Formula 1 - 2017

[MIKA27]

Brawn dreams of ‘more Verstappens’ in F1

FOM director of motorsports Ross Brawn has said he wants the driver standard to be raised, with more "Max Verstappens" racing in Formula 1.

The Dutch teenager's crowning achievement came when becoming the youngest-ever driver to win a race in what was his first appearance for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2016.

His stunning overtakes at very wet Brazilian Grand Prix last year were also a career highlight, and Brawn wants to see other new top-quality drivers bring the same level of excitement to the sport.

"My dream for this five-year plan is that we have more Verstappens in Formula 1," Brawn told the official F1 website. 

"We want a system that sees only the best drivers in Formula 1. Don’t get me wrong: there is a good standard of drivers in Formula One, but if we didn’t have the commercial requirements that some of the teams have regarding their drivers, we could raise the standard even higher.

"But to do that you have to remove the commercial dependency that small teams have on drivers."

[MIKA27]

Red Bull: Canada will be Renault’s ‘biggest step’

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has identified the Canadian Grand Prix as a potential turning point as they wait for Renault's engine upgrade.

Red Bull were unable to match the pace of Ferrari and Mercedes in Australia, with Max Verstappen finishing P5 and Daniel Ricciardo forced to retire from a rather forgettable weekend all round.

Marko believes, though, that there were some signs of encouragement and is now looking to engine supplier Renault to help their cause.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” Marko told Motorsport.com.

“The race speed makes us think positively. But from our side there is a lot to do, and Renault’s side as well.

“Montreal is their biggest step. Something smaller is coming in Barcelona, but a reasonable step in Montreal."

Asked whether Renault's engine upgrades would be enough to close the gap to the leading pair, Marko believes the entire garage is hopeful of doing so.

“We hope so, if we improve our chassis dramatically as well," he added.

"Our engineers think so, and the simulations say so, also.”

Marko also expressed his disappointment by the lap times produced under the new aerodynamic regulations, which fell way short of the five-second predictions made by Pirelli in the off-season.

He said: “I think it was a positive race, but I was so fixed on Verstappen that I didn’t look at many other things. But we were only two seconds faster, and that was a little bit of a disappointment.”

The Canadian Grand Prix is Round 7 on the Formula 2017 calendar, with the race on June 11.

[MIKA27]

Ricciardo: ‘No clear answer’ to Red Bull issues

Daniel Ricciardo has said he is at a loss to explain why Red Bull are off the pace set by the leading duo of Ferrari and Mercedes.

Ricciardo suffered a nightmare return to his home grand prix after starting the race late due to a sensor issue before being forced to retire.

But while the early signs in practice were encouraging for Red Bull, the Aussie was not able to fully explain what went so wrong after FP1.

“First practice ( 0.6s off Hamilton) we looked pretty competitive and we were still keeping a few things to ourselves,” Ricciardo said.

“So like from that point of view it was like we were pretty solid. And then if we calculate everything, the tyres, the fuel loads, because in FP1 we only had a super soft, if we add all that up then we have actually gone slower than we did in the first free practice.

“That is not accounting for any track evolution, which normally you get on a street circuit. So it feels like we lost performance, but at the moment there is not like a clear answer why.”

However, Ricciardo does believe that Red Bull are still feeling the effects of an interrupted Winter Testing.

He added: “There is still a bit to learn with the car and package, and I just don’t feel that we have had enough quality time to get on top of it.

“We had some days in testing but there were some days a bit interrupted with this and that.

“We probably had two or three really good days out of the 8.”

[MIKA27]

F1 overtaking will be better at other tracks, says Bottas

Valtteri Bottas thinks it is wrong to claim that Formula 1’s 2017 cars have now made overtaking impossible, as he insists some tracks will throw up good racing this year.

Although there were very few passes in last weekend’s season opener in Melbourne, the Albert Park Circuit has historically been a venue where overtaking has been pretty hard.

But Bottas thinks what happened in Australia will not be repeated at all tracks – and he especially believes that the next race in China, with its long straight, will be a totally different story.

When asked by Motorsport.com about whether he felt harder overtaking in Australia was down to the track or rules, Bottas said: “I think in general it will be a little more difficult, but it’ll depend on tracks.

“The circuits with really long straights will be very good racing because also the slipstreaming has a bigger effect now, and DRS does too with these rear wings.

“So some places we will see good racing and some places like Barcelona it will be very difficult to overtake. Let’s wait a few more races and see how the racing goes, but obviously here [in Australia] it was more tricky than last year.”

Downside of rules

While few were expecting anything other than more difficult overtaking thanks to the higher downforce cars, Bottas does reckon it is a pity that those predictions have come to fruition.

“I think when you’re in the same car and with similar-ish tyres, it’s extremely difficult at a track like this,” he said.

“With the new cars, it’s more difficult to follow once you’re within two seconds, as you lose quite a large amount of grip. So we need big pace difference to really go for it to try and overtake. I think it’s a bit of a shame.”

Bottas’s views about Albert Park not offering a true picture of overtaking possibilities have been backed up by Kimi Raikkonen.

The fact that lapping cars had proved to be a bit easier left Raikkonen feeling that things may not be as bad as some have suggested.

“I think the lapping, I must say, it felt more easy,” said the Ferrari driver. “Obviously there might be a bigger difference between teams, so that kind of helps, but I think if you take any top team, top car, against another, it's never going to be easy to overtake.

“And with this car, it's only one race and this circuit is far from let's say a normal circuit. Some circuits will be more easy, some more harder in a year, and we have to see how it goes in the next races.

"But it depends a lot when people stop and what deg your tyres are at and the speed of the car generally.”

[MIKA27]

Australian GP: Sergio report

Checo Perez shares his thoughts about the Australian GP, in which he finished seventh - his 11th point-scoring finish in a row.

[MIKA27]

Australian GP: Esteban report

Esteban Ocon scored his first ever point in F1 at the season-opening Australian GP. Here are his comments about the race.

[MIKA27]

F1 2017 explained: Fuel #SimpliF1ed

Our technical journey continues! How does the combustion process work? And how does our specially developed Petronas Primax fuel enhance that process? Watch to find out.

[RDean]

Tickets have arrived. Very excited for June.

[MIKA27]

BRAWN: WE NEED TO MAKE AERODYNAMICS AS BENIGN AS POSSIBLE

Formula 1 motorsport chief Ross Brawn is already working on a plan to improve racing in the wake of the season opening Australian Grand Prix, where the new aero rules delivered spectacular and fast cars, apparently at the cost of overtaking.

Racer reports that Brawn has wasted no time in assembling a team to study the issue and come up with a solution, after a dull race with very little on track action. Drivers complained about turbulence making it almost impossible to follow a car ahead close enough to make a move.

Brawn explained, “We talk about aerodynamics, I think we have to recognize these cars are incredibly quick because they use aerodynamics and if we want cars as quick as this and as spectacular as this then we can’t just turn the aerodynamics off.”

“I think there’s a view that we should get rid of the aerodynamics and have big, wide tires and then get the grip mechanically and then we can go back to cars racing each other. We can, but they will be a lot slower than most of the single seater cars that are out there.”

“So I think we should embrace aerodynamics, but in a different way. We should work out how we can make the aerodynamics as benign as possible so cars can still race each other. That’s never truly been done.”

“I think if you look at the configuration of the aerodynamics we have, we’ve got cars now with very complicated bodywork structures which create very sensitive flow regimes around the structures which as soon as they are disturbed by the car in front, suffer.”

“So can we come up with a set of regulations and a concept where we can still use the power of aerodynamics to give us the speed and the spectacle of the cars, but in a more benign way so that they can at least race each other more closely without having that impact.”

“So that’s my ambition, that’s my objective and as I’ve said we’re putting a team together within FOM to look at those ideas, with some substance.”

“We want to work with the FIA and we want to work with the teams and use the resources of the teams and use the support of the FIA and the direction of the FIA to try and achieve that.”

“So just talking about that relatively narrow topic of aerodynamics I don’t think we should view it as something we’ve got to get rid of, because we won’t, we never will.

“Can we turn it on its head and say we need it because we want fast cars, but can we structure it in a way where it’s much less damaging for cars to race each other?”

“I’ve heard it said that some of the cars out there do race each other quite well with large aerodynamic performances – the sports cars for instance and IndyCars at the moment are not suffering so badly – so I think a proper campaign, concerted campaign would definitely take us in the right direction on that, I’m convinced of that,” concluded Brawn.

What should be done to improve overtaking in Formula 1?

[MIKA27]

MARKO: VETTEL HAS TO THANK US WE HELPED HIM WIN

Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko took a cheeky dig at Mercedes strategy during the Australian Grand Prix, claiming that poor tactics from the Silver Arrows pit wall and Max Verstappen aided Sebastian Vettel in his season opening victory in Melbourne.

Vettel scored a sensational win at the season opening Australian Grand Prix and although the Ferrari had unmatched race pace, it can also be said that the German’s path to victory was facilitated by a dubious strategy call by Mercedes and their star driver Lewis Hamilton.

With tyres going off and Vettel filling his mirrors, Hamilton agreed to an early pit stop. But when he re-emerged from the pitlane he was, crucially, behind Verstappen and there was simply no way past the Red Bull driver until he pitted.

Indeed Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles acknowledged, “If Verstappen had stopped just one lap before we would have won that race.”

Marko could not resist a swipe when he told Auto Motor und Sport, “We were driving our own race and we were still fast on track. Mr Wolff needs to watch what he does tactically and where he sends his car out on the track. Vettel has to thank us, we helped him win the race.”

Looking back on the weekend, Marko summed up, “In qualifying between Q2 and Q3, we could not tap into the power like Mercedes and Ferrari did. That’s about five tenths they had on us, but we were satisfied with the race pace. Verstappen caught up with Raikkonen. We were much closer in the race than in practice and qualifying.”

On the positive side, Marko highlighted, “The tyre wear is great. We were a step softer than Mercedes and Ferrari and had no problems with the Supersoft tyres to drive to the end. Also with regards to fuel and the engine we had no problems. We could have attacked [Raikkonen] at the end [with Max].”

“But we received differing sensor messages on how much brake was still left. We did not want to risk anything. So we told Max not to attack. It wasn’t easy to make the call, but it was based on safety. Otherwise we believe Max could have done it.”

Despite lagging behind Ferrari and Mercedes at Albert Park, Marko is adamant that progress will be made in forthcoming weeks, and hinted at a major chassis upgrade for the Russian Grand Prix, while a Renault power unit update is due for Spain and a major upgrade for Canada.

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS: I’M GOING TO IMPROVE MASSIVELY

While his illustrious teammate Lewis Hamilton captured headlines in Australia, Mercedes ‘new boy’ Valtteri Bottas focused on his debut for the sport’s dominant team and when it mattered finished third at the season opener after delivering a solid drive which impressed his bosses – the Finn is now sure that big improvements are on the cards for him.
F1 legend and Mercedes F1 chairman Niki Lauda was full of praise for Bottas after the race in Melbourne, “Bottas did an incredible job. First time in the car, finished third, close up to Lewis. He could not have done a better job.”

Bottas responded, “That’s good! It’s difficult to compare, but if he’s saying that, it’s nice. There’s a lot more to come from me, it’s only the first race – I’m going to improve massively, but that’s nice.”

“As a driver, you can always find things you can improve for the next race and for the future. I wasn’t quite happy with qualifying, because I set the target very high and I didn’t meet it. But that’s where you learn.”

“In the race the car was feeling much better with the soft tire, so the main thing for us to understand why, with the ultrasoft at the beginning, they were overheating and we were sliding around, missing grip. Overall it was a good start with the team, as we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare everything for this race. We have to continue from here.”

Bottas is not allowing the result to go to his head, “For sure I always set very high targets for myself and that works for me – it makes me work harder and, at least this weekend, I didn’t feel any negatives from my self-criticism. It’s only good for me to think about my weaknesses and strengths, so I’m not worried about that.

“I think that in general the weekend didn’t always go the ideal way, but leaving this weekend I think it was a decent start with the team and a completely new page in my career. I know there’s so much more to come and I just need to keep on doing what I’m doing and everything will be OK. I trust my skills, so I don’t see it as a worry,” added Bottas.

[MIKA27]

MASSA: FOLLOWING ANOTHER CAR IS VERY DIFFICULT

Williams driver Felipe Massa has given insight into what it takes to drive the new era Formula 1 cars on the limit, while sharing his concerns that overtaking will be at a premium this season but believes that DRS may salvage the situation.

In the wake of an action-limited Australian Grand Prix, Massa told SporTV, “Overtaking is more difficult, but that was already clear from the moment the regulations came out.”

“Now we have a car that has a lot more downforce and, because of that, to follow the front car is a lot harder as well. Downforce needs air, so when you have a car right in front of you, it takes away that air and you lose aerodynamic force. Following another car is very difficult.”

“But we cannot just take what happened in Melbourne and think it will always be like this. There will be tracks where overtaking will be possible, but at others it will more difficult like Australia and Monaco for example.”

“We are back to the times before they invented DRS: where you started from on the grid was where you ended-up, more or less, at the finish. It won’t be exactly like in the past because DRS helps with overtaking. Without DRS there would be no overtaking at all!”

Much has been written about the physical demands required to drive the new era Formula 1 cars which are faster and have loads more grip.

Massa gave insight from inside the cockpit, “No doubt [the car] demands a lot more from you, it has a lot more downforce therefore you experience higher G-forces and lateral forces.”

“When you enter a curve or under strong braking, you feel it in many areas. Starting at the heart, the muscles feel it on the neck, the back, the shoulders, the arms… You have to make a big effort.”

“There are drivers who feel it more and drivers who feel it less. There are some circuits where you will drive without breathing. The faster the car turns, the more lateral force it has, it stands to reason that you feel the physical side a lot more,” revealed Massa.

[MIKA27]

TODT: F1 RULES WILL ALWAYS FINALLY BE WRITTEN BY THE FIA

Amid discussions and speculation regarding the future of Formula 1, in the wake a relatively dull season opening Australian Grand Prix, FIA president Jean Todt has made it clear that his organisation will always write the rules but at the same time will work hand-in-hand with new owners Liberty Media to improve the sport.

Todt may be taking a more hands on approach to F1, attending the race in Melbourne for the first time since 2013 where he told media, “The role of the FIA is to write the rules about Formula One for the present and for the future, and to make sure that those rules are legislated and regulated.”

“And I’m very happy that the new commercial rights holders have decided to reinforce its team to put some expertise, and our people will discuss together.

“I think it is always very healthy to be able to exchange. We have that in the endurance championship with the ACO; we build the rules together, but at the end of the day the FIA has the final responsibility. So we have a skilled Formula One organisation with participants giving input, but clearly they will never be in a position to write the rules. The rules will always finally be written by the FIA.”

Formula 1 motorsport director Ross Brawn has already launched to investigate how to allow for more overtaking as it becomes that the new aero-favoured regulations have made it very difficult for drivers to overtake during a race.

And he is well aware that Liberty Media “will never be in a position to write the rules. They will always be written by the FIA. We are ready to make a collective effort to make F1 as good as possible”.

Meanwhile Todt revealed that the synergy between his organisation, the rule-makers, and the sport’s new owners is healthy, “We have very good meetings. We are very good at having informal meetings regularly, not only at my level, but at the level of Charlie Whiting’s groups and other people.”

“We also have Strategy Group meetings, and the next one is on April 25 in Paris. In the morning we have the Strategy Group meeting and in the afternoon we have the Formula One Commission. That’s the next steps but we often speak and collaborate at different levels.”

Indeed issues regarding the sport and related matters are even discussed after-hours by the sport’s most powerful men according to Todt, “I had dinner with Chase Carey, and I wanted to tell you what the spirit is like. … We spoke about how we can work better, because it’s a combined effort.”

“We want each grand prix organisation to be a success and it was very constructive to speak with [the promoters] and to see how we can help them, how we can support them and how we can initiate other programmes that are maybe other programmes like road safety with them, to use them and them to use us.”

“They were very interested; it was a very good meeting. I had already had meetings with the new owners in Geneva and in Paris to discuss how we can make things better. Honestly, it would be inappropriate to create a kind of ‘one wants to take something over from the other one’ [scenario]. We are ready and willing to work to put the strength and the effort to make Formula One as good as possible.”

Along with his enthusiasm, Todt was also realistic about the post-Bernie Ecclestone era of Liberty Media, and explained, “We are in a honeymoon situation at the moment.”

[MIKA27]

Jenson Button to drive McLaren M23 at Laguna Seca

Jenson Button will make his first Formula 1 outing since taking a step back from the sport at the end of 2016 when he drives a McLaren M23 at Laguna Seca later this year.

The British driver will get behind the wheel of Emerson Fittipaldi’s championship-winning car from the 1974 season at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

It will see over 550 historic cars from the motorsport world take to the Laguna Seca track from the 17-20 August.

Button is no stranger to the M23, which scored 16 wins and took both Fittipaldi and James Hunt to world titles across several variations and picked up the 1974 constructors’ crown.He previously drove the car at Silverstone and the Rush movie premiere in London's Leicester Square.

The 2009 F1 champion stepped back from F1 after the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, following 17 seasons in the sport; he remains a McLaren ambassador and advisor.

“It’s always special to drive a Formula 1 car with such an illustrious past, and the M23 wrote a significant chapter in grand prix history during the 1970s,” Button said.

“It’s a somewhat strange sensation to drive a car from this era – you sit much more upright in the cockpit, and you feel like you could almost reach out of the cockpit and touch the front wheels.

“But, once you drive it, you quickly start to understand what made the M23 so successful – it’s incredibly easy to drive, has a really consistent balance, and plenty of feel: everything you put into it, you get out of it, which is very rewarding for a driver.

“I can’t wait to show this car off to the thousands of fans and aficionados at the Monterey Motorsport Reunion this summer.”

[MIKA27]

Can Ferrari stay on top in 2017?

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have for a long time been regarded as modern day F1's equivalent of Hollywood icons Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

Just as it is with these two celebrated movie stars, Seb and Lewis are synonymous with each other. Both made their Formula 1 debuts within a few months of each other; both were groomed for F1 success from their teenage years; both encouraged by their respective parental teams. In their own individual way, they both made a splash when the eventually arrived in the F1 paddock and in a short time they both built formidable reputations.

Both have also, for whatever reason, had their spells of what is euphemistically referred to as dividing opinion. But at the end of the day both have became habitual race winners, multiple world champions and, when they have the requisite machinery at their disposal, the form driver of the day to beat. It’s just that until now, they’ve never both had that last essential ingredient simultaneously!

Seven of the last nine drivers’ titles (and six of the last seven) have been claimed by one or other of them. Yet it’s been no Ayrton Senna-Alain Prost type rivalry – as to bring it back to De Niro and Pacino they have for an interminable stretch of time somehow avoided a direct head-to-head meeting. This is despite a few near misses – just as De Niro and Pacino both starred in The Godfather Part II and thanks to series of shifts between different periods of history never appeared in the same scene. Just possibly either 2010 and 2012 may have boiled down to Vettel vs. Hamilton title battles but didn’t quite work out that way…

This year though, judging by last week’s Australian Grand Prix season-opener it looks a lot like we’ll have F1's equivalent of Heat's sit-down scene in the diner. At last, after years of anticipation, will these two finally have a direct face-off season?

F1, after three seasons of solid Mercedes dominance, is crying out for some kind, nay any kind, of outside challenge to the Silver Arrows squad. At last, the fight that the fans have been demanding for years, now finally appears to be the one that they will get! This will be something to relish, not only down to the quality of the protagonists but also that it falls into the industrious vs. instinctive typology that F1 seems to specialise in. And then some too...

“It could be Stewart-Rindt all over again,” predicted Peter Windsor when a Seb-Lewis match-up was anticipated early last year. “Or Senna-Prost. Or Schumacher-Hakkinen. It could be all these and more. It could be a rivalry to mark the end of days.

"Hamilton v Vettel, Mercedes v Ferrari, Silver v Red, England v Germany". This match-up has got it all, small wonder we’re all excited.

Yes, in Melbourne last Sunday the Vettel piloted Ferrari faced the usually-haughty Mercedes down and won, even after allowing Lewis the luxury of leading from the line.

There was no stunning launch from the start, no rain shower, safety car or any other unusual intervention (beyond Lewis getting held up for a very short time by Max Verstappen) to explain away the outcome. It was simply – after rubbing our eyes to make sure we weren’t imagining things – a matter of ground speed. The red team’s pre-season hype was justified after all.

Granted many focussed on the Brackley team’s strategy and the decision to pit Lewis early, indirectly via which Seb was able to claim the lead he was not to lose. But such points are moot – as plenty have pointed out the bottom line is the Ferrari-Vettel combination was simply the quicker in race trim; certainly much better on the tyres (and demonstrated as much on two different compounds). Even with Lewis staying out to maintain track position, as some have advocated, simply would have left him as easy prey for a Ferrari undercut.

Unsurprisingly Ferrari’s Chief Engineer Jock Clear confirmed after the race that this was precisely Ferrari’s Plan “A”. Even Lewis’s biggest supporter, Niki Lauda, confirmed that the alternative strategy options wouldn’t have altered the race outcome one iota!

And thus for the first time in a long time, something other than a Mercedes is leading both the F1 world championships. For arguably the first time in about as long – aside from the odd outlier of Singapore in 2015 – Mercedes was defeated in a race by pure pace rather than peculiarity. For the first time in a long time we have appear to have a multi-team fight for the world title. Again, small wonder we’re all excited.

But with it comes the associated question. While we know four-time champion Vettel is well capable of keeping up the pace, can his Ferrari team do likewise? Or is it the latest of the Scuderia’s several flashes in the pan?

It seems undeniable that much is different this time, certainly compared with this time last season. Twelve months ago in Albert Park Vettel qualified eight tenths off Hamilton’s pole mark (albeit amid the crazy short-lived alternative format); this time the gap was three tenths. In Melbourne last weekend Ferrari’s race strategy was ice-cool and utterly effective – something that it most certainly wasn’t for most of 2016. And while both last year’s and this year’s testing were superficially encouraging for Ferrari, the clear view around the paddock (including within the Mercedes camp) was that this time the Scuderia’s form was much more tangible.

“No matter what they were doing, which tyre they were on, long runs, short runs, it looked good all the time,” explained Autosport’s Glenn Freeman of the Ferrari in pre-season running. “So we must have seen a variety of fuel loads and different programmes they were working.

“The big thing actually is how Ferrari handled testing last year, they were constantly throwing soft tyres at it, constantly doing these short runs. We got our hopes up; everyone got their hopes up.

“But comparing to how they approached it this year it now makes the 2016 approach look almost like they were trying to kid themselves they were in the game – there was none of that this time…the approach of last year was gone.”

While at the same moment, for the first time probably since its dominant run started in 2014, there were minor blemishes visible on Merc’s silver armour, with Paddy Lowe and Nico Rosberg leaving.

But there were also in advance words of warning. “Ferrari need to make hay now, they have to get some early wins on the board,” said the BBC’s Tom Clarkson on the eve of Melbourne practice running. “Because I still have question marks about their technical team, they’ve lost James Allison [to Mercedes] and therefore I think their development rate will drop off relative to Mercedes and Red Bull as the year goes on.

“They ousted James Allison, who is recognised in this post-Adrian Newey era as one of the top, top technical guys… the result of that they have now actually promoted an engine guy [Mattia Binotto] to Technical Director, who is now in charge of the chassis, and when you speak to both engine and chassis divisions it’s harder for an engine guy to get on top of a chassis than it is a chassis guy to go and become an engine guy.”

It can’t harm Mercedes that the very same Allison is now in its own camp. It helps to know thy enemy as well as thy self.

Mercedes’s in-year development record meanwhile is a good one generally, and this is perhaps particularly noteworthy as it’s tended in recent years to be ahead and therefore has less obvious development potential to move into. More specifically the flipside of the Mercedes Melbourne upheaval is that things will improve as the likes of the afore-mentioned Allison get their feet under their desks. Most broadly of all Mercedes has no intention of ceding defeat.

Then there is the small issue that the Albert Park circuit’s on-track challenges are rather peculiar and unique to the season, and that Ferrari might just be particularly good at meeting them. “Let’s see if this was circuit dependent,” added Sky’s Ted Kravitz after the race of Melbourne’s dramatic goings-on. “They’ve [Ferrari] always gone well here in Australia. You get a sense that there’s some engineer in Ferrari that has the key secret set-up sheet of [just] how to win at Albert Park if you have a half-decent car and a chance to do it.”

It’s worth reflecting indeed that without the red flag in last year’s Melbourne race, or even with it but without Ferrari’s subsequent dud strategy call, we’d likely 12 months ago also have been walking away from Australia with a stunning Ferrari win apparently on pure race pace, and the associated Mercedes ignominy. We’d probably be having similar conversations, and speculations, just as we are now. And we all know what happened next.

There are other considerations too. Seb in Melbourne was still well off Lewis in qualifying and it appears that Mercedes can still crank up its power unit more than Ferrari, and he only just pipped the other W08 of Valtteri Bottas (he only just held him off at the start too). And one imagines that the Finn getting ahead of the Ferrari in the first stint likely would have tilted the race Lewis’s way. If Bottas can regularly provide rear-gunner services in races to come, it could be vital – especially if overtaking is now as hard as many say it is. And if the more durable Pirellis now give only one chance per race to pass on strategy…

Thus for all of Melbourne’s encouragement for Ferrari the work has only just begun. But perhaps such considerations can wait. For right now in F1 we have something unusual - unusual for recent times anyway - a sense of more than one credible competitor team at the sharp end. And a related sense of really not knowing who’ll prevail in the next race. Nor indeed of who will ultimately take the title crown. For now, and for the first time in too long, we have some competition in F1. That we’ll take, something to be content about at last.

[MIKA27]

Mercedes working on reducing W08 weight

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed the team are working on bringing down the weight of their W08 after being beaten by Ferrari in Australia.

Sebastian Vettel claimed both his and Ferrari's first win since 2015 to draw first blood in the 2017 title race, and Wolff promised there would be an "immediate response" from the Silver Arrows.

Auto Motor Und Sport had claimed that the Mercedes W08 was 5kg over the 728kg target set, but Wolff would not confirm those suspicions.

However, he did state that weight reduction is one area that Mercedes are looking at as they look to get back to winning ways in China.

"I don't want to go too much into detail but it's an area we can definitely improve," explained Wolff.

"With new regulations and the size of the cars, you need to balance out all the time between performance parts and the weight. And that's an ongoing exercise which we are doing."

[MIKA27]

Massa: Stroll will improve in time

Felipe Massa is confident his Williams team-mate Lance Stroll will improve and he will do everything he can to help him.

The Canadian rookie made some costly mistakes early on in Winter Testing and crashed during practice in Australia which would later develop into him starting at the back of the grid for the opening race of the season.

But Massa has urged Stroll to remain patience as he continues to get to grips with the demands of Formula 1 understands what his team-mate is going through.

"He's 18," Massa told Brazilian broadcaster Sportv.

"I remember when I was 18 and the mistakes I was making.

"Eventually you find out that you just needed time. For sure he will improve during the championship.

"He has ended up not having a great start, including what happened in testing. But he has to have patience and time.

"I'm passing on all the information to him, everything I see, to help him learn and to understand. I've known him since he was 8 years old.

"So I have all the affection to help him to develop and have a strong partnership during the season."

MIKA: I must admit Massa may be right about age, though one can always compare the same with Verstappen and look how great he is.

IMO Massa himself I am surprised remained in F1 for so long because his career prior to Ferrari wasn't all that great at Sauber 2002 - 2005 (A short stint at Ferrari as a test driver 2003 before returning to Sauber). After moving to Ferrari, he became more rounded and successful.

[MIKA27]

Williams "too far ahead" in F1 2017 midfield battle - Perez

Williams is “too far ahead” in the midfield battle at the start of the new Formula 1 season, says Force India driver Sergio Perez.

Despite being one of the slower teams in the Australian Grand Prix, Force India managed to get both drivers in the points, with Perez finishing seventh and Esteban Ocon scoring for the first time in F1 in 10th.

Perez ended the race just one spot behind the lead Williams of Felipe Massa, but could not join the Brazilian in staying on the lead lap.

In terms of Melbourne performance, Force India has fallen away more than any other team in the off-season.

Comparing the fastest lap from each team over a race weekend, the Indian outfit has slipped from 101.552% relative to the outright pacesetter to 103.449% in Melbourne, where it was slower than all teams bar McLaren and Sauber.

“I think Williams is too far ahead at the moment,” said Perez. “Toro Rosso was quicker than us, Haas was quicker than us – so to beat them on track with strategy, the team can be very happy with that.

“I think we came with more than we thought, more than the car's pace deserved today. As a team, we did a perfect weekend and I'm very pleased with that.”

The heavy VJM10 has led to Perez going on a crash diet in a bid to lower the overall weight of the car and driver.

  

Perez reckoned he and Ocon were able to compensate for a lack of car performance in Melbourne and admitted the team needs to improve its car sooner rather than later.

“I think Melbourne is a track where a driver can make more of a difference,” said Perez.

“It's very bumpy, a narrow and difficult track. So once we go to a more normal track where the car pace matters more, we are going to struggle more.

“We need the upgrades as soon as possible, we need to work hard on the car.

"As we've seen in the past, Force India normally doesn't have the greatest starts of season. This is probably my best start of a season with the team in my four years, so it's quite encouraging.

“There's still a long way to go but at the moment we are not where we finished [on Sunday].”

Perez said in pre-season testing the team had identified “a lot of weaknesses” in the VJM10, and admitted after the first race some of those remained.  

“We improved the car from testing, but I think the weaknesses are there,” he said. “We cannot really balance the car, so I think that's what we need to sort out.”

[MIKA27]

Tech analysis: How Red Bull assimilated a Mercedes concept

Red Bull's 2016 challenger was the first in a number of years not to feature an 'S' duct, as the team sought to maximise room for suspension componentry rather than apportion space for aerodynamic pipework.

For 2017, the designers have looked at how Mercedes and Toro Rosso achieved the packaging of their solutions last season and assimilated it into their own design.

Of course we know most of the talk about its nose centered on the inlet in the nose tip in the early stages but as we've already talked about this, the main focus is the movement of air from a forward point on the nose and the channeling of it through the nose to the upper surface of the chassis.

As we can see (above) air is taken in around the nose pylons and is ejected out of the upper chassis panel (blue arrows).

Red Bull Racing RB13, inlets comparison

This is contrary to the previous solutions used by numerous teams, including Red Bull itself, who used to take air in 150mm ahead of the front wheel centreline (RB11 shown, right), using an S-shaped duct to channel the air ahead of the bulkhead, hence the name.

With the nose placed in position, the air is channeled through internal pipework to the vanity panel (RB13, left) which features three separate ducts in order to direct the airflow more efficiently.

Driver cooling remains the role of the small ducts at the base of the chassis, as has been the case throughout the RB10-13 lineage of cars.

Williams front wing

Williams F40, front wing detail

The change in regulations for 2017 will undoubtedly see more major changes as the designs mature. However, for the time being the teams have built on the philosophies they've already been using.

Williams' 2017 front wing is one such example, with the width increased to suit the new regulations, whilst changes have been made to the outer section of the wing to deal with the additional tyre width.

Two triangular canards have been added to the upper surface of the endplate (arrowed) whilst an enlarged canard sits behind the main cascade, in order that the airflow hits the front face of the tyre and moves around it more efficiently.

[MIKA27]

Haas "annoyed with missed opportunity" after Australia

Haas F1 boss Gunther Steiner admits he was "annoyed" to be leaving the first race of F1 2017 empty-handed after the team had scored its best-ever qualifying result.

Romain Grosjean put his Haas VF-17 sixth on the grid in Melbourne, but retired with a water leak 13 laps into the race while running seventh.

New teammate Kevin Magnussen had started 17th, his race undone early on when he collided with the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.

Steiner said after the race: "We know the car is good, they [the drivers] are both positive – especially Romain, he was very positive. He lost a place to [Felipe] Massa on the start, but he wasn't too concerned about it.

"He saw the speed, and I mean, everyone could see that he could keep the Toro Rossos easily away, The car has got speed.

"But it's always.. how many opportunities like this do you get? With such a tight midfield, it's a lost opportunity.

"It's disappointing, but it could be worse. We could be slow."

While Steiner lamented the missed chance to score a standout result early on, he reckoned the Haas car's pace around Melbourne means the team will get more chances at a good points haul in the near future.

"The car is pretty good. We just need to get it always in the working range," he said.

"I think the car is where it showed it was here. I think the cat is out of the sack, we know where everyone is. You can mess up a weekend with set-up, but, in general, the car is there. We have got a good upgrade plan, so I feel positive.

"I'm just annoyed with the missed opportunity, you know? It was almost too easy to grab it, to finish seventh or sixth. It was there, we just had to get it to the end without a problem."

  

More consistency in 2017

Of the 29 points that Haas scored in its debut season last year, 22 came in the first four races, the American outfit dropping down the pecking order as the season went on.

For 2017, Steiner says the team's targets are to be consistently quick at very venue and to ensure better reliability.

"I think it's a lot easier to find reliability than speed," he said. "It seems like we've got the speed. We need to find it everywhere, on each track, more consistent than last year. I think we can do that this year.

"But again, we also need to be reliable, because you can have the quickest car but if you break down, you don't get the points. We will try hard in Shanghai."

The Chinese GP, which follows Australia on the 2017 schedule, was the only race in the first four grands prix of 2016 where Haas failed to score, following a weekend full of set-up issues and a Sunday described as "horrific" by Grosjean.

Asked whether he was confident of avoiding a bad weekend this time around, Steiner said: "I've got a level of confidence.

"I think we learned a lot, and China was one of our lows last year so I hope we don't repeat it. But you never know, it isn't easy."

[MIKA27]

Renault F1 team reminds Hulkenberg of Porsche LMP1 stint

Nico Hulkenberg says his experience of the Renault Formula 1 team reminds him of when he worked with Porsche in LMP1 around the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The German driver joined Renault after contesting the last three seasons with Force India, and he has also driven for Williams and Sauber in F1.

Hulkenberg dovetailed his 2015 campaign with a Porsche LMP1 drive at Spa and Le Mans, winning the famous French enduro on his debut alongside Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber.

Asked by Autosport how different he found it being in a works F1 team after several seasons with independent outfits, Hulkenberg replied: "Quite different, I have to say.

"It reminds me quite a bit of my year with Porsche in LMP.

"Being with a manufacturer is just a different game, you feel the power, the support, the resources they have.

"You see the factory is two or three times the size, the amount of people, what they are building and constructing there.

"The commitment is definitely there, you see they are taking seriously.

"This is the reason I came, and what I expect to see from them - that they push on."

Hulkenberg has ruled out an immediate return to Le Mans but said he would be "open to go back" after a few years.

The 29-year-old said the short-term aim was to help Renault "build the foundation that will then allow us to go for bigger aims and goals".

"This opportunity came at the perfect moment for me," he added.

"To be with a manufacturer, one that has a great history in Formula 1 and has been so successful in previous year and wants to go back there.

"Obviously we're not back there yet and there's still a long way to go but I think it's great for me to face that challenge with the team, that we work on it together to bring Renault back to the top."

Renault finished ninth in the constructors' championship in 2016, its first season after a late purchase of the Lotus outfit, but it is targeting fifth this year.

Hulkenberg missed out on a Q3 berth in the Australian Grand Prix by 0.094 seconds, and finished 11th in the season opener, just missing out on a point to his Force India replacement, Esteban Ocon.

Of the teams in the midfield fight behind top three and Williams, Toro Rosso and Force India both scored points with two cars, while Haas's Romain Grosjean qualified sixth but retired early.

"We're not ahead of Force India," Hulkenberg said.

"I think it seems they still have the nose ahead. Toro Rosso as well, I [didn't see] a Haas anywhere [in the race].

"I think we're probably at the back of that bunch but in contention, with good work to do and more running."

[MIKA27]

F1 MUST BE THE PINNACLE OF MOTOR SPORT TECHNOLOGY

Held at the Federation’s Paris headquarters and chaired by FIA President Jean Todt, the meeting was attended by a variety of Formula One’s key stakeholders, including representatives of the FIA, the new Commercial Rights Holder, current Power Unit suppliers, as well as automotive manufacturers and independent suppliers not currently involved in Formula 1.

A number of the attending automotive manufacturers were also represented by their road car arms.

The meeting resulted in broad agreement for the future evolution of Formula One power units, with all parties seemingly aligned in their focus on:

• a desire to maintain F1 as the pinnacle of motor sport technology, and as a laboratory for developing technology that is relevant to road cars
• striving for future power units to be powerful, while becoming simpler and less costly to develop and produce
• improving the sound of the power units
• a desire to allow drivers to drive harder at all times.
• FIA President Jean Todt chaired the meeting, and was enthused by the positive discussion.

“I was very pleased with the process, and the fact that so many different stakeholders were able to agree on a direction for the FIA Formula One World Championship in such an important technical area,” said Mr Todt.

“Of course, now we must sit down and work through the fine details of exactly what the 2021 power units will be – but we have begun on the right foot, and I am looking forward to working through the process to come up with the best decision for Formula One into the future.”

The FIA Formula One World Championship is committed to running the current 1.6-litre six-cylinder turbo hybrid power units until 2020.

The current units have demonstrated astonishing technological advancement, producing between 900 and 1000 horsepower, while saving 30 per cent on fuel consumption compared to previous generation engines, and approaching the magic 50% thermal efficiency number – a figure that was unheard of three years ago.

From 2021, the championship can introduce a new power unit configuration.

[MIKA27]

STROLL: YOU ARE ALWAYS GOING TO FIND JEALOUS PEOPLE

Big money bought Lance Stroll’s slot on the grid with Williams this year, inevitably the move has been met with substantial negative reactions from the motorsport world which the teenager puts down to jealousy.

Speaking after an unspectacular grand prix debut at the season opening race in Australia, Stroll said, “Obviously people who are not in Formula 1 are trying to find excuses why they are not in Formula 1.”

“I think that the drivers in the paddock have respect of each other. They all know that winning Formula 4, Formula Renault, Formula 3 takes a lot of effort and work to do that.”

“So for sure the drivers in Formula 1 have respect for each other, we know what it takes to arrive here and then obviously the drivers, who are not here, most of the time will find a way to find a reason not to be here.

“So it’s normal. I don’t think I need to spell it for you, but that’s the way it is. Because you are always going to find jealous people and people that don’t like you for the wrong reasons and that’s the way it is,” added 18 year old Stroll.

[MIKA27]

MARCHIONNE: WE NEED TO BE INVOLVED IN FORMULA E

Ferrari big boss Sergio Marchionne insists that Ferrari have a future in Formula E, following the likes of Audi, Renault, Jaguar and Citroen, with BMW and Mercedes set to become part of the series.

In an interview with Auto, an official FIA magazine, Marchionne said, “We need to be involved in Formula E because electrification via hybridisation is going to be part of our future.

“Hybridisation is crucial to Ferrari. There is no denying that regulations put us under pressure, but we could reach those targets in other ways.”

“The challenge is to benefit from hybridisation not just in terms of emissions reduction, but also performance. We have already developed a hybrid supercar, La Ferrari, and on future Ferrari models we will leverage new technologies as well as electrification,” added the marque’s CEO.

[MIKA27]

SAUBER: WE ARE OPEN WITH OUR ENGINE SITUATION

Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn has revealed that her team are considering Formula 1 engine options for next year, however she insists that her team will not switch Honda power mid-season should McLaren terminate their agreement with the Japanese manufacturer.

With the Swiss team’s deal with Ferrari set to run until the end of this season, Racer asked Kaltenborn what the status is of a new engine deal, she replied, “We are talking – we are open with our engine situation and we have a couple of options. We know that we soon have to make a decision and we will, but we are not committed anywhere.”

With regards to a mid-season switch to Honda, Kaltenborn was adamant, “We have engaged no such talks for this season. We have our engine supply and we are going to be there. We would not [be interested in such talks]. Our situation is clear and we don’t need to change it because others have problems.”

Others being Honda and McLaren who are in a very strained situation due to woeful performances in testing and more recently at the season opener in Melbourne, but the official line from both organisations is that there are performance problems but they are committed to working together to sort things out.

Meanwhile, when asked about the possibility of Honda and McLaren going their separate ways, Honda’s F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa responded, “For me it’s not a fact, so I don’t care. Nothing has changed in the current situation [with McLaren]. It’s easy to deny because it’s just a rumor. Of course we don’t want to [switch].”

Talk doing the rounds in the Melbourne paddock was that Honda have Mario Illien doing work with the current power unit, coupled to speculation that the F1 engine guru is attending the FIA hosted engine meeting in Paris (today) as part of the Honda delegation.

But this appears to be off the mark because, when asked if Illien was working, helping or consulting for Honda regarding the F1 power unit, a spokesperson replied, “We are sorry but we don’t have any comment for any rumor about Mr. Illien’s recent job role.”

MIKA: IMO BIG MISTAKE for any team moving to HONDA engines, those with Ferrari power are still better off with the 2016 engines they have...

I have no idea why anyone would find the prospect of a HONDA engine enticing even if they were given for free.