F1 2020 Recap

It's been a strange year of note but many were glad when the FIA decided to go ahead with the 2020 season despite the pandemic and to say they pulled it off is doing them an injustice as the season played out almost 100% with most of those involved hardly being affected by the virus and gave us, the fans a season to remember! Lewis went on to equal Michael Schumacher's record by winning his 7th title this year but apart from Lewis running away with the title, there were some interesting battles in the top 10 places and saw a lot of relatively smaller teams showing their grit and metal when it came to fighting for points places. 

I suppose that is what I enjoyed the most about this season, while we always knew the other drivers, we never really gave them the attention as we were always focused on the bigger teams and their drivers. With the disaster season that Ferrari had, it gave the other teams like Racing Point, Mclaren and Renault the opportunity to close the gap on not so much Mercedes because as per the norm, they were on another level this season, Red Bull had their fair share of disappointments and highlights as well, the best coming in the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi which saw Max claim victory at the Yas Marina circuit. 

With the host of drivers playing musical chairs during the season, next years grid will look rather interesting, the biggest shock came last week when Red Bull announced that they've ditched Alex Albon and have offered the second seat to Sergio Perez who will partner Max Verstappen. It's an interesting combination as both drivers are pretty racy and while we all know Red Bull have no rules when it comes to their drivers, so it will be one to keep an eye on. Ferrari have a lot of work to do in the off season with Binotto even claiming that fans should not expect too much from them next year as they will only have a car that will be ready to compete in 2022, not the kinda thing the Tifosi would want to hear but lets just hope that comment was made to throw off the competitors, also with the appointment of the new Ferrari CEO John Alkann this month, he will definitely have something to say about the total embarrassment of a season that they had. 

Vettel's move to Aston Martin Racing will be an interesting one, little to nothing is known about that team or the car but one thing is for sure, if they give Seb something decent he will prove his worth. Many fans would tell you, if Seb had Lewis's car, he would have achieved the same, which many Hamilton supporters rubbished very quickly but if saw what George Russell was able to do with Lewis car at Sakhir, many were left scratching their heads thinking maybe the Seb fans were right? Yes Russell didn't go on to win the race but he was fastest in all practice sessions, second in qualifying and the most bizarre pitstop error from the mechanics cost both their drivers a possible one, two finish. Yes the season was wrapped up by then but seeing something so careless from a team that is faultless was rather odd, sparking the odd rumour mill to suggest that Merc did this on purpose so people wouldn't question Lewis's credibility. 

While that is pretty juicy gossip, we won't really give that too much attention, but rather what next season holds in store and that is plenty of drama. The return of Fernando Alonso will be one, with him and Kimi being the oldest drivers in the pack, and many hope the dual between Vettel and Lewis re-ignites again, while us Ferrari fans sit and pray that Carlos and Charles get something decent to drive. Then there's always fun with the youngsters, thanks to the virtual races in March and April, many got close to the likes of Charles, George and Lando, so here's hoping to see more fun from those lot in 2022. Another big name signing into F1 is the Formula 2 champion given a seat at Haas but he has an all too familiar name with the sport, that is because he is the son of Michael Schumacher. Yes, Mick Schumacher joins F1 and looks to rebuild on his fathers legacy and here's hoping to more success for him. 

Grazie Vettel

"Grazei Ragazzi" a phrase we heard 14 times by Seb in his career at Scuderia Ferrari since he joined in 2015 as he won 14 races to date with the team. He was the golden boy of that era in Formula One, winning 4 titles with Red Bull Racing under the guidance of Christian Horner, Seb was F1's hottest property. Apart from Lewis, there was no young driver that came close to him. Sebastian being German looked like the ideal package for Ferrari, he had the mindset of a winner and the Italian German combination harked back to the Schumacher reign so it looked like a match made in heaven for the Italians. The Tifosi were of course over the moon with such a talented signing and looked like Ferrari could be back challenging and more importantly winning again. You see the last time Ferrari lifted the constructors title was in 2008, 7 years on and things were getting rather uncomfortable without any silverware. Little did they know at the time, the team would face further turmoil in their endeavor to get back to the top. 

Ferrari hoped with Seb there to help them, he could rebuild the team back to their glory days with Michael at the helm. The problem was, it wasn't just Michael who took Ferrari to the top, he had the help of Ross Brawn and Jean Todt along with a stellar team of experts to take Ferrari to the heights we saw them achieve. In 2015 it was still a case of finding their feet instead of starting to rebuild. There were good days but there were many bad days. Just when you think they had it all figured out, the wheels would come off the very next race. As a fan, watching it was frustrating and sad, imagine being a driver, one that was touted to emulate the great Michael Schumacher. He definitely had the skill set to do so, anyone who says otherwise would be considered bitter in my books. Even the likes of Lewis would admit this, Vettel needed the backing of the team and the bosses the way Lewis had it at Mercedes. People pin point to Vettel's errors in his last two seasons but rewind back to Lewis at Mclaren Merecedes where he was teamed up with Fernando Alonso, a persona that of a spoilt brat, wanting things done his way, he wanted to be the number one driver based on who he was, not that old Spanish bloke. Lewis then got his opportunity with the Silver Arrows, his team, that similar of the golden era of  Ferrari, with Niki Lauda brought in to give advice and priceless vision to the team and look what they managed to achieve. 

Seb needed that support structure, one that he never got at Scuderia Ferrari and one that was ultimately his demise. The last two seasons were not great for Seb, especially with the inclusion of a new kid on the block as his partner, a young hungry driver that wanted to show he has what it takes to compete for the top spot. He was a risk taker and mule for the team but this proved to be a better option to get the most out of the car. Seb was dealt the raw deal again which forced him into driving more recklessly and ultimately cost him in many races. Singapore 2019 was a race to relish though, Seb did things his way and while we can all go on about how LeClerc was hard done by the team, it was Seb strategy that paid off for him. Canada was not kind to Seb either, hard done by the stewards in the end and left a very bitter taste in the mouth of many. Personally I feel for the German, I never liked him at Red Bull because he was a rival at the time but there was no denying him his talent. Was he another driver that suffered the curse of Ferrari from the likes of Prost and Alonso? Perhaps he had another 2 more titles in him during those 5 years, it's a pity he didn't achieve that at Ferrari, with news of the two agreeing to part ways at the end of the year, it is very hard to see him even achieve a title this year, that is if we do get any races at all. I'd like to see him end his F1 career on a high though, so here's to hoping he does. 

Lights out and away we go!

This was suppose to be a happy post, seeing that the Formula One season kicks off this weekend in Melbourne but we start the blog on a somber note. A legend of the sport, and FIA Race Director for the past 22 years,  Charlie Whiting sadly passed on this week. He joined the Federation in 1988 and has been integral in not only the success of the sport but also in keeping the needs of the drivers his number one priority during his time. Every single driver, past and present have been giving their heart felt thoughts about Charlie since his passing and this can only show the character of the man he was. We as the fans and public won't really know much about the behind the scenes when it comes to driver briefings, and race management but Charlie ensured that this remained smooth sailing for everyone. He will be missed by one and all in the F1 world. 

Back to the racing, Winter testing normally gives us an indication on which teams to look out for in the season to come and there were no surprises with Ferrari and Mercedes on top of the time charts again, with Red Bull now powered by a Honda engine, not too far behind. Overall it was Ferrari that were the fastest in Spain but if we learnt anything from Winter testing, is to not take these results for granted as come race weekend, given the conditions and strategies, a lot can change. With FP1 and FP2 just being completed at Melbourne, its Merc who showing good pace down under with Ferrari playing catch up. It will be interesting to see what happens during qualifying tomorrow. 

They've been many changes in teams this season with some drivers swapping teams, swapping seats but for the current constructors champions it all remains pretty much the same for them. World Champion Lewis still heads up the driver line-up with Valteri Bottas being the number 2. It was interesting as to how last season started with Toto giving both drivers free reign to compete with each other but obviously to keep the team in mind when doing so but ultimately it was Lewis who forced his way up the points tally which meant Valteri had to bow down for the rest of the season and allow his team mate to compete and win the Championship in the end. So not sure if the team will adopt the same approach again this season or if the 4 times world champions will have a say in how things go down on race day. 

Ferrari, the darling of the sport really need to get some silverware as it's been a good few years without any and I'm sure the powers at be in Maranello have set targets for the team. There has been change at Ferrari, coming from the top with Mattia Binotto taking over the position from Maurizo Arrivabene, interesting move from the Italians and a strategic one at that. There is a change in driver as well with Kimi Raikkonen departing for their sister team. Alfa Romeo Sauber and see's their driver Charles Leclerc come across to partner Sebastian Vettel. Vettel showed good promise at the beginning of last season as he mounted a substantial challenge to Lewis but after some costly errors by him and the team midway through the season saw his challenge disappear. He seems pretty confident about the car this year around and also gave it a name "Lena", with newbie Leclerc along side him, it will be one to watch how their relationship develops over the season. 

Red Bull are still that one team everyone knows not to forget about, Christian Horner still has his work cut out for him this season with a new driver pairing of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, lets hope he wont have to deal with as much of the friction there was when Daniel Ricciardo was there. It was no secret that Max and Dan didn't see eye to eye, especially on the race track, none so evident that the race in Baku when the pair collided on the straight. Max still remains RBR's number one drive but he has to prove his worth this year round, some costly errors made him still look immature last season and with now reliability a thing of the past with the new engine suppliers, we hope he will be making things extra exciting on the top of the grid. 

Other notable changes, as mentioned before see's Kimi join Alfa Romeo Sauber. It's always great to have the charismatic Fin in F1, his charm is one the reasons we like to see him on the podium and many like to see him at the drivers gala dinner at the year end so lets hope he scores some decent points this year. Another happy note see's the return of Robert Kubica to the Williams seat, after his leg break it was hard to see Robert's return to the sport happen but he proved everyone wrong and hopefully can fly the flag high for Williams Racing again. With the first race in Australia, we can't forget about the ever smiling Daniel Ricciardo, after a difficult year at Red Bull, he was pretty open after he signed a deal with Renault about his time at his former team, he said he felt no love for him there and hopefully the French will show him a lot of it. Winning his home race will be a stretch but lets hope we see him in the top 6 at least. 

With some new rules being thrown into the mix as well as changes to the cars, this years Formula One season is bound to be another nail biter, even more so than last year. The FIA have now decided to award points to the person who does the fastest lap on race day, so you'll be seeing many gunning to achieve that. This is a tricky one with most teams choosing to look after their engines towards the end of the race but this being optimal time to get those fast laps in, it will be interesting to see who is willing to take the risk for that extra point. I can't wait to see who crosses that checkered flag on Sunday but if the past few races are anything to go by, don't be surprised to see that red car going through first. 

The Race to 5

There's no denying I'm a big fan of Scuderia Ferrari, from the early days with Mansell to that unforgettable Schumacher era, and with others like Kimi and Fernando of late, the team brings so much to the sport, many say if Ferrari ever left, Formula One should shut up shop. Now in saying this, I am a proud supporter of the two cars on the grid every race day and for many who have been following the World Drivers Championship battle this season, it's been all too familiar with Sebastian and his car showing great promise in the first of half of the season but failing dismally in the latter. While this year was a bit closer than last, the end result was evident from 5 races left on the calendar, it would have taken a miracle and some extreme bad luck  for Lewis Hamilton not to secure his 5th title. 

While both drivers fought hard this season, there can be only one winner and last weekend in New Mexico, Lewis Hamilton showed the world why he was the best at what he does. The Brit is an incredibly talented driver and even though his car was not the fastest, he made the most of it where it counted, around the bends and in qualifying securing more pole positions than Vettel or higher placings on the grid. He also had the backing of a great team who's strategies for every race weekend was near perfect, all of this helped him achieve his 5th world drivers championship and credit must be paid to him for achieving this accomplishment. 

However, I have a bone to pick with many about his rival Vettel. While he might not be everyone's cup of tea, the sport has painted him with a black brush in the latter half of the season. With Formula One's TV deal, most of the international stream has to put up with the rubbish that Sky Sports has to say. Sky Sports being British have a certain bias towards their own driver, even though they won't admit it. It's with this bias that many tend to dislike Lewis which is really sad because he is really a great driver. There were a number of incidents that contributed to Vettel's title challenge demise this year, some were faults by him, many by the team in terms of strategy etc but for most of it, it was just racing and at the end of the day, that is what Vettel is, a racer. 

Now if you hark back to Vettel's career when he just began, he took chances, made them count and hence he was so successful at Red Bull Racing, granted the car was brilliant but his driving played a big part in him achieving so much at such a young age, fast forward to present day and nothing has changed in his driving style, unfortunate for him he just had a lot of bad luck this season. In the clashes he had with the Red Bulls, both in Japan and Austin, both were recognised as racing incidents, and if you analyse both closely, he had a gap and in the case in Austin he had the better racing line but yet the Sky Sports team chose to label it as "rash", "dangerous", and my favourite "desperate" by Sebastian. It's like none of those former drivers they have on their commentary team ever raced before. There was an opportunity to overtake, he took it, it didn't work out, and most of the time its a 50/50 on what would happen and unfortunately for him, he spun on both cases. Then there was blame put on the car for doing what it did, it's like he could never win with these commentators. 

Karma soon came to bite them in the ass in Austin though, with VSC called in early on in the race, just after 12 laps, Mercedes brought in Lewis for a change in tyres as he was behind Kimi at the time and wanted to get his lead back after it was taken from the start and hopefully wrap up the title that weekend. The Sky Sports team saw this as a genius move and wondered why Ferrari didn't do the same, its as if they had amnesia and forgot all about how heavy on tyres the Austin track is. With a 1 stop strategy this would be disastrous for any driver! As the race went on, Lewis began to suffer, lost many places in the field and had to go back for a tyre change again, the commentary team didn't acknowledge Ferrari's reluctance to take the gamble and pit their cars early but rather focused on how Lewis saved his race but ultimately couldn't seal his 5th drivers title that weekend. 

It gave Ferrari and Vettel a glimmer of hope going into Mexico but even they knew it was all done and dusted even before the weekend began. As per normal in Mexico, the Red Bulls were on fire and secured a top two spot in qualifying, Ricciardo suffered mechanical failure again during the race but left the road open to Max Verstappen to claim his 5th race victory, with Hamilton finishing in 4th place, it was enough for him to claim victory in the drivers title challenge, some nice words were said between him and Vettel, which is always great to see, even though the commentary team want us to believe they hate each other. All is not lost for Ferrari though, they're still in for a shot at the constructors title with them trailing Mercedes Benz by 55 points, with Lewis wrapping up his title, we're not sure if he will be racing as hard as before and with Bottas having a point to prove after playing second fiddle the entire season, these last two races could be quite spectacular to see. 

Can we get back to racing now?

So after the triple race weekends which saw the French, Austrian and British GP's in quick succession, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel ended off with an 8 point lead in the drivers championship which many would not have predicted after the French Grand Prix, in which he finished 5th and with Lewis Hamilton winning the race took over as leader on the table. Fast forward the two races and the tables have turned but the main talking point after the Silverstone Grand Prix was a conspiracy by Ferrari drivers who deliberately tried to take out the opposition during races and make it look like "incidents". I needed a few seconds to regain composure after hearing that the first time and I'm even struggling right now with it. 

Firstly, this is Formula One we're talking about here, apart from the mega LMP1 cars that take part in the WEC, this is the fastest you're gonna get around a track, also the cars which cost millions to make are built with carbon fibre, while it is a strong compound and can withstand force at speeds in excess of 300kph, they turn to brittle when clashing with other cars on track so why a team, not even an individual will want to purposely damage their car during the race is beyond me. What I find more ridiculous is that this was coming from a team which is regarded as the best, their team principle and number one driver. It was utter madness from their part, I know they must have been hurting after the last two races, in Austria none of their cars finished the race as Bottas was taken out early after his clash with Vettel which saw the Ferrari driver also damage his front wing and at Silverstone where Kimi touched Hamilton after locking up his front right tyre, in which Kimi also had his front down force affected for most of the race as we heard over the radio numerous times. 

After the race, while being interviewed by Sky Sports F1 team, which for the sake of keeping this piece short I won't go into, chatted to Toto Wolf in the paddock, while he didn't directly say it, we all knew what he meant by his comments. Lewis Hamilton said it in his body language and attitude as he deliberately avoided the interview in parc ferme but aired his opinion in the after race driver interviews, saying that Mercedes need to do more to stay away from the "red cars" as he feels like both incidents were intentional. Obviously the two Ferrari drivers seated next to him couldn't believe what he was saying and said their part, stating it was stupid to assume so. Kimi did apologise and admitted it was his mistake, and felt justice has been done by him serving his penalty. 

Which bring us to the next contentious issue, the penalties. Lewis Hamilton feels that the Ferrari drivers have not been penalised appropriately for their actions and that the governing body need to look into how they deal with incidents like this because it affects a lot of things like drivers points, constructors points and so on. I've been watching the sport for the better part of 20 years now and as far as I can remember, this is how the punishments have been handed out over the years, why must be now come and change things because it happened to you? Both collisions were deemed as racing incidents as any motorsport enthusiast will back and therefore the stewards awarded the appropriate penalty but now Lewis wants them to go re-write the rule book because he doesn't like it. 

Things boiled over when Kimi Raikkonen's wife put a message on her Instagram story which read, "If you cry like a girl when you lose, do ballet. #JustSaying" at first everyone thought the message was aimed at the disgruntled Lewis Hamilton, but later she clarified it to be towards the entire Mercedes-Benz F1 team. While it might be in bad taste that she did it, you can understand where she's coming from. Her husband being a veteran of the sport and a driver that many look up to, maybe not for his personality but certainly his skill to be accused of something like this would offend him. But anyway, it later came out on Monday that Lewis accepted Kimi's apology and agreed that it was just a racing incident and not something malicious which was concocted by the Italian team but he didn't apologise for what he said, his team them came out and said via Twitter that they never mentioned anything of the sort....okay then someone please tell that to Niki Lauda.

Look, at the end of the day everyone is human and you can understand Lewis's frustration, having pulled out a phenomenal lap in qualifying the day before to get him onto pole position at his home grand prix, you can only imagine how he must have felt seeing that advantage slip away when not only Vettel but his team mate Bottas getting ahead of him at the start, so naturally when Kimi tried to take advantage of his poor start, got it all wrong, locked his tyre and collided with Lewis which caused him to spin and end up in last position, it would have sent his blood pressure through the roof. Kudos to him though, he kept his head, went back to business and brought his car home in 2nd place, albeit with the help of 2 safety cars but that took some skill, skill which not many drivers on that circuit have. And we saw some damn good racing in the final 8 laps with all 4 cars gunning for podium spots! So now that the dust has settled and everyone has made good with each other, can we get back to racing?

F1 2018

The 2018 season of Formula 1 officially got under way this morning at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. After what felt like an eternity, the break has finally ended and we can get back to some excited racing, well we hope it's exciting. Then again, it won't be hard to beat the new F1 logo and theme song, not sure what the hell they were thinking when they approved that! Anyway, enough of the bitching, lets see what we can predict for this years race calendar. From initial testing in Spain, it was clear that Mercedes-Benz are the team to beat again this year, with both Silver Arrows showing good speeds, even with that stupid halo on the car. While Ferrari were expected to close the gap on their arch rivals, it seems that Red Bull Racing who have the backing of Aston Martin now have come up as new challengers to the Germans. 

From this mornings FP1, it was evident that RBR's  are taking the challenge to Merc with both drivers just falling behind the Mercs and the Ferrari's rounding up the top 6. In FP2 however, Max Verstappen showed some great speed to pip Bottas into second fastest around the track, so from the onset, Red Bull look to be back and firing on all cylinders. A big question still hangs over their reliability over the entire race duration, as last year saw a few races which ended with just one or none of the cars making home. With it being on home soil, Daniel Ricciardo will also want to push his car and his team mate this weekend to score some good points at his home race. 

Ferrari have been rather quiet about many things ever since testing began in Feb, their speeds haven't been the greatest and there are many already writing the Italians off in terms of their chances of competing against Mercedes let alone winning the championship. Last year saw them get off to a flyer with Vettel winning in Australia and going on to lead the drivers championship up and until the mid-season break after which all went sour for the team in red. While both Sebastian and Kimi aren't showing fantastic times in testing and practice, over a race distance, things might be a little different, so the Tifosi hope. With Red Bull Racing upping the anti, Ferrari definitely have their work cut out for them as they now have 4 cars to fight off on the grid, one things for sure, they definitely have the talent behind the wheel to keep them in the reckoning. 

Mercedes-Benz F1, the poster boys of the past few years of Formula One, it seems like their golden boy Lewis Hamilton can do no wrong but we've seen brief flashes of his frustration last season when things don't go his way. His biggest competitor this season might come in the form of his Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas. Both having the same car, same engine, could this be the year that Bottas doesn't play second fiddle and take the challenge to Hamilton? We've seen it a few season ago when Nico Rosberg did so, it didn't bode well with the Englishman as he even cited favouritism in the camp, to give the German the edge over him. Whatever the case, if Bottas does in deed go full tilt, we hope we don't see a case where both cars take each other out as we did in previous seasons with Lewis and Nico. No doubt though, Mercedes-Benz are the team to beat again this year, it will be interesting to see how the season pans out though. 

Wrapping up the rest of the teams, there are some that could cause disruptions to the top 3, Force India, Williams, Torro Rosso and Sauber Alfa Romeo come to mind. These teams are not only there to make up the grid but could prove to be vital in determining race results, they might have some surprises up their sleeves as well. One which team that many hope have a few surprises is Mclaren, the bright orange, Renault powered car that will be fizzing around the track this year, piloted by fan favourite, Fernando Alonso and second driver Stoffel van Doorn has been showing some pace so far, with the cars finishing in the top 10 at the end of FP2. So who knows, maybe this year might see them scoring some decent points. 

Regardless of which team and driver you support, I'm sure we are all just glad that Forumula One is finally back, nothing can be read into the first few races because as last year went to prove, leading the championship for half the year doesn't mean anything if you can't follow it up in the second half. Pressure is on for me to pick a race winner for this weekend, seeing that I nailed it against all odds last year. With rain expected for the weekend, that could throw a massive spanner in the works, if it were dry I would have gone for Bottas to pip his partner, but in the wet, we can't really be sure who will be strong so I'm going for my exact pick from last year, Vettel to bring the car home in first place on Sunday. 

Formula One - First half complete

The teams and drivers have now gone on their summer holidays, a mandatory break forced into the F1 Calendar so members of formula one have a summer break. It's in essence a 2 week break from all track activities but spans over 3 weeks with 1 week for testing and preparations. The break splits the season into two halves so to speak and with the first half now completed after last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, this years title and constructors race is proving to be a lot more riveting than expected. 

While being a massive fan of the Italian team, I didn't expect Ferrari to be as competitive as they have proven to be this season. They were ruthless and dominant in Hungary, a race that drivers title hopeful Sebastian Vettel had to win to ensure he extends his lead in the championship after it his points gap was reduced to just 1 after the Silverstone Grand Prix which saw his title rival, Lewis Hamilton finish in first place. At the beginning of the season I picked Ferrari to surprise everyone and win the Melbourne race, that victory went on to spur a great revival of this F1 team and ignited a spirit that was last season when Schumacher was in the team. They brought the fight right to Mercedes who had a relatively easy last two years in F1 and one that was much needed to make the sport interesting for viewership. 

That's not to say Mercedes have been poor this season, their number one man Lewis Hamilton has a point to prove after losing out to his team mate last year in the drivers championship. While the team won't admit it, after Nico Rosberg's departure and the addition of Bottas, Lewis is very much their number 1 driver, as was proved on Sunday when Bottas allowed Lewis through to try and catch the Ferrari's but was unsuccessful and valiantly gave back the position just before the race was over. Merc will head into this break scratching their heads on what they can do to catch the red team and make a surge in the second half of the season. They're not far off but there is many factors that play its part. Tyres being a big one with the last few races seeing a lot of drivers getting punctures and blisters. 

While the other teams do make up the pack, it's been interesting to watching them fight it out for the remaining points places. Red Bull Racing have had a decent few races which saw them get onto the podium a few times. Their drivers are young and hungry, maybe just a bit too hungry as proved on Sunday with Max driving into Ricciardo on the first lap. Reliability also played its part at their home race in Austria, hopefully they can sort out those niggles and salvage their season when the break is over. There will be plenty of fight in the back as well, with Mclaren surprising in Hungary, who knows what could happen, would love to see Alonso get up on that podium at least once this year, it is a long shot but you never know what could happen. 

F1 2017

The first free practice sessions got under way early this morning in Melbourne and with it ushers in the new Formula One season. Many enthusiasts were waiting for this day ever since the checkered flag was waved in Abu Dhabi last year, I was one of them. While some were a bit disappointed by the dominance of the Mercedes team last year, I thought the drivers battle for the championship between Lewis and Nico was pretty intense and made for fascinating viewing. Both drivers had their own style and brought 110% to every race, and while there was no love lost for most of the season, in the end even when the German managed to pip his team mate, they both displayed great sportsmanship. That for me is what racing is all about. 

There is a reason F1 is one of the most richest sports in the world, the glamour attached to it will never fade, it is the rock-star in the sporting world and will remain so in the foreseeable future even with the sale of it late last year which saw long time CEO of the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone relinquish his title. Even though he was loathed by many, Bernie was the man that put F1 back on the map and gave it the prestige it deserved and while there were many controversial moments in his tenure, and boy were there a lot, there is no denying he played a pivotal role in the sport. 

Getting back to the action this year, one still feels that the rest of the teams have a lot catch up to play to the Silver Arrows, but while some teams may still be just shy off the pace, it doesn't mean they won't play a major role in being deciders this year. Ferrari is one of the teams that invested a lot of time during the off season to get their car ready for the start of this one, unlike last year where they were left scratching their heads and went back to the drawing board after the first few races. With the hungry German, Sebastian Vettel still unofficially leading the way for the Italian team, you can be sure that the fight is very well on with the leaders. The ever charismatic Kimi Raikkonen doesn't really care what number driver he is, he just gets the job done and prefers not to be disturbed while doing it. It's a solid partnership that should collect a handy amount of points for Scuderia Ferrari.

The next real team I see challenging has to be Red Bull Racing, for so long they were the leaders in recent season with Vettel leading the way to back to back championships for the team you can't help feel that their bubble of bad luck is waiting to pop. With the Aussie driver Daniel Ricciardo leading from the front, he will want to make a mark at his home GP this weekend. His co driver Max Verstappen isn't too shabby either with him taking his first win last season and showing he has what it takes to handle the pressure and get the results. So far in the free practice it was RBR that showed the most resilience against Mercedes so this weekend will be interesting. 

While the other teams are a lot to discuss, they aren't there to merely make up the numbers. There's been some good improvements in most of the teams and some great drivers that are making their mark with them as well as some experienced drivers. Williams see's Felipe Massa return in what must be the shortest retirement ever recorded and Fernando Alonso is back to try and propel Mclaren Honda back to the top where they once were so used to being. With new aerodynamics and engine changes to the cars, as well as bigger tyres, this should make for more  over takings and closer racing for the lower lying teams which will have a major impact this years championship. So you can be sure that the pink Force India car isn't the most exciting thing on the track. 

Coming back to the title favourites, while I want to believe Ferrari and RedBull have managed to close the gap, early indications still say that the Germans are quite ahead of the pack and with Lewis Hamilton bitter for losing out on his 4th title last year, he will be ready for it this year. They have a strong team and with their new driver Valterri Bottas on board, he should be the perfect number two man to assist Lewis in his quest this year. While I say they are favourites, the first race of the season has always been tricky for them with a surprise winner most of the time. So I'm going again with that scenario and hoping Lewis is right and backing Ferrari to take home the first win of the 2017 Formula One race calendar.