The COVID-19 threat
Parts of the world are coming to a grinding halt, with the spread of COVID-19 forcing countries to limit public gatherings and restrict travel. But Formula One seemingly thought nothing of it, taking thousands of personnel and planeloads of machinery to Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton was critical of the decision, dismissing it as “cash is king”. But once McLaren withdrew from the race after one of its team members tested positive for the coronavirus, the authorities were forced to confront the reality of the situation. The announcement of the cancellation on Friday wasn’t made until people had begun to queue up at Albert Park — an indication of the mismanagement that had preceded it. The Chinese GP, scheduled for April 17-19, has already been deferred. On Friday, the FIA announced that next week’s Bahrain GP, initially scheduled to be held behind closed doors, and the inaugural Vietnamese GP, originally set for April 3-5, will be postponed. The authorities already face severe financial losses, which could grow if the season is truncated. The sport has been pushed to get its act together quickly to deal with the significant threat COVID-19 poses. But it can’t escape the criticism for its mishandling of the lead-up to the Melbourne GP.
Can Mercedes be stopped?
Since 2014, when the hybrid era kicked in, Mercedes has been unstoppable, winning six consecutive constructors’ and drivers’ championships (Hamilton 5, Nico Roseberg 1). The German marque again looks to have the quickest car, racking up the miles and setting rapid times in pre-season testing in Barcelona. Despite it being the last year of the current regulations, the team has been aggressive with its design. It even introduced an innovative steering concept: Dual-Access Steering (or DAS). The system allows the driver to pull the steering wheel towards him on the straights and push it back in before a corner; this movement changes the toe angle of the front wheels and is believed to help manage tyre temperatures. Though DAS is banned from next year, it was the talk of the paddock during the first pre-season test. It certainly caught rivals by surprise.
Ferrari in the eye of a storm
The sport’s biggest team is under pressure on multiple fronts. It hasn’t won a championship since 2008 and the promise it showed during pre-season testing in 2019 blew up in its face: having raised expectations, the team was outperformed by Mercedes and even Red Bull on occasion. This year, the Prancing Horse seemed to struggle to match Mercedes and Red Bull in pre-season testing. While there are suggestions that Ferrari is playing down expectations, especially after the ignominy of last year, team boss Mattia Binotto said on record that the team is not hiding anything and is genuinely behind the pace. More importantly, after rivals raised suspicions over its 2019 power-unit, it has emerged that the FIA, too, felt the team was not adhering to the regulations. However, the governing body settled the matter with Ferrari because it could not find evidence to establish illegality. This settlement has irked rival teams, who have threatened legal action.
Hamilton chases history, Verstappen spoils for a fight, Vettel faces an existential crisis
Despite Hamilton’s dominant run over the past several seasons, 2020 promises some intriguing driver battles. The six-time champion, on 84 race wins, could realistically pass Michael Schumacher’s mark of 91 wins and tie the German’s record of seven titles. But young sensation Max Verstappen, who enjoys playing mind games, won’t make it easy. If Red Bull can give the Dutchman a car to fight for wins from the start, we could see a feisty duel between the old and new guard. Verstappen was sublime last year. He seemed to have smoothed off some of his rough edges and the resulting consistency showed he was ready for a title race. At Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel faces an existential battle. The four-time champion’s reputation has diminished every year since 2017, after losing two titles to Hamilton (2017 and 2018) because of a string of driving errors. He was blown away last year by Charles Leclerc , who was in his first season at Ferrari. Vettel, who is out of contract in 2021, needs a faultless year to reassert his supremacy at the Maranello, especially considering Leclerc has signed a deal till 2024, which suggests that the Italian marque is ready to bet on the 22-year-old.
What’s happening with ‘The best of the rest’?
Last year saw former champion McLaren come out of a deep rut to finish a creditable fourth, winning a tight battle for ‘The best of the rest’, behind the top three. It will be interesting to see if the team can continue this upward trend, pitted against the likes of Renault, Racing Point and Alpha Tauri (which was Toro Rosso until 2019). Interestingly, Racing Point was very quick in pre-season testing, with the car looking a lot like last year’s Mercedes, prompting many to call it the Pink Mercedes. If the team can sustain the form shown in testing, the midfield battle could get very competitive. It’s a make-or-break year for Renault, which has not delivered despite a vast outlay of resources. It could struggle to retain the exciting Daniel Ricciardo. Indeed, another bad year could force the French company to pull the plug on its F1 participation.
