Verstappen will beat Bottas to 2nd in the championship  

Mercedes has a beast of a car in 2019. However, phenomenal consistency and Red Bull's big improvement in the last few races sees Max Verstappen sit just 7 points behind Valtteri Bottas ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix. 

The Dutchman has outscored the Finn by 81 points to 37 in the last four events.  

Is Verstappen the quickest driver in Formula 1 right now? Possibly.  

He's certainly in fantastic form and there's a great chance for him to split the Mercedes' in the championship.  

If Bottas fades after the summer break as he did in 2017 and 2018, Verstappen will easily do it.  

Ferrari will finally end their losing streak  

Incredibly, despite coming close to wins on multiple occasions this year, their last win is still Kimi Räikkönen's at the 2018 United States Grand Prix.  

Nonetheless, they must get a win before the season is out; the car is more competitive than 2014 and 2016 when they went winless.  

They haven't won at Monza since 2010. On the evidence of this year, that will be their best chance to take a victory.  

You would imagine Ferrari and one of their drivers will finally put a full weekend together without problems to claim a morale-boosting win. 

Albon to score more points than Gasly did at Red Bull 

Following the sensational swap, Albon has nine races to score 64 points or more to beat Gasly's total.  

Red Bull are comfortably a top-three team and in recent races have had the pace on Ferrari with Verstappen.  

All Albon needs to do is finish 6th on a consistent basis to achieve this total. Horner and Marko will be hopeful he can beat the Ferraris at tracks like Singapore and Mexico. 

The Thai has had an impressive rookie season and seems extremely calm and mature, as well as having speed and talent. 

Can he do it? I believe he can, but time will tell.  

A maiden podium for Carlos Sainz  

The Spaniard has been the midfield master in 2019 and is delivering consistently excellent performances, particularly on a Sunday.  

Yet, a podium finish in Formula 1 continues to allude him.  

Can he grab one in the second half of the season? On pure pace, the answer is absolutely not. 

However, if we got another wild race with changeable conditions similar to Germany, he's got to have a great chance of doing it. His consistency and the fact Sainz has made so few errors means he'll be there and ready to pounce if the opportunity arises.  

Gasly to outperform Kvyat  

This is possibly the bravest prediction of them all, but I believe Pierre Gasly can edge this battle with the Russian. 

2019 has been utterly miserable for Gasly so far; he's over 100 points behind the Dutchman after their 12 races together as team-mates and trailed him 1-11 in the qualifying head-to-head. 

Away from the massive scrutiny that comes when you drive for a front running, race-winning team, it gives the Frenchman an opportunity to rebuild his morale and confidence. His team-mate from Spa onwards knows all about that.  

He's capable of doing it. We saw his ability in 2018 with a 4th place finish in Bahrain and an equally impressive P6 in Hungary.  

The demotion will have hurt a lot, but if Gasly wants to remain on the grid post-2019, he needs to show other teams that he can bounce back and deliver points finishes with the Toro Rosso, whilst beating Kvyat on a Saturday and Sunday. 

He's got nine events to save his F1 career.