Formula 1 upcoming 2018 season
The 2017 Formula 1 season is over, and it wasn't anything spectacular. Everything that you would've expected to happen upon looking at the lineup for the start of this season happened. Ferrari were supposed to be very strong competitors for this season, and in fairness, the machinery they brought to the table this year was strong enough to rival Mercedes (at least at the start of the season). However, as Ferrari tend to do, they couldn't keep up with the development of Mercedes, and fell off at the end of the season. That, tied with the amateur mistakes their protégé driver Sebastian Vettel made, caused them to lose this years championship and throw away the lead that they had built up leading into the summer break.
That's not to say it was a boring season - the fact that Mercedes had any competition was a revelation, and to say that Mercedes would've been at a deficit in points leading up to the summer break is something that I wouldn't have ever believed. But, the same problems still stand (if not worsened this season) - overtaking was even less frequent as it was last season, thanks to this season's cars being much faster in clean air, however being in the turbulent air of another car affected the performance greatly, making it harder to overtake around the corners. This lead to drivers being forced to wait for the straights to make a move, taking advantage of the slipstream and DRS. At least the cars were prettier this year! A more aggressive look certainly made this years car lineup a lot more attractive, even if some of the colour schemes this year weren't the most appealing.
Next, I'm going to have a look at the drivers this year, and how they fared in general. Hamilton, the 2017 championship winner, is the first driver that I'll talk about. As usual he was very consistent, with the top car on the grid it's hard to go wrong, no matter the skill level. However he consistently outpaced Bottas, who I'll get more into later. Hamilton was consistently at the top, battling for the highest positions as expected, although due to a few poor performances in qualifying (notably Azerbaijan and Mexico) he was on the back foot for the following race, climbing from lower positions on the grid. During the first half of the season it was very even between Vettel and Hamilton - the two alternating between winning races and ending up in second place, however the second half was the tipping point, after the summer break a string of fatal errors from Vettel cost him the championship to Hamilton, who kept his cool and ended up winning the championship.
Next, I'll talk about Bottas, the major disappointment. Granted, I didn't expect much: when Mercedes decided to choose Bottas over Alonso, it was clear what kind of driver they were pining for - a number 2 driver, to support Hamilton through his charge for his fourth championship. But then my expectations were raised, when I saw his performance in Russia. I saw a spark emerge, and thought that maybe, just maybe, Bottas could have a chance at winning this championship. But that was merely a false hope - Bottas was just below Hamilton at every single race after that (bar Austria) which is exactly what Mercedes were looking for.
Now I'm going to have a look at Vettel. I've always seen this driver as an interesting one - his Red Bull days made me take a break from watching F1 for three years, seeing him in a car so much faster than every other car was getting frustrating, especially when Alonso was driving the garbage can that was the Ferrari in 2010 - 2014, and whilst it was at times on par with the Red Bull (most notably for the second part of 2012) it was never faster, and seeing Fernando outperform Vettel and come so close to winning championships in 2010 and 2012 was such a shame, but now he's less fortunate, driving for Ferrari, in Alonso's shoes (just without the talent). And as you'd expect, he's getting a few wins here and there - but he's not going to win a championship at Ferrari. Whatever it is with those incompetent Italians, no matter who his driving for them, they can't supply a winning car. Or a winning strategy consistently. So if I were Vettel, well, I'd stay at Ferrari because there is no where for him to go. But the difference between Vettel and Alonso is that, while Alonso is much faster and more talented in every way, Vettel is much better at working with the team, and helping develop a car. In that circumstance, Alonso is not very helpful - more of a nuisance, begging for a faster car, without helping motivation at all. It must be a pain to have Alonso on your team without being able to supply him a winning car. When he's winning, there's no one you'd rather have - but when you aren't, god help you.
So that's what I think of this season. I didn't speak about everything, and I also didn't mention Kimi Raikkonen while covering the 2 top teams this season. Mainly because he is a joke of a driver - possibly the worst on the grid at the moment. Anyone else in his spot could driver better, but he fits perfectly with the Ferrari modus operandi, to have a number 1 driver that you focus all your attention on, and a number 2 driver who makes do with what he has.
I just hope that Alonso is competitive in 2018. Watching him drive provides a thrill that no other driver does - he drives with both extreme danger and care, whilst being crazy and calculated - I have yet to find a driver who can drive as well as Alonso in the current grid. Oh, and I hope that whoever you support is competitive in 2018, and that we have some quality entertainment.
That's not to say it was a boring season - the fact that Mercedes had any competition was a revelation, and to say that Mercedes would've been at a deficit in points leading up to the summer break is something that I wouldn't have ever believed. But, the same problems still stand (if not worsened this season) - overtaking was even less frequent as it was last season, thanks to this season's cars being much faster in clean air, however being in the turbulent air of another car affected the performance greatly, making it harder to overtake around the corners. This lead to drivers being forced to wait for the straights to make a move, taking advantage of the slipstream and DRS. At least the cars were prettier this year! A more aggressive look certainly made this years car lineup a lot more attractive, even if some of the colour schemes this year weren't the most appealing.
Next, I'm going to have a look at the drivers this year, and how they fared in general. Hamilton, the 2017 championship winner, is the first driver that I'll talk about. As usual he was very consistent, with the top car on the grid it's hard to go wrong, no matter the skill level. However he consistently outpaced Bottas, who I'll get more into later. Hamilton was consistently at the top, battling for the highest positions as expected, although due to a few poor performances in qualifying (notably Azerbaijan and Mexico) he was on the back foot for the following race, climbing from lower positions on the grid. During the first half of the season it was very even between Vettel and Hamilton - the two alternating between winning races and ending up in second place, however the second half was the tipping point, after the summer break a string of fatal errors from Vettel cost him the championship to Hamilton, who kept his cool and ended up winning the championship.
Next, I'll talk about Bottas, the major disappointment. Granted, I didn't expect much: when Mercedes decided to choose Bottas over Alonso, it was clear what kind of driver they were pining for - a number 2 driver, to support Hamilton through his charge for his fourth championship. But then my expectations were raised, when I saw his performance in Russia. I saw a spark emerge, and thought that maybe, just maybe, Bottas could have a chance at winning this championship. But that was merely a false hope - Bottas was just below Hamilton at every single race after that (bar Austria) which is exactly what Mercedes were looking for.
Now I'm going to have a look at Vettel. I've always seen this driver as an interesting one - his Red Bull days made me take a break from watching F1 for three years, seeing him in a car so much faster than every other car was getting frustrating, especially when Alonso was driving the garbage can that was the Ferrari in 2010 - 2014, and whilst it was at times on par with the Red Bull (most notably for the second part of 2012) it was never faster, and seeing Fernando outperform Vettel and come so close to winning championships in 2010 and 2012 was such a shame, but now he's less fortunate, driving for Ferrari, in Alonso's shoes (just without the talent). And as you'd expect, he's getting a few wins here and there - but he's not going to win a championship at Ferrari. Whatever it is with those incompetent Italians, no matter who his driving for them, they can't supply a winning car. Or a winning strategy consistently. So if I were Vettel, well, I'd stay at Ferrari because there is no where for him to go. But the difference between Vettel and Alonso is that, while Alonso is much faster and more talented in every way, Vettel is much better at working with the team, and helping develop a car. In that circumstance, Alonso is not very helpful - more of a nuisance, begging for a faster car, without helping motivation at all. It must be a pain to have Alonso on your team without being able to supply him a winning car. When he's winning, there's no one you'd rather have - but when you aren't, god help you.
So that's what I think of this season. I didn't speak about everything, and I also didn't mention Kimi Raikkonen while covering the 2 top teams this season. Mainly because he is a joke of a driver - possibly the worst on the grid at the moment. Anyone else in his spot could driver better, but he fits perfectly with the Ferrari modus operandi, to have a number 1 driver that you focus all your attention on, and a number 2 driver who makes do with what he has.
I just hope that Alonso is competitive in 2018. Watching him drive provides a thrill that no other driver does - he drives with both extreme danger and care, whilst being crazy and calculated - I have yet to find a driver who can drive as well as Alonso in the current grid. Oh, and I hope that whoever you support is competitive in 2018, and that we have some quality entertainment.
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