Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2019

Poll: Which drivers will beat their team mates in 2020?

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The 2020 F1 season is drawing closer – later this month we’ll get our first look at the new cars.

We already know the 10 pairs of drivers who will get to race them. But who will lead the way in each of their teams? Cast your vote in this week’s poll.

Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton versus Valtteri Bottas

Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Monza, 2019
Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Monza, 2019

Has Valtteri Bottas narrowed the gap to Lewis Hamilton over their three seasons as team mates at Mercedes? Or is the fluctuating gap between the pair more to do with how well recent Mercedes have complemented their driver styles?

Hamilton found it trickier to get the best out of the W10 over a single lap last year, which was reflected in his unusually low (for him) haul of five pole positions. Perhaps if Bottas can raise his game on race-day to match his better qualifying performances last year, he might yet find a way to beat the driver who is on the cusp of becoming F1’s most successful competitor of all time.

Which Mercedes driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Valtteri Bottas (4%)
  • Lewis Hamilton (96%)

Total Voters: 377

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Ferrari: Sebastian Vettel versus Charles Leclerc

Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Sochi Autodrom, 2019
Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Sochi Autodrom, 2019

It’s hard to avoid comparisons between Sebastian Vettel’s experience alongside Charles Leclerc at Ferrari last year, and his defeat alongside Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo five years earlier. After all, had Ferrari not interfered with proceedings in Singapore, Vettel would have gone down 3-0 on wins against Leclerc, just as he did to Ricciardo.

The intriguing difference is that while Vettel left Red Bull immediately after his 2014 defeat, he will go up against Leclerc again this year. And the stakes are undeniably high: 12 months ago he was the undisputed team leader; today Leclerc has a long-term Ferrari contract in his pocket, while Vettel’s future beyond this year is unclear.

Which Ferrari driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Charles Leclerc (82%)
  • Sebastian Vettel (18%)

Total Voters: 376

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Red Bull: Max Verstappen versus Alexander Albon

Alexander Albon, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Sochi Autodrom, 2019
Alexander Albon, Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Sochi Autodrom, 2019

Being Max Verstappen’s team mate must be the most unenviable gig in Formula 1. Not only is he unrelentingly fast, but utterly ruthless on-track, and does not spare his team mate his more uncompromising moves, as Ricciardo can attest.

Pierre Gasly took a beating here over the first half of last year, but Alexander Albon made a better start once he was drafted in. Albon also started from a much lower experience level, and potentially has more to gain in his second year of Formula 1.

Which Red Bull driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Alexander Albon (5%)
  • Max Verstappen (95%)

Total Voters: 378

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McLaren: Carlos Sainz Jnr versus Lando Norris

Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz Jnr, McLaren, Singapore, 2019
Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz Jnr, McLaren, Singapore, 2019

Carlos Sainz Jnr and Lando Norris may play up their chummy partnership for the cameras, but their friendliness seems to be a genuine. That may be tested more strongly this year as McLaren aim to lift themselves clear of the midfield, and Norris’s growing experience and confidence enables him to exploit his obvious ability. Sainz shone last season but he can expect a stiffer challenge this time.

Which McLaren driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Lando Norris (32%)
  • Carlos Sainz Jnr (68%)

Total Voters: 376

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Renault: Daniel Ricciardo versus Esteban Ocon

Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon
Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon

One of only two new partnerships on the grid this year. Ricciardo had Nico Hulkenberg comfortably handled last season, but now goes up against a promising young talent who has something of the iron fist in a velvet glove about him. Esteban Ocon has shown himself unwilling to back down against his own team mate – as Sergio Perez knows well – and even drivers who are lapping him, which Verstappen surely hasn’t forgotten.

Which Renault driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Esteban Ocon (12%)
  • Daniel Ricciardo (88%)

Total Voters: 378

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Alpha Tauri: Daniil Kvyat versus Pierre Gasly

Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Suzuka, 2019
Pierre Gasly, Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, Suzuka, 2019

Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat must regard each other as the biggest obstacle to gaining a chance to return to Red Bull. Both have driven for the top team and both have been relegated to the junior squad. Put perhaps if they trounce their 2020 team mate Helmut Marko may come knocking? Or perhaps not: After all, Sainz hammered Kvyat over 2016 and 2017, yet his promotion never came.

Which Alpha Tauri driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Pierre Gasly (79%)
  • Daniil Kvyat (21%)

Total Voters: 375

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Racing Point: Sergio Perez versus Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Shanghai International Circuit, 2019
Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Shanghai International Circuit, 2019

Sergio Perez was not troubled in the slightest by new team mate Lance Stroll last year. Stroll may have scored the team’s best result but it was against the run of play; Perez consistently out-qualified and massively out-scored him.

This year will be the first time since Stroll came into Formula 1 that we can measure his improvement year-on-year with the same team and the same team mate. But ultimately his long-term future in the sport comes down to how long his father, team owner Lawrence Stroll, desires to keep him there.

Which Racing Point driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Lance Stroll (2%)
  • Sergio Perez (98%)

Total Voters: 378

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Alfa Romeo: Kimi Raikkonen versus Antonio Giovinazzi

Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Interlagos, 2019
Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo, Interlagos, 2019

Alfa Romeo has the classic pairing of elder statesman versus up-and-coming young talent. Indeed, Kimi Raikkonen is about to become the most experienced driver ever, so Anthonio Giovinazzi couldn’t ask for a better benchmark alongside him. Giovinazzi gained on Raikkonen over the course of last season, setting up an intriguing contest this year, particularly with Mick Schumacher waiting in the wings eyeing an Alfa Romeo seat for his F1 call-up.

Which Alfa Romeo driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Antonio Giovinazzi (20%)
  • Kimi Raikkonen (80%)

Total Voters: 377

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Haas: Romain Grosjean versus Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean, Haas, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019
Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean, Haas, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

Along with Mercedes, Haas have the longest-running driver pairing in Formula 1 at the moment. Romain Grosjean may have been out-scored by Kevin Magnussen again last year, but demonstrated his worth to the team by insisting they reconsider the flawed Spanish Grand Prix upgrade package which led them into a development cul-de-sac.

Which Haas driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Kevin Magnussen (80%)
  • Romain Grosjean (20%)

Total Voters: 377

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Williams: George Russell versus Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi, George Russell
Nicholas Latifi, George Russell

The least experienced driver pairing for 2020 features sophomore talent and highly-rated Mercedes junior George Russell plus Nicholas Latifi, the only rookie on the grid, who has doubled F1’s contingent of well-heeled Canadians. Russell looked formidable against Robert Kubica last year, but both were somewhat unknown quantities given Kubica’s return following a lengthy absence.

Which Williams driver will finish ahead in this year's championship?

  • Nicholas Latifi (3%)
  • George Russell (97%)

Total Voters: 376

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What you said last year

Last year RaceFans readers correctly predicted how eight of the 10 team mate battles would turn out in terms of who scored the most points. The most emphatic positive choices were in favour of Hamilton (96% expected him to come out on top), Perez (also 96%), Verstappen (93%) and Raikkonen (93%).

Sainz and Ricciardo were also correctly chosen, though with slighlty lower shares of the votes, 83% and 75% respectively. And while 72% correctly predicted Kvyat would out-score Albon, and he did as long as they were team mates, it was Albon who gained the coveted Red Bull drive. The lowest positive vote was for Magnussen, 56% of you tipped him to beat Grosjean.

That leaves just two drivers who out-scored their team mates last year against the expectations of RaceFans readers. Just 45% thought Kubica would beat Russell, and perhaps he wouldn’t if the Williams had been in contention for points more often, but it wasn’t, and Kubica bagged their sole point of 2019.

The other was Leclerc, in many ways the story of last year, who just 27% of you expected would out-score Vettel. Will we get a surprise to rival that in 2020?

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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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67 comments on “Poll: Which drivers will beat their team mates in 2020?”

  1. At the moment the polls are extremely one-sided with only Sainz-Norris and Räikkönen-Giovinazzi being close. While there has been talk that the quality of F1’s grid has rarely been this great, it is nevertheless interesting to see teammate comparisons being predicted this way.

    1. One thing we all agree. Stroll 0%

      1. It gets a bit boring to constantly lambast Lance Stroll, @stagger.
        Objective observers didn’t rate him worst in 2019, nor did he have the biggest gap to his teammate.
        And I don’t think he’ll be the worst in 2020.

        I guess a lot of people are just jealous because his family is rich and he’s got a dream job.

        1. Roy Joseph Ruddy
          2nd February 2020, 20:30

          It can’t be based on.anything else.

        2. @coldfly The level of the hate Stroll got is unreal. He’s not the first and won’t be the last of pay driver or driver that got into F1 because daddy’s money. He not even that bad, heck maybe one the best of the “pay drivers” out there. It seems the more good result he get , the more people hating him.

        3. @coldfly

          To be fair… if he hasn’t been the worst.. he’s been the 2nd to worst for 3 seasons in a row. Latifi also might fail to impress next year.. so he could be saved from worst driver on the grid for four seasons in a row.

          I guess a lot of people are just jealous because his family is rich and he’s got a dream job.

          I don’t think that’s true. Most fans don’t like people buying themselves in to a position that others have had to work hard for or have achieved on merit.

          I think Stroll getting flak for buying himself a place in this sport is just part and parcel of a natural process.

        4. @coldfly I got nothing against Stroll or the fact that he is rich, I simply pointed out that we all agree that there is no way that he will beat his teammate Perez. Which was what the vote was for and he had 0% at the moment of my comment… Now 2%..
          Also +1 @todfod

        5. RE: Stroll @coldfly

          I guess a lot of people are just jealous because his family is rich and he’s got a dream job.

          It’s not that. My dislike has to do with him being bought a seat on two different teams and then not being up to the task. Massa at the end of his career and Perez now are good drivers, but they aren’t amazing drivers that are blowing everyone else away. And Stroll got close to Massa in 2017 on a lucky podium (5 DNFs in front of him) in Baku. And only got as close as he did to Perez in 2019 because of the lucky 4th (7 DNFs), without which he would have been alongside Grosjean ahead of Kubica and Russell.

          Perez (and Massa before him) have a lot more experience than Stroll does, admittedly. But there should be some improvement or advancement beyond getting a better seat based on dollars spent, right? If rumors were to be true and Mercedes becomes a Stroll Sr. property, Hamilton and Stroll is okay with you?

          If he was given a seat by Dad and turned out to be a good driver, it would get mentioned but not much else. That he has been given the seat and is (so far at least) not a good driver, is where it all turns sour for me.

        6. Me, and I believe many people here, have nothing against Stroll, nor think he is the worst driver on the grid or close to it. I don’t even believe Perez will massively overhaul him on points. Its’s just that something in my head says that at the end of the year Perez will most likely beat him. Just like with Hamilton vs Bottas. I think Bottas is a good driver and would come out on top against most other drivers in the same car, just not against Hamilton.
          I believe most voters believe that Perez will 99% likely beat Stroll. Wether it’l be 5 pts vs 40 or 37 vs 40, no one knows how close it will be. He could be almost as good as Perez, ALMOST.

      2. He’s u[p to 2% now.(Not my vote)

    2. @kalie good point. Many ‘rookies’ race against more experienced, solid drivers.

      I’d say Vettel vs Leclerc could be close as well if Ferrari delivers a car that suits Vette.

    3. @kaiie – I think that one-sidedness in the poll results is often a reflection of the fact that teams prefer the ease of having one “alpha” driver, and one wing-man. Mercedes and RBR have previously shown how having two hungry drivers can end up losing points, losing face, and probably causing stomach ulcers for the TP, and Ferrari have shown in 2019 a similar picture of how poor management of such drivers causes problems.

      The two instances which you mention where the drivers are close are both – in my opinion – cases where we readers don’t have a clear handle on the drivers involved to be able to back one of them.

      Norris comes with a solid reputation, but he still has to prove that he’s more than a pleasant chap, and has a level of assertiveness on track (e.g. he loses places at the race start, which is good in terms of saving the car for the rest of the race, but shouldn’t build a reputation that he can be squeezed easily. Alright, Ricciardo and the rest of you, stop snickering at my phrasing). Likewise, Sainz seems a solid midfielder, but can he stand up to Norris’ reputed talent if the latter gets going?

      The Alfa Romeo pairing is similarly hard to call. Giovinazzi has shown improving form, but we also know of Kimi’s potential. Now, whether Kimi blows hot or cold in 2020 remains to be seen, and that likely leads to uncertainty in the votes cast.

    4. At the moment the polls are extremely one-sided

      Indeed, @kaiie, although that doesn’t necessarily mean a big gap between teammates.

      I voted with the majority except for 1 pairing, but I think there will be a few interesting intra-team fights.
      – Raikkonen vs Giovinazzi; I don’t think Anthonio is the next best thing, but he came scarily close to Kimi towards the end of 2019.
      – Vettel vs Leclerc; Charles has the talent and now also proven performance. But we saw with Max that even in season 3 and 4 there can be a dip which a reborn Vettel could take advantage of.
      – Sainz vs Norris; I still think that Norris will eventually prevail as he has more talent IMO. But not sure when he will get the upper hand.
      – Kvyat vs Gassly; this could go either way. The 2nd part of 2019 was pretty good for Pierre, but he could falter again like he did at the beginning of last year.
      – Magnussen vs Grosjean; don’t know, and I hate to say it, I don’t care either. Not very inspiring pairing based on their performance of the last couple of years.

  2. W (@vishnusxdx)
    2nd February 2020, 9:46

    Poor Stroll and Latifi, currently 0% of voters think they got what it takes to beat their teammates.

    1. Roy Joseph Ruddy
      2nd February 2020, 20:33

      Did you honestly think latiffi would. It’s all for Russell and nothing less.

  3. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
    2nd February 2020, 9:49

    As usual, i think people are heavily influenced by the result of the points by the hass drivers last year. Looking closely at their performances over the year, Grosjean overall was better than magnussen on race day. Qualifying was the only area magnussen looked better. All it will have taken is for Grosjean not to retire in Brazil and he will have beaten magnussen in the standings, despite still having 3 more retirements.

    I think the votes are based off what the end result was, ignoring that he was probably had the most unlucky season of any driver in years with 7 races resulting in retirement as well as having an MGU-K failure in brazil. He also made less big mistakes than some drivers that we consider far better than him. Bottas, Vettel, Leclerc and a few others for example. I think too many are just predicting what he will be like based on the year before last, which was admittedly pretty terrible. If he didn’t have such bad luck last year, he quite handily will have got more points than magnussen. Hass have not kept him for no reason, and they will have looked closely at his season before deciding to keep him. I guess another reason for the votes for magnussen could just be those who have had enough of Grosjean too.

    This has to be the poll that i disagree with most. I don’t think he’s that good, but I really feel the majority of people haven’t looked at last season’s performance by both drivers closely enough.

    1. @thegianthogweed – I voted for Grosjean, and I think (hope?) he will come good this year. I still remember 2013 Grosjean in the Lotus. Not to be confused with the 2012 Grosjean ;)

      The question though will be how much will Haas be looking to focus on 2020, vs. building the 2021 car. Their mid-season development process has been quite bad, so they will want to get 2021 right. Now, how much that impacts their work on the 2020 car remains to be seen. I know they have a better handle on their aero problems impacting their tyres (from an article some weeks ago), but whether they have the budget and manpower to solve that for 2020 remains to be seen.

      1. Yea he has had his ups and downs. The first half of 2018 was simply awful from Grosjean, at least most of the races where. But even from the 2nd half of that season and throughout most of this year, he overall has looked better than Magnussen for some time now, but the points don’t show it. I will not argue that he is still towards the bottom of the grid. Would probably rate both of them close together around P14 – P16 but with Grosjean ahead.

      2. Not to be confused with the 2012 Grosjean

        That made me laugh :D

    2. I don’t believe either of the clowns deserve so much thought over their potential placings this year.

      1. Neither are as bad as many make it look. A lot of the radio of them two has been broadcast making it sound like a big deal, when they only have had a few small contacts. Other team mates have had worse happen. Vettel and Leclerc being team mates has not worked well team wise several times this year, one reason why I don’t think they have the strongest driver line up, despite having two of the best drivers. This is purely down to them not getting on.

        For the Hass drivers, Britain was the slightest touch that had an incredibly unfortunate outcome. Neither looked to do anything that bad here. Then I think Spain was the only other time where a contact cost them a few points. Otherwise I think they are both reasonable. And especially when rating them both individually, I don’t think either of them should be known as “clowns”….

        1. Come on. Both have left Guenther Steiner pulling his hair out, because they ignore his instructions. I’m sure we’ll be hearing plenty more swearing from him when the Netflix series airs in a couple of weeks . Grosjean, from his first season in 2009, has at least one unnecessary accident every season, frequently taking out other drivers. Magnussen takes beating his team mate too far, fighting over zero points placings. Neither of them are trusted by the other drivers because both are totally unpredictable.

          1. Grosjean hasn’t been responsible (himself alone) for taking out any drivers this season though. And many other drivers have, even top drivers. And if you include Silvestone, as i said that was unlucky and I think most put more blame on magnussen.

            And most drivers have at least one unnecessary accident every season, even the top drivers.

            Both drivers have had a fair few races where they haev underperformed, but they have also both been decent in a lot of them, with the occasional race actually being pretty good. Magnussen was good in Singapore, as was Grosjean in Brazil. They also both looked strong in the first race of the season. Not everything is bad about them.

    3. I agree with you to a certain extent, but there’s no denying that the likes of Hamilton, Verstappen, Raikkonen, Perez and Russell have a clear edge over their teammates in terms of talent and the overall experience. Leclerc was also the first choice for me in Ferrari, but not because of the last season’s standings but rather because of the overall atmosphere in Maranello and Vettel’s psychological problems which would be (although I would insanely love to see him on the top of his form again) carried over to this season. McLaren is rather a choice of difference in experience, Sainz is gaining momentum and he’s not even remotely close to his peak; Lando is there for a long run, still needing more experience to equal his teammate in terms of racepace (tire management) and overall competitiveness throughout the season.

      The points were I don’t agree with the poll are Ocon and Grosjean – I especially agree with you on the latter, with right car under him he’s not worse than Magnussen and he can get a fair amount of points. Kvyat is also going to be closer to Gasly although I voted for the Frenchman, too. My last money go on Giovinazzi getting closer to Kimi.

      1. I believe Grosjean and Magnusson suffer from the car not being up to standard. They have both stellar roads to f1 and have scored podiums. There is talent there. I seriously believe Haas is making them look like fools (plus Gro shouldn’t have had those two idiotic solo incidents in Baku 2018 and practice this year)

      2. I think Grosjean just isn’t as mentally strong as Magnusson and that will tell over the season. If that Renault is on par for 4th or 5th next year I don’t see Ocon outscoring Ricciardo with regular visits in the points. If the car is 6th or 7th best however its then a lottery on who lucks into the biggest results. Most of the fights could be close though with perhaps the exception of Williams, Red Bull, Racing Point imo.

  4. Im thinking that Raikkonen/Giovanazzi will be deciced by R´s motivation. If the car is slow and hes going to retire anyway at the end of the season, G will win.

  5. There are a couple that could be up for question.

    Leclerc Vs Vettel I think will be closer that most think. Vettel still can drive, just needs to get his head in the right space, and I suspect there’s an issue with the back of the car that may get sorted out.
    Ricciardo Vs Ocon – a fair bit depends on whether or not Renault can deliver a half decent (and reliable) car. Could end up being just who had the luck to finish.

    The rest – other than Sainz Norris seem to be pretty clear cut.

    1. Yea I’ve got to agree here. The only polls i have not voted yet because I’m unsure are Vettel Vs Leclerc and Kvyat vs Gasly.

      Vettel still looks to have the speed, he just doesn’t seem great unless he his very comfortable with the car. If he gets back to his 2015 performance, then I think he could actually beat Leclerc.

      I think the Kvyat vs Gasly vote is a bit unfairly one sided. Look how badly Gasly started this year. He looked a lot worse in Red Bull than Kvyat did in 2015. And he didn’t exactly dominate Kvyat when he was back at Toro Rosso. There were only 9 races to judge them, and out of the ones that were fair to compare (just 6), they beach each other 3 times each. Gasly was far better at the race that mattered, like Brazil, and Kvyat did have a couple of moments near the end of 2 races, but it isn’t like gasly didn’t have loads of these earlier this season is it? Kvyat is certainly not lacking any speed, and overall this season I think they have both had their fair share of incidents.

      Basically i think it should be more of a balanced vote. I’m going with Kvyat as I think he is better than Gasly, despite Gasly getting more points since he came back.

  6. Dani will have to watch out for Ocon. I was impressed with Ocon when he was at Force India/Racing Point.

    1. Yep. I feel this might be Dani’s toughest season yet.

      1. @magon4
        He went up against vettel and Verstappen… highly doubt Ocon would be at that level.

        1. He did lose to Verstappen, and Vettel had a bad year.
          Danny is great, Ocon could be. Will be interesting.

          1. @magon4 Vettel finished only three races in front of Ricciardo. Ricciardo won 3 races in the same car (vs Vettel 0). That’s not just a “bad year” for Vettel. He was utterly trashed.

            But yeah Verstappen clearly is a another level above Ricciardo still.

          2. @f1osaurus I ws just referring to the fact that it was not a typical Vettel season. Which it wasn’t.

          3. @magon4 Not “typical” In the sense that he actually had a skilled team mate for a change?

    2. He should watch out for Renault tinkering..
      Being a french driver in a french lead team and last season Abiteboul declared that Ricci put to much pressure on the team.
      So i guess its a number one status for the french boy and a bad carreermove by ricci.

  7. I was one of the people that voted for Bottas to beat Hamilton last year so I voted for him again. He’s literally got to or he’s probably out at the end of the year – so one last shot for the beard.

    Similar situation for Vettel in a way so I voted for him too. He’s got to come out and smash Leclerc and if he doesn’t and Ferrari end up supporting Leclerc more, he’ll probably leave at the end of the year too.

    Raikkonen should beat Giovinazzi but it’ll be down to his motivation. I expect Ricciardo & Ocon to clash a lot. Magnussen will outscore Grosjean. Verstappen will beat Albon but it’ll be closer than most expect. Norris will beat Sainz, but only just. Gasly & Kvyat will be closely matched and there’s no fight at Williams or Racing Point.

    1. It doesn’t matter how motivated Bottas is. He is simply not good enough unless Hamilton does very poorly.

    2. I don’t think Bottas is going to be out of a seat here because he can’t match hamilton. Their line up is ideal and if Bottas is as good or a little better than last year, there is no point changing the line up at all. I personally think it is more than likely he will remain. Unfortunately, I don’t see williams being good enough for russell to prove himself to make it worth the risk of replacing Bottas. the current line up just works.

  8. I am particularly interested in the Renault team. Ricciardo is a very very fast driver and given a fast and reliable car is a race winner. My greatest fear is that he may well suffer some negative discrimination from Abitaboul. He has already made some rather distressing calls and his latest are hard to fathom. This season will be a watershed for Ricciardo as i very much doubt that he will stick around in ’21. Interesting to hear Marko saying lots pf positive things about Ricciardo!!! Is he trying to lure him back for ’21.

    1. Exactly what I was thinking in regards to abitaboul and Renault in general. The way they just one sided with Ricciardo last season despite Hulkenberg being with them through thick and thin was astonishing. Could very well happen this season if Ocon presses the right buttons

  9. Going by the votes right now, I’m going against the grain voting for Norris and Ocon to win their team battles. I don’t think Ricciardo has adapted well psychologically to his self-demotion and Ocon will have a lot to prove. I see it being close and I’d give Ocon the edge. Norris I think is a better driver than Sainz (who’s good) and should be able to beat him this year, again close though.

    1. I like your thinking but you should remember Ocon didn’t race for a whole year that also will influence him.

  10. very interesting to read the stats from last year – is the sport getting a bit predictable? i guess leclerc was the only real surprise. as for this year, I only voted against the grain on giovinazzi (i think raikkonen will finally start to show his age, though i’d be happy to be proved wrong; giovinazzi does have some potential too, but there are a lot of factors at play in the midfield) and grosjean (i think he is quicker than magnussen and if he gets his head together he should be comfortably ahead).

    i voted leclerc this year, but again, this is a bit up in the air – if vettel gets his head together i think he could outscore, but not outperform leclerc i.e. vettel will generally be the slower driver but will rack up more points IF he maximises his opportunities (something seb has not done for a few seasons).

  11. Comfortably:
    Hamilton over Bottas
    Verstappen over Albon
    Ricciardo over Ocon
    Pérez over Stroll

    Close:
    Vettel over Leclerc
    Gasly over Kvyat
    Grosjean over Magnussen
    Russell over Latifi

    Just about:
    Norris over Sainz
    Giovinazzi over Räikkönen

  12. Hamilton
    Leclerc
    Verstappen
    Sainz
    Ricciardo
    Gasly
    Perez
    Giovinazzi
    Magnussen
    Russell

    Alfa is the only one where I went against the majority. Think Giovinazzi will be better this year, so thought he was worth a vote.

  13. Cristiano Ferreira
    2nd February 2020, 13:06

    Vettel can beat Leclerc if Ferrari delivers a good enough car for him to bring the results… also he needs to hold himself together.

    In the end it’s all down to him. If he (Vettel) accepts the role of second driver, then we will know that 2020 will be his last year in F1. If he still has the hunger he had before, well, maybe he can outscore Vettel and stays in F1 a little longer.

    1. Cristiano Ferreira
      2nd February 2020, 13:08

      *Outscore Leclerc

    2. … also he needs to hold himself together. Haha, this. Will not happen..

  14. The only reason Bottas seemed close to Lewis last year, especially in qualifying was because he was given Lewis’s lead engineer.

    He basically said as much.

    1. So you think without his lead engineer Ham is unable to beat Bottas by a margin…

    2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      3rd February 2020, 9:29

      That is like saying Hamilton is only as good as he is because of his engineer…

      1. @thegianthogweed That’s saying Bottas was given all of Hamilton’s setup secrets.

        Although clearly, it’s not just the engineer swap. Bottas is setting his car up for Q3 rather than the race more often than not. Evidence is his generally resulting poor race pace in races where he’s ahead or close to Hamilton.

  15. Surprised how little trust there is for Ocon. I expect him to be an equal partner for Danny Ric, both in terms of pace and points.

    1. Agreed. Ocon is underrated and will trouble Danny Ric.

    2. euh because he was out for 1 year and before that i was not very impressed with Ocon. F3 he wins with the best car but wins only 2 times (Max wins 10 times in a midfield car for exaple) against Perez he didn’t do very well ..

      I still think he is a overrated driver (mind you not a bad driver better then Grosjean)

    3. @pironitheprovocateur I wonder if Ocon looked good because Perez is simply not that good. As show by the underwhelming performance he gave when teamed up against Button at McLaren.

      Also Ocon actually scored less than Perez even though he was potentially faster. Ultimately points are the only thing that count.

      While Ricciardo obliterated Vettel in 2014 and for several seasons beat Verstappen.

      1. I don’t think it’s correct to evaluate Ocon’s qualities on the basis of results and teammate battles from five years ago. Perez is definitely a solid driver, dragging the poor Racing Point into the top 10 of the Drivers’ Championship last year, and he’s already very experienced. Ocon has only two full seasons under his belt and he’s still very young, many races without points went down to his inexperience (Baku 2018 comes to my mind first). Danny Ric wasn’t particularly shining against Hulkenberg last year so I wouldn’t take his upper hand for granted.

  16. Keith, “GIO gained on RAI”…. The final points tally does not support any such theory. Nor does the Raceday experience of them both.
    I have no reason to expect any change for the better in GIO’s performance.

    1. I think GIO is even worse then Lance making him the worst driver of the field. (yes his crashes i counted very heavy)

  17. Went with all majority vote options. Only one I really thought about was grosjean vs magnussen.

  18. That’s some serious faith in Albon

    1. I wonder if you should have put money on Albon what the score had been?

  19. Esteban Ocon has shown himself unwilling to back down against his own team mate – as Sergio Perez knows well – and even drivers who are lapping him, which Verstappen surely hasn’t forgotten.

    @keithcollantine Verstappen wasn’t lapping Ocon. Ocon was trying to unlap himself after a slow pitstop. Verstappen decided he’d rather risk a crash than simply let (a much faster) Ocon go past. As Marko later explained to it being the result of the history between the two.

  20. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    4th February 2020, 12:58

    The folks on this forum are very objective.

    The odds of Barcelona winning the Champions League: 99% :-)

    The odds of Federer winning 1-2 slams this year: 95%

    The odds of all us becoming billionaires this year: 95%

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