2010 Constructors Who leads the list? An Analysis.

[Vas]

Here is my analysis on the Constructors which looks bit more easier to identify than the driver's championship.

Ferrari lead the list. It has a good car and 2 good drivers who can win driver's championships on their day or shall we say year. So Ferrari comes at the top. The car is performing well both in heavier and lighter fuel loads. Slight increase in pace in the short run will help it to qualify ahead of Redbull and McLaren.

Next is Redbull. Designed by Adrain Newey, the team has some hidden agenda when it comes to some parts which may come to the fore only during the Bahrain GP. Already the car is very good in its short stints. It is just a matter of getting the car to perform at its peak with heavier fuel load.

Next comes McLaren and Mercedes fight for the third spot. I tip Mclaren because it has Lewis Hamilton in one car and in another car Jenson Button. I feel Lewis can match Michael Schumacher. The balance is tipoped towards McLaren because Jenson Button is shade better than Nico Rosberg when it comes to consistency and maturity. Also McLaren looks like will compete with top 2 teams rather than fight for third spot with Mercedes.

Next comes Mercedes. Their were signals from drivers that the car is not up to the mark. The same is endorsed by Ross Brawn too. The only question is whether all these remarks are a diversionary ploy. But I don't think so. If they have really good car, there is no reason why they should present it to their drivers so that they will get adequate practice. The conclusion is Mercedes requires an update to the car to compete with the top teams. They are a shade better than Williams, Sauber and Force India at present.  

The ranking now boils down to Renaults and STR. Going by the last test, I feel I will put my bet on STR rather than on Renault. Only Kubica stands in the way of STR but how much a driver can do with the inferior car. We know what Fernando Alonso was able to do with his Renaults last year. It is just going to be the same.

Now that leaves us with Lotus and Virgin. Even though Virgin looked shade quicker than Lotus during the initial testing, I feel Lotus is looking better. The drivers are good too. More over Virgin is still having the Hydraulics problem that is nagging them from Day 1.

So the ranking as for as Constructors is concerned for the races before it enters the European leg is as follows

1]  Ferrari
2]  Redbull
3]  McLaren
4]  Mercedes
5]  Williams
6]  Sauber
7]  Force India
8]  STR
9]  Renaults
10] Lotus
11] Virgin

That leads us to the Drivers. Among themselves in a team who will fare better?

01] Ferrari     - Fernando Alonso
02] Redbull     - Sebastian Vettel
03] McLaren     - Lewis Hamilton
04] Mercedes    - Michael Schumacher/Nico Rosberg 50-50
05] Williams    - Rubens Barichello
06] Sauber      - Kamui Kobayashi
07] Force India - Sebastian Vettel
08] STR         - Sebastian Buemi
09] Renaults    - Roberto Kubica
10] Lotus       - Heikki Kovalainen 
11] Virgin      - Timo Glock

[Vas]

Hispania Racing F1 Team has now joined and may slot in between the Lotus and Virgin because of the Dallara chassis. But the drivers are new and play to their disadvantage. But I bet on HRT over Virgin because of reliability issues. (HRT never tested and may have problems but will bounce ahead of Virgin)