The 2016 Formula 1 season commences with the Australian Grand Prix on 18th March. There are still two and a half months to go, but if we look at the right things and in the right places, we can make several predictions of how the season will go. Here are 5 of them.
A proper rivalry between Ferrari and Mercedes
If there is one team which has dominated F1 since 2014, it’s Mercedes. Many people agree with Bernie Ecclestone when he says that if there wasn’t for Mercedes the competition would have been much more interesting.
As it is, all signs point to Mercedes being the strongest favourites for one more winning season. However, this season, Ferrari should be a much stronger contender.
When you look at the numbers for the second half of last season, it is obvious that Ferrari have been vastly improving over the course of the year. This trend should continue into the new season as well, with their impressive budget and the talented personnel at their disposal.
However, it still remains obvious that Mercedes have the best car and are probably going to win again. The best the team from Maranello can hope for is to reduce the margin from last season.
Renault will have a drop in performance
Since Renault decided to buy Lotus there has been much enthusiasm in their camp and it finally looked like they managed to acquire the technical personnel they deserved. However, with the paperwork being completed just last month, the new staff won’t have much of a chance to influence on this season’s proceedings.
On top of that, their car will no longer boast the powerful Mercedes unit it had last year. This year the same place will be occupied by the weaker Renault counterpart. This will most definitely put them behind both Mercedes and Ferrari in the pecking order.
If this wasn’t difficult enough, the team will be represented by the unimpressive line-up of Pastor Maldonado and Jolyon Palmer. This means that 2016 will very much be a transition year for Renault, and we will probably see the best of them next season.
Mannor – Mercedes will grab a point or two here and there
This will be Manor’s sixth year in F1. They began with the name Virgin Racing, changed to Marussia two years later, and since 2015 they have called themselves Manor.
So far they have only managed to grab 2 points, and that was when Jules Bianchi outdid himself and finished 9th in the Monaco Grand Prix, scoring his own and the team’s first points in F1.
Last year, they were using a not so competitive Ferrari engine which was already one year old. This year however, their car should prove much more competitive, considering they are going to use a brand new Mercedes engine.
And we all know how much attention to detail Mercedes pay. The attention to detail is the same as in the lists, short-listing Australian casinos – as seen on Casinoshortlist.org.
This should guarantee them a finishing place somewhere at the end of the midfield, and with a bit of luck and inspired driving, they should gather several points during the course of the season.
McLaren will be somewhere around the podium
Last year McLaren had a season to forget. They managed to score a measly 27 points and ended 9th in the constructors’ rankings. This is an even worse achievement when you consider the talent in the drivers’ line-up they possess.
Their Honda engine was a major disappointment last year, and this was the main reason for their poor performance.
However, Honda will probably improve their power unit this season, and even though challenging Mercedes and Ferrari will definitely be out of the question, a string of podium or near podium finishes shouldn’t surprise anyone. Their well built chassis and the talent of Alonso and Button should also help in this regard.
There will be rivalry between Red Bull and Toro Rosso
This year will be the first season since 2013 that the Red Bull teams go down separate roads regarding the engines they use. Red Bull will continue using an engine built by Renault, and Toro Rosso will use a year old power unit built by Ferrari.
This means that even though Toro Rosso will use an engine from last year, they should fare fairly well, especially at the start of the season. It shouldn’t be forgotten that it still is an engine built in Maranello. So it’s not inconceivable that the junior brother of the partnership will take up better positions during the first several races.
