F1 returns with more thrills
RED BULL AND FERRARI TO DUKE IT OUT IN FIERCE FIGHT FOR SECOND PLACE
From Friday, the F1 world gets back into gear at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, following the summer holiday break. The 13th race of the record 21-event season should provide some serious action and, perhaps, a few surprises.
One mid-season surprise was the announcement that Rio Haryanto has lost his seat at Manor and has been replaced by the 19-year-old Frenchman Esteban Ocon, who joins his old team-mate Pascal Wehrlein. The two were paired in the Mercedes F1 youth programme, Wehrlein moving up to F1 from the Mercedes DTM team at the beginning of the year and Ocon fulfilling his role in the same series this season as well as being reserve driver for the Renault F1 team. Haryanto remains the reserve driver for Manor.
This week, we complete the half-season summary with the top three teams, Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari. The fight for the runner-up spot promises to be an enthralling one, after all it’s unlikely that anyone can dethrone the current champions. The reigning champions look set for a third consecutive victory for both constructor’s and driver’s titles. The Brackley-based team is almost but not quite bullet proof. The F1 W07 has experienced issues this season, and those could affect the outcome of the championship.
Both drivers had been in the Top 10 for the 11 races they completed in, Nico Rosberg taking five wins and Lewis Hamilton six. The one DNF they both suffered was that rather infamous collision between them in Spain that took them both out of the race and sent team principal Toto Wolff’s blood pressure soaring.
At the halfway point, Hamilton has gained a 19-point lead in the title chase, but faces an en- gine change and subsequent grid penalties in the second half of the season. Whether this will provide an advantage for Rosberg remains to be seen, but should create some real interest for the fans.
With a totally dominant 11 victories from 12 races, it is unlikely that any other contender will get close to the silver arrows in 2016, the battle for the driver’s title is just a two horse race. After a season of slating Renault’s reputation and almost ending up with no power unit, the reconciliation between the two has certainly worked for the Milton Keynes team.
With the surprising in season driver change, when Daniil Kvyat was moved back to Toro Rosso and Max Verstappen replaced the Russian in the line-up, the combination of Ricciardo and Verstappen seems to be working well. It has given a new lease of life to the Australian who is determined to stay ahead of his team-mate.
Ricciardo has achieved 11 points finishes, his best being two second places, one in Monaco and the second in Germany.
Kvyat competed in four races and was in the points for two, his best a third in China, he had one DNF when his engine failed in Australia.
Max Verstappen rewarded the team by winning on his debut in Spain, the young Dutchman scored points in seven of his eight races for Red Bull, his one DNF the result of his crash in Monaco.
On present form, they are the team that could take at least one win before the end of 2016. Probably the biggest disappointment of the season so far, promise of a serious challenge to Mercedes has not materialised and Ferrari now slips to third in the constructor’s title chase, having dropped behind a resurgent Red Bull.
The problems within the team appear to be getting worse, with key personnel leaving and rumours that there are still more facing the axe.
Those golden years at the Scuderia when the cars were designed by a South African, the team principal was an Englishman and the motorsport chief was French are gone. The previous president, Luca Montezemolo, was not popular, but there was stability until he left. New president Sergio Marchionne has moved to resolve the problems, but appears to have created uncertainty within the ranks, and that is not conducive to team spirit.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are still struggling with the SF16-H. Despite suffering a lack of grip and power, they have scored points in 19 races.
Vettel finished in the points nine times, his best result three second positions, his three DNFs were an engine failure on the warm-up lap in Bahrain, taken out by Kvyat in Russia and tyre failure and resultant crash in Austria.
Raikkonen has had 10 points finishes, his best a second spot in Bahrain. A turbo overheat in Australia and a crash in Monaco were his two DNF results.
Fourteen points behind Red Bull is not what they expected. It will take teamwork to claim back that second spot.