It's the start of a new season and this year I've decided to put some money down. I don't usually bet on Formula One, but this time round I thought I'd give it a go. It might not surprise you to hear that I went down to the betting shop with three drivers in my mind, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Alonso is my favourite for the title but unfortunately the bookies agree, so I ended up putting my £50 on Vettel.

Vettel is certainly a future world champion and in my mind he's up there with the other two I've mentioned. He's also at a very strong team in Red Bull. I rate their chief designer Adrian Newey very highly. The Newey-effect is very important and I think we saw that with his 2009 car in the second half of the season. He's highly paid but well worth it and I think that will really shine through during this campaign. Vettel is exceptionally quick, and although he made the odd mistake last year, I think I've backed a pretty good runner.

But there's also a very good reason why I was offered such bad odds on Alonso. In my mind Ferrari will start the strongest; it has an exceptionally good car this year. What's more they are the most experienced people in the business and the team has been around in motor racing longer than I have. It has a very good factory in Maranello and in its two drivers it has a great balance. You've got a racer in Alonso and a driver in Felipe Massa.

Now that might sound strange but there's a big difference. In Formula One you've got all these drivers of which there are only a few real racers, all the rest are bloody good drivers, but there are very few who really get out there and race. That's what is needed to be world champion and that is what goes through my mind when I assess the field. So Alonso is the better of the Ferrari pair, and for that reason he will probably win the championship.

Click here to read the rest of Stirling's thoughts on ESPN F1.