Less than 24 hours remain to the start of the Formula One season and its time to play Pundit. 2009 is whose year, who is the best prepared for the changes in Formula One… Read our thoughts below and share your thoughts.

1. Which drivers will win their first race?
2. Which drivers will lead the WDC for the first time in their careers?
3. Which team will win their first race?
4. Which team will win the most races?
5. Who will win the 2009 World Constructors Championship?
6. Who will win the 2009 World Drivers Championship?

Leave your answers in the comments. We shall revisit them after Abu Dhabi.

My Answers:

1. Which drivers will win their first race? – Nick Heidfeld
2. Which drivers will lead the WDC for the first time in their careers? – Jenson Button
3. Which team will win their first race? – Brawn GP, Red Bull
4. Which team will win the most races? – Ferrai
5. Who will win the 2009 World Constructors Championship? -  Ferrari
6. Who will win the 2009 World Drivers Championship? – Fernando Alonso

Kimi on pole with two Mc Larens at a couple of car lengths… So how do you think this race is going to end up?

Australia has always been very unpredictable and this time round it looks like its going to go that way. The tyre rules and safety car rules might be much better explained to the audience in the race tommorow, considering how prone Melbourne is to safety cars(we had like 4 last year). Rain is another factor but with all fairness, I would bet everything on Alonso in a wet race let him start it at 2nd or 22nd…

So back to the point… How do I think its going to span out tomorrow? Lets look…

Dry Race
I expect Kimi to hold on to the lead at first corner, the start will be brilliantly interesting(as always) Lewis might try to run past Nick but its a 50-50 depending on the starts of Mc Laren and BMW(they are no Renaults in that department)… Kimi will be pushing for a big lead, according to my calculations he is lighter(about 5 laps of fuel) to Alonso and this will be the crunch period. If Kimi can manage to pull out about 5-10s of lead by lap 15-18(Kimi’s pitstop) he might have just won the race. Alonso will try the opposite keep the gap to about sub 5s and push like crazy when Kimi pits and hope Ron and rest of the team can get him out ahead of Kimi (20-23 lap).

Now comes the complex part of the white tyre rule. The softer tyre is brilliant at one lap pace but blisters excessively after a few laps. Alonso said the gap between the tyres was about three-tenths of a second and that 3 tenths can be decisive. Both Alonso and Kimi are known to go for tough overtaking maneuvers and make it stick, this will be the best time to watch both the drivers go at each other if they are driving on different tyre compounds. The overtalked about and largely hated white tyre rule might just be what the doctor ordered to races with almost no overtakings.

Behind the top two, this might be the right opportunity for Fisichella to fight for the podium. If he gets off clean that Renault has been known to perform very well in long runs. He could if what he said before the start of the season is true, sneak his way to a podium.

The final classification atleast wrt to the top 3 according to me:
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Lewis Hamlinton/Giancarlo Fisichella

Wet Race:

I wouldn’t dare bet against Alonso on a wet track… Kimi will be my bet for second if he keeps a cool head when everyone around him is going nuts… he unfortunately attracts trouble(remember Hungaroring) Experienced drivers will do much better here Nick Heidfeld and Webber to move faster up the order…

Predictions for wet race:
1. Fernando Alonso
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Nick Heidfeld/ Mark Webber

What are your predictions?