Great 2016 raves that turned out to be a flop

[Nitrodaze]

The first great rave of the season was the mind blowing pre-season test of Mercedes which saw them run a full season's worth of laps over the two pre-season test sessions. At the end of it, everyone was convinced the reliability of the Mercedes was bullet proof. Come the first race of the season, the Mercedes reigning champion was confronted with one drivetrain problem or another. To Mercedes' discomfort, it had to happen to their most media exposed [or talked about] driver. By four races into the season, the word was Mercedes are not so bullet proof as they make out.

Then there was the great Ferrari chest pump. We shall haul in those silver Mercedes this season, they say. The red beauty showed worrying pace for the reliability wobbled Mercedes team. Then came a combination of reliability issues and poor race strategies. The prancing horse failed to deliver on its promise to take the fight to the still dominant Mercedes. They failed to capitalize when the Mercedes were off their game [like the mercedes wipeout in Spain]. But painfully, they watched helplessly as the resurgent Redbull mercilessly pushed them to arguably the third most competitive team on the grid. To rub chili peppers into the gaping wound, the force india; sniffing a prey, out performed them on a number of occasions too.

Lets not forget the cautious Williams. The launch of the 2016 car left most wondering if that had missed something. That car looks like the 2015 car some muttered. Then came the narative why. I think they said they had fixed the things that did not work in 2015 because the car was good enough; with those things fixed of course, to maintain its 3rd place in the 2016 season. The continuity strategy did not seem to have yeilded the desired result as they have drifted into 4th place. With a hundred points gap away from 3rd place Redbull and having a brilliant force india closing in, well within 20 points striking distance. The question is can Williams hang on to 4th this season. The brilliant surge forward by the beloved Williams over the 2014 and 2015 seasons, seems to be drawing to a close.

In a small way, there was the promise of the Toro Rosso beating the senior Redbull team over the first half of the season with a 2015 Ferrari engine that was mis-perceived would be a superior engine to the 2016 Renault engine. With a display of some of the worst race strategies this season, we saw the Toro Rosso squander their opportunities to convert great qualifying grid positions into well deserved points. In the end, Renault stepped up with a brilliant redesigned engine. And the senior team were able to save face with the help of brilliant efforts by Ricciado and Kyvat. The disappointment is they only have 41 points to show for what was a great car at the outset of the season.

I wonder what else you may have noticed. But this my one and only grumpy post of the season.

[Stan Reid]

The season in general is a flop and they will continue to be as long as F1 keeps lifting their skirts for the environmentalists.

[zako85]

Just an average season. We have seen worse. For example, I am a lot more entertained than in 2011.

[Nitrodaze]

The season in general is a flop and they will continue to be as long as F1 keeps lifting their skirts for the environmentalists.

I probably would not go as far as calling the season a flop. It is disappointing that Ferrari did not deliver on their promise to fight the Mercedes closely as hoped. But there has been some very exciting racing and races so far and more to come no doubt. Baku turned out to be an exciting and very entertaining addition to the calendar. The Mercedes wipe out certainly entertained. And the fiesty dutchman, Verstapenn has been a most welcomed addition the sharp end of the grid.
Though, Ferrari has yet to exploit their full potential, Redbull has stepped up and have drawn blood when given the slightest opportunity. I personally think this season is one of the most entertaining for some time. Even with quite lame rules like the knockout qualifying that got swiftly canned. I hope the same happens to the radio rule.

[Nitrodaze]

I think we should add the knock out qualifying to this list, don't you agree. The promise that it would make qualifying exciting, had only one thing in common with formula 1 cars, it was very quick to turn out to be a farce. Dumped just as quickly as it was invented.