Things Learned During the 2018 Australian Grand Prix
The long winter is over, the halos are all fastened tightly, the bargeboards are all ridiculously complex and a brand new F1 season has started. Australia is odd every year in the sense that the season is so long that to make predictions for the World Championship based on the events in this race would be a little bit of a stretch, but at the same time there’s many things to be learned from the first race of the season. This is where the facade of winter testing falls off and the contenders are separated from the pretenders and where the midfield first shows how tight or not tight the battle will be. The race above all was entertaining in a bit of an alarming sense because the highlight of it came from a Virtual Safety Car. An F1 race where a VSC is the thing that has the biggest influence on the result is kind of like a barbecue restaurant that is famous for it’s sides. Sure that’s nice but you’d really want to go to a place for the meat and not how good the potato salad is. Anyway let’s break it down.
1. There May Actually be a Battle For The Top
Mercedes has dominated for so long, the last honest to goodness battle there’s been in Formula 1 was back in 2012. In the five years since then each season has been ruled by one team with the others never really having a shot, and for 4 of those years it’s been Mercedes. 2017 was the closest since 2012 with Hamilton winning the Driver’s Championship by 46 points. Considering a 1st place finish is worth 25 points though you can see it really wasn’t THAT close.
This year though, we may be in for a close one. This more of a hopeful claim than anything else but there may be a sign of hope. Mercedes is still very strong. Ferrari though, seems to have a competitive car this time around. Sebastian Vettel is in a fighting mood, and even #2 driver Kimi Raikkonen seems to be in a fighting mood as evidenced by an angry radio exchange with his engineer over Vettel’s pitting strategy and the simple fact that he out-qualified his teammate breaking a multi race streak from last year. This can only be good for competition and hopefully Ferrari will allow their drivers to push each other and at the same time push Mercedes.
Red Bull, perennial “best chassis” winners could also pressure the top again. It’s been 5 years since Red Bull’s had a World Championship and the fact that they’ve been saddled with a Renault engine in the turbo era has been the biggest reason for it. This year’s engine however could finally deliver just enough performance that when paired with the “best chassis” in the field could lead to enough wins that a Constructor or Driver’s championship isn’t out of the questions. Additionally, Red Bull’s drivers continue to be some of the best on the grid and this year being the last year on Daniel Ricciardo’s contract year could lead to him pulling some crazy performances so he can get that big paycheck come midseason.
2. McLaren is not really back
Speaking of “best chassis” award winners, McLaren for the last three seasons performed dismally. The blame was placed squarely on the VTECH-less Honda engine and time and time again they would talk about how their aero and their suspension were so great if only for that darn Honda engine. Well this year the Honda is gone and there’s a Renault on the back of the car now so Fernando Alonso is happy after finishing 5th.
Video by u/BottasWMR via r/formula1
Alonso gave a heartfelt speech not just for his team but very clearly for the cameras where he proclaimed, “…long Winter, long seasons in the past but now we can fight. We can fight.” This no doubt came from the performance he saw in the car in being able to hold back Red Bull’s Max Verstappen for about 20 laps for 5th, but let’s not lose sight of the grand scheme of things. Alonso himself was overtaken by the other Red Bull of Ricciardo and finished the race 20 seconds behind him.
While it’s encouraging that both of McLaren’s cars finished this race, and that they almost equaled the entirety of their points from last season in one race I’d still think it’s a stretch to say McLaren can fight for a title. Getting podiums would be great and maybe that’s what Alonso meant, but it’s hard to believe the double world champion who is so thirsty for victory he’s running OTHER series would settle for podiums at this stage in his career.
In any case, McLaren vs. Red Bull with the same engine could at the very least settle which of the two English teams actually has the “best chassis”. If that’s what they’re interested in fighting for.
3. Haas done goofed, but not all hope is lost
What a heart-breaker it was for Haas. After having a fantastic winter testing and having their best ever qualifying both of their cars retired within one lap of each other and for a non-mechanical issue. Two cross-threaded wheel nuts lead to both of the cars being unsafely released and unable to run as one of their wheels were about to fall of.
There’s been a lot of complaning and bemoaning from the bigger teams that Haas is a Ferrari Jr team to the point where they’re not building much of their own car and that this is “anti sport” however the failure of this team showed us they’re as good a team as any. Though they were in the highest positions of their short history and that was taken away by them by human error none of the drivers exploded in a hissy fit or team boss Gunther Steiner didn’t throw anyone under the bus.
These are the kind of things that make a midfield team stand out and gain new fans. Haas has the potential to be surprising this year and as they show more of how different and human they are it can only endear them to the viewers. While Toto Wolff can go on and say Haas is bad for the sport, they’ve shown the world a totally human and inspiring side of Formula 1 that is rarely seen.
4. Where is the midfield?
Remember Force India? What about Sauber?….was Williams even in the race?
After finishing fourth in the Constructor’s Championships and retaining their strong driver lineup expectations are high for Force India but they finished out of the points this race and Sergio Perez couldn’t overtake a nauseated Carlos Sainz. Right now Force India is only a pretty car that is quick in a straight line but not much else, kinda like the old HRTs. Well maybe not that bad.
Sauber’s rookie driver, Charles Leclerc finished 13th and on the lead lap which is impressive given the situation of Sauber, but it seems doubtful they’ll be fighting for podiums any time soon.
Williams was dismal. Sergey Sirotkin wins the dubious honor of having the first retirement of the year and Lance Stroll was all but anonymous in the race. Truth be told the video feed showed more footage of Rob Smedley staring at monitors than any footage of a Williams on track. I think this is the year where Williams exits the midfield and becomes a back marker.
5. Honda is still Honda
Toro Rosso is a very interesting team. Brendan Hartley is LeMans winning driver and is undoubtedly talented, James Key is one of the most respected designers in Formula 1 and with solid backing from Red Bull there’s really no fear of them collapsing mid season. The fact that they are almost a “subteam” to Red Bull also makes them a great fit for Honda. Red Bull is looking for an edge, the last time they dominated they were effectively Renault’s factory team but that is no longer the case. The surest path to a World Championship is to have as much control over the engine as possible so working with Honda is the only option left. Seeing the awful results of McLaren/Honda however would mean Red Bull can’t just jump ship right away, so Toro Rosso is the natural “beta” stage for a Red Bull Honda partnership.
It’s gonna be a long year for these guys. One race in, one blown engine. One can only hope the reports that came out during testing about how closely Toro Rosso and Honda are true and they figure something out. Unless a miracle happens though, get ready to see blue puffs of smoke coming out of the Toro Rosso race after race.
6. Halo isn’t that big of a deal
The Halo is ugly, but the drivers are safer. The over the shoulder onboard camera angle is ruined, but the drivers are safer. The helmets aren’t visible anymore, but the drivers are safer. The halos have annoying ads on them, but the drivers are safer. There’s TWO cars that are using the halos to advertise sandals, ok that’s kinda funny but the drivers are safer.
Overall, the drivers are safer. Even in some unexpected ways and that can only be good for the sport.
