Merc’s bluff pays dividends
PERFECT START: CAR BETTER THAN TESTING SUGGESTED AS BOTTAS LEADS FROM GUN-TO-TAPE
he new Formula One season: race one over, and last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix fully demonstrated who has the upper hand and was sand bagging during winter testing.
It is obvious that the Mercedes Petronas team had a lot more performance than was demonstrated in Spain.
At the time, world champion Lewis Hamilton said Ferrari definitely had the advantage and he claimed that was “no BS”.
Then, during Melbourne qualifying, Sebastian Vettel said Hamilton’s statements appeared to be “BS”, so there was a lot of the aforementioned around the pit lane.
After a perfect lights-to-flag victory from Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, it was obvious the Brackley-based team had been sand bagging – or perhaps the bags were filled with some of that superfluous bovine excrement.
It certainly was not the start that Renault or Williams were looking for.
The French team lost Daniel Ricciardo just after the start when an off-track excursion cost him a front wing and further under car damage.
His team-mate Nico Hulkenberg held on to a solid seventh place.
Williams were not so lucky, as George Russell and Robert Kubica filled the last two positions. Both drivers indicated there is still something fundamentally wrong with the FW42 and it will take several months to resolve the issue.
Carlos Sainz Jnr was another to suffer when his Renault power unit gave up the ghost. Apparently an MGU-K (motor generator unit, kinetic) let go, as the flames and smoke suggested.
One place that also must have been very heated was the Haas garage after the retirement of Romain Grosjean, due to a possible front suspension issue.
Team boss Guenther Steiner was not pleased when it turned out to be a loose wheel – shades of the team’s 2018 Australian disaster when, after pit stops, both Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen retired due to loose wheels.
Ferrari must be wondering what happened after their impressive testing and practice sessions. It was summed up as an irritated Vettel asked the pit wall “why are we so slow”?
Hard work will be required before Bahrain in two weeks time.
In a joint press conference held at the Australian Grand Prix, FIA (the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) president Jean Todt and F1 chief executive Chase Carey confirmed that the 2021 plans for the future of F1 will be revealed to all the teams at the next strategy group and F1 commission meeting, to be held in London next Tuesday.
It is reported that Todt said: “We should be ready with the global package and the commercial side, financial side, which is the responsibility of F1.”
He continued: “We have the cost control, a new initiative which is well advanced. We have engine regulations which were sent to the teams a few days ago, we have chassis regulations, and we have the governance.
“Those are all the different chapters on which we are working and we should be in a position to have a finalised package to discuss with the teams on March 26,” Todt added.
Meanwhile Carey has stated that team meetings are to remain private in order to ensure clarity, but he accepts compromises will be required on both sides to reach an agreement.
After the news that Renault, Red Bull and Toro Rosso could leave the sport, Carey has said that he has had “real interest” from new teams who are keen to compete in future, providing the proposed new regulations and structure are acceptable.
But now it starts to get complicated.
Todt at the same meeting apparently said he would like to see 12 teams rather than 10 on the grid in the near future.
He went on to say: “I feel F1 should have 12 teams. But, of course, it would cause problems, because if you have 12 teams with a certain revenue to distribute, you can imagine those who get less income would not be happy.” I am confused. Bringing in the proposed cost cap for 2021 and beyond surely implies that of the 10 current teams, several will not be happy with the redistribution proposal.
Why encourage more entrants if it will further reduce the teams’ annual income and cause more dissension?
Does Carey suspect he may lose some of his current flock as a result of next week’s meeting?
Todt then adds, also, to my confusion: “It is better to have 10 strong teams, which is the case. I think now we can be satisfied to have 10 solid teams in F1, so we simply need to secure their entries for the future.”
There is some logic in there – if you forget his wish for 12 teams.
But then Carey added that appealing to new teams was one of F1’s “strategic goals” for the future through its formation of the 2021 regulations.
Work that lot out if you can.