The 2014 and 2015 Formula One seasons were decidedly one-sided, with Mercedes AMG Petronas and Lewis Hamilton winning both championships by a significant margin. Although their biggest competitors, Scuderia Ferrari, set quick times at winter testing, the Maranello-based outfit have not had the start to the 2016 season that they would have wanted.
With reliability issues at both races so far and the team only managing to have one driver finish each race, they appear to be further from the title than last year, where they were the German outfit’s closest contenders.
However, given the talent they possess and the power the engine has otherwise shown, they could still be the most significant fighters for the title this year.
Mercedes look to be strong contenders to win the title a third year running, but it is still early days in the season. We explore 5 non-Mercedes drivers who could be title contenders this year:
Daniel Ricciardo
The Australian Red Bull driver and teammate Daniil Kvyat were plagued by reliability issues in the 2015 season, with the team’s contentious relationship with engine manufacturers Renault played out publicly.
Despite this, both drivers managed a series of strong race finishes, with Kvyat even scoring his career-first podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Red Bull had a 2-3 podium finish.
Ricciardo had high points finishes at the Grands Prix of Australia and Bahrain, finishing in 4th both times. Although teammate Kvyat had a DNF in Bahrain, his 7th place finish in Australia has contributed to the rebranded Red Bull – TAG Heuer (who are still on Renault power) at second in the standings, compounded by Ferrari‘s failure to fire on both cylinders.
He is currently at third in the drivers’ standings, and not a significant margin behind reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who is currently in second. Ricciardo seriously taxed teammate four-time champion Sebastian Vettel in their time together at Red Bull, and if he can put in consistent, and even stronger performances, as he has shown himself to be capable of in the past, we could see the Australian take his first ever championship.
Kimi Raikkonen
He is already a world champion, and with the team he recently returned to. 2007 World Drivers’ Champion Kimi Raikkonen has proven himself time and time again, and even as one of the oldest on the track has proven himself to be one of the fastest.
Raikkonen had 5 retirements last year, but finished every one of the remaining races in the points, most of them high. With three podium finishes, the Iceman was 4th in the drivers’ standings despite a few on-track gaffes.
This year may not have started out ideally for the Finn, who retired from the Australian Grand Prix, but the 34-year-old came back strongly at a race he has been consistent at – Bahrain – and finished second for the second year in a row.
He may be non-committal and unexpressive off track, but Raikkonen’s few words and body language indicate he is back in the contest. If Ferrari are able to sort out their issues within a short period, we could see Kimi finish a two-time world champion.
Romain Grosjean
The French driver, who at the end of 2015 came off a 5-year stint with Lotus F1, was always a fair midfield driver. At the end of the 2015 season, Grosjean announced he would be signing with F1 debutants Haas, who are the only Formula One team in the last two decades and on the current grid to be based out of the United States.
Debuting with former Ferrari test and development driver Esteban Gutierrez, who made his Formula One debut with Haas in 2014 but was left without a seat in 2015, Grosjean has been consistently impressive this year.
With strong performances at both the Grands Prix of Australia and Bahrain, Grosjean, on both occasions, won the Driver of the Day award. He had a 6th place finish on team debut, pushing both car and tyre to their limits to stave off Force India and Williams.
Grosjean repeated the feat in Bahrain, where he qualified in 9th, knocked out in the dying moments of Q2 by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. He managed to move quickly up the grid with some strong overtakes and aggressive racing strategy to finish in 5th.
Critics had dismissed Grosjean’s Australian Grand Prix finish as down to a well-timed safety car, but his Bahrain finish has suggested otherwise. Far from claims of career suicide, Grosjean now finds himself high up the standings, and assisted by a strong Ferrari engine, could put in a fight for top spot.
Max Verstappen
2015 debutant Max Verstappen impressed from his Formula One debut, with voices across the F1 fraternity – including supremo Bernie Ecclestone – describing him as a one-in-a-million talent.
Verstappen’s team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, this year made the shift from Renault to Ferrari power, a decision that the young Dutchman has taken full advantage of. He qualified in 5th in Australia, losing out in the race only due to bad pit strategy, which saw him fall back to 10th.
He turned that around in Bahrain, knocked out in qualifying but successfully managing to stage a comeback for a 6th place finish.
The teenager, who is the youngest driver on the grid, has exhibited overtaking skills that have drawn comparisons with the best in the sport; former F1 boss Eddie Jordan compared him to his one-time protege, 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who was known for his aggressive overtakes, and it is hard to disagree with Jordan after observing Verstappen’s drives.
The youngster has not shied away from a challenge all year, and shown a tenacity and aggression some of the sport’s most successful have displayed before him. That and his racing skill could stand him in good stead, especially given his strong 2015 despite a contentious Renault engine.
Currently at a healthy 6th in the standings, the Dutch sensation has already outraced several more experienced competitors – and even gave Vettel some form of chase in 2015, so a year of experience could see him finish even higher up the grid.
Sebastian Vettel
No stranger to the World Championship, the four-time title holder is the protege of F1’s most successful driver of all time – Michael Schumacher. He had his most successful days with Red Bull, with whom he won each of his titles, and the German is no slouch at Scuderia Ferrari.
Finishing nearly every race of 2015 on the podium, Vettel was perhaps only let down by an engine that Ferrari principal Maurizio Arrivabene described as “not as powerful” as Mercedes. This year, that engine has overcome that particular hurdle, although it is now faced with reliability issues the team did not have in 2015, while Mercedes has had no such issues.
The Ferrari does not lack in power, with Kimi Raikkonen setting the fastest time of winter testing, and doing well in Bahrain, while Vettel did exceedingly well in Australia; so much so that it was only strategy that lost him victory in Melbourne, despite Lewis Hamilton having started that race on pole.
If Ferrari can figure out the reliability issues that saw Kimi Raikkonen faced with a fire and Vettel’s exhaust ‘spitting metal’, there is no reason Ferrari cannot move back to the top of the grid, and given the talent of Vettel, perhaps the only barrier to him winning another championship.
