The 2017 Formula 1 season kicked off in Melbourne, Australia (New Technical Regulations and all) amidst hope, hope that Ferrari, and to a lesser extent Red Bull, will challenge the Silver Arrows for the drivers and constructors title after three seasons of utter domination of F1 by the team based out of Brackley.
The weekend got off to a familiar start with Hamilton setting the fastest times in Friday practice, but the tide changed to a degree on Saturday with the Ferraris, and Sebastian Vettel, in particular, setting the pace in the pre-qualifying practice session having spent Friday night huddled over data and working with his engineers to find the right setup for the Melbourne street circuit.
Also Read: Mercedes have to raise game to meet Ferrari challenge - Hamilton
Qualifying saw Vettel pipped to pole by the three-time world champion with his new Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas coming in third, while Vettel’s team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, qualified 4th; Mercedes and Ferrari locking out the front two rows.
The pace Ferrari showed on Saturday brought smiles to those in the paddock and the race lived up to the hype and expectation albeit devoid of the mass overtaking that has been a feature of the DRS era. Vettel showed great pace right from the start seemingly being held up by Hamilton in the early stages of the Grand Prix.
Hamilton tried to protect from the undercut and pitted early, as he was held up by Max Verstappen (to Toto Wolff’s disgust) in the Red Bull and this gave Vettel the opportunity to show the Ferrari’s true pace as he set some blistering times to take the race away from Mercedes.
The Australian Grand Prix posed more questions than answers; here are a few things to look forward to at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
#1 Overtaking in this new era of F1
The Australian Grand Prix, admittedly, was not as exciting (read: less overtaking). There were concerns as early as last season over the ease of overtaking with the new 2017 aerodynamics creating huge problems with a lack of front-end grip while following the car ahead.
The 2016 Chinese Grand Prix saw the most number of overtakes, and it will therefore be a great place to judge this new formula and the excitement it may bring or the lack of it.
#2 Pace of the Ferraris
Was Ferrari’s great show in Australia a one-off given the fact that they usually ace car ‘set-up’ in Melbourne, or are they truly on form with a fired up Vettel carrying the team the same way the great Michael Schumacher did in his first few years at Ferrari.
Also Read: Australia winner Vettel tips Mercedes as favourites for Chinese Grand Prix
Mercedes will be hurting as it’s the first time in three years that they’ve been behind in the Drivers and Constructors championship. The pundits in the paddock still believe they are the side to beat this season, with probably the best all round car on the grid and a fired up Lewis Hamilton relishing, what seems to be a straight up fight between him and an equally fired up Vettel.
The Chinese Grand Prix circuit in Shanghai will test the cars more than Australia with the combination of long straights and a technical infield section which will test both the chassis and the power units. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
#3 The Red Bull Challenge
Red Bull had high hopes for Australia with home favourite Daniel Ricciardo and the prodigious Max Verstappen setting decent times in Friday practice and winter testing. But the weekend didn’t go as planned as they were beaten soundly by both the Mercedes and Ferrari in qualifying and the race.
China will, however, show the true potential of the Red Bull-Tag Heuer (Read: Renault) chassis-engine combination. Renault have made giant strides on the engine side and have closed the gap to Mercedes. The Renault now has more horsepower, improved drivability and have massively improved their reliability.
Red Bull have more or less mastered the black art of aerodynamics, with Adrian Newey and his crack team delivering chassis after chassis that outperform the competition.
#4 Battle of the Rookies - will Lance Stroll have a better outing?
Stoffel Vandoorne, Antonio Giovinazzi and Lance Stroll are three rookies in this year’s Formula 1 season with varying degrees of talent, experience and financial backing. The new cars are monsters to drive and it has been widely accepted that this new era of Formula 1 will separate the men from the boys.
Of the three, Stroll has had a pretty horrid time of it in Formula 1 so far as he’s been consistently off the pace and has binned the car more than once. The internet is unforgiving and some wise hats have now created a website to keep count of the number of times Stroll has crashed.
Giovinazzi drove a stellar race, finishing just ahead of fellow rookie Stoffel Vandoorne with just one practice session and qualifying to acquaint himself with Formula 1, drawing praise from team boss Monisha Kaltenborn and several pundits.
#5 McLaren vs Sauber
Yes, you heard it right, the mighty McLaren have been reduced to fighting with back markers and perennial strugglers Sauber. The 2017 season was to be the year Honda finally produced a power unit to fight at the front of the field but the well-documented failures have resulted in a meltdown in the partnership, leaving McLaren with an engine that is slow, fragile and temperamental.
Also Read: Alonso denies he will walk out on McLaren
Sauber pipped McLaren in Australia with an impressive showing from the rookie Antonio Giovinazzi who held on to 13th just ahead of fellow rookie Stoffel Vandoorne in the McLaren. China will further rub salt into McLaren’s wounds with Sauber likely to beat them as the Honda is no match for even a year old Ferrari power unit in the Sauber.
Expect a dogged performance from Fernando Alonso, as usual, who is probably the only driver on the grid who can extract the maximum performance from any car.
