Author: Asturies F1

Finally, it seems that all of us will have fun and not only the lads at Brackley. Since they had done a superb job all these years and they deserve the triumphs, a little competition won’t hurt anybody. So, have Ferrari tackled their problems and leveled their game with Mercedes? We have reasons to think they did, at least so far. Last year they actually got close to the Silver Arrows at the beginning of the season, but they couldn’t keep that same pace developing the car through the year. The real thing for them is to improve in the development race and, if they actually have a car as fast as it seems right now, the chances of overtaking Mercedes would rise enormously. But that is easier to say…

The current pacesetters have found a real challenge, one that is exposing their weak spots (believe or not, they are human too…) and things will get somehow difficult when the wide margin to the next rival is reduced to the minimum . Going fast is not enough at the moment, everything counts and strategy calls results are measured in milliseconds and milliseconds mean positions gained or lost. One could argue that winning is more fun when the rivals’ level has risen, but you have to win first and then celebrate.

Red Bull are in the game too, and they tend to rise that game as the season goes on ,so the last races are going to be quite an entertainment (hope so). But first they will have to be straight with their drivers, they need to set the limits to their racing wheel to wheel and show equal love to both. Hesitance is costing Horner many valuable points and maybe even a driver for the coming year.

The middle of the pack is closer than ever, and the strongest teams seem to change from race to race. The current regulations needed some time to stabilize, time is the best equalizer in a sport with such a technical component and now we are reaching a point where technology is getting the point of maturity where differences are minimal and reliability is not a problem.  And that applies to Honda who has found in Toro Rosso a better partner and working environment where they don’t have to take all the blame. They have proven that they can be reliable, even with some woes in the opening race, which turned into joy in the next one. Now they have to find some regularity and improve a compromised car that didn’t have enough time to be worked on due to the change of power unit manufacturer months ago.

The divorce between Honda and McLaren has revealed to be mutually beneficial to some extent since the team at Woking has got more points than last season, but the chassis has emerged as the worse of the three Renault powered. They have set some expectations on the new parts to be unveiled in Spain but they will have nowhere to hide if they can’t get any closer to Renault and Red bull. At least Fernando is again on the highest step of the podium and, even though the endurance series have shown some lack of competition in the first places, being competitive again should help the two-times World Champion to carry on and find a plus to fight for each position.

Haas has surprised everybody, because of their pace and because of their model. No wonder Toto Wolf is looking carefully at how the partnership between the Americans and Ferrari works to try something similar at Mercedes. Who would be the suitable candidate to work in close collaboration with them?

Meanwhile, Liberty keeps negotiating the changes that would shape the F1 in the future; we’ve got some agreements about simplifying aero regulations, this agreement turned out to be easier than the needed to reach a compromise on the power unit front. Less stakes at game maybe. In terms of management this season has resulted in some kind of transition time from the F1 built by Bernie to the new model that the new owners are proposing. Not everything in this world runs fast as it sounds… but let’s take a seat and watch the battles coming on track, that’s what this is all about in the end, isn’t it?

So here we are, it’s been four long months since the last time we heard the cars roar for the last time. Now, we are facing the beginning of a new season with all the doubts the winter usually casts on the teams and drivers. But they’ll be over soon, this very weekend we’ll get some answers, or maybe not…

First of all, we’ll have to get used to the halo, the new addition to the cars to make the sport safer.  We are aware of the inner danger attached to this sport, there are things you can’t control, or at least you can’t keep under control if you want to maintain the nature of the F1, but every step towards minimizing those risks has to be welcomed. Aesthetics matters, but the priorities must be crystal clear here, so we are not discussing how the new cars look like with the new part. Let’s just wait and see, if the halo does its part, if it proves useful it’s all we need to accept it. Probably we’ll forget about it soon as it happens with all the not so big changes that are in life.

This year it is likely we won’t have any girl on the grid and that does worry us. No, we’re not talking about the so-called “pit babes” since we’re here to talk about racing and not about models or fashion, but we mean that this year we won’t have any female driver either.  And we’d like the girls to be there, to prove themselves and talk the only way a driver should be heard when referring to the sport: racing. That’s the only reason we want women at the top of motorsport, because we believe they can and belong there.

After the courtship of the first months, now the clashes arise between Liberty and the teams. Changing the old relationships has proved tough and the unavoidable conflicts of interest have risen up, no surprise in all of it, the F1 is a huge circus with many stakeholders defending different industries and with different visions on it.  Taking this into account, we think that no hard line could be sustainable, that compromise must the foundation of any rule set or agreement that emerges in these brave new times.  You can’t trash all the research, investment and achievements that the latest technical specification has brought to us, we have to build up the future at the top of what is already reached, that is, the present.

We also salute the new OTT (Over the Top) services the F1 is going to serve while we can’t help but regret that in some countries (such as Spain).  We are not among the first lucky fans who can enjoy the new experience. Well, to be completely honest, it seems that most of European countries will have wait for it. Maybe two in distress makes sorrow less. It’s a pity that in the agreement reached last year with Movistar this issue was not addressed. It seems we’ll have to wait some time to get it.

In short, let’s hope that the season that starts its engines right now can bring us closer racing and great races. No, we haven’t said a word about it, can we trust the tests? What can we extract from them? Are the new variety of tires going to spice up the races? Well, the waiting is over.