i think Williams decided to put all the new staff and major R&D into 2014 sacrificing 2013, like Brawn did with 2008 waiting for 2009. As it happened in that case, all the new staff work will be reflected on this years car (i hope). I see them fighting for the podium regularly and even wins as they are one of the most reliable teams right now.
Mercedes looks as the major favourite but they are the only ones that looked for a time until now. I´d wait to see whats going on in Ferrari (the only non-Merc powered car that could fight for something, and the team with arguably the most effective drivers on the grid). McLaren is in a good shape but i dont feel them as strong as the other 3 teams i mentioned.
As for Renault powered teams things simply dont look good. Some sources are reporting that while Ferrari and Mercedes cars reached top speeds of 360 km/h on Bahrain, Renault were only about 310 km/h (altough they could be limited for dont blowing all the time). RedBull situation is worrying, Newey could have repeating a Mp4/18 now... Toro Rosso looks better than his big brother, but im not saying its looking good there either. Lotus and Caterham look like the best of them (in fact Caterham seems the only one that could actually finish a race, though their pace is closer to a gp2 than to a f1...)
Sauber is moreless to be on the midfield and Marussia looks simply bad, so i dont expect surprises from them.
it is hard to bet a pecking order right now but i´d think of Mercedes, Ferrari, Mclaren as top teams, Williams as a dark horse. the rest is a big question mark as reliability will be fundamental now, even more in the first 4, 5 races. We could have some 80-ish finishes when only 5 or 6 cars finished and that will twist up everything a bit... Anyone else wanting a Monaco 1982 again?
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 12:09AM by Frantic.