We need Lewis duel
Lewis Hamilton (UK) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Years in F1 Hamilton is expected to add to his titles while Bottas, with one year left on his contract, will be under pressure to improve. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Max Verstappen (Neth) Years in F1 21 Red Bull boast arguably the finest driver line-up and Verstappen is ready to launch their first assault on the title since 2013. Lance Stroll (Can) Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Years in F1 Teenager Stroll and rookie Sirotkin form an underwhelming line-up. Reserve driver Robert Kubica will be ready to step in if needed. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Brendon Hartley (NZ) Years in F1 Toro Rosso will have a new engine supplier in Honda after their split from McLaren and appeared reliable during winter training. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) Years in F1 4 137 4 148 9 311 0 1 8 485 There is nowhere to hide after teaming up with Renault. Alonso will combine F1 with six sportscar races – including Le Mans 24 Hours. ALL looked business as usual as teams completed their final preparations for this weekend’s Formula One opener under the autumnal sunshine at Melbourne’s Albert Park. But scratch the surface and all is not going so smoothly.
Down the road at a surf club in St Kilda last night, McLaren were hosting their traditional pre-season party. Life, though, has certainly not been a beach for the British team since it last won the drivers’ championship with Lewis Hamilton, a decade ago.
Hamilton has since added three titles and goes into Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix as the reigning champion, needing one more to equal the legendary Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio.
But to reverse waning worldwide interest, the sport desperately needs an epic battle between Hamilton and the Ferrari of fellow four-time winner Sebastian Vettel, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo chipping in.
That, however, seems highly unlikely in the eyes of Sir Jackie Stewart, right, the three-time world champion. “It’s going to be difficult for Ferrari and Red Bull to take Mercedes on, but let’s hope it will be more competitive,” he said.
“The public want to see change, not another time like the Michael Schumacher days or more recently when Vettel was winning four titles.It does affect the attendances at circuits, the TV interest, when a series has got overly dominating performances by one team.
“Mercedes dominance has given the team an absolute advantage, and Lewis has driven extremely well, but in a car that’s been considerably better than the opposition.
“I hope this year will provide more competition and it would be better if another team other than Mercedes won the championship.”
The biggest change this season is the introduction of the halo device – it resembles a piece of scaffolding fixed on the cockpit – to protect the drivers from a flying wheel or piece of debris. There are grumblings from fans over the looks and sounds of the modern-day F1 car, but Stewart supports it. “If one driver’s life is saved then the halo will be justified,” he said. “There is a split of opinion but that will disappear in the same way when people criticised me for putting safety ahead of what was deemed necessary. “My wife Helen and I counted 57 people who we either knew as friends, went on holiday with, or people I raced against who died when I was racing. Most of them were my best friends for god’s sake, they died in a lot of cases completely unnecessary. “Jim Clark would not have died had there been a barrier between the race track and the forest. The FIA and the powers that be who have insisted on the halo have done the right thing. It does not take anything away from the driver as the driver is hardly noticeable now in the cockpit.” What the teams, – and Ferrari in particular – are unhappy about is the vision of the future outlined by new owners, Liberty Media.
The Italian outfit have warned they will quit, saying they are unhappy over the planned engine regulations for 2021 and prize money changes.
The old fear of a breakaway series has raised its head again. And with major manufacturers flocking to Formula E, it remains to be seen how long the likes of Mercedes, who are joining the all-electric championship, will commit to both series. With Hamilton set to sign a £120 million threeyear deal extension, that suggests Mercedes are in F1 until at least 2021,
But boss Toto Wolff would only say: “For the next years we are part of the F1 show and we shall give it all to make it a good show. What happens thereafter we will judge in 12 months whether we like what we get.”
When the tyre warmers come off and the lights go out on Sunday, there is more than the world title at stake.