Formula 1 2017 The story so far...
Mighty Machines
Let's begin with the real stars of the sport, shall we? That's right, the cars. Although the preseason testing saw the mighty machines traveling at speeds that were a whopping five seconds faster than last year's recorded times, the start of the season was plagued with doubt as to whether the wider cars would mean that we would see less of the exciting overtakes that we all love.
Well, put it this way: in the Chinese Grand Prix, rising star Max Verstappen climbed 13 places from 16th to third, passing nine cars in the first lap alone. If that's not overtaking, we don't know what is. The race in Shanghai featured fifty-four overtakes on the whole, of which just ten were done using DRS! The rest of the season has seen some amazing overtakes and wheel-to-wheel racing, so we really don't know what we were worrying about.
Thanks to the nature of the new cars, we now have a truly unpredictable season on our hands. The season got underway to a great start in Australia when the Silver Arrows were finally thrown from the top spot, as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel took the chequered flag ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Things then only got better in the three races that followed, which again saw Vettel but also Hamilton and Bottas claim the top spot too, making it three different winners in four races. Add Daniel Ricciardo into the mix in Azerbaijan and we now have four championship contenders, with ten races to go! Due to the crazy British Grand Prix, which saw Vettel's tyre burst on the last lap, there is now only one championship point between the German and Lewis, leaving us extremely hungry to see what Hungary has to offer us on the 30th of July.
With Unpredictability Comes an Epic Championship Battle
This leads us nicely onto what is quite possibly one of the best title fights the sport has seen in years. Yep, I'm talking about the one between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, who are currently running first and second in the standings. Having an impressive seven championship titles between them, we knew that when the day came that these two were finally given cars that could compete with each other, we were in for some exciting, edge-of-the-seat battles. The pair seemed to be enjoying the wheel-to-wheel racing as much as us, well up until Baku that is...
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw the championship battle turn a little bit nasty when Sebastian Vettel saw red, and no, we're not talking about his Ferrari. The German thought that Hamilton had brake-checked him and retaliated by purposefully wheel-bashing the Mercedes driver. Vettel received a ten-second penalty during the race but was met with an awful lot of backlash after the chequered flag, as people argued that the penalty wasn't harsh enough. Eventually, Vettel was sent to stand before the FIA in Paris, where he received a slap on the wrist and a telling-off from Jean Todt before the matter was put to bed. Although many people still think Sebastian deserved a harsher punishment, whatever your verdict, it certainly did get everyone talking about Formula 1. At least the pair seem to be back on good terms, for now. However, we really can't wait to see what the following races hold for these two. We just hope the action is more civilized like the battle the pair had for first place in Barcelona, at the Spanish Grand Prix!
And We Can't Forget About the Amazing Rookie Performances
Force India is on course to clinch 4th place in the constructor's championship, but it's not just the competitive car that the team can owe their success to. Sergio Perez continues to impress, being a consistent point scorer for the team, but it's newcomer Esteban Ocon who's got people talking in and out of the paddock. The 20-year-old has been putting pressure on his Mexican teammate ever since the season started in Melbourne, where he scored his first-ever F1 point and obtained the first of his five straight top-ten finishes. After an unfortunate DNF in Monaco, he was back at it again in Canada, Azerbaijan, Austria, and now the UK, making us and his team very happy.
We've also been impressed by Lance Stroll. The 18-year-old Canadian was brought to Williams to replace Massa and race alongside Bottas, but he actually ended up racing with Massa and replacing Bottas, confusing we know. Anyway, at 18 years and 239 days old, Stroll became the second-ever youngest podium finisher when he came third place in Azerbaijan. Scoring points in Montreal, Baku, and Austria, it looks like the rookie is slowly but surely finding his feet, and we are excited to see what's to come for the 18-year-old.
And Finally, With the Midseason Break Comes 'Silly Season'
That's right folks, it has quickly come back around to that time again and we are well and truly in silly season with the first driver who is up on the market, being the one and only, Fernando Alonso. After three turbulent years with McLaren-Honda, we are not surprised that the double world champion wants to leave the team for pastures new and a car that doesn't break down almost every race. But where is the Spaniard rumored to go? Well, we know that he wants to be in a race-winning car next year, so if this season is anything to go by that just leaves Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull as options, but all three teams seemed to have shut the door on poor Fernando at the Austrian GP weekend. Ferrari's 'big boss' Sergio Marchionne was even quoted saying that he isn't interested in the slightest in having Fernando back at Ferrari. Maybe he could leave the F1 scene altogether. He's already ventured away from the sport this year when he headed stateside to compete in the Indy 500, missing the legendary Monaco GP. Could this have been a sign of things to come?
Carlos Sainz Jr. is also another driver who is currently being discussed amid the 2018 season, after he said it was unlikely he would race with Toro Rosso for a fourth year. The rumor circulating at the moment is that he could be out of Red Bull's sister team as early as the end of this month, with him set to replace Palmer at Renault in Hungary, but both Christian Horner and Renault's Abiteboul have already quashed these rumors.
2018 is also looking uncertain for Kimi and it's currently not looking good for the Finn, whose contract is up with Ferrari at the end of 2017. The team feels that he is not providing the results that they are looking for, with Sergio Marchionne labeling him a 'laggard' just a few weeks ago. Raikkonen has barely matched Vettel's pace in 2017 and currently lags eighty-eight points behind his teammate in the standings, with his best result being when he came 2nd place at the Monaco GP in May. He provided an excellent drive in Silverstone though, after a random tire blowout on the second to last lap saw the Finn lose second place, he managed to bring the car home in third after an emergency pit stop. Hopefully, this will be enough for the mighty Marchionne to save his career for another year.
And, even after all that, the story of the year could still be to come, after claims that Robert Kubica could potentially be returning to the sport. After seven years away due to a rally incident which left his right arm partially severed and led to a long rehabilitation process, is it even possible that the thirty-two-year-old Polish driver could make a full F1 return? Well, he has been testing with Renault recently and has apparently clocked up some pretty impressive times, so who knows, it really would be great to see him back on the grid.
- So, with 10 races still to go and by the sounds of it, a lot to look forward to next year also, make sure you don't miss out on the action. Join Leger Holidays on one of our Formula 1 Motorsport breaks and be a part of this F1 era.
