Midfield teams - your thoughts?
Among midfielders we have a very tight fight between Force India, Sauber and STR for P6 in WCC, but among midfielders in terms of performance we can also count Renault and Williams.
So what do you think, which teams among those five have the brightest future in the next couple of years? :) Perhaps all of them are currently underfunded compared to Top4 teams, some of them are in need of paydrivers as well.
Lotus Renault GP started the season well, but they seem to be in turmoil and are gradually losing performance. Good points from early races have saved them P5 in WCC, but I'm not sure they are able to keep it in subsequent seasons. Arguably some personnel has left too to greener pastures. Where is this team heading to? Is the ownership stable or are we going to see any changes there? What will it all mean to their performance in F1?
Force India is a team I have been very impressed with this season. Despite having lost a lot of key staff in past years, they have managed to escape from their low (late '10, early '11) and start performing really strongly again. On some circuits they have been "best of the rest" behind Top3 teams. They also haven't needed paydrivers, although arguably di Resta brings a discount on Mercedes engines. Can they up their game further or have they reached the ceiling?
Sauber has been sort of opposite to Force India in the last two years. In this sense that in late '10 and early '11 they were really good, but have been struggling a bit lately. But Perez' run in P7 at Monza indicates that the team should still have some fire. The hiring of James Key last year seemed to have a positive effect, but after a good start into the season they have found a bit hard to progress further. In the fight for P6 in WCC those DQ's in Australia are really costly...
Toro Rosso has been gradually improving after having to start to design their own cars since 2010. Recently they have actually come really strong, reminding a bit of their 2008 form - consistent good points and challenging for P6 in WCC, the same position they achieved in 2008. I also have a suspicion that although officially they are designing their own cars, then perhaps some ideas from Newey and RBR are still leaked to Faenza, how else are they progressing so rapidly. :p : But the team is about to get sold now, so how will this influence their future?
After seemingly very positive winter testing (showboating?), Williams has been a serious failure during the actual season. Renault engines for 2012, but as the performances of Team Lotus indicate, this is no magic solution. Importantly Williams has also made massive changes in technical personnel and Head is going to officially retire after this year. What will all of this mean for the next seasons? Does this team still have some fire to take the fight to the midfield teams above?
