Eddie Jordan previews the 2016 F1 season

Car: W07
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton GBR (1), Nico Rosberg GER (2)

There’s no doubt that the surprise package was Rosberg towards the end of last season, dominating the wins and pole positions, and judging by early season testing he’s carried that forward. He has a better sense of purpose, he’s certainly putting more effort into it, that’s obvious in the way his body language is translating back to the team. With Lewis there’s a question from some people about whether he really wants to be there. He’s a three times world champion, but his attention is being drawn elsewhere whether that’s music, movies, LA, whatever, so it’ll be a very interesting battle. My guess is that Lewis will find his mojo, realise this is a great chance to be four-time champion and he will get himself together. However, I do believe that it’ll be a much stiffer test for him. Mercedes should dominate, which is quite predictable and boring in many respects, they seem to still have the upper hand, although Ferrari are coming up.

EJ’s prediction: 1st

Car: SF16-H
Drivers: Sebastian Vettel GER (3), Kimi Raikkonen FIN (4)

Ferrari has found something, no doubt about that, and Raikkonen seems much more together. If he doesn’t get it together this season then most people believe he shouldn’t be in the team. However, he’s making a much stronger commitment and this has been shown by the team’s form. Can he ever really usurp the likes of Vettel, the four-times world champion? My guess is no. Vettel is determined, he is the knight in shining armour in this team and he will continue to lead. He has got a passion and has gelled with Ferrari completely. He’s in love with the team, the team are in love with him and he will win some Grand Prix. The engine is pretty much bulletproof so it’ll be an interesting tussle, but they’re just missing that little extra bit of sparkle. Who knows what will happen in the short term, but Ferrari really do need to make a serious impact.

EJ’s prediction: 2nd

Car: MP4-31
Drivers: Fernando Alonso ESP (17), Jenson Button GBR (16)

It’s make or break time for McLaren, but while the engine is much improved I fear the chassis isn't. It’s very disappointing that Ron never turned up to the test in Barcelona. It kind of gives me the impression that this is just a fun thing for him, he’ll be upset that I said that but if you’re leading a team you’ve got to be leading from the top. As much as it disturbs you with whatever else you have going on, if it’s the first test of the season you have to give the impression that you mean business to the drivers, engineers and Honda. He has taken it upon himself to manage and run this team after the demise of Martin Whitmarsh and I don’t see that as a good enough excuse to not be there. I'd like to know what was so important that he wasn't there.

EJ’s prediction: 6th

Car: VJM09
Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg GER (10), Sergio Perez MEX (9)

There’s a bunch of teams fighting for third place – Williams, Force India and Red Bull. I think the surprise package is Force India, but we don’t know what’s going to happen with Vijay Mallya, we don’t know what’s going to happen with the funding of the team, so that’s based on the evidence of late last year and the testing at the beginning of 2016. I must declare that there’s some element of bias here, because Force India was born from the ashes of Jordan and some of the key people there are people I started with. Andy Green the designer has kept to a good philosophy and developed this car very well. Andy Stevenson, who has been there since he was 17 or 18 years of age, so 30-odd years of loyal service, was involved with the Schumacher days and the Damon Hill days so he’s seen winning times at Jordan. It would be fantastic if some of those guys could see winning times at Force India. However, the two main protagonists, Mercedes and Ferrari will have to default before that happens and even if that does happen they’re going to have problems with Williams. Le Mans winner Nico Hulkenberg had problems towards the end of the year when he was surprised by Perez, but he’s found himself over the winter and he’s back where he ought to be.

EJ’s prediction: 3rd

Car: FW38
Drivers: Felipe Massa BRA (6), Valtteri Bottas FIN (5)

Not as good as I thought they were going to be. Pat Simmons says there are some problems there and that’s worrying for a team with a fairly extensive budget. They are the only team available on public offering, they are a commercial operation, listed as an IPO in Germany, so they are running their team in a pure corporate sense and I’m not sure if it’s helping them. Massa seems totally on it, and although Valterri is finishing races, it’s hard to evaluate the level of total commitment they’ve got from him. Nevertheless I still think they’ll be strong – it’ll be an interesting fight between them and Force India.

EJ’s prediction: 4th

Car: RB12
Drivers: Daniel Ricciardo AUS (8), Daniil Kvyat RUS (7)

We still don’t really know what’s going to happen here. I believe this is the best car in F1, but with the Renault engine I think they’re quite a bit behind and will need some seriously good luck for them to be able to even remotely come back to where they used to be. Daniel Ricciardo still has the edge over Kvyat and I don’t see that changing.

EJ’s prediction: 5th

Car: RS16
Drivers: Kevin Magnussen DEN (N/A), Jolyon Palmer GBR (Rookie)

Renault will need time. I’ve been a good friend of Jolyon Palmer’s dad for a long time, so great memories there and to see him in F1 is a personal pleasure. However, I think Magnussen will have the edge on him and it will be a big job for Palmer to handle the pressure he’s going to be under. Magnussen has a year’s experience and previous contacts with McLaren so it’ll be difficult for Palmer.

EJ’s prediction: 9th

Car: STR11
Drivers: Max Verstappen NED (12), Carlos Sainz Jnr ESP (15)

In terms of reliability the Toro Rosso is absolutely indestructible, and unlike its bigger brother it has a Ferrari engine. They’ve also got two very good drivers (my personal favourite pairing) in Verstappen and Sainz. They will cause some surprises – maybe not in qualifying or the early part of the race, but as the race progresses and others screw up, expect somebody from Toro Rosso to nip in at the death and do something that no one really expects. The two drivers here are the real deal. Verstappen was the big surprise last year doing what he did as a 17-year old total rookie. A lot of the publicity and press has focused on Verstappen, that’s possibly a mistake because never underestimate what young Sainz is able to do. Two young boys who come from a wealth of racing experience, each of their parents will be pushing them hard. They could finish in a very strong position.

EJ’s prediction: 7th

Car: C35
Drivers: Marcus Ericsson SWE (18), Felipe Nasr BRA (13)

Disaster, I really don’t know what’s going on here. Monisha Kaltenborn (the boss) wasn’t at the Barcelona test at all, which I found very surprising. The team is known to be in financial problems, even at the beginning part of 2016. I hope it’s not true, but it appears so.

EJ’s prediction: 11th

Car: MRT05
Drivers: Pascal Wehrlein GER (Rookie), Rio Haryanto IDN (Rookie)

I think the young German will be very good. He’s helped by Toto Wolff and I believe Toto made a commitment to him a long time ago to find a way to put him into a Mercedes-engined car. I would imagine that some of the sponsorship is coming in indirectly, either through the costs of the engine or whatever. I’m sure Wehrlein is in there through the influence of Toto, but having said that, justifiably so. I’m so pleased the young kid is getting a chance – in my view he deserves it and he could be huge. His team mate? All I can say is there were four or five people all with similar types of funding. It must have been a hefty fee that was paid to get rid of the guys that had a better chance.

EJ’s prediction: 10th

Car: VF-16
Drivers: Romain Grosjean FRA (11), Esteban Gutierrez MEX (N/A)

Haas’ pace is a big surprise for everyone, but really it shouldn’t be. This is last year’s winning Ferrari. They will probably be the best new team for the last 10 years. It’s interesting that Grosjean has gone there - it could prove to be the right decision because Renault don’t appear to be in any great shape. I think he might regret it in some respects because he wasn’t sure that Renault were going to take over from the Lotus operation and he made an early decision to go to Haas. It could be an inspirational move.

EJ’s prediction: 8th

These two teams are ahead of the pack and we know what Bernie has said. They have aligned themselves as competitors but also as companions in the way that they are either abusing or misusing F1 to their own advantage. Bernie has been very outspoken about how they have allowed the engine rules and certain other rules to be used to their advantage. There’s no doubt that the group of Mercedes engine supplied teams are all behind Mercedes, because that’s the way it works, and the same goes with Ferrari.

As a result, Bernie, for the first time in his life, has been defeated by the teams in certain rules and regulations he wanted to be adapted in the interest of the sport and the show, but they weren't. Even when Bernie united with the FIA president, Jean Todt, they became unstuck. So, we have to remain and see what happens, but Bernie should not be discounted, ever. While the years are passing by, I believe he's still a great power and visionary and will sort these guys out in time.