THE SWITCHBACK

With the first round of the 2018 F1 season four days away, here is my take on the new season

 

Here I will cover the main teams and any shock performers before tackling a few of the other contentious issues that have been floating about in the off-season.  

 

Mercedes AMG Petronas

Mercedes faced no really challenge to wrap up the 2017 Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships after a nightmare of an end to the season for Ferrari. However, they are determined to perform head-to-head as they look to rectify the issues they faced with the W07.

 

A lot of work has been done on the aero side of the car in an effort to sort out the issues they had in wheel-to-wheel racing last year. The car was said to be difficult to control when following other cars, meaning that if Ferrari had of kept things together in 2017, the title may not have headed back to Brackley.

 

Straight line speed wasn't an issue for any Mercedes powered team last year, especially not the main men themselves, but Australia will prove whether the W08 can perform in dirty air, where last years car struggled most.

 

Ferrari

Ferrari took first and second on the overall time sheet in Barcelona, however they did cover less ground then Mercedes. Ferrari only have the matter of reliability to work on from last season, as Vettel was bang in the title race, if not slight favourite, until the wheels came off. Again only time will tell, however the car looked good on Pirelli's new Hypersoft tyre compound.

 

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 

A mixed 2017 saw Red Bull look like world beaters with one car while looking like McLaren Honda with the other. Again, while not giving a clear cut view t performance, Red Bull's pace looks promising. Holding the fastest time early on in testing, Red Bull hold the third fastest time of any team, losing out to Ferrari and their fellow Renault powered outfit McLaren.

 

However, they were only seventh in distance covered and had reported a few issues with the car that kept them in the garage longer than they might have hoped. 

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McLaren

After a horrendous spell in the sport with Honda engines (more on those in a minute), hopes were high for McLaren Renault at Barcelona, that was until a wheel fell off, quite literally.

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Despite Fernando Alonso's trip into the gravel with three wheels on his wagon early on in testing, he set the third fastest time overall, making McLaren the second fastest team over the eight days. While not conclusive certainly promising for a team that have found themselves out of place over the past few years.

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However, similarly to Renault running Red Bull, reliability was a slight issue and they racked up the fewest amount of laps of any team in Barcelona. This seams to be a Renault issue as cars with their engines clocked the second fewest laps (only ahead of Honda, who only supply one team as opposed to three).

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Toro Rosso

Well what happened here then? Honda, the laughing stock of F1, the engine that never works just went and put in the third most miles covered. As pranks go, this one on McLaren was pretty elaborate.

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Seeming to be a perfect match, Toro Rosso Honda took the sixth best time, only around 0.3 seconds slower than big brothers Red Bull, and the third most laps of any team. A big surprise but one that adds an extra layer of excitement to the new season.

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Sirotkin or Kubica?

Williams had a tough time both on and off the track over the winter, with their car struggling for performance and huge questions asked of the driver selection for 2018.

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Many fans wanted Robert Kubica's return to F1, however, Williams kept him as a reserve driver and gave the second seat to Russian pay-driver Sergey Sirotkin. There is a suggestion that this was simply a money based and that Sirotkin was nowhere near good enough for F1. 

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I, despite being a big fan of Kubica, think this was the right call. Sirotkin picked up pace across the eight days despite a difficult first day. Kubica's hand doesn't look like it is assisting in left hand corners. This doesn't seem like too much of an issue when just lapping, however, it could be a risk to put him into wheel-to-wheel racing. Having said that I do hope Kubica gets a shot at a race later in the season.

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The Halo

I'm sitting on the fence here. While it ruins the T-cam view and I'm not convinced it will improve safety as much as is hoped, it certainly looks better now they are incorporated into the design. It still doesn't quite sit right with me but its certainly not as big of an issue as I felt originally.