Australian Grand Prix predictions
It is a tough job predicting the podium and points places for but someone has got to do it, and the task has fallen to me.
The , and the emergence of the cast the competition wide open before the cars hit the track.
in Melbourne and after months of suspense we can get some indication as to form - or lack of it.
My top eight predicted finishes for the Australian GP are:
1. (Brawn GP)
2. (Toyota)
3. (Brawn GP)
4. (Toyota)
5. (Ferrari)
6. (Renault)
7. (Williams)
8. (Force India)
I have picked to sweep up two of the podiums places with , picking up the victory with team-mate Button third.
There is no denying that both Brawns are flying and the team are feeling confident.
Although there are some question marks over the cars' reliability and balance, .
The car seems right on the money and was , even though it has not done much testing compared to the others.
Barrichello has been and on three occasions. His experience will be crucial on Sunday and that is why I am picking the Brazilian for the win.
Button's record in Australia is shocking - he has . When a driver gets in a bad run of results, he finds it difficult to get out of the rut.
I may be letting my heart rule my head by predicting Button for third but I will stick my neck out.
I have chosen the Toyotas to take second and third places because and were consistent last season.
Toyota put the most miles on their car over the winter and I am told that they have not done any low fuel runs before coming to Australia.
I am picking to pick up second place because he is a good qualifier and is due a good result here.
and I predict the German will come fourth. He was pretty solid in practice and the key for him is a good qualifying session.
You may have noticed that the teams I have predicted to fill the top four places are all running with .
The unique, split design of those diffusers, as opposed to the model used by the seven other teams, looks to be worth around half a second, and so you can see why .
From the top four down, making predictions gets a little trickier.
The low, wide front-wing designs for 2009 means cars could easily get tangled up and you should keep your eyes peeled for carnage.
Any car which qualifies in midfield could get into trouble on the approach to .
With that in mind, I am picking to take fifth. The Finn has a great record in Melbourne, and winning his first points here in 2001.
Ferrari are running with the which is designed to give the drivers an extra boost of power for seven seconds per lap.
But , Kers does not really seem to be helping any of the teams using it to gain the extra pace it promises.
But , Raikkonen should be able to get enough heat into his tyres, .
The Finn finished third in first practice but then 11th in the second session and that was because as the temperature dropped later in the day so did the performance of his tyres.
I am predicting will follow Raikkonen home in sixth. He is also running with Kers and he does not have the advantageous diffuser design, but I expect he will tuck in to the battle anyway.
The Renault driver is canny enough to get himself out of trouble and into the points. .
My pick for seventh spot could leave some people wondering if I have got these predictions completely wrong. Yes, in both of Friday's practice sessions in a Williams car which is running with the beneficial diffuser.
But there has to be a joker in the pack and I just wonder if Rosberg will get caught up in some trouble early on in the race.
No-one would have predicted that he would finish but I just have a hunch he won't repeat it this time around.
Lastly, I've picked purely because I think there will be problems elsewhere and he can do a decent job of clearing up.
Force India did a solid job in practice and Fisichella is my wildcard. I am backing him to win the team their first points in Melbourne.
There are some notable omissions from my predictions, such as and , but predictions are just that, and they both have the capabilities to prove me wrong.
It is a different story with the McLarens of world champion Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.
as Hamilton finished 16 and 18th in the timesheets.
McLaren are struggling and Hamilton and the team .
They cannot get the car working how they want it to and are still trying to resolve issues with the rear of the car.
I have heard from within the team that big updates are on the way but not until the Spanish Grand Prix on 10 May.
They expect to come out flying in Barcelona but for the next four races it will be a real battle.
That means in the coming weeks we will find a lot out about Hamilton and Kovalainen. Hamilton's job will be to keep his head up and the team's spirits - it will be interesting to see how he fares.
Jonathan Legard commentated on Formula 1 for the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú in 2009 and 2010. He wrote regular blogs during that period, giving a behind-the-scenes insight into the grand prix weekends. Jonathan, previously 5 live's football correspondent and before that the radio station's F1 correspondent, is no longer part of the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's F1 team.
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