Lehdistötiedotteet - Pundit X Preview: S18 F1 Season

Pundit X Preview: S18 F1 Season

As offseason testing comes to a close and the opening round of qualifying for Australia looms, the always controversial yet highly entertaining Pundit X reveals his team and driver outlooks plus predictions for what will be his 4th edition of the critically acclaimed "Pundit X Preview" for the upcoming Formula 1 season!

Last season, proving S16 wasn't a fluke, reigning champion Romain Louis Grosjean Jr. would win his 2nd consecutive Drivers Championship, and he'd do so in fairly dominating fashion as he led wire-to wire in the points race, while also setting single season records for wins with 11 and points with 397. His constructor, Red Bull, would go on to win their 3rd consecutive Constructors Championship and their 5th overall.

In this upcoming season, which will mark the 10th official season of Formula 1 racing, the influx of F1 veterans leaving the series continues as this time around longtime mainstays such as Libor, Bum, Diesel, Botta, Kaderabek, and Dan have all left the series. The only other big change coming into this season will be the change in the rules regarding the KERS system. It'll be interesting to see which teams will be able to handle that change.

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

Red Bull: 10th season, 5 Constructors Championships, 4280 total pts., 70 total wins, finished 1st in S17 Constructors Championship, 575 pts. in S17, 11 wins in S17: To anyone who thought Red Bull's reign of dominance would end when PSG left after S16, you're dead wrong. They're still as dominant as ever, and could be capable of doing even more damage this season. They won their 5th Constructors Championship last season and their 3rd in a row. It wasn't as easy as it was in previous seasons though as their #2 driver Alexandre de Montferrand endured some growing pains in his first season of F1. They're the obvious favorites to take it all again this season.

#1. Romain Louis Grosjean Jr. (FRA): 5th season, 2 Drivers Championships, 1073 career pts., 22 career wins, finished 1st in S17 Drivers Championship, 397 pts. in S17, 11 wins in S17: The reigning 2 time champ just capped off the most dominating season in F1 history, setting single season records for both points and wins, plus leading the championship wire to wire. I think it's safe to say now that any doubts people had about him when he started out are now completely gone. He is for real. The smart money is on him to make it 3 in a row.

#2. Alexandre de Montferrand (FRA): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 178 career pts., 0 career wins, Finished 5th in S17 Drivers Championship, 178 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Had a rollercoaster season in his rookie campaign. While at times he did show speed, recording 3 poles, at other times he seemed really uncomfortable adjusting to the F1 level. Had a horrible start to the season, finishing outside the points in the first 2 races of the season, which would set the tone for a season filled with stretches of mediocrity followed by stretches of brilliance. Actually finished tied with Jordan's Bretislav Zatacka on points, but beat him out on a tiebreaker. I think he'll improve in his 2nd season. Remember, Grosjean's rookie season wasn't exactly the smoothest either. How de Montferrand performs in S18 will determine whether or not the battle for the Constructors Championship will be much of a fight.

McLaren: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 2257 total pts., 15 total wins, finished 2nd in S17 Constructors Championship, 531 pts. in S15, 7 wins in S15: The main challengers to Red Bull the past 2 seasons, they fell just short as both of their drivers ran into problems at key points in the season, due to bad luck and mistakes. From what I've seen so far, they may have a tough road ahead of them this season, as their car this season, while still decent, hasn't looked nearly as good as past seasons. Maybe their not showing everyone their full hand. Given they're in the upper echelon of teams, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. But whatever the case may be, they need to get it together not only just to take the fight to Red Bull, but to fend off what looks to be some serious challenges from the middle tier teams who all look hungry to close the gap on the Big 3.

#3. Rocco Rapido (SUI): 6th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 1136 career pts., 13 career wins, finished 2nd in S17 Drivers Championship, 321 pts. in S17, 6 wins in S17: Costly mistakes at Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, plus a poorly timed safety car at Monaco would prove to be costly blows for his chances of making a serious push to challenge Grosjean for the championship. Still, had another solid season with 6 wins and a 2nd place finish. A repeat could prove challenging as the middle tier teams begin to close in, but has proven himself to be one of the best drivers this series has ever seen.

#4. Guido Di Rado (ITA): 9th season, 0 Drivers Championship, 887 career pts., 5 career wins, finished 4th in S17 Drivers Championship, 210 pts. in S17, 1 win in S17: Won in Spain last season, and in doing so became the 1st driver in F1 history to win races for 2 different teams. Although he managed to improve upon a rather lackluster S16, I still feel like he left a little something to be desired. I know he's talented enough to be up there challenging with Grosjean, Rapido, and Novikov for the championship. Let's see if he puts it all together this season.

Jordan: 10th season 0 Constructors Championships, 2868 total pts., 15 total wins, finished 3rd in S17 Constructors Championship, 428 pts. in S17, 2 wins in S17: Looked strong early on in the season and even led the Constructors Championship for the first quarter of the season, but slipped in the 2nd half as Red Bull and McLaren overtook them. They have perhaps the best overall driver in Damon Michael Novikov and a reliable, consistent driver in Bretislav Zatacka. The car is a notch below Red Bull, but more than competitive enough to give them a run for their money.

#5. Damon Michael Novikov (RUS): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 497 career pts. 6 career wins, finished 3rd in S17 Drivers Championship, 250 pts. in S17, 2 wins in S17: Was my pick to win it all in S17. Got 2 wins early on in the season at Malaysia and Monaco and looked to be Grosjean's main challenger for the championship. Then he crashed out in Canada, which killed his momentum and he couldn't recover from. Still, despite a drop in wins from 4 to 2, everywhere else he did statistically better. Should be a main contender for the title again this season.

#6. Bretislav Zatacka (CZE): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 178 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 6th in S17 Drivers Championship, 178 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Finished his rookie season tied with fellow debutante Alexandre de Monferrand on points. Although ADM won the tiebreaker, I felt Zatacka was the far more consistent of the two throughout the season. Settled well into F1 as a rookie and could possibly compete for wins in his 2nd season.

Williams: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 326 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 4th in S17 Constructors Championship, 167 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: S17 was a banner season for Williams. They scored 167 pts., which was more than what they scored in their previous 8 seasons combined, plus an all time high of 4th in the Constructors Championship. They may have rested on their laurels a bit too much in the offseason, as their car is good, but a step or 2 behind their main points rivals Sempre Senna and BMW.

#7. Sandor Torghelle (HUN): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 126 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 7th in S17 Drivers Championship, 88 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Had his best season in F1 in S17, and looks to improve upon that for S18. Won't be easy with a car that hasn't really kept up with it's main competitors, but he's good enough to make up for that. A solid, consistent driver, that's always capable of points.

#8. Peter Rychly (SVK): 1st season: The defending 2 time Indy champion makes the jump to F1 this season, replacing the retiring Pentti Lund at Williams. Despite being a rookie, he's 32, which is old by F1 standards. I don't see him lasting too long, but not because of lack of talent. He certainly can hold his own out there. Problem is once you hit that 30-31 mark, which he's already past, Your growth as a driver begins to slow down considerably. He still has some good years in him, I just don't know how many.

Sempre Senna: 9th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 388 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 5th in S17 Constructors Championship, 113 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Let me start this part of the preview by saying this: Those who follow these previews closely are probably expecting me to bash them like I usually do about their business methods. Well, that's not gonna happen this time. Why? Because they're no loner "enemy #1" in my eyes. At least not for now anyways. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of their methods, but I'll admit they manage to make it work for them. There's a new team that's taken over that role. This isn't really a "burial of the hatchet", it's more like another team managing to piss me off on so many levels that they basically let you guys off the hook. Keep reading and you'll find out who that team is. Now that that's out of the way, this team looked to be the one most likely to take the fight to the big 3 as the start, but wound up mired in inconsistency and having to settle for 5th. Personally, I feel that this falls on the drivers, and I think they both need to go after this season. Out of the mid-upper tier of teams, they seem to consistently have the car best-suited to take the fight to the Big 3. I think they can do that, but not until they let some younger guys take over the wheel.

#9. Kamil Speedowski (POL): 6th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 132 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 9th in S17 Drivers Championship, 60 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Set a career high with 60 pts. in S17. I've generally looked at him as the weaker of the 2 SS drivers. I still stand by that but I must also say that he's the more consistent of the 2.

#10. Marcin Lupa (POL): 9th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 233 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 12th in S17 Drivers Championship, 53 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Recorded the tam's lone podium with a 3rd place finish in Monaco. For all the flak I've given his teammate for being a driver who at times seemed undeserving of a top F1 ride, I'm starting to feel like SS should cut bait with Lupa as well. As talented as he is, he's proven to be too inconsistent to be a driver you can build your team around. Plus, he's getting up there in age anyway at 34 years old.

BMW: 6th season, 0 Constructor's Championships, 217 total pts., 0 career wins, finished 6th in S17 Constructor's Championship, 110 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Like Williams, BMW also had a breakout season, scoring more pts. in S17 than in their past seasons combined. They made a big change in the offseason, as they dropped Sergey Osmolovsky and replaced him with rookie Roman Bezrukov, a move that seems a bit debatable. Regardless, the car looks fairly good.

#11. Sergey Kalinin (RUS): 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 51 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 13th in S17, 51 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Had a fairly solid rookie season, and now takes over as team leader with Osmolovsky gone. Pretty big shoes to fill for a guy only going into his 2nd season, but he should be capable of handling it.

#12. Roman Bezrukov (RUS): 1st season: Replaces Sergey Osmolovsky at BMW. If you ask me, I say letting Osmolovsky go was a huge mistake. He was one of the most consistent drivers in the whole series, plus the most successful driver this team has had. I think Bezrukov will do alright, but he'll definitely be under a microscope and needs to prove to BMW they made the right decision in bringing him in.

OMR: 10th season, 3 Constructors Championships, 3382 total pts., 35 total wins, finished 7th in S17 Constructors Championship, 82 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: S17 would be a season to forget for OMR, as 82 pts. and a 7th place finish in the Constructors Championship are both all time worsts for the team. Looking to try to get back to their winning ways of old, they brought in 2 rookies to try to rebuild, which was what they needed to do. Last season they had a veteran who looked like he didn't care anymore in Alex Botta and a rookie who couldn't handle the pressure and flamed out in Jose Pedro Lamy. The 2 new faces they brought in this season are going to be helped by a car that's good enough that it should battle for points. The fact that they have 2 newbies in their lineup makes them probably the hardest team to predict this season. I mean, this could easily be either a bounce-back season, or a season that sees them slide even farther away from the top.

#14. Andrea jr. Cannas (ITA): 1st season: Of OMR's 2 rookies, he seems to be the stronger. With that in mind, he'll probably be asked to carry the majority of the load for the team. Although he seems like he's talented enough to handle it, that's still a lot to ask for out of a rookie.

#15. Paolo Gil Villanova (ITA): 1st season: Despite being the weaker of OMR's 2 rookies, he's still fairly talented behind the wheel. A bit rough around the edges but will improve over time.

Windsor: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 215 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 8th in S17 Constructors Championship, 11 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: S17 was a solid season for Windsor as their 11 pts. were highest they've managed to record since S12 when they scored 12 pts. Sadly, I don't think they can duplicate their S17 success. Their car is a notch below the mid-upper tier teams, plus they've been leapfrogged by Audi, meaning points will be few and far between, if not outright impossible.

#16. Rui B. Martins (POR): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 5 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 16th in S17 Drivers Championship, 5 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Finally got on the board in S17 for the fires pts. of his F1 career. A good driver, he'll probably find points tough to come by this time around due to stiff competition.

#17. Johnny Da Costa Jr. (POR): 1st season: Replaces Maximus Vanderpuije, who left to join Audi. One of the better rookies in the S18 class, an inferior car will hold him back from earning top rookie honors. Still a decent driver though. Don't be surprised if he takes over Martins' spot as the team's #1 driver.

Ferrari: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 378 total pts., 2 total wins, finished 9th in S17 Constructors Championship, 3 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Ferrari decided to go for an entirely different driver lineup for S18, bringing in BMW defector Sergey Osmolovsky alongside F1 rookie Jan Paboucek. Despite having 2 solid drivers at the helm, the car is average at best, and with so many decent cars out there, points may very well end up out of reach for them.

#18. Sergey Osmolovsky (BLR): 6th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 166 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 10th in S17, 59 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Switches to Ferrari for S18 after spending his first 5 seasons at BMW. Has proven himself to not only be one of the most consistent drivers in F1, but also a driver that excels in wet weather conditions. Has raised his point total each season since joining F1. Won't keep that streak going as the Ferrari car is a step behind the more consistent point scorers. But if rain is in the forecast, he's the driver to watch.

#19. Jan Paboucek (CZE): 1st season: Fairly old for a rookie at age 30. Makes the jump to F1 for S18 after spending the last four seasons at NASC Gold Cup. A talented driver who'll likely see points slip away due to an inferior car.

Mercedes: 10th season, 1 Constructor Championship, 3134 total pts., 39 total wins, finished 10th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Remember when I said I found a new team to replace Sempre Senna as "enemy #1"? Well, Mercedes is that team. They made an absolute travesty out of F1 racing last season, with a car that was probably no faster than an F2 car. To make matters worse, they weren't even trying out there! They were almost 10 seconds off the pace in every race! 10 SECONDS! THAT'S PATHETIC! At least when other teams had one of the worst cars in the field, they still had the decency to at least TRY! they didn't even have that! The fact that they're using this as a method to build up money as a way to eventually get back to the top just sickens me. They may get there eventually, but they've lost all of my respect. And just to piss me off even more, they've managed to bring in someone who will undoubtedly be the worst driver in the history of F1.

#20. Paolo Grandi (ITA): 10th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 2021 career pts., 32 career wins, finished 19th in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Apparently there's a rumor going around that he's in on Mercedes' plan, which is being done to get him a championship before he retires, one way or another. All I have to say is that he's accomplished more than enough already that he almost doesn't need a championship to solidify his legacy. But he apparently thinks he does. Honestly, this isn't the way to do it. Trying to get a championship by measures like this wouldn't solidify his legacy, it would completely tarnish it.

#21. Lorenzo Bertelli (ITA): 1st season: At 18 he's the youngest driver ever to set foot in F1. He also will most likely go down as the WORST DRIVER IN THE HISTORY OF F1. No joke, during winter testing, I saw this guy crash out in the pit lane. IN THE PIT LANE! And he also spent more time in the sand than David Hasselhoff. He makes Rafael Rato and Deivision Conceicao look like world champions! Now THAT'S saying something. Just having to watch this guy race for 1 season is torture.

Toro Rosso: 5th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 0 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 11th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Despite not getting on the board, Toro Rosso moved up from 13th to 11th in the Constructors Championship. Their first point in F1 has eluded them for 4 seasons, and it looks very well like it could be 5 as their car does not look to have improved much in the winter.

#22. Oleg Petrov (RUS): 5th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 39 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 21st in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: His F1 career has really stalled out since his rookie season. Capable driver, but needs to make something happen soon or else his days in F1 could be over

#23. Sebastian Raikkonen: 2nd season, 0 Drivers Championship, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 20th in S17, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Wasn't really able to showcase as much as he would like thanks to a not so strong car. Might need to search around and look for a better team to make an impact. A good driver that can make some noise with the right car.

Trabant: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 37 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 12th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: for the 5th season in a row, Trabant failed to get on the board. The drought looks to continue to 6 seasons as the car looks below average, allowing them to be leapfrogged by Audi and LKR.

#24. Petter Solberg (NOR): 3rd season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 26th in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Even with a weak car, has looked unimpressive in 2 seasons. Could find himself in the hot seat at the end of the season if he doesn't show significant improvement.

#25. Peder Skram (NOR): 1st season: The 2 time Indy Junior USA champs jumps to F1 this season, replacing the retiring Volker Adler. A decent driver, but will struggle with a car that can't keep up.

HamrHedZ: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 3 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 13th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: After getting out of the cellar for the first time in 2 seasons, HamrHedZ seem optimistic about the upcoming season. Sadly, truth of the matter is that they're gonna be in for a rough season. Their car is one of the worst in the field this season and the only team I can see them beating on a consistent basis is Mercedes.

#26. Vitaliy Romadov (RUS): 7th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 23rd in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: At 36 years old one has to believe that this'll be his final season in F1, if not in all of racing. Has been a reliable driver for years and won't make dumb mistakes. That's all you can really ask for out of a driver.

#27. Oscar Nilsson (SWE): 2nd season 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 24th in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: An okay driver, not the best, not the worst. Did okay in his rookie season, but expect him to drop a bit as his car this season isn't as good.

Audi: 6th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 80 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 14th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: After a dreadful S17, Audi looks to be back in the fight for points for S18. They have the most improved car in the field plus a decent driver lineup. They're a team to watch this season.

#28. Maximus Vanderpuije (CAN): 4th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 6 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 15th in S17 Drivers Championship, 6 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: Left Windsor in the offseason to join the Audi team. Looks to be a smart move, as the Audi looks to be faster this season. Scored the first points of his career last season, and should look to score more this season.

#29. Bruce Wayne (USA): 1st season: I'm always glad to see an American driver represent our nation proudly in F1, and he has a decent car to boot! No American driver has managed to score a point in F1 yet, but he looks like he could very well be the first to do it. He's undoubtedly the best driver to come out of our country, and should be an F1 mainstay for the next 5-6 seasons.

LKR: 10th season, 0 Constructors Championships, 18 total pts., 0 total wins, finished 15th in S17 Constructors Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: With the Diesel years now behind them, LKR looks to get out of the cellar this season, and they should do so, as their car, while it could be better, looks to be the best they've ever had.

#30. Rudi Bremser (AUT): 6th season, 0 Drivers Championships, 0 career pts., 0 career wins, finished 29th in S17 Drivers Championship, 0 pts. in S17, 0 wins in S17: With Diesel gone and an LKR car that looks closer to scoring points than it has been in a long while, it's now put up or shut up time for Bremser. He's yet to be able to break through and put it all together. Well, if there's a time for him to do that, it might very well be now.

#31. Harry Fuchs (AUT): 1st season: Replaces the retiring Eduardo Diesel at LKR, and not a moment too soon. A bit rough around the edges in terms of pure skill, but seems to have the intangibles that make for a great racer. He'll be fine.

Pundit X's Predictions:
Drivers:
1. R. Grosjean Jr.
2. R. Rapido
3. G. Di Rado
4. D. Novikov
5. A. de Montferrand
6. B. Zatacka
7. P. Rychly
8. S. Torghelle
9. M. Lupa
10. S. Kalinin
11. M. Vanderpuije
12. K. Speedowski
13. R. Bezrukov
14. A. Cannas
15. P. Villanova
16. R. Martins
17. B. Wayne
18. S. Osmolovsky
19. J. Da Costa Jr.
20. S. Raikkonen
21. R. Bremser
22. J. Paboucek
23. H. Fuchs
24. O. Petrov
25. P. Solberg
26. P. Skram
27. V. Romadov
28. O. Nilsson
29. P. Grandi
30. L. Bertelli

Constructors:
1. Red Bull
2. McLaren
3. Jordan
4. Williams
5. Sempre Senna
6. BMW
7. OMR
8. Audi
9. Windsor
10. Toro Rosso
11. Ferrari
12. LKR
13. Trabant
14. HamrHedZ
15. Mercedes

This concludes Pundit X's preview of the S18 F1 season. Until next time, Race Hard, Race Smart, and If You Ain't First, You're Last!