At the midpoint of the 2016 Formula One season, the WDC points standings, at least amongst the top two drivers, is easily as exciting as the standings amongst the FBC staff. And I would venture to guess that just as many people are hanging on the edge of their seats to see which staffer will come out ahead in Hungary. Well, at least the eight staffers will be.
As per the normal on most race weekends, picks for the win are split evenly between Rosberg and Hamilton, though they only got three nods apiece. It seems that there are some that feel Ricciardo is finally due for some good luck and some proper help from his own team. Paul and Andrew are both picking the smiling assassin to take his first win of the season, while Todd, Dave and JP are all picking Daniel to step on the podium at race’s end. Just as out of the ordinary is that only three staffers are picking some sort of Lewis/Nico/Vettel podium. In fact, Der Seb only steps on three podiums this week.
At least in our forecasts. The battle for First Out sees several drivers named, but only Haryanto and Kvyat are taking home two picks each. With six of eight staffers separated by just fourteen points and the top seven all within twenty of one another, every point will indeed matter as we head into the second half of the season.
Todd
1. Hamilton
2. Ricciardo
3. Rosberg
4. Vettel
5. Verstappen
6. Raikkonen
FO Nasr
Grace
1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Vettel
4. Ricciardo
5. Raikkonen
6. Verstappen
FO Button
Paul
1. Ricciardo
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Rosberg
5. Raikkonen
6. Sainz
FO Ericsson
Tom
1. Rosberg
2. Verstappen
3. Hamilton
4. Ricciardo
5. Vettel
6. Perez
FO Haryanto
Andrew
1. Ricciardo
2. Hamilton
3. Verstappen
4. Vettel
5. Rosberg
6. Raikkonen
FO Haryanto
Tony
1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Vettel
4. Ricciardo
5.Raikkonen
6. Verstappen
FO Palmer
Dave
1. Rosberg
2. Hamilton
3. Ricciardo
4. Verstappen
5. Vettel
6. Button
FO Kvyat
JP
1. Rosberg
2. Ricciardo
3. Vettel
4. Hamilton
5. Verstappen
6. Alonso
FO Kvyat
Current Standings
1. JP 74
2. Todd 71
3. Grace 64
4. Andrew 63
5. Dave/Tony 60
7. Tom 55
8. Paul 45
intgeresting how many of you pick Kimi for #5
With the team pace being Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari, the two Ferraris should normally be expected to finish in fifth and sixth. Unfortunately the top three teams aren’t really close enough on pace to create enough uncertainties to mix the result up, and we are waiting for car problems or incidents with other drivers to provide some variation.
I’m going to go out on a limb and go with:
1. Verstappen
2. Rosberg
3. Ricciardo
4. Vettel
5. Raikkonen
6. Hamilton
….and first out will be Sainz
Despite my going out on a limb, I still managed to pick up 13 points.