We all know how radically the rulebook has changed in Formula 1 this year.
Events prior to the start of the season suggest a shake up in the pecking order too.
Two Formula 1 pre-season tests would have been done-and-dusted by the time you read this.
And to accompany it; a lot of chatter over social media, quotes shared on the web and sound-bytes delivered on television as F1 fans and observers weigh in on the direction the most prolific show on four-wheels is taking.
The complex nature of the new technical regulations means that the opening test in Jerez de la Frontera was anything but the standard fare of long runs, quick qualifying style bursts and race simulations.
Even though F1 testing isn’t broadcast in India, the sport seems to have found a very active forum for fans and those in it to discuss trends and developments in social media. Be it Facebook, twitter or YouTube.
Not to mention dedicated websites – both of media that covers it, as well as fan sites – and their forum sections that go beyond the chatter, both indignant and casual, that you find on social media.
THE UPROAR
Based on the initial reactions, you would have thought that F1 was dead as we knew it, and exclusively a figure of (justifiable in some cases) ridicule pointed towards its aesthetics as well as the technical direction it is taking.
Initial launch photos showed teams taking the safety driven requirement to lower the height of the nose section as a license to create some of the oddest looking F1 cars in the 60 plus history of the sport.
Fear of reliability issues among the well prepared teams like Mercedes AMG F1 and Ferrari, and actual reliability issues with teams like Red Bull Racing (yup, you read that right), meant that the mileage was low and the lap times were well off comparative benchmarks set in testing a year ago at the Jerez circuit.
The circuit last hosted a race when the 1997 world championship was decided in favour of Jacques Villeneuve and drew flak for Michael Schumacher’s attempts to stop him from doing so.
Almost 17 years later, and it was the memories of Schumacher’s numerous title winning exploits that fans in attendance and those trawling through pictures on the World Wide Web were reminded of through messages extending the seven-time Formula 1 world champion to pull through a prolonged period of sedation while recovering from a head injury due to a skiing accident.
THE PACE OF DEVELOPMENT
Although, purely in racing terms, it was interesting to note the pace of the cars pick up throughout the course of the four day test.
Villeneuve himself has pointed out that the current generation of cars are only matching the fastest race lap of the 1997-spec cars he raced in Jerez. It was worth noting however, that the pace of these cars was comparable despite them being around 100 kilograms heavier and with a shorter track and comparable power.
Most significant was that the power was delivered through far more high-tech and automotive industry relevant means than the 3.0 litre V10 engines that powered the 1997 machines.
High amounts of energy recovery mated to a 1.6 litre, turbocharged V6 engine is designed to deliver 760 horsepower in total as compared to the 750 horsepower from 1997-spec engines.
Although reading through the press releases issued by teams, in particular the number of laps they covered, made it clear that teams were taking it easy to get a grip of the complicated new power units (technically they’re not called engines).
Eleven drivers managed to cover 345 laps of the 4.428 km of the Jerez circuit between themselves on the day that McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen set the fastest time of the four day test with a 1:23.276 this year.
By comparison; 12 drivers covered a total of 923 laps on the day that Felipe Massa of Ferrari set the fastest time - 1:17.879 - at the four day test in Jerez last year.
SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM?
Out of the lap counter and lap timing readings, the most startling stat was the sparse number of laps being achieved by both Red Bull drivers. Once again, returning to the day of the fastest 2013 Jerez test time, Sebastian Vettel racked up 102 laps and was third fastest with a 1:19.052.
Skip to the most rapid of the Jerez test days in 2014 and Vettel’s new teammate at Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo had only three laps to his name and not a single lap time figure to show for it.
F1’s embattled promoter and commercial rights holder – who is relinquishing official Formula One Management posts he has held for years as a reaction to a charge of bribery in Germany – labelled it a ‘farce’ but after so many years it is expected for Bernie Ecclestone to be outspoken against those who he sees as obstacles to his complete and utter control of the sport.
Ecclestone has made no secret of the fact that he wants to see the Jean Todt controlled International Automobile Federation (FIA) stick to regulating road cars instead of F1.
Along with the 100-year lease to the commercial rights of the sport, he also controls TV production, trackside advertising, the F1 paddock and accreditation for television too.
He would most certainly see getting the rights to frame the regulations and control over print accreditation too. Although, given that awarding double points in the final F1 race of the year was his idea – along with roundabouts and sprinklers on circuits – maybe it’s best that he resists the urge and focuses more on pending legal issues.
What is undisputable, however, is that reliability along with pace will be an issue and Red Bull Racing are suffering due to a lack of it at the moment.
Neither Ricciardo nor Vettel managed to put in any serious mileage, but Red Bull managed to up the pace in Bahrain despite crippling issues with energy recovery on their Renault power unit. The Mercedes powered teams in particular streaked away as they did in Jerez.
As I write this article, Nico Rosberg managed to clock a 1:33.283 and complete 89 laps (next fastest Jenson Button managed 66 laps) at the Bahrain International Circuit, which is just 0.953 seconds off his own pole position time there set in 2013 in a 2.4-litre, V-8 powered car, which was 60 kilos lighter than the car that he is driving this year. And it is 3.678 seconds faster than the fastest lap set by Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull at the same event.
WHAT LIES AHEAD?
The clear advantage by Mercedes powered teams in testing so far – most notable Mercedes and McLaren – have prompted Ecclestone to predict Rosberg winning this year’s world championship, due to the logic that Hamilton will not like the tactical approach to racing and will cause his car to eat up the rear tyres under the strain of the extra torque from the power units.
Pirelli has made its tyres heavier to counter that this year, so the job of providing differentiating factors goes to the technical staff and the likes of Alonso, Kimi and Vettel. No need for double points in the finale or (please no!) the last three races at all…
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