Formula 1 2017: What This Season Holds

The new era of physically challenging cars and super-fast lap times have added some much needed muscle to F1. The stage is set, here are the players.

MERCEDES

Lewis Hamilton has a new teammate in Valtteri Bottas this year and the team have a new technical director in James Allison, the former Ferrari man. Can F1’s most dominant team since 2014 continue their winning ways? Their car has been fast and reliable in pre-season testing but not the most consistent in its handling. A door might be open for both Red Bull Racing and surprisingly Ferrari to barge through it and fight for wins. The Hamilon vs Bottas battle may not be as big an attraction as Mercedes vs Ferrari this year.

FERRARI

F1’s oldest and most famous team stunned many with how fast, reliable and consistent their new car was in pre-season testing in the hands of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The German driver has even said that the team’s problems last year masked many improvements in their management structure this year. Raikkonen managed a lap around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in testing that was 3.366 seconds faster than last year’s Spanish GP pole time. Coupled with that, speed has been the SF70H’s ability to be easy on its tyres over long runs. Can they keep it up when it really counts?

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES

With Red Bull Racing almost certain to progress well beyond its pre-season testing form, F1’s third most successful team of all time looks well placed to be the best of the rest behind the big three. But that impression is mainly down to Felipe Massa’s pace and consistency in testing, which has offset the problems rookie Lance Stroll has faced in adapting to the faster and more physical 2017 F1 cars. The team admitted to doing many low-fuel ‘glory runs’ but the package is still a solid one and they have been boosted on the technical side with Paddy Lowe rejoining the team after over 20 years.

SAUBER-FERRARI

With all the Renault powered teams were not completing that many laps in pre-season testing, Sauber racked up the fourth highest mileage over eight days in Spain. But with a last year’s Ferrari power unit and a car that doesn’t look particularly comfortable in the corners as yet, the team has its work cut out to make an impression in F1’s tight midfield battle. Marcus Ericsson will be partnered with newcomer Pascal Wehrlein, who joined the team after Manor shut their F1 operations. The team will also be boosted by extra prize money funds that was meant for Manor.

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES

The team has set its sights on the top three in the constructors’ championship this year and looks set to turn some heads even if it doesn’t manage to do so. With a change in livery to a striking pink thanks to a new sponsor, one won’t be able to miss the car even if they tried. In its effort to improve upon fourth place last year, Force India has continuity in their technical team and Sergio Perez to fall back on. And with the promising young Esteban Ocon, who is backed by Mercedes-Benz, they have the fire of youth on their side too.

HAAS-FERRARI

America’s F1 team still doesn’t have a promising young driver from its own country to get behind but it has the services of two pretty good racers nonetheless. Romain Grosjean has settled into a mature and dependable driver and Kevin Magnussen’s potential is known from his performances at McLaren during a difficult 2014 season. Haas could provide him the atmosphere he requires to grow as a driver. Not to mention a very extensive technical partnership with Ferrari that goes beyond the supply of power units. Maybe another fast start to the season is not out of the question.

RED BULL RACING-TAG HEUER*

Don’t let the team’s low pre-season testing mileage fool you. They will be contenders for race wins this year. If not at the start of the season, then definitely once the European leg of the championship commences. Having to work around getting the new Renault power unit reliable masked the capabilities of its chassis, part of which were on display as testing drew to a close. In Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen the team probably has the most potent driver line-up in the sport. Both are proven race winners and if the team gets its act together, they can cause both Mercedes and Ferrari grief.

RENAULT

The factory Renault team finally has a car that it has built around its power unit this year and in Nico Hulkenberg, they hope they have landed a top talent that can drive development forward. The team has been growing slowly since the French manufacturer decided to become a factory team again and Jolyon Palmer will give them the continuity required on the driving side to continue their progress. They have set themselves a fairly safe target of fifth in the constructors’ championship. But they will be given no quarter by the other midfield battlers this year.

TORO ROSSO-TBA

Another Renault powered team that flew under the radar in pre-season testing but was close to matching the mileage of the other two (Red Bull and Renault). The young and hungry driver line-up of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Daniil Kvyat will be pressing the team on as Renault finds more reliability and power throughout the season. The Spaniard in particular will be eager to make a point as he believes he deserves to be at either the senior Red Bull squad or with another top team. He has competition aplenty from his teammate as well as the other midfield scrappers.

McLAREN-HONDA

The McLaren-Honda partnership is definitely strained. One needn’t look too far beyond the low testing mileage to realize that. Numerous failures and hours spent in the garage rather than out on the track meant that McLaren has missed out on a lot of chances to develop its package. Instead Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne will most likely have to make do with a detuned engine in order to ensure a race finish. Honda has been ambitious with an almost new power unit this year but needs to come good for the alliance to flourish.