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2013 Formula One Season Preview: Can Vettel Win Four In A Row?

With less than one week away from the start of the
2013 Formula One season opener in Melbourne, Australia, many fans in the past
have observed that the F1 scene has been racing with very little passing and a
very obvious outcome of who will win the World Championship when the season
ends in November. However, for the first time in many seasons, it is very
unsure who will take the championship; let alone how many drivers have a chance
to win the title at all.

The upcoming season will be the final year in which
the regular 2.4 liter V-8’s will be run in the championship. By the middle of
the year, the talk might become on what teams will begin to work on the new V-6
turbocharged engines for 2014, and who will supply them.

If the engine discussions are only the main issue,
this is definitely incorrect, the big story for the start of this season is the
off-season transfer of Lewis Hamilton from McLaren, which he has supported
since his go kart days, to the works Mercedes team; in addition, his position
at the Woking -based team will be taken by Mexican sensation Sergio Perez, who
will line up with Briton Jenson Button. So, with the teams ready to go for a
new year, here are the 11 teams and their drivers with the possible outcome of
what they could possibly do this season:

Infinity/Red Bull Racing- There is no doubt that
past three time champion Sebastian Vettel is the favorite once again. It did
not seem this way at the end of last summer, but the German came alive, winning
four races in a row, and just finishing eighth in the last race to defeat
Fernando Alonso by three points to win his third world title. It just might be
four. He will be teamed with Mark Webber and the Aussie might be in his final
year at the Austrian based team, unless his teammate can have trouble, which
might give Webber more credentials to get popular with his team which definitely
favors the German.

Scuderia Ferrari- This team probably might get the
most unlucky team from last year award- but you have to give Alonso credit for
hanging in there and being aggressive enough to take the championship to the last
race. But it will seem very possible that the Spaniard can give the title to
Marenello once again- he just needs better luck and more retirements from
Vettel. There is no doubt that Alonso has the desire. With teammate Felipe
Massa, there is always some improvement, both for him to assist Alonso or win
more races himself. If the Brazilian can improve, he could give not only his
teammate a championship but even more importantly, the constructor’s title as
well. Ferrari has nothing to lose-except another wasted season.

McLaren Mercedes- With Hamilton now out of the way,
Button has a free hand to challenge for the world championship. But with the
talent of Perez, Button might get into more trouble than he is worth. The
Mexican will certainly go for race wins of one or maybe more, but whether he
can outtake Button by the end of the season will have to be decided after the
first few races. Do not expect this team to be great, but it can still be third
or fourth in the constructor’s championship by year’s end even without Hamilton’s
talent.

Lotus F1- After struggling most of last season, the
team finally received a win by Kimi Raikkonen at Abu Dhabi, and this could be
the begging of a team that would like to get as high as third in the
constructor’s championship and Raikkonen, who was back for the first time in
three years performs this way, then this year might even be better, after what
has been seen in recent winter testing. As for teammate Romain Grosjean, the
Frenchman might have to expect more control against other cars, or he will
never return to formula one again. But Grosjean has put the year of crashes and
interference behind him, got married and is expecting to be a father soon. Can
this mellow him out where he can drive?? The first race is one way to find out.
Expect this team to challenge for a few races and be in the fight if things go
the way they want.

Mercedes- This squad has changed more than any other
team this past year. Out is Norbert Haug, and in is Niki Lauda as far as manager
in concerned. Ross Brawn still is there as well as team principal, and Michael Schumacher
is no longer trying to make a comeback. Nico Rosberg is the only thing that was
unscathed and now the results are expected to come now that Hamilton is
committed for the ride. Whether Lauda can keep his slate clean is another
story, especially after the disaster at Jaguar in 2001. It will be interesting
if any bickering will go on between the staff and if it does not, then the team
can move on to more race wins and maybe even a higher placing in the
constructor’s title. It will be interesting to see.

Sauber- with Perez gone to McLaren, this Hinwil-
based team now has made many changes to improve results and try to make that
the greatest result back in 2001 can now happen again. Peter Sauber now comes
to the races once in a while, but is still chairman of the board. Monica
Kaltenborn is still the team principal, and the first woman to do so. However,
the driver department has totally changed-with German Nico Hulkenberg as the
lead driver and Estaban Gutierrez,
thanks to his being the tester last year and Carlos Slim’s money from Mexico,
is the second pilot. Certainly Hulkenberg has not forgotten Brazil in 2011,
when he took the pole for Williams. This might mean good placing’s for him, but
nothing more than that. The team should fight it out for midfield positions.

Force India- Paul Di Resta’s good results made the
Scot an easy pick to return for this season once again, but it took weeks and
even through the team launch in late January to decide that 2011 pilot Adrian
Sutil will fill the second slot. The team like Sauber, should not make any big
gains, except fight for midfield spots.

Williams- Of all the teams except Mercedes, this
team has made many changes in the lineup. Toto Wolff has now migrated to
Mercedes, but Pastor Maldonado will remain as their number one driver after his
great run in Spain last season. The second driver will be Finn Valtteri Bottas,
who was the team’s tester last year with the big surprise being Susie Wolff,
the squad’s test driver who hopefully will have some experience after being in
the DTM for many years. Expect the team to be in the midfield, even with a
possible win once again from Maldonado. But the Venezuelan might be driving
now, but it is hard to see whether or not he will remain on the team in the
future, now that President Hugo Chavez is gone, who was very popular in sponsoring
his contract.

Toro Rosso- This Italian team with the Austrian
drinks brand has both of their drivers returning, Australian Daniel Riccardo
and Frenchman Jean Eric Vergne. Both achieved decent finishes during the previous
season, and there is no doubt that they will do the same to remain the midfield
and challenge only there.

Caterham F1- with Tony Hernandes taking a desk job,
Cyril Abiteboul now comes over from Renaultsport F1 and leads the team as
principal. Gone are both Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen to uncertain
futures. Frenchman Charles Pic comes from Marussia and Dutchman Guido Van De
Garde comes from GP2, becoming the first driver from the Netherlands to pilot
an F1 car since Jos Verstappen. But despite this new line up, expect the same
from this team at the back of the grid with no points.

Marussia- Being the last team to be reviewed is not
a great feat. The squad has no money, and even if it has the expertise of Pat
Symonds, it might not matter. The team might be thankful that they did not go
bankrupt like HRT, but even so, GP2 driver Max Chilton leads the charge, with
Jules Bianchi coming in with extra cash, overlapping Luis Razia to go home
without a contract. If this is what is expected of the team, then good results
might be the only thing not to follow the team that might have to rely on cash
to keep its team from withdrawing from the championship.

This season might have some of these stories and
predictions true or not, but one thing is for sure: there might just be as much
excitement this season as there was last year. Racingnation.com is committed to
give you complete coverage of this year’s formula one world championship from
now until the end of the season, which begins this Thursday with the Australian
Grand Prix preview.

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