Editors Blog – Half way through what has been the story so far and going forward?
Formula One has entered the half way point of the season we have seen a remarkable story unfold with the seer dominance of Mercedes. The first half of the season they would have won every race of the season so far if it wasn’t for that crash in Barcelona which as I wrote at the time showed the rivalry between friends Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
Rise of Rosberg
Who would of thought that Rosberg would have been the best driver leading the championship until Budapest. Rosberg is a great driver and history tells us that you win the opening four races and you win the title. I feel this could be true again this season but it will be a tough fight with Hamilton this season for the world championship.
Rosberg and Hamilton are lucky that they are free to race because if they were at Ferrari I believe from history that there would be team orders with Hamilton being the number one. But fair play to Mercedes for allowing them to race. What if Ross Brawn was there still would it have been a repeat of the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix?
Max Versurpien
Max Verstappen has been the surprise for me I was shocked with the mid-season switch with Daniil Kyvat. But that win following the self-destruction of the Mercedes in Barcelona he has become the hottest ticket in motorsport aged eighteen. In April I wrote a piece about him I could easily re-write it following the last few races.
He remains the best young driver on the grid and will I feel be in the sport for at least the next decade if not longer. I hope he becomes a world champion in years to come and he will be a great ambassador for F1.
Where are the Prancing Horses?
Going into the season we all believed that Ferrari would be fighting with the silver arrows on track after the season they had last year I thought they would be in the hunt for the title. While mathematically possible I feel it’s unlikely with the brilliant Mercedes that they can win this seasons titles. This means it will be a decade – yes a decade, don’t believe I’m writing that – since they won a title.
They won’t give up on 2016 until it’s mathematically impossible to win both titles as it there mandate to win the title for the greatest team in F1 history.
Haas flopping
Haas have had a mixed season I going in to Melbourne was expecting them to have a poor start followed by a strong mid-season. They had a good start but then dipped of following China they will be hoping they can be strong going forward. But you got to feel sorry for the team as they will junk this car because of the rule changes next season.
They have a good platform to develop from but will not be able to next season like everyone else. Even their team boss Gunther Steiner admitted they weren’t planning for major regulation changes next season.
Sabuer off track
The main story until Hungary was the perilous Sabuer finances which is damaging for the sport and for the team. The sport needs strong investment to be a long term team – it is they been in the sport for two decades – like every team they want to be winning. I have questions about Longbow Finance because there difficult to find online about the company.
Summer break
After this weekends race the sport goes into the two week shut down this gives us the chance to speculate about who going where next season. Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull we already know there will be no change there. But many will be focusing on the fight between Sofftel Vandoorne and Jenson Button.
The Vandoorne Question
Mclaren are facing a difficult question about Jenson Button and Sofftel Vandoorne who they want to drive their car. They have warned “hands off Vandoorne” until we decide what to do with our line up next season. McLaren don’t want to leave it too late as seats fill it will get harder for either of them to find seats on the grid. So time will tell
Jack was on holiday when writing this post. Full coverage of the German Grand Prix this weekend and F1 Today returns on Tuesday night
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