FIVE THINGS TO WATCH AS F1 BURNS RUBBER DOWN UNDER
The new Formula One season gets underway this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Here’s what you need to know: The drivers: Lewis Hamilton is gunning for his third straight title — and fourth overall, putting him in a select group in the history of F1 — and already he seems in good position to get the job done.
The 31- year- old Briton is entering his ninth year in the world’s premier racing series and has proved difficult to stop when given the right tools. And, by all accounts, Mercedes has delivered him another formidable car.
Last season, Hamilton won 10 of the first 16 races, and secured the drivers’ championship with three to spare. Teammate Nico Rosberg, in the same machinery, won only three times in that stretch.
If Mercedes is to dominate again in 2016, Rosberg will be expected to serve as the main competition once more. Much has been said about his late surge last season, when he won the final three races. It’s possible the 30- year- old German can pick up where he left off.
More likely, the end of 2015 had as much to do with Hamilton’s form as Rosberg ’s. After clinching the title, Hamilton declared “the next couple of months to be party time.” He even showed up a day late for Grand Prix weekend in Brazil.
Another driver to watch is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the only man not wearing silver to win races last year, three in all. The 28- year- old German ranks above Hamilton on the all- time list, with four championships, and will be keen to keep it that way.
For that to happen, though, Vettel will need a car that is at least equal in performance and reliability — and Ferrari has come up short in both departments in recent years.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain speaks to a team technician while he stands in his garage during the second practice session at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, March 18, 2016. The season’s opening race will be held here on Sunday March 20.( AP Photo/ Ross Land) The teams: Since the introduction of turbo- hybrid engines in 2014, Mercedes has been near-unstoppable, winning 32 races out of 38 in the past two seasons.
Technical specifications for the 2016 cars have remained much the same, which could be good news for Mercedes and its fans. But the status quo can work against the dominant team, too: If it runs out of room to innovate, others can catch up.
Has Ferrari caught up? During winter tests, the red cars were consistently near the top of the time sheets. But tests are just that. What really matters is how the cars perform at a Grand Prix.
What seems clear is Mercedes remains strong, its cars covering more kilometres than any of the others during the tests. If they weren’t always the fastest, they were certainly the most reliable, which counts for a lot over the course of a long season.
Meanwhile, the Williams team — best of the rest last season — remains confident it can take the fight to Ferrari in 2016, and Toro Rosso emerged from the tests as a possible dark horse.
There is one new team, Haas, the first U. S.- led entry in 30 years, while Renault returns as a full manufacturer — not just an engine provider — for the first time since 2009. The novelties: The cars have undergone some tweaks but no major overhaul. Among them, exhaust systems have been revised to address complaints that the hybrid engines are too quiet. The difference is underwhelming, though, and purists will be disappointed.
Some changes aim to inject more unpredictability into the sport. For example, drivers now have access to a wider range of tire compounds at each Grand Prix, and therefore a wider range of strategic choices.
As well, further limitations have been placed on radio com-
munications during races so that the driving is left to the drivers and not the strategists and engineers.
More perplexing are revisions to the qualifying format. It remains a knockout system of three segments over the course of an hour, but instead of the slower cars being eliminated at the end of each segment, they will be dropped at 90- second intervals during the second half of each segment.
Confused? Welcome to F1. The venues: This season marks the longest in F1 history, with 21 races, thanks to the return of the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and the addition of the European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan. How the racing will be received at this unlikely venue on the Caspian Sea is anyone’s guess.
The Canadian Grand Prix will be held on June 12 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where the usual full grandstands are to be expected. Which isn’t to say the event is financially healthy.
In December, promoter François Dumontier told La Presse he’s running a deficit and looking for investors, including a title sponsor. And yet, he insisted the Grand Prix, which has a contract with F1 till 2024, is not in peril.
Still, this is a story to watch. With the three levels of government and Tourism Montreal already contributing a combined $ 18.7 million a year in funding, taxpayers are not likely to respond well to requests for a handout if it comes to that. The prediction: Who’s going to win? The heart says Vettel, because a return to glory for Ferrari would be good for the sport and the soul. The storied stable has long been the most popular team among F1 fans around the world.
The mind, however, believes Hamilton will have reason to party once more.