Lehdistötiedotteet - Pundit X Preview: S16 F1 Season

Pundit X Preview: S16 F1 Season

After rave reviews from last season's preview, the controversial Pundit X has returned to give his preview and predictions for the S16 F1 Season!

Last season saw Red Bull dominate, winning their 3rd Constructors Championship plus setting a new record for points scored in a single season by a constructor with 625, while the team's ace Philippe de Saint-Germain Jr. cruised to his 5th consecutive Drivers Championship.

As the new season looms, the teams will have to deal with many changes, such as the new engine regulations and the strategic options added for this season, which make things very interesting for the first few races as the teams get adjusted to them. Throughout off-season testing, quite a few teams have decided not to show their full hand as to how good their cars will be. I guess we'll just have to wait until the 1st race of the season to see what everyone has.

Team and Driver outlooks: Teams are underlined, drivers are in bold, statistics are in italics

Red Bull: 8th season, 3 Constructors Championships, 3116 total pts. scored, 48 total wins, finished 1st in S15 Constructors Championship, 625 pts. in S15, 11 wins in S15: Red Bull has been the epitome of dominance the past 5 seasons, with S15 being bar none the most dominant. But with their golden boy Philippe de Saint-Germain Jr.'s shocking announcement that the upcoming season would be his last, plus the new changes for this season, lead many to believe the dynasty could come crashing down soon. They were one of the teams that decided not to reveal their full hand in off-season testing. Many experts are picking them to repeat as Constructors Champions. While I agree with that, I don't think it'll be as easy this season. Yes, I believe their car will be better than Mercedes, but the strategic changes for S16 don't play in their favor. They lost some races last season to Mercedes that they probably shouldn't have due do bad strategy, and I think that with strategy being more important than ever before, it's going to cost them this time around if they're not careful.

#1. Philippe de Saint-Germain Jr. (FRA):8th season, 5 Drivers Championships, 2212 career pts.,46 career wins, finished 1st in S15 Drivers Championship, 387 pts. in S15, 9 wins in S15: Perhaps the greatest driver in the history of F1, holding almost every record to date. He dropped a bombshell on everyone when he announced that S16 would be his final season in F1. It certainly shocked me as I felt he could drive well into his 40s. With 5 consecutive Drivers Championships under his belt, it's no surprise that just about everyone expects him to go out on top in his final season. I do too. Even with Red Bull's strategic shortcomings, they should still have the best cars in the whole field.

#2. Romain Louis Grosjean Jr. (FRA): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 326 career pts., 2 career wins, finished 4th in S15 Drivers Championship, 238 pts. in S15, 2 wins in S15: The heir apparent to PSG improved leaps and bounds in his sophomore season, breaking through to get back-to-back wins in Russia and USA. People are already naming him as a dark horse contender for the championship this season. For that to happen though, he needs to be a bit more consistent and get out of the bad tendency to fade late in races. Regardless, his performance last season has the Red Bull faithful confident that the team will be in good hands once PSG retires.

Mercedes: 8th season, 1 Constructors Championship, 2929 total pts., 39 total wins, finished 2nd in S15 Constructors Championship, 527 pts. in S15, 6 wins in S15: Stayed neck and neck with Red Bull for the 1st half of S15, but fell off at the end allowing Red Bull to run away with the Constructors Championship. They could run into some trouble this season as McLaren seems to have overtaken them as the main challenger to Red Bull coming into S16, but their strategy is 2nd to none. They should be able to steal some wins this season, but for the most part expect a step back for them.

#3. Paolo Grandi (ITA): 8th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 1892 career pts., 32 career wins, finished 2nd in S15 Drivers Championship, 318 pts. in S15, 5 wins in S15: Undoubtedly the best driver in F1 yet to win a championship, he's the main pick as a possible spoiler to PSG's swansong season. I think it'll have to wait, as the Mercedes car just isn't as good as it was in past years. Maybe they're throwing away this season in order to get a jump start on S17 car development. It's a shame he hasn't won a championship yet, because if Trophy of Champions proved anything, it's proved that he might be actually BETTER than PSG, and that PSG is just the beneficiary of a better car.

#4. Stanislaw Bum (POL): 8th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 1035 career pts., 7 career wins, finished 5th in S15 Drivers Championship, 209 pts. in S15, 1 win in S15: Rebounded from a winless S14 with a win in Italy, and in doing so erased some of the critics saying he's on the decline and needed to be replaced. He will drop a bit do to a car that's not as good as past seasons, but should still consistently compete for points.

McLaren: 8th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 1242 total pts., 3 total wins, finished 3rd in S15 Constructors Championship, 379 pts. in S15, 3 wins in S15: McLaren showed they're serious about making a push for the Constructors Championship when they announced that Guido Di Rado would be joining McLaren, now giving the team 2 solid drivers at the helm of their cars. Speaking of the cars, they've taken OMR's spot in the big 3, jumped over Mercedes and look like they could be right on par with Red Bull's. Reliability woes hurt them last season. They'll need to sort that out if they want to stay in the fight 'til the end.

#5. Rocco Rapido (SUI): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 475 career pts., 2 career wins, finished 3rd in S15 Drivers Championship, 250 pts. in S15, 2 wins in S15: Improved even more in S15, getting 2 wins at Bahrain and Austria. His championship hopes were over before they really even began as McLaren's reliability issues put the team in a hole early. He along with his teammate Di Rado are main contenders for the championship.

#6. Guido Di Rado (ITA): 7th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 533 career pts., 4 career wins, finished 10th in S15 Drivers Championship, 76 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: There were rumors midway through S15 that he would leave OMR at the end of the season. Those rumors turned out to be true, as he replaces Marcis Jr. Freiverts at McLaren. Obviously a huge upgrade over Freiverts. After a down year in a surprisingly average OMR car, he looks to be a contender again in a McLaren car that's without a doubt the best it's ever been.

Jordan: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 2062 total pts., 9 total wins, finished 4th in S15 Constructors Championship, 181 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Inconsistency would plague Jordan again in S15, setting them back even further from the big 3 teams. They need to sort this out if they want to stop being the also-rans of the top tier of F1 teams. The acquisition of top rookie Damon Michael Novikov should help with that. Though there is some controversy as to whether Novikov replaced the right driver.

#7. Charvec Libor (CZE): 8th season, 1252 career pts., 7 career wins, finished 7th in S15 Drivers Championship, 92 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Had an even more inconsistent season in S15, and looks like a shell of himself compared to S13 when he finished 2nd. He spent most of the season behind his teammate from last season Lukin Kaderabek in points, only to pass him in the last few races of the season. If it were me, I would've kept Kaderabek and dropped Libor. Yes, Libor has done statistically better, but Kaderabek is far more consistent. He'll definitely be under fire this season to prove that Jordan made the right decision in keeping him.

#8. Damon Michael Novikov (RUS): 1st Season: The defending 2 time Indy champion makes the jump to F1 this season, looking to put Jordan back in the hunt for the Constructors Championship. Replaces Lukin Kaderabek at Jordan, and looks like he can win right out of the gate. He along with RLG look to spearhead the new generation of F1 and be the 2 main championship contenders of the future.

OMR: 8th season, 3 Constructors Championships, 3115 total pts., 35 total wins, finished 5th in S15 Constructors Championship, 163 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The original dynasty of F1 looked like a complete shell of what it used to be, as their 163 pts. and 5th place finish are both all time worsts. They had run afoul of the law midway through S14, which obviously was going to affect their development going into S15. But man, I don't think anyone had them performing as badly as they did. If I remember correctly, I even picked them to win the Constructors Championship last season! I think the ship has hit the proverbial iceberg and is starting to sink, and Guido Di Rado was smart to jump off when he did. The car for this season looks to be even worse than last season, and they run the risk of potentially falling to the middle tier, a far cry from the big 3 team we're used to seeing them as.

#9. Andre Acarini (ITA): 8th season, 2 Drivers Championships, 1768 career pts., 18 career wins, finished 9th in S15 Drivers Championship, 87 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The double world champion will have his loyalty to OMR tested this season, as it looks like for the 2nd season in a row he'll be lucky to get podiums, let alone wins. As a former champion, he deserves a far better ride than what OMR is offering. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he leaves for greener pastures after this season.

#10. Alex Botta (ITA): 7th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 898 career pts., 10 career wins, did not participate in F1 in S15: OMR brought him back to replace Guido Di Rado, who left to join McLaren this season. Looks rejuvenated after a dominating season in NASC Gold Cup. Another great driver who's probably too good for the car he's in.

Sempre Senna: 7th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 219, total pts., 0 total wins, finished 6th in Constructors Championship, 63 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The most popular team in F1 saw their popularity take a bit of a nosedive after a controversial scandal and accusations of xenophobia after they refused someone a stake of the team's ownership because they "weren't Polish". Honestly, xenophobia isn't even my biggest issue with that. My biggest issue is that it's insanely stupid and it's bad business. By doing that, they're practically handcuffing themselves because of their inability to branch out and possibly get better drivers from other drivers. It's going to end up hurting them in the long run, unless you have a strong car or a country with a deep talent pool. Let me tell you now, their car doesn't hold a candle to Red Bull's, and Speedowski and Lupa pale in comparison to PSG and Grosjean. The best Polish driver out there is Stanislaw Bum, and they're crazy if they even THINK they can convince him to leave Mercedes. This way of doing business is just so stupid that I'm honestly HOPING they fail. I mean, what's going to happen if someone from Brazil wants to bid for ownership of the team (Brazil was the home country of Senna himself), are they going to tell them no because they "aren't Polish" either? The way I see it, they should take Senna's name off the car, because they're disgracing the man's legacy by the way they do business. Unfortunately, against my hopes, they actually look to have a fairly decent car this season.

#11. Marcin Lupa (POL): 7th Season, 0 Drivers Championships, 147 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 11th in S15 Drivers Championship, 38 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Talent wise he can make the most use of the car. He's driver that's capable of getting wins. Problem is he's inconsistent and lacks the "it factor" that separates great drivers from champions.

#12. Kamil Speedowski (POL): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 49 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 14th in S15 Drivers championship, 25 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Has improved in each of his 1st 3 seasons, but to me mostly looks to be the beneficiary of an improved car. A better driver would be more suited for this good of a car.

Williams: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 116 career pts., 0 total wins, finished 7th in Constructors Championship, 47 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Recorded their highest point total with 47 pts. in S15. Their car has the potential to be consistent contenders for points. They defended the Sempre Senna team during their scandal and accusations, so I don't really care for them too much right now, either.

#14. Pentti Lund (FIN): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 36 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 12th in S15 Drivers Championship, 36 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: He was the highest scoring rookie of S15, and looks to improve upon that in S16. A talented young driver that can win races with the right car.

#15. Kaius Kauria (FIN): 6th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 57 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 15th in Drivers Championship, 11 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: As expected, his younger teammate came right in and overtook him for the top spot on the team. A talented and capable driver that for some reason that hasn't been able to put it all together for a solid season.

BMW: 4th Season, 0 Constructors Championships, 124 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 8th in S15 Constructors Championship, 32 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The team took a step back in S15. The drivers are better than I gave them credit for in my S15 preview, but the car this season looks average at best.

#16. Sergey Osmolovsky (BLR): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 76 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 13th in S15 Drivers Championship, 25 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Took a small drop in performance in S15 as the BMW car looked good early, but struggled in the 2nd half of the season. He's not necessarily a driver you build your team around, but he's a solid consistent driver who's always capable of getting a team solid points.

#17. Oleg Petrov (RUS): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 31 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 16th in S15 Driver's Championship, 7 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Even with the team's drop in performance, one has to say he performed well below expectations in S15. He looks to shake off his sophomore slump with a solid performance in S16. A solid driver who won't make dumb mistakes, which is all you can really ask for.

Ferrari: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 375 total pts., 2 total wins, finished 9th in S15 Constructors Championship, 2 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: A team that honestly belongs in the bottom tier of F1, they managed to get 2 points in China thanks to Dominik Dan pushing the car well beyond its capabilities. The car does not look good and without him they'd probably still be the worst team in F1.

#18. Dominik Dan (SVK): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 186 career pts., 1 career win, finished 17th in S15 Drivers Championship, 2 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Probably one of the best drivers out there right now, yet he's stuck with a god awful car. Can someone explain this to me?! I mean, he deserves better than this. He should be on a team that competes for wins, not a team that won't even score if he wasn't on it.

#19. Vitaliy Romadov (RUS): 5th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 19th in S15 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Has yet to score a point in 5 seasons of F1. Like I said in my S15 preview, he's good, but his skillset just doesn't fit for F1.

Windsor: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 204 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 10th in S15 Constructors Championship, 1 pt. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Last season they managed to break their 2 season scoreless drought as Fabricio Cruz scored the team's lone point of S15 at China. The team did a massive overhaul to their driver lineup. The car, unfortunately, from what I've seen so far, is not very impressive. In fact, it might even be the worst car in the field.

#20. Maximus Vanderpuije (CAN): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 22nd in S15 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Looking to get on the board in his 2nd season after a disappointing rookie campaign. A driver with poise beyond his years, he probably will struggle as his car is simply not good.

#21. Rui B. Martins (POR): 1st season: At 29 he's fairly old for a rookie, but he is undeniably talented. It'll be a rough go for him in his 1st season of F1 competition, as he'll be a hampered by a car that'll have a tough time competing for points.

Toro Rosso: 3rd Season, 0 Constructors Championships, 0 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 11th in S15 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Like OMR, they also ran afoul of the law in S14, which hurt their growth for S15. Despite that, they managed to improve from 13th to 11th in the Drivers Championship. The car looks she same as last season, but an upgrade to the driver lineup should help somewhat.

#22. Luchino Granelli (ITA): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 21st in S15 Drivers championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15.: Hasn't really lived up the the hype people gave him as a rookie. He's still on the team, while his teammate from last season Jerko Vandenbergh was given the boot to make room for Jonas Gudas. If it were me, I would've kept Vandenbergh instead. He looked like he was settling into F1 better than Granelli has been. If he doesn't put up results and prove to Toro Rosso they made the right decision in keeping him, he could be gone after this season.

#23. Jonas Gudas (GBR): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 24th in Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The highly hyped rookie of last season was stuck in a shockingly awful Audi car last season, and made the jump to Toro Rosso this season. It looks like a mistake, as the Audi seems to be much better this season. Regardless, he does make the Toro Rosso team a bit stronger.

Trabant: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 37 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 12th in S15 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15.: Trying to shake a 3 season scoreless drought, Trabant brought in 2 new drivers for S16, bringing in a seasoned F1 vet, along with a rookie with the potential to be a future star, making for one of the better driver combinations in F1 right now. The car, however, is below average.

#24. Marcis Jr. Freiverts (LAT): 8th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 501 career pts., 1 career win, finished 6th in S15 Drivers Championship, 129 pts. in S15, 1 win in S15: Even getting his 1st win in a rainy Japanese Grand Prix wasn't enough to keep him at McLaren, as he gets booted to Trabant this season. Honestly, even with the win, it was a move that had to be made. He just wasn't putting up consistent results at McLaren and really paled to Grosjean and Bum in terms of #2 drivers. I felt he still belonged in F1 and that maybe a change of pace would benefit him. While the Trabant car is nowhere near as good as what he was used to at McLaren, he should bring stability and veteran leadership to the team.

#25. Petter Solberg (NOR): 1st season: A young rookie making his F1 debut after a dominating season in F2 Europe. He's the 1st Norwegian driver in the history of this series. Pairing him with a seasoned vet like Freiverts was a smart move by the team, as getting the chance to learn from a seasoned pro should greatly help with his development.

Audi: 4th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 39 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 13th in S15 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: What looked to possibly be the team's best season ever turned out to be their worst, as the car hung near the back of the field for the entire season. As it turned out, the team threw away the S15 season to make a car capable of challenging in S16, and it shows. The car already seems far better than what it was last season. They should consistently be in the fight for points this season. They were the most vocal of the critics during the controversy that surrounded the Sempre Senna team. That gained them quite a few fans (including myself).

#26. Odon Ifj. Tok (HUN): 8th season, 0 Drivers championships, 451 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 26th in S15 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: Not only did he have his worst season yet in F1 thanks to a car that wasn't up to par, he was outperformed by his teammate from last season Jonas Gudas. He should do better with an improved car, but honestly I think he's on his last legs. It seems to me like he's lost his competitive fire. Once you lose it, it's very difficult to gain it back. Even if you do gain it back, it's a telltale sign that your days are numbered. Wouldn't be surprised if he retired after this season.

#27. Sandor Torghelle (HUN): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career points, 0 career wins, did not participate in F1 in S15: Returns to F1 after taking S15 off to compete in the Deutsche Torenwagen Series. Replaces Jonas Gudas at Audi, as he left to join Toro Rosso. Should make solid runs and score most of the team's points this season.

LKR: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 18 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 14th in S15 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: The team struggled yet again, making it 3 seasons in a row in which they failed to score. Sadly, it looks highly likely that it could possibly be 4 years. The car is average at best and the drivers aren't much better.

#28. Eduardo Diesel (AUT): 8th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 29th in S15 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: LKR has scored a total of 18 points in its history. This guy hasn't scored a point in his whole career, yet he's managed to still have a ride on this team. No wonder they haven't scored in 3 seasons! GET RID OF HIM ALREADY! I mean, the guy just doesn't cut it as an F1 driver, simple as that.

#29. Rudi Bremser (AUT): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 27th in S15 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: A decent driver that can make some use out of the car. It's just a shame that he's being dragged down by a dead-weight teammate.

HamrHedZ: 8th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 3 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 15th in S15 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S15, 0 wins in S15: This team has some serious problems, there's no other way for me to say it. Their car is the worst, their driver lineup is the worst, everything about them right now is bad. They were cellar dwellers last season and you'd be a fool to expect them to do any better this season.

#30. Tim Richmond (USA): 1st season: While it's great to see an American driver in the series again, this guy probably won't last too long. He's a 31 year old rookie and his skills just aren't up to par. He'd barely be passable as a #2 driver, but is forced into a #1 role for this season.

#31. Deivison Concelcao (BRA): 1st season: Oh... my... GOD! YOU... HAVE GOT... TO BE KIDDING ME! They actually managed to bring in someone that's WORSE than Rafael Rato, and we all saw how bad he was. But at least Rato was competent... sometimes. This guy isn't even that! He shouldn't even be allowed to test-drive, let alone take part in an actual F1 race! I can only pray that we'll only have to watch him for 1 season.

Pundit X's Predictions:
Drivers:
1. P. de Saint-Germain Jr.
2. R. Rapido
3. G. Di Rado
4. R. Grosjean Jr.
5. P. Grandi
6. D. Novikov
7. S. Torghelle
8. S. Bum
9. C. Libor
10. A. Acarini
11. S. Osmolovsky
12. A. Botta
13. M. Lupa
14. O. Ifj. Tok
15. O. Petrov
16. P. Lund
17. K. Speedowski
18. K. Kauria
19. J. Gudas
20. L. Granelli
21. D. Dan
22. M. Freiverts
23. P. Solberg
24. R. Martins
25. V. Romadov
26. R. Bremser
27. M. Vanderpuije
28. E. Diesel
29. T. Richmond
30. D. Concelcao
Constructors:
1. Red Bull
2. McLaren
3. Mercedes
4. Jordan
5. Audi
6. OMR
7. BMW
8. Sempre Senna
9. Williams
10. Toro Rosso
11. Ferrari
12. Trabant
13. Windsor
14. LKR
15. HamrHedZ

This concludes Pundit X's preview for the S16 F1 season.