F1 2010 Champion is....

[stealthhaggis]

Interesting that so far no one expects the reigning champion to hold onto his title...

What did Button do last year,win 5 of 6 first races and
just wrap the title up in Brazil.With this new points
system would the season have been as close?

Well I'm sticking with Jens, the season is long and I'm sure most of us will be regretting our choices by mid point. I also think Schumi and Ferd will be close behind without getting the cigar.

If the new scoring had been in place last year Button would have won by a bigger margin, he won the most races, it's now a very big points gap between First and 2nd. So more wins and a good steady finishing record pays off.   

 

I hope Jenson does prove us all wrong and moves up a gear, at this moment in time I just can't see him getting past Lewis but only time will tell and as you say, it's a long season. One of the most exciting for years!

[Ian]

Gee, I'm the only one so far who picked Michael. 

[FW14B]

Michael has it in him to win still, but I am not certain the car has the speed yet. 

[david1275]

Massa, because I believe. 

[Scott]

Massa, because I believe. 

Those red coloured glasses are getting foggy   

[PG_Gabriel]

If I had to bet i would say Vettel, but honestly iam completely stumped on this one, i think we can expect vettel, hamilton, alonso, button, shumi, and possible mark and massa all to have a shot

[stealthhaggis]

Exactly, such an open year. Good spread of drivers in top teams. You could argue that the weakest line up of the 'top 4' teams is MGP with an old bloke and an erratic driver who has yet to prove himself. Obviously the old bloke is Schumacher but even he will take a few races to get up to full speed again. The other 3 teams all have race winners in both seats. Thats at least 7 experienced winners in 7 fast cars. Look outside the 'top 4' and you've got Williams with a still hungry Rubens & Renault with a very hungry Kubica. 2 potential feather ruffler's there. Obviously it depends how quick the cars are but I am sure they will be up there every so often and will make a nuisance of themselves during the season. Add to that the very quickly improving Force India's with their crash happy drivers and the Saubers with they're classic experience rookie mix and it's going to be a great season.

[John S]

The 'Old Bloke' you refer to SH has been on the pace in testing from the get go this year, unlike the ageing replacements (yes incl Fischi) drafted in to cover for the absent Massa last year. I know the Ferrari last year was a dog but it's a drivers ability to jump into different cars and get on the pace that marks the greats out. IMO it's the car that needs some improvement in the Merc team before they can win a championship not the old bloke.  

[stealthhaggis]

  Ah my first bite. 

He's still old!

[John S]

This is the latest betting odds on who will take the WDC, courtesy of ManipeF1.com. It looks like we are not putting our money where our mouths suggest

Double world champion Fernando Alonso heads into this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix the bookies' favourite to scoop his third crown at the end of the season, following a strong showing in pre-season testing by Italian marque Ferrari. At odds of 5/2, Alonso is being touted as reigning champion Jenson Button's successor in 2010, with the Briton lying just sixth on the list, at an outside 11/1.

With four teams expected to battle it out for victories over the course of the year, the top four favourites for the 2010 title come from four different outfits. Joint second favourites are McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel on 4/1, while odds of 5/1 are being offered for the returning Michael Schumacher to extend his record to eight titles.

Team-mates of the top quartet make up the next four favourites in the same order, with Felipe Massa (8/1), Button (11/1), Mark Webber (12/1) and Nico Rosberg (20/1) all being considered as outside bets should their team-mates and rivals falter.

BMW Sauber's impressive pre-season form has seen the bookies place rookie Kamui Kobayashi on odds of 40/1, followed by Renault's Robert Kubica (50/1). Rubens Barrichello, Nico Hülkenberg and Pedro de la Rosa are all at 66/1.

At the other end of the scale, punters can get odds of 500/1 for India's Karun Chandhok to land the title in his rookie year, while Jaime Alguersuari and Lucas Di Grassi are next worse off on 300/1.

[stealthhaggis]

Well some of you have!  My money is on Alonso. Although a warning for all of you Alonso fans, my money is usually wasted, badly! Have to admit I was surprised people put Hamilton ahead of Vettel, although I rate Hamilton I was of the opinion Vettel has the better car. Massa has very strong odds compared to Button which I am surprised about. I would have put Jenson Massa and Webber in the same sort of bracket as they are all in the same boat really.

[Ian]

I got 13/2 on Michael with paddypower.

[FW14B]

I have no luck gambling on anything, so I'll have to pass.  Some tempting deals though on Paddypower that I noticed. 

[david1275]

Massa, because I believe. 

Those red coloured glasses are getting foggy   

Never been clearer Scott. If Massa doesn't get it Alonso will.

It's a Ferrari year, I can feel it in my bones. 

[stealthhaggis]

So the majority on here have gone for Vettel, then joint favourites are Hamilton and Alonso followed by Button ahead of Schumacher and Massa. If the Red Bulls are able to stay in one piece and the Reno engine in the back actually works for a change they will certainly be right up there and everyone seems to agree that it will be Vettel leading the charge for them. I am surprised more folks didn't go for Alonso considering Ferrari have been working on that car since the middle of last year. It did show some reliability problems in testing though which must be a worry for them. I think it says a lot for Hamilton that he is up there with Alonso considering the common consensus is that their car is a little slower than the RB and the Ferrari.

Roll on tomorrow for the start of the new season proper!