Michael Schumacher may be sat on the pit-wall and not in a Ferrari in Valencia but there is still plenty of drama to come in the Formula 1 championship at the European Grand Prix.
It has almost become a two-tier competition as the cars with the power-boost Kers system - Ferrari and McLaren - picked up their pace at the Hungarian GP and look like continuing that form here.
I expect Lewis Hamilton and McLaren will be too hot to handle in Valencia and I’m tipping the defending world champion for back-to-back wins.
Here are my predictions for the top-eight finishers in full:
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren)
Jenson Button (Brawn)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn)
Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren)
Fernando Alonso (Renault)
Nico Rosberg (Williams)
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
McLaren were very impressive in Hungary and arrived with more upgrades in Valencia, with another luggage load travelling out on Friday.
There is a lot of pressure on Kovalainen as he is fighting for his future in Formula 1.
He is so self-critical that I wonder whether handling all those stresses will affect his race finish, and that is why I’ve picked him to finish fifth.
Button is also under a bit of pressure this weekend as with every passing race the Englishman’s championship lead is being whittled away.
Alonso has already set out his stall by setting the fastest time in practice on Friday and he is absolutely up for this.
Seventh might look like a low prediction for Rosberg after he has finished in the points for the last six races but if the Brawns are back on song, along with three of the four leading Kers cars, it will be a tough task to beat them.
I know putting Vettel in eighth place as the first of the Red Bulls is going to raise a few eyebrows after they have been so strong in the last few races, but this type of stop-start track does not favour their car at all - compared to Spa next weekend, for example, where they are likely to be very strong indeed.
I’ve picked Vettel ahead of the in-form Webber because the German really needs to strike back.
It’s a see-saw battle, and although on consistency Webber has come out on top so far, I can see Vettel beating him this weekend.
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