Top 5 predictions thread (constructors)

[ralf fan]

A sequeal to the bottom 5 predictions thread... im sure over the course of the off-season we will have lots of prediction threads and opinions will change as winter testing progresses. so what are your initial top 5 predictions...

Mine:
1.Ferrari
2. Mclaren
3. Bar
4. Renault
5. Williams

[Paddy_NL]

My realistic list:
1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. Renault
4. Toyota
5. BAR

My 'wish'-list:
1. McLaren
2. Toyota
3. BAR
4. Williams
5. Renault

[luke]

1.Mclaren
2.BAR
3.Williams
4.Ferrari
5.Renault.

Just a gut feeling, I remember in 1998 Mclaren adapted very well to the new rules.

[RT]

Well, here's mine with a bit of explanation:

1. Ferrari (At the top last season and will stay there, at least because of stability in the team. However, I don't expect the 2005 car to be as much of an improvement as the 2004 was over the 2003)

2. Mc Laren (Has the only driver that can match Michael Shumacher for relentless pace (Kimi)and a team that has apparently re-focused on the racecar. They may have parity with Ferrari, depending on what Ilmor does with engine power and reliability)

3. Williams (They also may be currently up there with Ferrari. Seems much improved after the redesign of the nose. With new drivers, the handbaggery will be at least sharply reduced but also because of the new driver line up there will be a learning curve and I don't expect the WDC or the teams chanpionship to come their way)

4. Renault (Same "first" driver (Alonso) and a "second" new driver that is at least as good. If Renault puts more power in the engine, they will do well)

5. BAR (First driver seems less than happy and the loss of David Richards will be felt.)

[Kirk]

If I had to predict I'd go:
1/ Ferrari - I hope I'm wrong, F1 needs a change at the top
2/ McLaren - based mainly on drivers, car is questionable however
3/ BAR - a let down is inevitable but Honda seems finally serious
4/ Williams - if they're lucky (4th is mainly based on their reputation as a consistently top team)
5/ Renault - FA and Fisi should be tough

... I also predict that we will see the closest race in years and do expect Sauber and Toyota to be knocking on the door, and wouldn't be surprised if one or both displaced 2 of those teams above.

[Knowlesy]

Too early to predict.

[Kicking-back]

1) McLaren
2) Ferrari
3) BAR
4) Williams
5) Toyota

[luke]

So far Mclaren are either 1st or 2nd must be looking good.

[Knowlesy]

McLaren do look strong on paper. It should be their best season for a while.

[Mike_Wooshy]

Originally posted by knowlesy
Too early to predict.

i think your on the ball ill put what i think up after the new year :P.

[Rich R]

1.ferrari
2.mclaren (very close between the top 2 though)
3.bar
4.williams
5.sauber

[Mark Webber]

1) Ferrari
2) McLaren
3) Williams
4) Renault
5) Toyota

[Adam43]

I have no idea, but I'll have a guess

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. Renault
4. Williams
5. BAR

Ferrari will be clear and McLaren will be slightly clear of the others. The next three will be very close.

[jet]

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. Renault
4. Williams
5. BAR

[Red]

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BAR
4. Williams
5. Renault

[RWC]

I was totally stuffed trying to guess the bottom five but i'll have a go at this

furrari first..unless shue braks a leg,or the fia ban them for somethingorother,or all the bosses resign their high-paid do-nothing jobs and they have no one to lead them (yeah THAT would make a difference,lol)
In other words furrari first

2nd through forth is definitlty the toughest!
Maclaren ,renault,williams and BAR will fight it out
This will be the highlight of the year

Mac won't build another lemon now that newey is back in charge plus merc have the momentum going again after their most embarrassing point in the sport
Also the drivers are good and the new factory is up and running -not taking attn and resources away from f1 team

Bar can only go down from where they were.I'm not saying they will go badly-just that the others will be stronger this time around!
Their strengths will be greater input from honda plus better racecraft (they gave the impression this year that they sometimes didn't make the most of their car)
Weaknesses are few.Sato is not a topline points scorer (but i personaly would hate to see him go just yet-he makes it interesting!)
Renault will have a proper engine at last (this years was a stopgap)and are claiming 50 extra HP allready-in spite of the new regs!
Thier potential weakness could be a worse car.The '03 was a gem,the 04 faster but very tricky to setup because it was designed to be a fast starting car (it understeered like pig hunting truffles).Have they lost the edge in chassis settup due to lack of guidance by gazza?

Williams are abit tricky to predict.They had some problems last year due to a less than topline beemer engine and abit of stuffing round getting a new windtunnel built.
And what about the 2nd driver?
With abit of luck they'll have ant or nick so that's not too bad,but again not ideal
And will BMW actually build a fast engine again??
It's certainly not a given-'long life engines' and 'powerfull BMW' don't go together too well...