Who will be champion?

[MCLS]

Without any fence sitting or otherwise. We've had 11 of the 20 races and Alonso has a healthy lead at the top of the championship, but will he hang on to it, and if not, who will steal the title off him? Personally It's hard to look past Alonso who has the most experience of this situation than the other 4 drivers having won the title in a (roughly) similar fashion in 2005 and 2006. With the Red Bulls, they have both drivers fighting for the title and while it got them a Championship in 2010, I don't think it'll happen this time around and I have a gut feeling Webber will finish ahead of Vettel. The big question marks are where Hamilton and Raikkonen will finish, Hamilton seems to have found the pace again, and at the right time as Alonso was beginning to get a fair bit distant. It's also a testament to the speed and relative consistency of Raikkonen that after 11 races he is 'only' 48 points behind Alonso despite the Spaniard having won 3 more races, it is this consistency that nearly got him the 2003 World title. However, if he is to hope to claim a second championship, he needs to start turning the obvious pace of the Lotus into race victories. With Spa coming up, Kimi's favourite track, he'd be fairly certain to be very competitive around there. I've not included Button, Rosberg and Grosjean on the list because they would need miracles to prominently feature in the title hunt.

 

[The Pits]

Alonso for me, the fact he is where he is is testament to the fact that he has made the best of his situation this season, and most of the others now need to take significant points off him in order to win, which will mean taking more risks etc, so I cannot really see anyone else catching him, although I expect it to go to the wire.

 

[teabagyokel]

Alonso.

 

[Mezzer]

Ooh, a toughie. Alonso's done a great job this season of remaining patient and that's paid dividends with the car finally producing the goods. The Mac looked quick at the weekend and if that can remain the case then I think it'll be close between Hamilton and Alonso. I don't feel the Lotus has been quite there for Kimi just yet, although its clearly getting there. RB seem to be having issues and are probably smarting from so much FIA attention that could scupper their chances. At this point its hard to say, we could see a good scrap until the end or a team could pull a rabbit out of the hat and walk away with it still.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Alonso, best driver of 2012 so far.

However Hamilton has been the 2nd best and I think he would have achieved similar results to Alonso had McLaren been as good as Ferrari in strategising and making the most of every opportunity. If the McLaren keeps it's current level of competitivness for the remainer of the season (I highly doubt it will) then Hamilton will be there or there abouts at the end.

I just don't see Webber or Vettel challenging. Webber still has those days (as in Hungary) when he just doesn't perform, he's a solid driver but just not in the same league as Alonso (, Vettel?) and Hamilton. Vettel is a beast, when he has the fastest car. He has shown he doesn't take losing well at all and can lose his head when things doen't go his way ("Do something!!!").

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

Still think Hamilton has it in him, and he may suit not being favourite in the run in.

 

[Kewee]

There are only four drivers chasing with an outside chance. The problem for any one of them is one driver has to consistently finish in front of the other four as well as Alonso. That's a mountain to climb considering Alonso will keep on scoring points and possibly take another one or two wins. They need Alonso to have a couple of DNF's to catch him, and even that may not be enough if all four are taking wins off one another.

 

[Bill Boddy]

This season has been too up and down for me to say who will win it. In the last two races McLaren seem to have had poor qualifying in one (admittedly wet) with better race speed followed by far superior qualifying speed but not quite such good race speed in Hungary.

Come Spa they could be even faster or back down in the pack, followed by Monza where they have not had a win since a certain Alonso did it for them.

It is still most likely to be the driver who can salvage points in the races where his car is not the fastest.

 

[Kewee]

It is still most likely to be the driver who can salvage points in the races where his car is not the fastest.

Bill that sounds like a very subtle way of spelling Alonso without having to type his name.

 

[MCLS]

Webber - 40 points behind - 4.44 points per race needed to overhaul by the end of the season
Vettel - 42 points behind - 4.66 points per race
Hamilton - 47 points behind - 5.22 points per race
Raikkonen - 48 points behind - 5.33 points per race

Roughly, in old money, Webber is 16 points behind, Vettel is 17 points behind, Hamilton and Raikkonen 19 points behind.

 

[Kewee]

MCLS.....We know that MC but who's going to be World Champion. We need commitment.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Alonso, and I would love to see him win his third crown I have grown to respect him more and more as time goes on IMO he is by far the best driver on the grid, he is the Valentino Rossi of F1, I hardly even think about Button or the others on a race weekend these days, for me it is all about what Alonso can pull out of the bag....

 

[MCLS]

Personally It's hard to look past Alonso who has the most experience of this situation than the other 4 drivers having won the title in a (roughly) similar fashion in 2005 and 2006.

Kewee

 

[Kewee]

MCLS.......How rude of me. I didn't read all of your opening thread. Sorry.

 

[MCLS]

To eliminate doubt I did vote for Alonso, he's been there and done it before and knows how to bring it home in that situation.

 

[Kewee]

MCLS......Me too! Alonso's at home with Ferrari, he loves the team, he inspires them and they, as do most of Italy, love him. If he does win the title the only person in Italy more popular will be the Pope. For what it's worth, if he takes the title this year, and I think he will, I also believe he'll defend it successfully next year. Their car will have had a full year of development and as is so often the case will almost certainly be strong from the first race in its second year. I've always believed Alonso will win five titles in his career. He's contracted through till the end of 2016 and has already said he would love to carry on beyond that if Ferrari still want him and he's still competitive. It's quite possible he'll still be racing through to the end of 2019, it's anyones guess what he could achieve in that time.

 

[snowy]

I'm either insane, a masochist or an eternal optimist or all three... so I voted Lewis.

 

[Jos the Boss]

I'm gonna put an outside view on it and go for Hamilton, Alonso's luck can't last forever!

 

[siffert_fan]

My heart says Kimi, but my head says Alonso. I'll go with my head--Alonso. To placate my heart, I'll predict Kimi to win the title next year (you heard it here first)

 

[Kewee]

Jos the Boss........Jos you must have been following a different championship if you consider Alonso position a result of luck. Even in Valencia had Vettel not retired Alonso would have EARNED a stunning 2nd from 11th on the grid. He drove brilliantly to get up to 2nd and deserved the win when Vettel's car broke. Alonso's had no luck this season other than Vettels break down, he's simply a driver on top of his game and to lose the title from here he will need to start having bad luck such as car failures or getting mixed up in other drivers accident's. So far, even when he's started back in the pack he's made up places without even rubbing wheels, so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for him to take himself out of a race and he knows where to place his car to avoid others also.