F1 | On the road to Melbourne, let's lay out the cards for the championship to come…

It is above all a game, a prediction, without taking ourselves too seriously, but let's try to do a bit of the cards for this approaching world championship, a championship that promises to be exciting for two reasons: the duel for the top between Ferrari and Mercedes and the "wild bunch" (cit.) in the center of the group, where a few cents will make the difference in terms of world championship points, positions and pennies.

Check mate?

In substantial equality and for completely disparate reasons, we give a lot of confidence to the two queens in pectore of F1 2019. Ferrari and Mercedes get a nice round 9 for the work done in the winter and for the vigor and arrogance of the big names with which they impressed in the winter tests. They are free to move around the board as they want.

The Rossa, the already well-deserved SF90, is a very fast, drivable single-seater, impressive in changes of direction. The ease with which Vettel and Leclerc pulled off their performance in any track and fuel load condition was surprising. In terms of race pace and flying lap, for now Ferrari is ahead of everyone in performance. Two unknowns: reliability, but they were classic youth problems, and developments, the latter a long-standing problem in the Modena area. But overall, Binotto's Ferrari was born "rather" well, to the point that two Spanish Ferrari fans, Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa, have already predicted Maranello's dominance.

On the shores of the dark side of the force the empire still develops. In the sense that Mercedes in some ways still seems to want and be able to play the role of the team to beat. We can go far and wide, falling for Totone's cloying pre-tactics like fools. Lupo loses his hair but not his vice, but in fact in these tests Mercedes has played two aces: the usual monstrous mileage and the literally volcanic ability to make from the very clear source of Brackley updates for the single-seater as if they were running water. But even the Anglo-Germans will have to roll up their sleeves: the W10, in both "versions" displayed on the winter billiards in Barcelona, ​​wagged its tail a little too much. The problem is that these tracks are quick to find.

Let's take a step back, not by much, just to move to the podium area, to what we all hope will be a derby with a thousand meanings that West Ham - Millwall (yes yes, the one from the epic film with Frodo ultra version) really married. Red Bull vs Renault, a hot noon in English sauce between two buddies who now hate each other. Red Bull with Honda has the moral obligation and the mad desire to beat the former engine engineer, disliked and completely repudiated. Renault - after having taken that phenomenon of Daniel Ricciardo from the drinks - dreams of the epochal overtaking, the world podium, the moral slap to Marko and company. Speaking of data, it should be noted that Renault worked very well in Barcelona, ​​with very few technical problems and good mileage (third overall). A few more ups and downs for the Verstappen gang. But be careful, the RB15 seemed to be very fast, indeed. Rating 8 for both for the tests, but the ambitions are different. For Red Bull, winning the derby is the minimum wage, for Renault it would be a triumph.

In midfield we trust.

If one day I write a novel about the dirtiest, meanest, realest, sweatiest F1, the one that smells of burnt oil and melted tyres, I could open it like this. Nothing fascinates me more than the fight for the survival of the teams in the middle of the field, all close together, touching wing to wing, living between attacks on Magnussen's stagecoach and Perez's paprika radio teams. So for the longed-for fight for backup positions they are my favorites Haas and Alfa Romeo Racing (rating 7,5). The two teams, differently and equally linked to Ferrari, are bidding to be the first close to the top teams, not disdaining to put Renault in difficulty.

Haas is very close in concept and shape to the 2018 Ferrari and is a team that has already shown in the past that it knows how to work well. It's all about the two crazy horses Grosjean and Magnussen being able to realize their speed, without making too much of a mess. There is also great potential in the Alfa Romeo project. Raikkonen and Giovinazzi are a very competitive pair of drivers on paper, the C38 single-seater is innovative and aggressive, it impressed well with its race pace and the team has fresh resources, enthusiasm and energy. Constant growth is expected, and the fact that the much desired "performance" did not arrive in the last days of testing does not worry too much. As Kimi pointed out, the team didn't look for it that much.

Sixth in terms of mileage in the tests, some "sought after" timing, a very interesting single-seater concept and a refined aerodynamic appearance. The McLaren of the young Sainz and Norris could surprise everyone and return at least close to what in theory would be the tradition of those who have 12 drivers' and 8 constructors' titles. Rating 7 in Woking. The MCL34 will at least have to repeat its sixth place in the 2018 ranking, but it has every right to raise the bar a little.

The little Toro di Faenza gets a nice 7,5. With 935 laps of the track, Toro Rosso was the fourth overall team in terms of mileage and Daniil Kvyat set a very interesting 1'16"898 on the last day. I know, it's crazy to talk about times, but the STR's rivals didn't go below 1.17 and this is still a fact, albeit a relative one.

An estimate of 6,5 instead for the new Force India branded Stroll. A little quiet in the tests, very cautious and on their own, but the Silverstone-based team which now has a name longer than the tag line of an American blockbuster, has demonstrated over the years that it knows how to work very well in the current season and to always find performance and balance. The Pink Panther is a permanent presence in the points and should continue to be so, let's put it that way.

Save Private Robert.

I give Williams a 10. For the tenacity, for the effort put into bringing a complete car (one in the literal sense) to the track for testing. With a technical director who is the precise nemesis of the captain of the Titanic, a slow FW42 with no spare parts, with the drivers left to their fate, with Kubica seeing his dream turn into a nightmare, the history of F1 reduced to playing the part of the famous Jamaican bobsled team. And then they could also make a film about this new, ramshackle and somewhat out-of-the-way Williams, because they have already won the affection and friendliness prize.

Antonino Rendina

Follow @antorendina