Next week season 3 of Delta T Racing’s Formula 1 series will start and here’s what to expect in our top division. Who’s teaming up with who, who are the main contenders and who are those new guys.
Let’s go team by team and start off with the title defenders.
Ferrari
Shaby2k & Wesley_VR_99
This is a duo of champions. Both have won multiple sim racing titles in the past and last season Shaby was their main driver winning the drivers’ title while together they claimed victory in the constructors championship. It was Shaby’s second title in a row while Wesley won the Division 2 title the season before. Wesley’s personal division 1 campaign was a bit underwhelming with a 9th position and just one podium, so i expect to have a bit of a resurgence with more consistent point scoring and many more podiums. Wesley should be top 6 in the championship. Shaby has had two intense title fights with him winning both of them, but this season the championship will be harder to win than ever before. Jari is breathing in his neck, while Chalkers will want to take the crown from DTR’s F1 king. But it’s not just those guys that will make it harder for the Dutch-Moroccan driver as the division 1 pool is deeper than ever before and we will sum up his main rivals below. For the constructors championship this is one of the main contenders, even if Shaby makes it a three-peat or not.
Projection:
Shaby2K – best 1st, worst 3rd
Wesley_VR_99 – best 4th, worst 8th
Team: Best 1st, worst 3rd
Alfa Romeo
DRA_Jari & Marcel_U_95
This Dutch-Austrian combination is a top notch line up. Jari may be the fastest driver in DTR and knows how to win races. If this season he can show it every race instead of once every few races as he did last season, he’s the man to beat imo. He is already the holder of many track records and has won quite a few races, but now is the time to win it all. His teammate is no pushover either and showed that in preseason already where he despite being not as quick as Jari still was about to win the race with a brilliant strategy if he hadn’t ran in a stranded car that was left on track. The lack of yellow flags cost him that win, but he will surely take home a few trophies this season and as a team they are a very strong contender for the constructors championship.
Projection:
DRA_Jari – best 1st, worst 3rd
Marcel_U_95 – best 3th, worst 8th
Team: Best 1st, worst 3rd
AlphaTauri
ERT_GChalkers & ERT_Samba
AlphaTauri’s leading driver will be Chalkers, aka George, who made a big step up last season having a fierce battle for the title with Shaby. It looked very good for a long time, but the last few races he had some bad results ended his chances, but now he is more motivated than ever before, hoping to take the fight up with Shaby and Jari and winning it this time. His teammate is a new driver in DTR and a bit unknown for most, but insiders know this is a very fast and skilled driver that will put himself in the rookie of the year conversation.
Projection:
ERT_GChalkers – best 1st, worst 6th
ERT_Samba – best 6th, worst 12th
Team: Best 3st, worst 6th
Mercedes
Blaackmamba17 & bossmotz16
If you talk about experience, these are two names that come to mind. (blaack)Mamba, Marco, the Black Pearl, the MuschiMaus, the captain of your FIFA squad and the kindest man there is will team up with his good friend (boss)motz who just loves whooping Marco’s ass in karting. These two friends are a bit of a tough one to predict, because they can be on the front row on a good day and score podiums and an occasional win, but they also tend to end up in the graveltrap more often than they like to be. You will see them scoring top 6 finishes very often and they’ll be on the podium a few times, but unfortunately they lack a bit of luck (or consistency) to be a contender for a title. If they do finally have a bit more luck this season they’re good enough to finish very high in the constructors title.
Projection:
Blaackmamba17 – best 4th, worst 10th
bossmotz16 – best 5th, worst 10th
Team: Best 3st, worst 6th
Red Bull
Prins_killer1 & Invisible171015
If Mercedes has an experienced line up, these guys match up well with them. And they have been teammates in most of their previous seasons in several sim racing leagues over the last few years. Prins aka Justin is a very quick Dutch driver, who is a bit comparable with a driver like Wesley, experienced, quick, not afraid to try a different strategy and knows how to win races. Could be a top 3 driver if everything comes together, but staying away from bad luck or bad moments for a whole season is not easy. Expect some podium finishes from him though. His team mate might as well change his race number to 13 or his name from Invisible to Unlucky, because he’s been involved in so many incidents without his fault that i lost count over the years. However, give him a classic track like Spa, Brazil or Suzuka and you’ll see him fighting up front with the very best and don’t be surprised if he will take home the biggest trophy on that day.
Projection:
Prins_killer1 – best 3th, worst 8th
Invisible171015 – best 8th, worst 14th
Team: Best 5th, worst 7th
McLaren
H20Spectre & XaviSRD9
These two guys have been flying under the radar for quite some time, but they might surprise a lot of people this season. Spectre, the Irish driver was one of the drivers fighting for the championship in D2 last season and only lost that on the final race of the season while he had been leading it for quite a while. His Spanish teammate is not someone you will hear much, but this is the driver with the most races under his belt in DTR and not without success. He was third in Division 3 last season while also winning the constructors championship. Both are great team players as Xavi last season sacrificed a race win to help his team mate out in the championship while during the preseason race in Portimao both showed they can work together really well. Both are consistent and quick and will score good points on a regular base, what will make sure McLaren will do very well in the constructors championship.
Projection:
H20SPectre – best 6th, worst 12th
XaviSRD9 – best 6th, worst 12th
Team: Best 3th, worst 6th
Haas
DyMx50 & NoJugNoProblem_
The future. Here we have two drivers that have shown incredible improvement during last season where DyMx won Division 5 with about one hand on the wheel, while his teammate, the young Canadian NoJug improved every week just by practising together and trying to become just as good as his teammate. It proved to be a great success as in the second half of last season NoJug often beat his teammate in quali and had very similar pace in the races. Now, you may ask yourself is this jump for Division 5 to Division 1 not too big? I think it’s not and i’ll tell you why, if you compare their quali times from last season with the D1 guys these two young lads would have been top 8 in D1 in nearly every race, that’s how quick they are. Of course it won’t be easy for them, as they will both have quite a challenge on their hands, but if they can continue to improve like they did last season they will be in the top 10 in the second half of the season. Until then they will work hard and fight for every point and soon you will understand why these two young talents are the future of DTR.
Projection:
DyMx50 – best 10th, worst 15th
NoJugNoProblem_ – best 11th, worst 16th
Team: Best 7th, worst 10th
Alpine
CPI_De_Rooij & Martijns23
The Alpine drivers are a bit of an unknown as both of them are fairly new to DTR and don’t have that many races under their belt. Even though De Rooij only has done 3 races, one of them he ended up on the podium and he has managed to get a front row start in them so he surely is a quick driver that will do well among all these great drivers. His teammate has done 2 races so far and his best result was 13th place, but with just 2 races to judge from it’s too early to say how he will do this season. But while no one really expects a lot from the French team, this might be foolish as they will surely be scoring good whenever the opportunity arises.
Projection:
CPI_De_Rooij – best 8th, worst 14th
Martijns23 – best 12th, worst 16th
Team: Best 7th, worst 10th
Aston Martin
Kiko007SVK & Bren2408
Alpine has a squad with two drivers that can surprise anyone. Kiko has shown already he can be as quick as anyone, but so far his biggest nemesis is staying out of trouble, which is essential to score big points. No doubt about it that he will do well and even get a few podium finishes this season, maybe even on the top step of it. His teammate Bren is one of the youngest drivers in the league and still makes quite a few mistakes, but sure is talented and will only become better and better and will definitely make some noise this season.
Projection:
Kiko007SVK – best 7th, worst 11th
Bren2408 – best 10th, worst 15th
Team: Best 6th, worst 9th
Williams
Livingwall & Florianw01
Last but certainly not least the Williams team with two very experienced drivers, the Swedish driver Livingwall and Austrian Cocktail man Florian. The latter was in Division 5 last season where he and DyMx where clearly the fastest guys on track, setting times most Division 1 drivers could only dream about. Unfortunately Florian was unlucky quite a few times, combined with having to miss a few races which put him out of the championship contention, but he sure was as quick or maybe even quicker as his rival DyMx. For this season Florian hopes to have a bit more luck and be able to show what he really can on track. His Swedish teammate Livingwall has a bit more experience on the highest level of DTR after his entrance in Division 1 last season, but those few races he wasn’t able to show what he truly is capable off, which is winning races as he’s done so many times in the past.
Projection:
Lvingwall – best 9 th, worst 14th
Florianw01 – best 10th, worst 15th
Team: Best 7th, worst 10th
These were the 1o teamd 20 drivers of Division 1 who will be starting off in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia next week on Tuesday at 8 on March 29. If you think i’m totally wrong with my predictions or i am spot on, let me know in the comments.
See you Jeddah!
