Drive to Win

Everyone knew this years F1 Championship battle would be close but we didn't anticipate it to be this close! With just three races left in the calendar, Red Bull Racings Max Verstappen holds a slender 14 point lead heading into this weekends race in Qatar and with tensions still high from last weekend's Brazil GP, you can expect much of the same this weekend. Max has made it very clear that he will be racing hard as he chases his first championship and in all honesty, fans shouldn't expect anything less, from both drivers not just Max. There was a big uproar over a move that Max pulled at Interlagos last weekend which saw both him and Lewis run wide after the Merc challenged him for first place. A lot are labelling Max as being reckless and dangerous, this is predominantly from the LH44 fan base but lets look at it from a sporting point of view, both have a lot to lose and while both cars did leave the track it wasn't in a dangerous or reckless manner. Max was defending his lead, braked late and clearly couldn't make the corner hence going wide and forcing Lewis the same way. It wasn't the greatest defending we've seen but we have seen worse before.   

But there is the issue, we, Formula One fans that have been watching from the 80's and 90's as well as the early 2000's have seen worse before. There's been an increase in F1 fans over the past year and half due to the popularity over the Netflix series "Drive To Survive", while like any sport its great to get more support, it becomes annoying to see the newbies throw their toys when their favourite isn't getting things their way. While Lewis is the sports golden boy, I mean his talents and accolades speaks for itself, he has  developed this "lead character" role which is good but at the same time makes it seem like everyone else is against him. This is a false narrative, those who watched his career since he started at Mclaren know this for a fact, he was given preferential treatment at that team from a young age and when things didn't go his way, while his double championship winning partner Fernando Alonso got the victories and strategies right, Lewis used to throw the biggest fit anyone has seen. Now I'm not saying he's a spoilt brat but it surely came across that way, later on though I realised that it was his hunger for winning that made him that way. We are seeing a very similar approach from Max at the moment, which is why he's sort of developed the "evil character" in this series. 

While Max has that hunger, he is still handling things much more mature than young Lewis did, heck even when Lewis was in his prime after joining Mercedes, we saw some really petty bickering from him especially when Nico Rosberg was his partner. So while I understand the frustrations from Lewis fans, this is nothing new to see form younger drivers. The attitude they have in racing now will change as they develop further into the sport. We're witnessing such a fascinating battle play out this season, lets just enjoy it the way its meant to be enjoyed, not throw shade on any driver by calling them names on social media or start witch hunts for no damn reason other than preferential support. We don't need people going into investigating steering wheel angels and telemetry like they're the FIA's very own VAR team or something. While this weekends race at Qatar is suited to the Mercs, there's no guarantee they will walk away with maximum points as it is a new circuit that many don't know much about, likewise for the following race in Saudi Arabia. Either way the race to Abu Dhabi will be an intense one with fans biting their nails till the very last lap at the Yas Marina and personally I cannot wait to see how it ends. 

Formula Max?

The tides are definitely turning in the world of Formula 1, what we thought would be a straight forward season for the Silver (or are they black now?) Arrows isn't really straight forward for Toto and Co. Those pesky Red Bull's are back with their leader Christian Horner to upset the apple cart, but they're only upsetting it for Mercedes-Benz and their loyal support base or which many only discovered F1 in the past 4 years because they rest of us are thoroughly enjoying the competitive nature that this season is throwing at us each and every race week. From strategies to tyre compounds, its been eventful to say the least and with "Super Max" extending his lead this past weekend to 32 points over current champion Lewis Hamilton, it ensures that this season is going to be guaranteed excitement all the way through. Lewis has to dig deeper and not just rely on thinking of the late Madiba everyday to get his 8th world championship title. While most would agree that his team need to do more to assist him, his fan base would argue that its the driver not the car, so whatever the case maybe, Mercedes -Benz in general need to find something special for the upcoming British GP at Silverstone to ensure Lewis stays in the race for that record 8th world title. 

One cannot fault the work Red Bull Racing have done, with the inclusion of their new second driver, Checo Perez, he is proving to be a worthy of that seat while not only assist the team but also Max Verstappen in getting where they are now. It's all working beautifully for them and there is no better example than the Austrian GP which saw Max qualify on pole but found himself behind after a few pitstops but having the pace and the tyres to fight back for first spot and claim victory, much to the delight of his supporters in attendance. Also how great is it to see spectators back in the stands? I know we were grateful to have racing last year but a big part of the sport is having the fans present and getting that whole atmosphere on race day, its just such a mood lifter to have them back in the stands creating that vibe for the teams and the driver. 

Another great aspect of this season is seeing the youngsters pull through, the likes of Lando Norris, Charles LeClerc, George Russell and Pierre Gasly all showing their metal and not afraid of giving it their all on the track. George was unlucky to miss out on his first points finish last week but after showing his worth while driving for Mercedes last year in a few races, we all know the potential talent that lies there. Norris has been simply sublime so far, out racing his much more experienced team mate Daniel Ricciardo for most of this season. Getting his Mclaren to 3rd position at the Austrian GP and finishing 5th the weekend before that only shows that there is grit behind that boyish charm. Many are ear marking him to take over the mantle from Lewis as Britains next great F1 driver and you can see why but if Russell finds himself a competitive car, it could be an interesting battle between those two. 

I tweeted on Saturday that the less said about Ferrari, the better and truth be told they didn't have the worst race but as a life long fan, seeing that Red car finishing in 5th and 8th place does not feel great. Credit to Carlos for fighting for that 5th spot in what is a tough race for the Scudeira as the track is pace focused and didn't suit the car at all but the guys in Maranello have some serious head scratching to do. For the other teams like Aston Martin Racing, Alpha Tauri and Williams, they also have their work cut out watching the front runners dominate week in and week out but the mini battles that occur in the midfield do prove to be rather entertaining as well. It's these battles that add character to the overall race as it would just down right boring watching the top two teams win over and over again. The season is set up nicely and we're not even halfway through yet, I cannot wait to see how the rest of this race calendar plays out. 

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. 

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. 

Battle of the Arrows

I love my Formula One, and when people come to me and say it's boring I like to punch them in the face because they clearly don't watch it or understand it. This season is panning out pretty much the same as the past few seasons with Mercedes Benz Silver Arrows being pretty dominant and the other teams playing catch up so to speak but it's been anything but boring. It's had its fair share of drama and it's only escalating as the season goes on.

The battle for the drivers title has really heated up between Mercs two drivers though, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton aren't afraid to square up physically on the circuit to beat one another and while we hope they keep it clean, it depends on the drivers how they handle matters on the track. Mercedes Benz maintain that they will not be giving team orders to either of their drivers and they will be allowed to race each other, which is what the fans want to see. 

Gone of the days where you have a number 1 and number 2 driver in a car that's clearly miles better than the rest. In the era which saw Michael Schumacher dominate the sport with Ferrari, it was made evident that Rubens Barrichello played second fiddle to the German, take nothing away from Michael, he was the best by far but some races the Brazilian had the better of him but the team would issue an instruction via radio for him to move over and let Schumacher claim maximum points. It didn't sit well with many of the spectators and some of the commentators but it worked for the team at the time. 

None of that though, even after the two took each other out in Spain and most recently last weekend in Austria which saw an unbelievable final lap with the two of them coming together and Lewis overtaking Nico who's car suffered the worse after the collision to win the race. Rosberg crawled home in 4th, adding some vital points for his challenged for the title but it could have been much worse for him. There were a lot of different opinions about what happened but in the end the FIA deemed Rosberg the guilty party and subsequently fined. 

This weekend see's Lewis race at "home" in the Silverstone Grand Prix and while the spectators were clearly against him in Austria, he doesn't have to worry about any booing should he visit the podium again on Sunday. I agree with many of the sentiments shared on Sunday about the booing, it's harsh and don't believe their should be a place for it in sport, if you're unhappy with the driver, just don't clap. Show him the bird like what I did from my couch. 

It's the business end of the season with so many races in such a short span of time, so it will be interesting to see what happens. For now it seems like Rosberg and Hamilton are going to be the only two challenging for the drivers title, unless they keep crashing into each other. So while the rest of the season might be slightly predictable, it's still going to be interesting to see how it goes down. 

Also another thing to rejoice on is that everyone's favourite driver, the Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen has renewed his contract with Scuderia Ferrari which will see him in ther drivers seat for the Italian F1 team in 2017. While he may not be the driver he was a good few years ago, he still hasn't lost it, seeing that he was on the podium this past weekend. I think people should just leave him alone because he knows what he's doing...