The first set of four flyaway races to start the Formula 1 2016 season has been completed. The form of the teams and drivers provides us early pointers to what lies ahead during the rest of the season. Teams have returned to their bases in Europe to start the European leg of the season at the Spanish Grand Prix from 13th to 15th May. Normally, based on their pre-season testing data, teams bring in a lot of updates and new parts to their cars at this first European race.
From the copious telemetry data collected at the initial races, teams identify the areas they have to work on to improve their performance for the rest of the season. The teams with considerable resources like Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and McLaren will work on these specific areas and continue to develop through most of the season, before they move all their resources to the 2017 campaign. But teams with lesser resources like Force India, Manor and Sauber can do limited in-season development. Hence, they will find it very hard to improve on their early season form.
Formula 1 2016 – Review of the Top 5
MercedesAMG F1: The dominant team of the last two seasons, looks all set for another double title season. Nico Rosberg, aspiring to win his first drivers’ title, has had a dream start to 2016. Rosberg with four wins in the first four races has extended his winning streak to seven straight races (includes three wins from last season). The early championship leader is sitting pretty at the top of the table with a 43 points lead.
Lewis Hamilton, the 3-time world champion, on the other side of the garage has had a troubled start to the season, with poor starts from pole positions in the first two races and engine reliability issues in qualification in the other two races. The Briton has shown his usual speed in the free practice and qualification sessions. But with teammate Rosberg on a roll, Hamilton will have to dig deep to overcome the big points deficit and defend his title.
The Silver Arrows team’s only worry for the rest of the season seems to be the reliability issues related to their pace setting hybrid V6 engine.
World Constructors’ Championship (WCC)
Mercedes: Position:1 Points:157 Wins:4 Podiums:3
World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
Nico Rosberg: Position:1 Points:100 Wins:4 Podiums:0
Lewis Hamilton: Position:2 Points:57 Wins:0 Podiums:3
Scuderia Ferrari: The oldest and most successful team of F1 is in the midst of a title drought since 2008. Under pressure from their Chairman Sergio Marchionne to deliver championships, the team has made a messy start. In a bid to catch Mercedes, the Italian team has gone all out on engine development for 2016(spending 23 of the 32 tokens available). Rapid and radical development has created reliability issues that have seen their two drivers not finishing a race each.
Sebastian Vettel, their lead driver and title hope, is languishing in fifth place, with a massive 67 points deficit to the championship leader. If they are going to mount a credible challenger to Mercedes, there is no margin error for this 4-time world champion and his team during the rest of the season.
Kimi Raikkonen has looked speedy and close to his best on occasions. But the aging former world champion has been inconsistent and not looked like winning a race. Slowly he has been reduced to a supporting role to Vettel and currently is in third position in the drivers’ championship.
Expectations and consequently the pressure is always huge on this team. They have closed the gap to Mercedes, but still need to do a lot more to catch them. It is ironic to say that time is running out, after just four of twenty-one races have been completed.
World Constructors’ Championship (WCC)
Ferrari: Position:2 Points:76 Wins:0 Podiums:4
World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
Kimi Raikkonen: Position:3 Points:43 Wins:0 Podiums:2
Sebastian Vettel: Position:5 Points:33 Wins:0 Podiums:2
Red Bull Racing: The Milton Keynes-based team has looked decidedly racy this season. Red Bull made waves last season with threats about leaving the sport, as they did not have any engine deal in sight. Finally, they settled for Renault engines badged as Tag Heuer engines. These 2016 engines have better reliability and performance, though they are still down on power compared to the class-leading Mercedes engines. Renault has spent just 7 of 32 tokens and can use the 25 tokens left to bring in significant performance updates for their engine. The Red Bull chassis has looked classy and the RB12 with its superior aerodynamics has performed well at the slower and twisty tracks.
Daniel Ricciardo has been in brilliant form, finishing P4 in the first three races. The first lap mishap triggered by his then teammate Daniil Kvyat resulted in his P11 finish in Sochi. The Australian stands third in the drivers’ championship and has looked in good form. Now, mid-season he has a new teammate in Max Verstappen. The precocious 18-year old prodigy has been promoted to the senior team from Toro Rosso, in place of Daniil Kvyat.
The Russian with his over-eager start at the Russian Grand Prix collided twice in the space of two turns on Lap 1 with Vettel. The chain reaction that this triggered saw both the Red Bull drivers not scoring points in the race and Kvyat has been demoted to the junior team. Kvyat will hope for redemption with his old team Toro Rosso or his career is in jeopardy.
The dominant team from 2010-2013 will always be competitive, but need an engine upgrade soon to challenge their
nearest rivals Ferrari.
World Constructors’ Championship (WCC)
Red Bull: Position:3 Points:57 Wins:0 Podiums:1
World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
Daniel Ricciardo: Position:4 Points:36 Wins:0 Podiums:0
Daniil Kvyat: Position:8 Points:21 Wins:0 Podiums:1
Williams: This marquee British team has become competitive again with third position in the constructors’ standings in the last two seasons. The cars performance has been track-specific, with good performances on low downforce, power tracks. The car struggles on the Tilke-designed tracks with slow corners and also in the rain.
Podiums have eluded both their drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas whose contracts are up for renewal at the end of the season. Massa has scored points at all the four races and has finished fifth twice. The Brazilian at age 35 needs a stellar season to stay in F1 in 2017. Bottas has a best finish of P4 at his favorite track in Sochi. The young Finn, who was very close to a Ferrari seat at the beginning of last season, needs to outperform his teammate to have a shot at a seat at one of the top teams.
Red Bull has clearly overtaken them. Williams has a challenge on their hands to stay competitive and within touching distance of Ferrari and Red Bull ahead of them and to try and regain third position. But limited resources will make this a tough task for the Grove-based team.
World Constructors’ Championship (WCC)
Williams: Position:4 Points:51 Wins:0 Podiums:0
World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
Felipe Massa: Position:6 Points:32 Wins:0 Podiums:0
Valtteri Bottas: Position:9 Points:19 Wins:0 Podiums:0
Haas F1: The newest entrant into the F1 arena, this American team has caught the eye of everybody with three point finishes out of four races. Romain Grosjean has scored all the 22 points for the team and has been impressive. The Frenchman has emerged as the team leader and has showed good race craft, a far cry from the error-prone Grosjean of 2012. Esteban Gutierrez on the other hand has been plagued by misfortune and has a best finish of P14 only. The young Mexican will have to start performing soon or he will come under huge pressure. If both drivers start delivering points and the team can keep developing during the season, a fairytale story is in the making.
World Constructors’ Championship (WCC)
HaasF1: Position:5 Points:22 Wins:0 Podiums:0
World Drivers’ Championship (WDC)
Romain Grosjean: Position:7 Points:22 Wins:0 Podiums:0
Esteban Gutierrez: Position:22 Points:0 Wins:0 Podiums:0
Source:formula1.com
SHANGHAI,CHINA – APRIL 17 : Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team celebrates his victory in parc ferme during the Formula One Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on April 17, 2016 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
