[Lucas Wilson]

So, who will be in the top seats in four years time, do you think that lotus and other teams have been saved from crises, have a guess :-) . My prediction:

Mercedes AMG F1: Have won 2 world championships since 2014, one for Hamilton and one for Rosberg.

1. Lewis Hamilton, world champion in 2014
2. Nico Rosberg, world champion 2015

Scuderia Ferrari: employ Adrian Newey for his final few years until his retirement, won the championship in 2017, the year after Alonso leaves.

3. Nico Hulkenberg, won the 2017 world championship
4. Sebastien Vettel, no more world championships yet

Mclaren-Honda, the bet on Honda engines pays off, winning both championships in 2016.

5. Kevin Magnusson, wins the world championship in 2016
6. Stoffel Vandoorne, comes 3rd in 2016

Red Bull-Renault: Slowly begin to drop down the order, no longer the works team as Renault rejoins F1 in 2015

7. Daniel Riccardo, best world championship result was 3rd in 2014
8. Jules Bianchi, waits in the ailing RB for a seat to open up at Ferrari

Renault, return as a manufacturer under new regulations, re buying the Enstone team

9. Romain Grosjean, unable to find a seat elsewhere, he is stuck at Enstone.
10. Robert Frijns

Sauber-Ferrari, manage to survive but only just on Russian money.

11. Antonio Felix da Costa, made the jump from former Toro Rosso team
12. Sergey Sirotkin, has failed to impress so far, may leave F1 next year

Infinity Racing-Mercedes, former Force India team is bought by Infinity (current sponsors of Lotus) after Vijay ruhs out of cash a few years ago

14. Daniel Kyvat, has been at the team a few years now.
15. Unknown

Minardi, the Red Bull squad can no longer afford to keep Toro Rosso running, it is sold and renamed Minardi.

16. Unknown
17. Unknown

Williams, are still back markers, after Frank passes away, Claire trys to keep the team going.

18. Felipe Massa, his final season of F1
19. Unknown

RUSSIAN TIME-Hyundai, Marussia fail to find money, their licence is bought by GP2 team RUSSIAN TIME

20.
21.

Hyundai, new entrants last year bringing new engines after record car sales.

22.
23.

[Mathers]

I know I will be way out, but worth a try

Ferrari – Alonso wins them the 2017 title, before hanging up his helmet
0. Jules Bianchi – After being Alonso’s team mate since 2016 after Raikkonen got fed up and quit the sport again, Bianchi has progressed to a title contender in 2018
2. Rafaelle Marciello – having been placed at Marussia in 2016 after winning the 2015 GP2 Series and Sauber 2017 with the promise of a Ferrari seat this year, Marciello has risen through the ranks to become a major player in F1.

Mercedes – Have been as good as this since 2014 – winning the 2016 title with Hamilton and coming oh so close last year with Rosberg.
3. Lewis Hamilton – 4th last year after a disappointing 2017
4. Nico Rosberg – very nearly robbed Alonso of his glorious exit from F1, but will be one of the favourites this year.

McLaren-Honda – doing well with the new engines, but not quite at the top level
5. Nico Hulkenberg – been close to the front since his arrival in 2016 from Lotus, he hopes this year is his year.
6. Sergio Perez – Been overtaken by Hulkenberg as number one, but hopes he can get some good results.

Williams-Mercedes – after a tricky few years, Williams re emerge as a strong force, with multiple podiums and points in every race last year.
7. Daniel Juncadella – the man who took Williams back to the sharp end, not only with his driving, but with funding from Astana as well
8. Pastor Maldonado – remains with the team, providing substantial finance, but actually remains due to form that evokes more memories of the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix than anything else

Red Bull-Renault – after a difficult season last year, the power house return with renewed vigour due to the hiring of many of the best technical minds from up and down the grid.
9. Sebastian Vettel – took a sabbatical in 2017 to pursue a win of the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche alongside Mark Webber (!) – which they duly won, but now returns, ousting Daniel Kvyat from his big opportunity in which he was totally outclassed by Ricciardo.
10. Daniel Ricciardo – no stranger to a shootout to earn a drive from his Toro Rosso days, he shows his worth to the Red Bull team through a tough spell.

Marussia-Honda – after the 2016 season in which a budget cap was finally introduced, Marussia got technical support from McLaren and engines from Honda, and started running drivers for them in return, effectively became the McLaren junior team, and became solid midfield runners.
11. Stoffel Vandoorne – driving for Marussia in 2014 and 2015 anyway, was overlooked for Hulkenberg but retained his ties with the team, and was rewarded by getting Marussia their first win in an amazing 2017 Belgian Grand Prix.
12. Kevin Magnussen – raced for Honda in the World Endurance Championship in 2015, joined up with Vandoorne when the McLaren support became more widespread, came 3rd in the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.

Russian Airways Grand Prix Team-Renault – After a buyout of Toro Rosso in 2016, they have run Russian drivers exclusively in the series, including Vitaly Petrov in 2016 and 2017, before settling on their current line up
14. Daniel Kvyat – after being ousted from Red Bull, he signed for this team, and big things are expected.
15. Sergey Sirotkin – after solid points, he looks like a future champion.

Sauber-Ferrari – their championship position doesn’t tell the whole story. A massively quick car was ruined by reliability, with both their drivers failing to finish 12 of the 25 events, and the closeness of the field meant they slipped rapidly down the order.
16. Esteban Gutierrez – still there, was desperately unlucky not to win the Belgian Grand Prix after driveshaft failure on the final lap, but looks good if they can sort out reliability.
17. Robin Frijns – the first driver to suffer a retirement after the mandatory hybrid system ceased in Monaco while in P3, is another to watch for podiums in the closest F1 field ever.

Enstone-Renault – after Lotus pulled their backing, they were totally bought out by Boullier and his management firm, and he gave the team their rightful name after many changes.
18. Romain Grosjean – despite winning 2 races in 2016, failed to get a podium in 2017, but will be hoping his Total liveried car will be faster this year
19. Jean-Eric Vergne – the Total sponsorship meant another fast Frenchman remained on the grid after he was ousted in 2016 from Caterham.

Caterham-Alpine-Renault – after Toro Rosso was bought, a more informal relationship was formed between Red Bull and Caterham, running two junior drivers.
20. Carlos Sainz Jr. – after being a part of the Porsche Le Mans squad since 2015, winning with Vettel and Webber last year, he finally gets his F1 break
21. Tom Blomqvist – a runner in the GP2 Series for 3 years, gets his move to F1 due to a move by Christian Horner to get a British Red Bull F1 champion.

Force India-Mercedes – difficult times meant Mallya refocused the F1 team to find the best talent from Asia, and has been quite successful
22. Jazeman Jaafar – Still carries significant Petronas backing, and has the pace with it.
23. Kazuki Nakajima – a familiar name, with Petronas backing too, was a condition for the funding, but there could have been worse options for the grid.

The cars are really closely matched, and the racing is better than ever due to lower downforce, and there are no gimmicks like DRS. The cars are powered by 1.6 turbos still, but now with full blown hybrid systems that mean the cars produce a peak output of 1500bhp.
22

[Deej92]

This looks like fun, so here’s my go!
Scuderia Ferrari
1. Vettel, 2. Bianchi

Mercedes AMG Petronas
3. Hamilton, 4. Rosberg

Gillette McLaren Honda
5. Hulkenberg, 6. Magnussen

Total Renault (formerly Lotus, before French manufacturer returns)
7. Grosjean, 8. Vandoorne

Infiniti Red Bull Racing-Renault
9. Ricciardo, 10. Kvyat

BMW Sauber (another buy-out of Sauber from the German manufacturer)
11. Kubica, 12. Perez

Petrobras Williams-Mercedes
14. Massa, 15. Nasr

Sahara Force India-Ferrari
16. Maldonado, 17. Marciello

GE Caterham-Renault
18. Pic, 19. Rossi

Scuderia Toro Rosso-Renault
20. Sainz, 21. Unknown

ING Volkswagen (2018 is VW’s first year)
22. da Costa, 23. Frijns

[Dion]

Prepare for my nutjob predictions! (Disclaimer, car numbers don’t indicate actual placing in 2017 championship, they’re just there to make it look a tad better)

Ferrari – Ferrari:
1. Jules Bianchi
2. Sergio Perez

Mercedes – Mercedes:
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Nico Rosberg

Red Bull – Renault:
5. Daniil Kvyat
6. Daniel Ricciardo

McLaren – Honda:
7. Kevin Magnussen
8. Stoffel Vandoorne

Lotus – Renault (renamed to Enstone):
9. Romain Grosjean
10. Nico Hulkenberg

Sauber – Honda:
11. Sergey Sirotkin
12. Esteban Gutierrez

Williams – Mercedes:
14. Lewis Hamilton
15. Daniel Juncadella

Force India – Ferrari (renamed to Scorpion)
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. James Calado

Toro Rosso – Renault:
18. Callan O’Keeffe
19. Carlos Sainz Jr.

Caterham – Renault:
20. Alexander Rossi
21. Giedo van der Garde

Marussia – Honda:
22. Nyck De Vries
23. Tio Elinas

Porsche – Volkswagen (new team in 2017):
24. Antonio Felix Da Costa
25. Robin Frijns

Chevrolet – Chevrolet (new team in 2016):
26. Conor Daly
27. Charles Pic

Toyota – Toyota (new team in 2016):
28. Kamui Kobayashi
29. Kevin Korjus

[Slr]

23. Kazuki Nakajima – a familiar name, with Petronas backing too, was a condition for the funding, but there could have been worse options for the grid.

Assuming you mean Nakajima makes his return in 2018 and not earlier, I wonder if nine years between successive races would be a record?

[mnmracer]

I like the idea of Vettel and Webber winning Le Mans together.

[Iestyn Davies]

Lammers and Badoer had 10 year gaps to 1992 and 2009. But I dunno if they are really ‘countable’ in the fan’s sense.

I like your optimism, but I wonder if Bernie would allow new teams, given he has a new working group and 1/3 of the votes for himself :D

It’s hard to look so far ahead, I’ve predicted elsewhere half the time ahead, but this is far enough for another generation to come in. So I would say this:

Infiniti Red Bull Renault
Kvyat, Ricciardo

Mercedes
Hamilton, Rosberg

Ferrari
Vettel, Bianchi (Fuoco)

McLaren-Honda
Magnussen, Vandoorne (de Vries)

Total Renault (or Lotus-Renault/Honda)
Grosjean, Vergne/Pic (Ocon etc.)

Sauber
Hulkenberg, Sirotkin

Force India
Calado, Daly/Frijns/Evans/Harvey (King)

Williams-Mercedes (maybe Honda)
Bottas, Juncadella

Toro Rosso
Gasly, Auer/Blomqvist

Caterham
Rossi, Pic/Jaafar

Marussia
Marciello, Ellinas/Chilton

It’s hard to know if Hamilton will give up on F1 by then, if so you could put Vettel or Hulk there, and add in say Nasr to Sauber.

[Dion]

Or place him at a resurgent Williams, as I did ;)

[Nick]

Bit optimistic here.

Red Bull
1. Daniil Kvyatt
2. Daniel Ricciardo

Ferrari
1. Nico Hulkenberg
2. Romain Grosjean

McLaren
1. Kevin Magnussen
2. Stoffel Vandoorne

Lotus
1. Jules Bianchi
2. Robin Frijns

Mercedes
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Sebastian Vettel (trying to do what his idol couldn’t; win with Mercedes)

Sauber
1. Felix Rosenqvist
2. Raffaele Marciello

Force India
1. Nyck de Vries
2. Valtteri Bottas

Williams
1. Sergey Sirotkin
2. Nico Rosberg

Toro Rosso
1. Carlos Sainz Jr.
2. Tom Blomqvist

Caterham
1. Esteban Ocon
2. Weiron Tan

Marussia
1. Max Verstappen
2. Sergio Perez

(Don’t drink and proofread, kids. Edit 2: nor do so when you’ve been up for 5 minutes, you might mistake drivers for each other.)

[markyrc]

@npf1 I see Carlos Sainz Jr. is gonna be very busy. :)

[JackySteeg]

Mercedes
1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Valtteri Bottas

McLaren-Honda
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Kevin Magnussen

Ferrari
5. Sergio Perez
6. Jules Bianchi

Lotus-Renault
7. Ukyo Sasahara
8. Pastor Maldonado

Red Bull-Renault
9. Daniil Kvyat
10. Carlos Sainz, Jr.

Force India-Mercedes
11. Nyck De Vries
12. Stoffel Vandoorne

Sauber-Ferrari
14. Raffaele Marciello
15. Kimiya Sato

Williams-Mercedes
16. James Calado
17. Felipe Nasr

STR-Ferrari
18. Tom Blomqvist
19. Beitske Visser (yeah, I know she’s out of the Red Bull YDP, but I can’t think of anyone else)

Caterham
20. Conor Daly
21. Jazeman Jafaar

Marussia
22. Esteban Gutierrez
23. Facu Regalia

Some real stabs in the dark there. One thing that will be certain is that Heikki Kovalainen will still be Caterham’s reserve driver.

[Lucas Wilson]

@mathers

wow that is wishful thinking!

[Bullfrog]

Antonio Felix da Costa’s single seater career is finished, now that he’s commentating alongside Will Buxton (it’s a kiss of death – look what happened to his other co-commentators! Chandhok and d’Ambrosio won’t be seen again, and Brundle never made it)

Also a tremendous thanks to @thereal_JDA, @karunchandhok, @AlexBrundle and @afelixdacosta for their insight, humour and patience.

— The Buxton Blog (@thebuxtonblog) November 3, 2013

[Anonymous]

Red Bull
1. S Vettel
2. D Ricciardo

Ferrari
3. N Hulkenberg
4. J Bianchi

Mercedes
5. L Hamilton
6. N Rosberg

McLaren
7. K Magnussen
8. R Grosjean

Lotus
9. S Vandoorne
10. S Perez

Sauber
11. S Sirotkin
12. D Kvyat

Force India
14. V Bottas
15. J Calado

Williams
16. D Valsecchi
17. D Juncadella

Toro Rosso
18. T Dillmann
19. M Evans

Caterham
20. A Quaife-Hobbs
21. R Frijns

Marussia
22. R Marciello
23. C Sainz Jr.

[Anonymous]

Obviously forgot Sauber! Will edit the above post when the site allows me to.

[Author]

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