rjbetty
27th May 2014, 12:49
I thought I'd give a quick (which probably won't be quick at all) run through of how the teams are doing so far after 6 rounds
1.MERCEDES
Well I didn't dare think they'd be this good. Not the most dominant team ever, but not since 1988 have there been 2 drivers so competitive. Rosberg continues to be better than most of us thought he'd be (i.e.) pushing Hamilton hard, though maybe the team bosses favour him more. As good as Nico has been however, Hamilton has a definitive advantage, though Rosberg is close enough to absolutely be a title danger, and take advantage of any bad situation for Lewis.
Winner: Hamilton
2.RED BULL
The job they have done since pre-season testing has been incredible, maybe more so than what they've done before. Still can't be ruled out, but in the circumstances, to be clearly 2nd best team so soon is pretty fantastic. However, they say their main improvements have already been done yet still appear 1sec off Mercedes on normal tracks. So maybe it's hard to see them edging ahead, let alone in time to make up the points deficit, though so strong is the team they can't be absolutely ruled out yet.
I think no-one could have expected Ricciardo to be the main breadwinner so far. Amazingly it is indeed like my Grand Prix 2 season where Daniel was unexpectedly strong, consistently qualifying in the top 4 as in real life and finishing strongly, while Vettel has problems. In hindsight, choosing Dan over Kimi was an inspired choice! Seb is not at his best and has suffered badly even when the car's running to capacity, but Ricciardo's consistency shows that the Aussie is on great form, and not just ahead of Seb by default. It's very questionable whether Seb is the best, but he is still one of the top drivers and so should be able to at least match and beat Dan as the season goes on.
Winner: Ricciardo
3.FERRARI
Sadly, my early prediction of Ferrari being "consigned to a season of 4ths and 5ths with not many podiums" appears accurate. For all the talk of Alonso vs Raikkonen fighting each other for the title, experience taught me that in reality, it could turn out to be for merely middle points positions. It just seems things will not change unless major changes are made.
Raikkonen is a top driver but over the years I felt a little too overrated and would more likely than not lose out to Alonso. He was a good choice, and a needed one as the Massa partnership was more than stale on all sides. The gap is large as it has been with almost all of Alonso's team-mates. However, the early form is definitely not indicative of Raikkonen's real level and he should be given a few races at least to settle in. He is closer now though. Alonso has done quite brilliantly to be 3rd in the WDC which just shouldn't be possible given the car. This is what it mean to "outperform" the car i.e. he should only be 5th at best but is 3rd overall.
Winner: Alonso
4.WILLIAMS
I have put Williams 4th even though they may actually have (had) the 3rd best car overall(!) Their drivers are not as good as Alonso (currently) but it's disappointing to see them trailing Force India though great to see them up there!
Massa has done a good job but you know Alonso would be worth another 0.3sec. Bottas has shown very well to be matching Massa. He also seems to be doing it on less capacity judging by his ability to convert into results, though this hasn't been perfect, understandable for someone in only their 2nd season. Felipe has had some bad circumstances though explaining much of his points loss.
Winner: Bottas
5.FORCE INDIA
They have surprised me by beating Williams by making the most of every opportunity. It looked after pre-season testing that Williams would be a big step ahead, but Force India seem to grow incrementally stronger every year. They are as good now as Jordan ever were, I believe. Hulkenberg has done his usual excellent job and has now become one of the top drivers in F1 now. I now rate his general form as higher than Button's or even Raikkonen's. Nico has been very solid, Alonso-esque and there's not much more he could do.
Perez has blown hot and cold, though he has suffered, almost exclusively, the team's problems. A very strong driver, though not quite on Hulkenberg's level, but is close enough (as expected) to show that maybe Hulkenberg, though ticking all the boxes, is maybe overall lacking that last crucial tenth or two...
Perez scored a great podium, and there was no reverse tyre strategy here. But Nico should have had it - the only thing stopping him bagging a huge result is just making a small mistake once in a while when opportunity arises, which can be fixed.
Winner: Hulkenberg
6.MCLAREN
Oh dear, what a shocker of a season. Given the engine advantage, it appears that McLaren have a much worse chassis than even last season's. I keep thinking it just can't be that bad! I am now wondering if Mercedes are really holding back on them in some way, as they simply cannot be this slow. At least they got on the podium in Melbourne.
Button is still good, but I feel he has been overtaken by Hulkenberg, probably Ricciardo too, and is just slowly starting to slide down the pecking order of drivers in F1 as recent drivers gain more experience. Magnussen, apart from the bad car, has done enough to shine against Button. Curiously, just like my Grand Prix season, he shone brightest in Melbourne.
Winner: Hard to call, but just right now, Button
7.LOTUS
Lotus indeed suffered a Benetton 2001 style opening to the season, but have bounced back much more quickly. Like the Arrows 2002, it seems a car with big potential, only needing time, money and testing to unlock it's inherent ability. Then I guess the will assume their usual place, meaning 2013 but with 2014 engines and drivers. They have done a great job to improve so quickly I think.
As predicted, favoured driver Grosjean has been the best, but his outperforming of Maldonado is greater than I thought. Since Lotus are out of the limelight, it's hard to tell how well Grosjean is doing. He has sounded understandably negative at times yet put in performances that indicate he is being strong and giving his all.
As for Maldonado, I see him as a rough diamond, so don't view him as being that bad, it's just that things need to come together for him. Most are less forgiving though, and I know my assistant manager at work would definitely be calling him a bell*nd. But he has been poor again with incidents and they simply should not be occurring with such regularity in his 4th season. Occasionally is understandable, but with the team in a bad place, he really needs to stop causing big repair bills. However, like Perez, he could spring a great result somewhere (though it would NOT make him better than Grosjean, the same as a few big results don't make Perez better than Hulkenberg if he is lagging behind the other 75% of the time).
Winner: Grosjean
8.TORO ROSSO
Toro Rosso have surprised me as I think they actually have a good car there, it's just that it's hidden mainly by Renault's current problems. It shouldn't be a surprise as once again James Key is working his effect. It's just that there seems to be a lag time of 1 full season to take effect - and just look at how Sauber are doing without him... He really seems to be a poor man's (team's?) Adrian Newey, which is actually quite a compliment.
As for the drivers, Kvyat has surprised me. I didn't realise he was this good. Looking at his approach and attitude, he does look like he can be a megastar, and seems like he can be another Vettel. As long as Dr.Marko doesn't fire him for not winning a race! Yes Seb managed it in 2008 but let's see him do it in any STR from 2010 onwards.
As for Vergne, he needs to find more, or his F1 career is looking perilously short. The thing is though, he is another driver suffering with weight due to height. This is a very unfair disadvantage, costing relatively bucket-loads of time, and is a real issue this year with cars not under the minimum weight. This is wrong, as if I was an F1 driver, at 87kg compared to Massa's 59kg, he would have 1sec per lap advantage on me before we even turned a wheel! (then the little f****r would be going on and on, Nico Rosberg style, about how he was quicker than me!!!*)
*This assumes me having F1 level talent! :p
Winner: Kvyat
9.SAUBER
My word do Sauber suck this year. Their team must have been put together by N.Jones for this year. :p
What good things can I say? The drivers aren't great, though I like Gutierrez, the livery is f*****g awful (sorry for my language today using all stars, not really like me, must be picking it up from work...), why can't they do a great early 90's black livery instead of HRT 2010 granite?
Sutil has sadly been shocking, outqualified by Gutierrez 4-2. However, this is certainly due to the unfair disadvantage of weight caused by height again. It just shows if a car is over the minimum weight limit, then the drivers are left completely exposed to their personal weight having a massive effect on lap time, not just a small-ish one like before. So really, he is a dead duck in the water. It feels wrong and un-natural that Gutierrez is outqualifying him so much as Sutil isn't bad.
Esteban has stepped up though I think, though qualifying in Australia and China shows the leap hasn't been that huge. It's good to see him more confident and prepared than 2013. It's hard to see though as both drivers are terribly hampered by the car.
Worse still, it has been revealed today that Sauber's situation is so bad that it looks like they are up for sale, and simply have no money to fix their problems. This means they appear worse off than Williams in 2013, and it's hard to see where they go from here, except just trying to simply survive.
Winner: Gutierrez
1.MERCEDES
Well I didn't dare think they'd be this good. Not the most dominant team ever, but not since 1988 have there been 2 drivers so competitive. Rosberg continues to be better than most of us thought he'd be (i.e.) pushing Hamilton hard, though maybe the team bosses favour him more. As good as Nico has been however, Hamilton has a definitive advantage, though Rosberg is close enough to absolutely be a title danger, and take advantage of any bad situation for Lewis.
Winner: Hamilton
2.RED BULL
The job they have done since pre-season testing has been incredible, maybe more so than what they've done before. Still can't be ruled out, but in the circumstances, to be clearly 2nd best team so soon is pretty fantastic. However, they say their main improvements have already been done yet still appear 1sec off Mercedes on normal tracks. So maybe it's hard to see them edging ahead, let alone in time to make up the points deficit, though so strong is the team they can't be absolutely ruled out yet.
I think no-one could have expected Ricciardo to be the main breadwinner so far. Amazingly it is indeed like my Grand Prix 2 season where Daniel was unexpectedly strong, consistently qualifying in the top 4 as in real life and finishing strongly, while Vettel has problems. In hindsight, choosing Dan over Kimi was an inspired choice! Seb is not at his best and has suffered badly even when the car's running to capacity, but Ricciardo's consistency shows that the Aussie is on great form, and not just ahead of Seb by default. It's very questionable whether Seb is the best, but he is still one of the top drivers and so should be able to at least match and beat Dan as the season goes on.
Winner: Ricciardo
3.FERRARI
Sadly, my early prediction of Ferrari being "consigned to a season of 4ths and 5ths with not many podiums" appears accurate. For all the talk of Alonso vs Raikkonen fighting each other for the title, experience taught me that in reality, it could turn out to be for merely middle points positions. It just seems things will not change unless major changes are made.
Raikkonen is a top driver but over the years I felt a little too overrated and would more likely than not lose out to Alonso. He was a good choice, and a needed one as the Massa partnership was more than stale on all sides. The gap is large as it has been with almost all of Alonso's team-mates. However, the early form is definitely not indicative of Raikkonen's real level and he should be given a few races at least to settle in. He is closer now though. Alonso has done quite brilliantly to be 3rd in the WDC which just shouldn't be possible given the car. This is what it mean to "outperform" the car i.e. he should only be 5th at best but is 3rd overall.
Winner: Alonso
4.WILLIAMS
I have put Williams 4th even though they may actually have (had) the 3rd best car overall(!) Their drivers are not as good as Alonso (currently) but it's disappointing to see them trailing Force India though great to see them up there!
Massa has done a good job but you know Alonso would be worth another 0.3sec. Bottas has shown very well to be matching Massa. He also seems to be doing it on less capacity judging by his ability to convert into results, though this hasn't been perfect, understandable for someone in only their 2nd season. Felipe has had some bad circumstances though explaining much of his points loss.
Winner: Bottas
5.FORCE INDIA
They have surprised me by beating Williams by making the most of every opportunity. It looked after pre-season testing that Williams would be a big step ahead, but Force India seem to grow incrementally stronger every year. They are as good now as Jordan ever were, I believe. Hulkenberg has done his usual excellent job and has now become one of the top drivers in F1 now. I now rate his general form as higher than Button's or even Raikkonen's. Nico has been very solid, Alonso-esque and there's not much more he could do.
Perez has blown hot and cold, though he has suffered, almost exclusively, the team's problems. A very strong driver, though not quite on Hulkenberg's level, but is close enough (as expected) to show that maybe Hulkenberg, though ticking all the boxes, is maybe overall lacking that last crucial tenth or two...
Perez scored a great podium, and there was no reverse tyre strategy here. But Nico should have had it - the only thing stopping him bagging a huge result is just making a small mistake once in a while when opportunity arises, which can be fixed.
Winner: Hulkenberg
6.MCLAREN
Oh dear, what a shocker of a season. Given the engine advantage, it appears that McLaren have a much worse chassis than even last season's. I keep thinking it just can't be that bad! I am now wondering if Mercedes are really holding back on them in some way, as they simply cannot be this slow. At least they got on the podium in Melbourne.
Button is still good, but I feel he has been overtaken by Hulkenberg, probably Ricciardo too, and is just slowly starting to slide down the pecking order of drivers in F1 as recent drivers gain more experience. Magnussen, apart from the bad car, has done enough to shine against Button. Curiously, just like my Grand Prix season, he shone brightest in Melbourne.
Winner: Hard to call, but just right now, Button
7.LOTUS
Lotus indeed suffered a Benetton 2001 style opening to the season, but have bounced back much more quickly. Like the Arrows 2002, it seems a car with big potential, only needing time, money and testing to unlock it's inherent ability. Then I guess the will assume their usual place, meaning 2013 but with 2014 engines and drivers. They have done a great job to improve so quickly I think.
As predicted, favoured driver Grosjean has been the best, but his outperforming of Maldonado is greater than I thought. Since Lotus are out of the limelight, it's hard to tell how well Grosjean is doing. He has sounded understandably negative at times yet put in performances that indicate he is being strong and giving his all.
As for Maldonado, I see him as a rough diamond, so don't view him as being that bad, it's just that things need to come together for him. Most are less forgiving though, and I know my assistant manager at work would definitely be calling him a bell*nd. But he has been poor again with incidents and they simply should not be occurring with such regularity in his 4th season. Occasionally is understandable, but with the team in a bad place, he really needs to stop causing big repair bills. However, like Perez, he could spring a great result somewhere (though it would NOT make him better than Grosjean, the same as a few big results don't make Perez better than Hulkenberg if he is lagging behind the other 75% of the time).
Winner: Grosjean
8.TORO ROSSO
Toro Rosso have surprised me as I think they actually have a good car there, it's just that it's hidden mainly by Renault's current problems. It shouldn't be a surprise as once again James Key is working his effect. It's just that there seems to be a lag time of 1 full season to take effect - and just look at how Sauber are doing without him... He really seems to be a poor man's (team's?) Adrian Newey, which is actually quite a compliment.
As for the drivers, Kvyat has surprised me. I didn't realise he was this good. Looking at his approach and attitude, he does look like he can be a megastar, and seems like he can be another Vettel. As long as Dr.Marko doesn't fire him for not winning a race! Yes Seb managed it in 2008 but let's see him do it in any STR from 2010 onwards.
As for Vergne, he needs to find more, or his F1 career is looking perilously short. The thing is though, he is another driver suffering with weight due to height. This is a very unfair disadvantage, costing relatively bucket-loads of time, and is a real issue this year with cars not under the minimum weight. This is wrong, as if I was an F1 driver, at 87kg compared to Massa's 59kg, he would have 1sec per lap advantage on me before we even turned a wheel! (then the little f****r would be going on and on, Nico Rosberg style, about how he was quicker than me!!!*)
*This assumes me having F1 level talent! :p
Winner: Kvyat
9.SAUBER
My word do Sauber suck this year. Their team must have been put together by N.Jones for this year. :p
What good things can I say? The drivers aren't great, though I like Gutierrez, the livery is f*****g awful (sorry for my language today using all stars, not really like me, must be picking it up from work...), why can't they do a great early 90's black livery instead of HRT 2010 granite?
Sutil has sadly been shocking, outqualified by Gutierrez 4-2. However, this is certainly due to the unfair disadvantage of weight caused by height again. It just shows if a car is over the minimum weight limit, then the drivers are left completely exposed to their personal weight having a massive effect on lap time, not just a small-ish one like before. So really, he is a dead duck in the water. It feels wrong and un-natural that Gutierrez is outqualifying him so much as Sutil isn't bad.
Esteban has stepped up though I think, though qualifying in Australia and China shows the leap hasn't been that huge. It's good to see him more confident and prepared than 2013. It's hard to see though as both drivers are terribly hampered by the car.
Worse still, it has been revealed today that Sauber's situation is so bad that it looks like they are up for sale, and simply have no money to fix their problems. This means they appear worse off than Williams in 2013, and it's hard to see where they go from here, except just trying to simply survive.
Winner: Gutierrez