F1 enters a new era
New season promises much as Australia gets set to host round one this weekend
THE 2017 Formula One season promises plenty of excitement with reigning champion Nico Rosberg now retired, Bernie Ecclestone ousted from power and the race cars beefed up with more horsepower and new designs.
Mercedes have won the last three titles but the man who took the trophy last year - Rosberg - went off into the sunset at the age of 31. Can Mercedes make it four in a row - with 2008, 2014 and 2015 world champion Lewis Hamilton still on board?
Or will Sebastian Vettel finally win his first title with Ferrari, with his contract expiring at the end of the year, after having taken four straight crowns with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013?
Or will another driver and team emerge - such as Red Bull?
The 20-race season begins this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
While British driver Hamilton is a known commodity with Mercedes with 10 Grand Prix wins and second place in the drivers’ standings last season, Rosberg’s successor Valtteri Bottas comes in as team newcomer ready to fill the German’s big shoes.
“I am not here to be second,” said the 27-year-old Finn, who arrives at Mercedes after racing last season with Williams.
Four-times champion Vettel is out to erase the depressing 2016 season from his memory, having not won a race and managing only seven podium finishes.
Vettel and his team-mate, the 37-year-old 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, definitely give Ferrari plenty of driving experience upon which to call.
Vettel’s former team Red Bull finished second in the constructors’ championship behind Mercedes as Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were the only two non-Mercedes drivers to win a grand prix last season.
But nobody really wants to consider themselves the favourite for the season, which finishes exactly eight months after it starts with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 26.
“They are the ones to beat,” Vettel said about Mercedes.
Mercedes’ non-executive chairman Niki Lauda meanwhile countered with: “I believe we have a hard year ahead of us.”
One thing the two weeks of testing in Barcelona showed is that the F1 race cars this season will be much faster thanks to new design regulations. Formula One went through the biggest rules reform in years which organisers hope makes the sport more spectacular while making it more demanding on the drivers.
Raikkonen’s best test lap on the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona was more than three seconds faster than Hamilton’s pole position-winning top time at the Spanish Grand Prix last season.
Drivers will be able to take turns much quicker than in the past, making the racing more demanding physically. But some observers doubt that will actually lead to more overtaking.
It remains unclear however what course the new US owners of the sport will take. For the first time in 40 years, Ecclestone will not be calling the shots after the takeover of F1 by Liberty Media. The 86-year-old Briton is now solely an advisor to the new men in charge.
Ecclestone’s exit is not the only one in the sport as only 10 of the 11 teams from last season will be back following the bankruptcy of Manor.
One expected departure will not take place as Felipe Massa elected to reverse his decision to retire from last September and returned to Williams after Bottas left the team to replace Rosberg at Mercedes.
Canadian Lance Stroll will be the only F1 debutant this season in his Williams. Stoffel Vandoorne, who did one race last year, has replaced the departed 2009 champion Jenson Button in a McLaren plagued with reliability problems. - dpa Turn to page 8 for the calendar and full list of teams