2006 prognosis

After the first race of the season, I forecast the following (with a wee bit of wishful thinking thrown in here and there):

The champion will be one of those on the podium at Bahrain, probably Alonso or Raikkonen

Button will wish he had been driving a Williams by the end fo the season, he may win a race but the fact that the three main protagonists are all so strong and that there is another tranche of not quite as fast drivers (of which he is a member) and his own vulnerabilities will leave him down the order by the end of the year.

Nico Rosberg will become a serious competitor for Raikkonen and Alonso (perhaps not this year) beating Webber this season and in a top car within two seasons

Massa will make too many mistakes (although he is fast), like Montoya

Briatore will leave Renault (or buy the team)

It will be Coulthard and Villeneuve's last season in F1

It will be interesting to find out if:

Raikkonen will stay at Maclaren next year, he and Alonso in the same team would be great

Schumacher retires, (probably not)

Torro Rosso get to keep their V10 with it's current limits

Who gets sacked from Toyota