upgrade is exceptional I think we will have the top three fighting between themself with Mercedes nipping in at their behinds.

  6. I can’t complain with this poll. Every position I chose for each team is where they are in the overall poll.

    1. You’re going to win the 2010 F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship, I guess ;)

  7. I think this is about right. Ferrari and McLaren close together for the WCC. I expect Schumacher to get close in WDC though.

    I think Virgin will be in front of Lotus, but it really is to close to call in the midfield.

  8. I think in HRT’s case it kind of took the place of DNF, anyway, It could happen.

  9. My vote goes to Red Bull.

  10. Speaking about unobtainable positions, how about those 1st position for Lotus, Virgin and HRT?
    Seems a lot of fanatics are voting with their heart :-)

    1. Hmm, I was thinking it was with a different part of their anatomy, as were the last places for Ferrari and McLaren.

      1. I know. I mean, a newcomer team coming in with an innovative idea and unexpectedly winning the championship in their first year. I mean, when did that last happen ? Oh.

        1. And by newcomer, you mean a team which had one of the biggest budgets the previous year, which was spent developing the next year’s car, by one of the smartest men in the paddock. Right. And you are comparing Brawn to what; a Virgin, Lotus or Campos?

          1. ‘You are comparing Brawn to a virgin?’

            Made me chuckle :).

          2. All that was known a year ago, yet Brawn’s chance of success was dismissed here. On the other hand, BMW’s chances were vastly overrated, as was Toyota, but Red Bull were thought likely to prop up the midfield. A year ago, which two of those four teams looked more likely to leave ?

            https://www.racefans.net/2009/03/13/who-looks-good-for-09-rank-the-teams/

            If last year taught us anything, it’s that past history- or lack thereof – is no guide to future performance.

    2. “fanatics” :D

  11. I didn’t put Renault that far up. I think they have had the stuffing knocked out of them and their financial backing is probably not that secure.

  12. The poll actually came out exactly as I thought it would and, after testing at least, is a pretty accurate reflection of where everyone is at. Guess we will find out on Sunday if we were right.

  13. If we discount the votes for 13th place, the standings come as follows:

    Ferrari: 1.63
    Mclaren: 1.75
    RedBull: 2.59
    Mercedez: 2.91
    Williams: 5.23
    Sauber: 5.89
    Renault: 6.04
    Force India: 6.81
    Toro Rosso: 8.31
    Lotus: 10.17
    Virgin: 10.61
    HRT: 11.17

    The biggest gainer due to exclusion of the 13th place are HRT, Virgin and…. wait for it… Ferrari.

    HRT got 523 votes for 13th place which were nullified. Virgin got the 2nd highest number of votes for 13th place with 55.

    Although Lotus got 41 votes and Ferrari 29, Ferrari have improved their ranking by 0.14 while Lotus have improved it by just 0.09.

    Also, Ferrari has the most votes among the top 4 for 13th place. More voters are anti-Ferrari than anti-Mclaren, it seems ;-)

  14. Mclaren will beat Ferrari

  15. I still can’t believe majority thinks Renault and Sauber will finish ahead of FI “this season”! Can someone convince me of this, ‘cos I haven’t come across anyone or anything that could, yet.

    1. Hmm, Force India just tarted their rise. Finishing 5th/6th would be a MASSIVE achievement, whereas both Renault and Sauber have been there and done that. Force India will be good, but I doubt they will jump to the top of the midfield just yet, considering they just started to score points.

      Prove me wrong, though!

      1. From where we finished last year, I don’t see Renault ahead of Force India, nor did winter testing go in Renault’s favor. As for Sauber, they could very well be ahead of Force India, but, their finances are iffy as of now and that might affect their development through the season!
        Sounds reasonable?

        1. I think (and hope, due to national preferences), that Renault has not shown their cards yet and will be a surprise with their short wheelbase and fuel efficient engine. A lighter car is not only a faster car, but also a more tyre-friendly car.

          Furthermore, I’ve heard they are about to bring a massive diffuser to Bahrain (so big in fact it borders on illegal). If the rumour is true, Renault should not be off too much aerodynamically, since they used absolutely no updates at testing (other than the front wing at Barcelona), and seemed not to be too slow at Jerez where no one had been running any updates. Moreover, this was on low fuel loads, which, in theory, should be their weakest point, since fuel consumption is irrelevant at low fuel runs, and they indeed seem to be a bit off grip-wise.

          Finally, Kubica said the car is relatively easy to set up, and he seems to be blisteringly fast when the car setup suits him, despite not being so excellent when the car is hard to set up properly. He loved the BMW in 2008 and outperformed his car, especially when BMW stopped developing it, but was beaten by Heidfeld in 2009, where the car was not so good (although he managed to beat Heidfeld at any occasion where the car was not horrid – in Australia he was potentially fighting for first place; in Malaysia he qualified eighth or something, but his engine blew up; in Spa he finished before Heidfeld; and finally he managed to end the race in second place in Brazil despite not being able to capitalize on all 19,000 revolutions since his engine was overheating.

          Sauber on the other hand seems to be strong already. Sure, their quick runs were most likely media laps, but their tyre advantage is indeed very interesting. Sure, one may claim that their tyres will take much longer to warm than others, but I doubt that with Kobayashi’s driving style!

          I also think that their driver line-up is strong. Kobayashi is in my opinion interesting material, and de la Rosa’s experience will prove useful in many respects, although he most likely will not be the quickest.

          Whilst Renault and Sauber have two very talented drivers in my opinion (Kubica and Kobayashi), Force India’s drivers are mediocre at best. I have lost faith in Sutil, and think Liuzzi will outscore him.

          Hence, even if Force India is ahead of Renault at the moment (which I honestly hope is not the case!), they are most likely behind Sauber. Sauber will run out of funds very quickly, but Renault will out-develop Force India. Renault’s development capabilities are strong – in 2008 they won two races at the end of the season. Sure, crashgate you might say, but even when you crash a car in order to get to the top of the field, you still need a decent car to win. In Fuji they won all on their own.

          The truth is, however, that at the end of 2009 Force India was stronger than Renault. But do not forget Renault’s second drivers were absolutely horrible, with Alonso scoring twice as many points throughout the seasons as all 3 Force India drivers have, since the ridiculous car characteristics of Force India allowed them to destroy most downforce cars. Now, perhaps Kubica is not the second Alonso, but he knows what he is doing, and I think that although Petrov will not prove to be an excellent driver, he will, unlike the previous second drivers of Renault, at least prove relatively consistent. That is something you definitely cannot say of Sutil.

          1. *since the ridiculous car characteristics of Force India allowed them to destroy most downforce cars.

            With that I meant they were only good on low-downforce circuits. Also, this point is completely separate from the previous one :).

    2. Eje Gustafsson
      11th March 2010, 16:29

      http://f1numbers.wordpress.com/2010/03/03/barcelona-testing-summary-2010/

      Is a good sampling of Barcelona testing and the average lap times and consistency.
      To me it looks like over all both FI and STR is slightly edging out Renault in fastest lap times and consistency. They are well above average across all teams with STR & FI below the average line. Also Petrov did not have any good consistent runs or fast times. This will hurt Renault unless he can get up to speed fast. Because the other 2 teams have more even drivers that provide more consistent times and/or faster times as well. But of course the other teams might done far more low fuel laps skewing their average lap time down BUT their slowest lap times are still faster then Renaults slowest lap times and the other teams manage faster laps as well. Consider how little updating been done on the Renault car from last year I don’t see it as a major improvement over last year.

  16. Ferrari could turn up at pre-season testing with a red wheel barrow with prancing horse crest on it and the results would be the same. Look, Ferrari is basically the incumbent candidate, no matter what. They earned that presumption—I don’t begrudge them—but that’s the fact.

    I think McL was only so close in the polls because they have rolled out their undeniably awesome quantum wormhole wing that channels superheated air from inside a distant star to permit massive terminal speeds. I expect that only the FIA and the Paris office Sidley Austin LLP will be able to stop them this year.

    Other than that, HAM and BUT’s main problems this year will be 1. each other and 2. ramming into the back of a Lotus or HRT one of the 5 times they are lapped.

  17. Haha, that is the order I had them in, apart from Virgin and Lotus were the other way around!

  18. Pretty much how I guessed, although I think Force India will probably beat Renault.

  19. Yes because this year WDC and WCC will be decided by polls
    Mclaren will smack Ferrari

  20. Everything ok, but I expect Sauber to finish ahead of Williams.

  21. So far…

    1) Mclaren
    2) Red Bull
    3) Ferrari
    4) Mercedes
    5) Renault
    6) Williams
    7) Force India
    8) STR
    9) Sauber
    10) Lotus
    11) Vigrin
    12) HRT

Comments are closed.