Its that time again, the 2016 season gets underway in two days time. Its the morning everyone looks forward to where we get up at 4 in the morning with anticipation of what is to happen in the first race of the Formula One season.
Technical changes
In terms of technical regulation changes, there isn't any major change to the regulations. The biggest change is the introduction of the wastegate exhausts in an effort to make the cars louder this year. According to people at the track, they have only made the cars around 10-12% louder, and doesn't have an effect on the performance of the cars.
Tyres
In terms of the sporting regulations, there are quite a few changes. The one that's going to affect the regulations is the tyres where the teams have 14 sets of dry tyres but they ask Pirelli which tyre compounds they take, with 3 compounds available to use in the race. I think this could make the racing more exciting. Races like Melbourne, Bahrain and China, where the Supersoft has been picked, a lot of the drivers that make Q3 will want to use the supersoft in Q2 to get through, but the rules in starting the season on the compounds used in Q2 is still there, meaning drivers who don't make Q3 can choose their tyre compounds. The supersofts will only get around 3-5 laps into the race so the drivers who make Q3 will have to make an extra stop. This means we will have situations like in GP2 feature races where all these front runners are making their way through midfield runners, and say a Williams or a Red Bull could benefit from just missing out on Q3, as if they just stick with the front runners, they can get through the race on one less stop than the front runners and those front runners will have to overtake them on track. This could easily result in more overtaking.
Qualifying Format
There has been an interesting debate about this. This year, sees a new qualifying format introduced into Formula One. The 3 sessions remain but after five minutes in each session, a driver is eliminated every 90 seconds. I think there are good points and bad points about this session. The good point is this means everyone will exit the pits straight away at the beginning of a session, which is good particularly for fans at the track. The bad thing about it however, is the fact it applies for Q3 as well, I just worry that because in the last 90 seconds there is only going to be two drivers left, it'll lead to anti-climactic sessions. In my opinion, if Q1 and Q2 was done this way but Q3 the way it was before, it would be a fantastic innovative format.
Team by team preview;
Now I am going to go through each team and do a quick paragraph of what their expectations for this year could be.
Mercedes
Going into the season as drivers and constructors champions for the second consecutive year, Mercedes surely have high expectations for 2016. In pre-season testing they showed fantastic pace and reliability, which gives people the impression that this year they might display a similar level of dominance, especially with their strong line-up of reigning champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Ferrari
There was a lot of talk going into this season after their step forward last year that in 2016, they could challenge Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen remain their drivers, but I honestly believe that this year would have been the year Jules Bianchi would've replaced Kimi in a Ferrari. The car seems to be a step forward from last year, but judging by testing, I don't think that they are quite at Mercedes level just yet.
Williams
Williams seem to be at around the level they were at last year. But we don't know if their weaknesses, which were at slow-speed tracks, have been sorted out yet. If they have, with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas staying on, they should easily maintain third. Whether they will win a race, they have to get their strategic team together first as their strategists still seem to not quite have got accustomed to being a front running team yet.
Red Bull
With the Renault engine for another year, many thought Red Bull may slip to the midfield and drop behind teams such as Force India and even their junior team Toro Rosso. However judging by testing, they seem to be consistently up there with Williams, so I'd say they are going to be the fourth quickest team again, especially with Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat staying on.
Force India
Force India have high hopes going into this year after such a strong end to 2015, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez staying on. Judging by preseason testing, they seem to be at the level of where they were at the back end of last year. So I'd say they might have a similar year this year, hopefully without the appalling start, with maybe a podium or two. Hopefully Nico Hulkenberg can finally take his maiden podium.
Toro Rosso
Toro Rosso have looked fantastic during the preseason, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr entering their second year of Formula One. The car was fantastic last year aerodynamically but had the underpowered Renault engine. Now they have a Ferrari engine, albeit 2015 spec, but still better than what they had last year, that has been sorted. My prediction for them this year, is that they will take a podium, with Max Verstappen taking it.
Renault
For this year, Renault have retaken the Lotus team and returned to F1 as a works team. They have an all new line-up, Kevin Magnussen, and rookie Jolyon Palmer (2014 GP2 champion) which is a very strong line-up. The car has looked around the level Lotus were at the back end of last year, so that is where they will probably start, but with their budget, I can see them improving to the level of Toro Rosso and maybe even Force India by the end of the year.
Sauber
Sauber have been rumoured to be suffering a lot of financial issues, even with two pay drivers, Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. I personally think Sauber could be in for an extremely rough 2016 season. I think they will start ahead of Manor, but then as the season goes on, Sauber's financial issues will start to hit, with them being unable to upgrade the car but others are. I personally think they could be last in the constructors this year.
McLaren
After a horrible 2015 season, McLaren will hope to improve, especially with two world champion drivers, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. Before preseason testing, I believed McLaren would get their act together and be back to 2014 pace, but judging by preseason testing, that might be a bit of a tall order, but this year will be an improvement for them in terms of pace and reliability. So I can see them scrapping with teams such as Renault.
Manor
There have been a lot of high hopes for Manor this year, with them managing to get a Mercedes engine. They have a line-up of two rookies, Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein and Indonesian Rio Haryanto. I have high hopes for Wehrlein this year, I honestly believe he is going to be the team's best driver since Jules Bianchi. Judging by preseason testing, I can see Manor being in the thick of it with teams such as Sauber at the start, but will be a bit behind. But as the season goes on, with teams around struggling with budgets and their use of the Mercedes windtunnel, I can see them moving ahead of Sauber and maybe even a few teams ahead. I'll be very surprised if they don't score points.
Haas
There have been a lot of high hopes for Haas as well, in their first season of Formula One. They have signed Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez. Judging by preseason testing, they will probably start the season around Sauber/Manor level, but with their budget, I can see them improving as the season goes on.
After reviewing each team, this is my prediction for the pecking order this year.
Pecking order in Melbourne;
Mercedes
Ferrari
Williams
Red Bull
Force India
Toro Rosso
McLaren
Renault
Haas
Sauber
Manor
Pecking order in Abu Dhabi;
Mercedes
Ferrari
Williams
Red Bull
Force India
Toro Rosso
Renault
Haas
McLaren
Manor
Sauber
That is it for my season preview. I hope you enjoy the 2016 season!
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