Good to be back to discuss the 2013 F1 season ...

2013 is the last year before major new rule changes come into effect ... so I expect the competition to be very close this year ...

Interestingly, DRS can only be used in the DRS zones in Practice and in Qualification ... so this will affect the RBR set up a little more than the others ...

Useful rules summary from the BBC's Gary Anderson: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21712291

Strategy analysis from James Allen: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/03/how-the-f1-teams-will-approach-the-australian-grand-prix/

Lots of mind games going on about who is the guy to beat ... at this stage, no one knows ...testing was even less indicative than usual because of cold and/or wet weather in Jerez and Barcelona ... I really think testing should move to Abu Dhabi where the weather and temperature are more reliable ...

I think Hamilton will find that the pre-season excitement about his move to Mercedes will be short-lived once the (disappointing) results start dominating the headlines. Sure, he may be quick but that will not make up for an inferior car ... His target will be to beat Rosberg and to try to score points ... things have changed at Mercedes ... they seem more ruthless this year with various senior personnel changes ... even Ross Brawn is on his way out ... Rosberg will be under pressure to perform ... he did his 'talking' on the track against Schumacher ... will he manage it against Hamilton?

Will McLaren's more adventurous design pay off? I think they could spend half the season trying to improve it (i.e. playing catch up) by which time the season will already be out of their grasp ... Button needs to outscore Perez to keep de facto no 1 status even though McLaren officially treats them equally ...

Alonso could face another tough season having to outdrive his machinery ... although I suspect Ferrari will not start this year as far behind performance-wise as last year ... how much longer will Ferrari keep Massa?

I think RBR is doing a great job of masking its performance ... Some of the rule changes will hit RBR harder than the other teams ... but I still expect RBR to enjoy an enormous advantage in the early part of this year ... the challenge for them will be to keep on developing at a rate that keeps that performance advantage ... my prediction is that Vettel will win his 4th title this year ... and how much longer will RBR keep Webber?

I think Lotus will enjoy more consistently good results at the start of this season. Will they be able to keep developing at the required pace? I think it is just a question of time before Lotus dumps Grosjean ... my prediction: he will start very carefully to avoid accidents but he will not score enough points that way ... so in his desperation, he will revert to type and cause mayhem ... Raikkonen could have a good year perhaps ...

I feel sorry for Sauber ... losing Perez will be a big blow ... hopefully Hulkenberg can score some good points for them ... I don't think one can expect much from Gutierrez in his rookie season ...

Force India have Di Resta and Sutil ... it will be close between them ... it gets tiring hearing nothing but (lame) excuses from Di Resta all the time for why he didn't achieve a good result etc ...

Williams seems to be struggling this year ... I think their car is struggling to handle this year's Pirelli tyre ... it will be close between Maldonado and the rookie Bottas whom people rate highly as a future star ...

Toro Rosso also appear to be struggling ... and neither Vergne nor Ricciardo appear to be talented enough to outperform their cars ...

I also don't expect much from Pic and van der Garde at Caterham ... Pic was hopeless at Marussia last year ... both are pay drivers of mediocre ability IMHO ...

I think it's the same story at Marussia with Chilton and Bianchi ...

I appreciate the financial realities of F1 but IMO something is really wrong when good drivers like Trulli, Glock, Kovaleinen etc leave F1 so that mediocre pay drivers can take their place.


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