The 2019 Season

[Chrill]

Well, we really only have four teams in F1 these days, and they are divided by the engine they use. Williams and Force India do what Mercedes tell them, so too does Sauber and Haas for Ferrari. Renault is aligning McLaren under them, and surely Red Bull and Toro Rosso are one.

In reality then, a budget cap will be turned down or one of the giants will leave. Likely Mercedes, come budget cap season (2021?) they will have won everything and simply feel there is no need to suddenly compete on even terms.

[Chrill]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wehrlein-ferrari-f1-simulator-role/4320766/
Wehrlein will fill the development role at Ferrari vacated by Giovinazzi.

[Penfold]

In reality then, a budget cap will be turned down or one of the giants will leave. Likely Mercedes, come budget cap season (2021?) they will have won everything and simply feel there is no need to suddenly compete on even terms.

I think we could both cope with the loss....

[Chrill]

I'm just going to post a list of how all the teams will do in 2019:

1: Mercedes
2: Red Bull
3: Ferrari
4: Sauber
5: Renault
6: Haas
7: Force India
8: McLaren
9: Williams
10: Toro Rosso

It's a bit of a shame really, McLaren keeps falling backwards. Also sad to see Force India drop to 7th, and Toro Rosso all the way back.

This is not a guess, not an estimation. This is the actual factual result. Ferrari will have the stronger car compared to Red Bull but Vettel and Leclerc will sadly not work well together and will battle each other rather than Verstappen and Gasly. Hamilton will run away with the championship early, his closest competitor Bottas who will win 2 races to Hamilton's 10. Bottas will finish P2 a lot.

Verstappen will win 3 races, Vettel 4, Leclerc 2. Gasly will visit the podium a whopping 14 times but never win a race. Eternal P3, that lad. 11 P3 finishes, three P2 finishes. The Ferrari will be surprisingly unrealiable, with 4 DNFs for Vettel and 2 for Leclerc.

Kimi will return to the podium, in a Sauber, at the Hungarian GP.

[Penfold]

Nice try, but this is how the teams will actually finish the season:

1. Ferrari
2. Mercedes
3. Red Bull
4. Renault
5. McLaren
6. Haas
7. Force India
8. Sauber
9. Williams
10. Toro Rosso

[Chrill]

That is delusional. Ferrari on top? Wishful thinking.

[Penfold]

Well, not really wishful thinking as I don't have any love of Ferrari.  I actually reckon Red Bull will have the best car on the grid (though not in qualifying) but will lose too many points courtesy of engine/gearbox/turbo failures.

[Penfold]

Do you have access to Sky?  Do you have absolutely nothing to do between 1pm and 6pm on February the 18th?  Well then great news, because Sky will be showing five action-packed hours of live paint drying, sorry, I mean pre-season testing, for our personal amusement.   Could it get any better than this?  Of course it can, for they are going to repeat the process on each of the next three days... wow!  If twenty hours of pre-seaon testing doesn't turn you to drink/off F1 for life then nothing will.  Happy viewing.

https://www.racefans.net/2019/01/21/f1-pre-season-testing-to-be-broadcast-live-in-2019/

[Chrill]

Well, if Swedish TV picks this up I'll definitely watch it for a few hours.

[Chrill]

F1TV Pro will be made available in Sweden as of this season. That means I can cancel my expensive subscription to our Swedish broadcaster and replace him with the lovely voice of Brundle. Not sure if I should, though. I'd lose Premier League too!

[Penfold]

Guess it depends on how much of the Premier League you watch; as I don't watch any, not even the highlights these days, it would be an easy choice for me.   Such a pity the F1TV thingy won't be available over here, what with Sky having bagged exclusive live rights until the end of time - also a shame that Sky's 'Now TV' streaming service is low-res, prone to buffering, and can't be recorded for convenient viewing.  So that leaves me with Channel 4's extended highlights... hmm, no live (or full) races, I'm sure that won't gradually kill my interest in the sport.

[Penfold]

Hmm, I usually compile a list of dates for the car launches but evidently I couldn't be arsed this year... however, I can just about summon up the enthusiasm to post a link through to Toro Rosso's plans (other confirmed dates also in the story): https://www.racefans.net/2019/01/25/toro-rosso-announce-earliest-car-launch-date-yet/

[Chrill]

Well, in regards to the whole F1TV Pro thing, Viasat (owner of rights to Premier League, F1, etc.) just announced that they will air IndyCar from 2019-2021. Well, with two Swedes that was no surprise. I guess that convinces me to remain with them for the time being then.

[Penfold]

F1, IndyCar, Premier League... sounds like you'll get your money's worth out of it - unless Viasat is hideously expensive.  I take it as a bad joke that even if one were to stump up for Sky to get F1 live, you still wouldn't have IndyCar because that's a BT Sport exclusive over here.

[Chrill]

Well, I used to work in customer service so I know how to force my way to a good deal. I re-sign for Viasat annually, with a 12-month binding contract that offers me 6 months free and 6 months with full pay. Effectively I pay 50% of what others pay. It sets me back 400 SEK, roughly 33 pounds, during the months I do pay.