Who will be the 2011 Formula One runner up?

Vettel leads the pack but who will be second?

Following on from my last post, it seemed only sensible to take a look at the Formula One standings and comment on the state of play there.

Sebastian Vettel leads the standings by a massive margin, having seven victories to his name this season alone. His points tally looks unlikely to be overhauled by the end of the season, in fact I predict he will be crowned champion around three races earlier than the season finale. However, behind him the battle has been fierce.

Currently in the second position is Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber. Webber has only once finished ahead of the other Red Bull driver this season and in my opinion hasn’t gotten the most out of driving the dominant car this year. However he’s still a good bet for second place as I would not be surprised to see team manager Christian Horner use team orders to cement the top two spots in the championship for his two drivers.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is third in the championship standings at the moment. There’s no doubting his tenacity but as Ferrari are likely to bring few further updates to the car after Monza, I can’t see him having the machinery to take the second place. The Italian Grand Prix may well be his last chance to improve his victory tally this year.

Very closely matched this year have been the all-British McLaren pairing of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. McLaren have had the second fastest car this year and have taken four wins but both drivers have suffered with luck and in Hamilton’s case, a tendency to get involved in racing incidents. Button’s strength is his management of tyres and also mastery of weather conditions while Hamilton is a great overtaker and is more likely to be the one to get the most out of a car that isn’t perfect. For me, Button is the most likely to take the fight to Alonso and Webber in the remaining rounds of the 2011 Formula One World Championship.

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