Turn 2 Debate: The Landscape Of Formula One

Column By: DAYLON BARR & JOHN DOUGLAS / RPW – This week in the Turn 2 debate Daylon and John look at the landscape of Formula One. Has Ferrari truly caught Mercedes? Can they double up on wins in Shanghai? Or will Mercedes slowly gap the field under the new 2017 regulations the same way they have for the last few seasons?

John: There were a lot of reports coming out of preseason testing in Barcelona. One that perked my ears up was the fact teams felt Ferrari was “sandbagging” a bit. Judging from the result in Australia I’m inclined to believe they weren’t kidding.

Daylon: Yeah. They didn’t impress in the test very much, but neither did Mercedes. They weren’t as fast in the test as I thought they would be, granted they were faster than everyone else but they didn’t show the dominance. Ferrari didn’t show that they were on the same competitive level like they did in Australia that’s for sure.

John: From everything I heard in the off season Ferrari was noticeably holding back a bit. The rumor mill started up as the teams arrived in Australia that people needed to keep an eye on the ‘Tifosi’ because they might be faster than they led on in the tests. That was backed up through the practice sessions in Melbourne. It certainly seemed that Mercedes and Ferrari played cat and mouse through all those sessions so the competition couldn’t truly be sure of what the other team had. I’m of the opinion that we only saw who really had the advantage during the first pit stop of the race, when Hamilton pitted and Ferrari basically said, “Ok, time to stretch out our legs a bit.” By the time Ferrari finally pitted Vettel, they were far enough ahead to retain the lead, and that was while Hamilton had returned to the track on fresh rubber, and should’ve been closing the gap down to Vettel.

Daylon: It was just shocking how fast Hamilton’s tires went away so quickly on that first stint. Mercedes brought him in really early. I think Ferrari saw that and said “hammer down.” That’s when we really started to see the pace of the Ferrari cars. Even if Hamilton could have beaten the Ferrari out, I think the Ferrari was capable of running down the Mercedes.

John: Well Vettel was on Hamilton’s gearbox through the whole first stint. He was able to match pace even in the dirty air behind the Mercedes of Hamilton but after the pit stop, Hamilton’s tires went away quickly, and he certainly could not stay glued to Vettel’s rear end. That tells me that the new Ferrari is overall a better package. It also tells me that when in a pinch, the Ferrari can just stay right behind their competition, wait for them to pit, then overlap them on strategy. That’s a big problem for Mercedes this year for sure.

Daylon: I think Ferrari is in great position to win a Driver’s Championship. Maybe not a Constructor’s title, but they’ve definitely shortened up the gap that Mercedes has built over the last three or four years. Toto Wolfe (Mercedes Team Boss) was visibly angry at Australia that they lost the lead to Ferrari, and I think he will throw everything the FIA will allow at that car to make sure they are competitive. At the same time, Liberty Media, the new owners of Formula One have made regulation changes that may be bringing the ball back to Vettel’s court.

John: The big question mark to me is honestly the rest of this year. Liberty Media took away the token system for development, which no one understood or cared about anyway. This leaves teams more able to adapt as the year goes on, and hopefully keep a competetive pace with the teams around them. In a sport that is all about the cutting edge of technology, I think it will be a good thing to see the teams trying new things to gain pace.

Daylon: Obviously Bottas has a slower car than Hamilton, but he is still able to beat the second Ferrari of Raikonnen. The Red Bull team is close enough that with rain races and other variables, they could steal a win or two this season. It’s going to be interesting to see how the teams react with development. Especially Mercedes. Like I said, Toto Wolfe is mad that they have lost their huge advantage.