Nico Rosberg, Jenson Button and Karun Chandhok have made their predictions ahead of the new Formula 1 season. Max Verstappen has the best chance of anyone in years of beating Lewis Hamilton to the Drivers' Championship. Asked who his money would be on for the title, Rosberg said: "It still has to go on Lewis because nobody can fathom someone actually beating Lewis throughout the entire season on points. So, the money would still have to go to Lewis. But Max Verstappen, in particular, is as close as ever before in pre-season in terms of the odds to beat Lewis to the championship. I don't think anyone's been that close for many, many years." Meanwhile, Button believes Hamilton and his biggest rival on the greed Verstappen are both extraordinary drivers. "It's exactly what we want, to have Lewis up against Max. They are both extraordinary drivers," said Button, the 2009 champion. "Bahrain is an unusual circuit and it was very windy but if the downforce is working at high yaw that is fantastic because that was a real weakness for Red Bull in 2020. So, if they have that around Bahrain it's going to work everywhere. It's really exciting. Max, as always, is giving it his all, is at the top of his game, and I think he's really going to take the fight to Lewis. "Team-mates fighting for a championship is great but when it's drivers from different teams, it's the best. It's exactly what Formula 1 needs right now." Finally, Karun Chandhok, who was trackside during testing, said: "By the time we got to the end of testing the Mercedes started to look more like the Mercedes we know. They are a very high-quality operation and haven't forgotten how to build a good car. But what is clear that for the first time since 2013, Red Bull will head to the first Grand Prix being a genuine contender for wins. "That doesn't mean they are going to win it and they're the dominant force but it at least means they are in the fight. And that's what we want: we want the championship battle to go from round one until the final round between two teams."
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