The 2017 Grid: My View on the Class of 2017 Part I- The Big 3

So, with the exception of Manor, all the teams have finalized their driver lineups. Let's take a look at each driver.
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team-
Car 44-Lewis Hamilton- So, Lewis Hamilton is a three-time world champion. He is also embedded into the Mercedes family. If the 2017 Mercedes can be at least the second fastest car, Hamilton can be expected to challenge for the championship. He is also under pressure to perform after an underwhelming 2016.
WINS- 53
PODIUMS- 104
POLES- 61

Car 77-Valterri Bottas- Valterri Bottas replaces the retiring Rosberg in Mercedes. He should be able to give quite a challenge to Hamilton, although most expect him to be behind Hamilton for the most part. If the car is still so far ahead that it is too easy to get 1-2s, Bottas can be a challenger for the title.
WINS- 0
PODIUMS- 9
POLES- 0

Red Bull Racing-
Car 3-Daniel Ricciardo- The Honey Badger is widely regarded as one of the future world champions. Red Bull will most likely have a great car in 2017, so one must expect Daniel Ricciardo to challenge for the WDC. He has a teammate who won't budge, so if he can beat that man, he will have had an amazing 2017. 
WINS- 4
PODIUMS- 18
POLES- 1

Car 33-Max Verstappen- Max Verstappen has got some amazing race craft and he is so young. He has at least 15 more years in F1. If Red Bull produce a car capable of winning races, expect this boy to be chasing for the championship. Verstappen should ease up a bit on those defensive moves though.
WINS- 1
PODIUMS- 7
POLES- 0

Scuderia Ferrari-
Car 5-Sebastian Vettel- The four-time champion's Ferrari fairytale is slowly waning. Vettel had a dismal 2016, with chances of wins in Australia and Canada disappearing with Ferrari strategy calls.
If Ferrari can do well with the car this time, maybe we can see Seb challenging for wins and the WDC as well.
WINS- 42
PODIUMS- 86
POLES- 46

Car 7-Kimi Raikkonen- Iceman can be fast at times but erratic too. The 2007 champion had a good 2016 after beating Vettel in qualy more often than not and also being quite close to Vettel in points. If the 2017 Ferrari is suited to Raikkonen's style of driving, we can see some flashes of speed.
WINS- 20
PODIUMS- 84
POLES- 16

So that will be it for this post. The Part II of this will come shortly. It will be concerning Force India, Williams and McLaren. Part III will take on Haas, Toro Rosso, Renault and Sauber. Thanks a lot and Goodbye for now.   
      

Manor: We Are Hoping You Can Stay in F1!

So, word is that Manor, a much loved team, is looking for a new buyer. Money, money, money is all that can save this ailing team. Sauber snatching P10 from Manor finished them off.

 I've made a meme relating to this incident too.

Anyways, back on topic. If they do make it on the grid, most likely they'll be using 2016 chassis. So, they'll be noodling around being lapped every other lap. They did the same thing in 2015 using outdated car parts. The difference here will be much, much bigger.

Who will drive for them next year?
Felipe Nasr- He has lost the Banco do Brazil sponsorship so Manor won't be too keen on taking him onboard.
Pastor Maldonado- He has made it quite clear that he will return only in a competitive car.
Esteban Gutierrez- The Haas reject brings huge amounts of money. He is also annoying because he isn't exactly the best driver under blue flags.

So, anything to say?
Bye,
KNG

Welcome to Formula One Central

Hi everyone. this is KN Gowrishankar. I'm a Formula One fan and I've got a passion for writing. I decided to combine both of those and so, I created this. Do keep checking the blog for posts and comment on how I can improve.

Stay tuned,
KNG