Bahrain GP 2016

Bahrain GP 20165 in a row for Rosberg

Nico Rosberg scored his 5th consecutive win at the Bahrain GP to maintain his perfect start to 2016. Kimi Raikkonen came home 2nd, breaking the record for podium finishes at the same race, whilst Lewis Hamilton had to recover yet another race to finish 3rd. It was another solid 4th for Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean went one better than he did in Australia, bringing his Haas home in 5th. Max Verstappen was 6th for Toro Rosso, with the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas coming in 7th and 8th. Dani Kvyat was 9th after starting 18th and Stoffel Vandoorne was 10th on his McLaren debut, deputising for the injured Fernando Alonso. It was a day to forget for Sebastian Vettel however as his engine starting smoking on the formation lap and didn't make it to the start.

This failure for Vettel was one of a few incidents that robbed the fans of a potential fascinating battle for the victory, which Rosberg took comfortably in the end. At the start, Rosberg once again got the jump on Hamilton, whilst Raikkonen was almost static and fell back. In the run down to turn one, the fast starting Williams’ were right up there with the Mercedes’, and Bottas tried to go up the inside of Hamilton before with him, causing the Mercedes body damage. The result of this saw Hamilton fall back down the field and another damage limitations drive was needed for the World Champion. Bottas also received a drive through penalty for causing a collision, something I believe was harsh simply because there was definitely a gap for Bottas to try and go for. This, along with Raikkonen's poor start, allowed Rosberg to control the race from the front again and win comfortably. Had Vettel started, Hamilton avoided contact, and Raikkonen started well, it could have been an absolute cracker up front. A significant thing with this victory is the number five. No driver has ever won five races in a row and not won the World Championship. A sign perhaps?

After another shocking qualifying session, the racing again was exciting to watch, albeit not at the front where everyone wants it. Easily from 4th down to last place, cars were going up the inside, around the outside, any possible way just to make up one place, even if it was just for 11th, 12th or 13th. Pascal Wehrlein was a superb example of this throughout the race, eventually finishing in 13th place and showing the progress the Manor team are making with the Mercedes engines. Amongst all the overtaking, bits of front wing and everything else seemed to be flying all over the place. By the end of lap 1 Hamilton was missing bits of car, as was Bottas and Ricciardo. Sergio Perez also had a collision resulting in a new front wing. Formula 1 had turned into a demolition derby for a few laps at least.

Reliability an Issue for Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel's failure on the formation lap at the Bahrain GP is the second reliability issue the team has had this season. In Australia, Kimi Raikkonen had some kind of engine issue which saw flames shoot out from the overhead air duct. Vettel also had issues in practise that looked like engine or gearbox but turned out to be a loose wheel. Even the fact that a loose wheel was the culprit, it still shows that Ferrari have issues. A problem with the wheel gun and the wheel nut was the issue in Bahrain. The most concerning however would definitely be the engine issues that seem to be plaguing the team. They have clearly made progress with the power unit and closed the gap to Mercedes.

The fact that they seem unwilling to run the car to full capacity with regards to the engine shows that the team are aware of this, even if they don't want to openly admit it. Sebastian Vettel has came out and said that the team are surprised by their reliability issues. These engine troubles could also have ramifications for Sauber and Haas who both run 2016 Ferrari engines. For their season to have a real title push, they really need to sort this out fast, or risk losing more ground to Mercedes.

Haas F1 Fallout?

After the Bahrain GP I posted a question on twitter asking should the likes of Williams, Force India and Sauber feel aggrieved by the fantastic start the team have made to F1 life? It prompted many different responses ranging from definitely yes, to absolutely not. Personally I don't think they should. What the Haas team has done should be the new blueprint for any team wanting to compete in Formula 1. In 2010 when Caterham (Team Lotus), HRT and Virgin Racing came to the grid with no proper financial backing or plan it was a disaster waiting to happen. HRT and Caterham failed to score a single point in Formula 1 during their short tenures in the sport. Virgin Racing have had two name changes, now running under the Manor name and have scored just two solitary points in this their 7th season. Haas in just two races have scored 18 points. The idea of planning out the team and setting it up the way Gene Haas has should be applauded. Essentially they are a Ferrari B team with the amount of Ferrari equipment that has been used and using former Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutierrez as one of its drivers. Williams have been vocal in their opposition to the way Haas have entered F1 but fail to mention that they started in very similar fashion. I can see the point of view of Force India and Sauber a bit more as they have been completely independent since joining F1, and never made a secret of the financial difficulties they've encountered. It was even rumoured at Bahrain that the next race in China could be one too many for the Sauber team, something I pray is not true. But what's done is done now, and it is up to these teams to play catch up or maybe try and strike similar deals elsewhere. 

Australian GP 2016

Ferrari Ruin Vettel's Chances of Victory

The 2016 Formula 1 season kicked off at the traditional curtain raiser in Australia, and saw Nico Rosberg continue where he left off in 2015 securing his fourth consecutive win. Team mate Lewis Hamilton finished in 2nd with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing 3^rd. But how different the story could have been… After the farce that was qualifying on Saturday, the race certainly made up for it as there was action throughout up and down the grid. From the lights going out there was action. The Mercedes pair were sluggish off the line, which allowed Vettel, who made a superb start, to breeze past them like they were not there. His team mate, Kimi Raikkonen also got past both silver arrows. By turn three, Rosberg was 3rd and Hamilton was 6th, behind the Williams of Felipe Massa. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz occupied 4th and 5th as the race settled down. Hamilton made ground but struggled against the two stubborn Toro Rosso drivers who held their own brilliantly. Vettel was comfortable out front, until a turning point in the race occurred on lap 17. At turn 3, Esteban Gutierrez moved slightly left on Fernando Alonso, which saw the double World Champion plough into the back of the Haas driver, which caused the car to flip and fly through the air. The car was a total wreck but Alonso got out and thankfully walked away unharmed. The incident was so huge the red flag had to be brought out and the race was suspended while the marshals cleaned up the track. Just prior to this accident, pit stops were being made, or just about to be made. Hamilton switched to the medium tyre, whereas most others stayed on the super-softs or the softs. During the red flag, teams are allowed to work on the car, change tyres, whatever they please. Many teams decided to change to the medium tyre here, which would allow them to go to the end of the race. Ferrari opted not to put Vettel on these tyres, instead keeping him on the super-softs. When the race restarted, it was clear almost immediately that the two Mercedes would have the advantage. Rosberg would keep pace with Vettel whilst Hamilton, once in clear air, would hunt down his team mate. Vettel pitted and came out behind the Mercedes pair but was left with too much to do and could only finish third. What started out as a fantastic race ended in disappointment for the German. Had they mirrored the Mercedes pair, I am positive that Vettel would have went on to win comfortably.  

Behind all of this, home favourite Daniel Ricciardo finished a brilliant 4th for Red Bull with Felipe Massa finishing 5th. Story of the day though was Romain Grosjean scoring points on the Haas team's debut with a brilliant drive to 6th. He held off Nico Hulkenberg's Force India and Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who finished 7th and 8th, ahead of the Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen who were 9th and 10th. Jolyon Palmer had a solid debut for Renault on their return as a constructor to finish 11th, with team mate Kevin Magnusson behind him in 12th. Sergio Perez, Jenson Button, Felipe Nasr and Pascal Wehrlein rounded off the classified drivers.

Toys Out of the Pram at Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso were considered dark horses coming into the Australian GP after having an impressive pre-season in Barcelona. This pace was seen throughout the weekend, despite the team running a 2015 Ferrari spec engine. Verstappen qualified 5th with Sainz 7th, showing how impressive that new car really is. From the off, both drivers showed their talent and the potential of the car with Verstappen running 4th and Sainz keeping Hamilton behind him for a long period of time. After the red flag, both drivers found themselves outside the points due to pitting before the flag came out. The result of this was toys out of the pram from Verstappen. Verstappen was stuck behind his team mate and behind Palmers Renault, which angered the young Dutchman. Sainz's inability to move saw Verstappen use some colourful language over the radio to vent his anger. For me this was unnecessary and showed Verstappen's inexperience. We saw last season how good Verstappen was with regards to overtaking and he showed have applied this during the race. I believe this is an area that the team need to work on with Max to help his development so this incident is not repeated, although I can see repeated incidents occurring in the future.        

Haas with a Cracking Debut

It was a debut to remember for the new Haas F1 team as Romain Grosjean scored a brilliant 6th place. His team mate Esteban Gutierrez was not as fortunate as his tangle with Alonso saw him retire, but Grosjean stood out with his points finish. During testing the team looked like it had a decent outfit but technical issues were scuppering them. Qualifying did not look promising either, as both drivers qualified way back in 19th and 20th. However Grosjean showed exactly why he was brought in by Gene Haas as he put in a confident drive to score points on the team’s debut. He was maybe helped by the red flag in which he chose to put on the medium tyres and went until the end. Grosjean took everything in his stride and showed just how good of a driver he is. Haas's result was the best by a new constructor since Brawn in 2009 and the best by a brand new team since Toyota in 2002.

Qualifying Shambles

Formula 1's new elimination style qualifying system was nothing more than a total failure. It was an intriguing concept and one that seemed would work on paper, but when put into practise, it was an absolute shambles. The teams gave off the impression that they didn't understand how the system worked, with a lot of drivers not even having enough time to complete a lap when on the brink of elimination. The cameras would also only focus on the driver that was on the brink of elimination, so the fans were deprived of seeing stunning laps from Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. What was also frustrating for the fans, was the lack of graphics indicating the time left before elimination occurred, although this was rectified during the session. On top of this, we saw drivers exiting cars when the they still involved in the session, but were timed out due to errors by the teams. To top this shambolic start to the season, we had the top eight shoot out finish with four minutes or so remaining! Both Ferraris only ran once and then got their drivers out the car, not posing any more threat to the Mercedes pair, who ran twice and then left the car. Fans were left with no action for the final four minutes of qualifying, which is simply shocking. This new system was meant to shake up a Saturday, to add a bit of spice ready for Sunday. All it has given is an already dwindling audience yet another reason to dwindle. It produced nothing along the lines of excitement, and it was seemingly just like the grid fans and pundits would have predicted before the start of the weekend. Thankfully discussions took place before the race on Sunday and it seems the unanimous decision is that the teams will revert to the old system for Bahrain.