The Formula One season gets under way this weekend in Australia with Lewis Hamilton ready to send out a strong message that he wants the driver’s championship back. Nico Rosberg’s retirement means a new king will be crowned and the Briton – and Mercedes – are determined to ensure they are in the mix come the end of the season.
2017 is the year of change. The new rules introduced by Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, have made the cars faster and improved – in most cases – reliability. Pirelli has done their bit as well. For years the Italian giants were dogged by poor performance but the early indications are that the problems have been solved.
It’s expected that pit stops will become less frequent, returning us to the days when races were won on driver’s abilities. Could this spring be the beginning of a new Golden Age for the sport? We take a look at the drivers and the cars who could make all the difference.
2017 Season
Lewis Hamilton is many people’s favourite to reclaim the Driver’s championship this season. Mercedes haven’t been the fastest car during the practice sessions in Barcelona but their reliability gives them edge over the quicker Ferrari’s.
Hamilton v Vettel, Mercedes v Ferrari
Hamilton though, is keen to dampen that sense of expectation. Ferrari, he claimed, had the best car, putting both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen as likely challengers. Seasoned observers thought that Ferrari were holding something back in pre-season, focussing more on reliability than speed.
The Scuderia has taken advantage of the new rules and designed the SF70H, gaining important advantages in grip and aerodynamics. Vettel was bullish about the performance and impact of the rule changes, calling them an “aspirin”, fixing “pretty much everything”.
Whether that’s overly-optimistic remains to be seen. Ferrari has let the drivers down with poor reliability scuppering their chances in both championships. Can they claw back the gap between themselves to Mercedes and Red Bull? There’s a sense that Vettel may leave at the end of the season if they haven’t so there’s more motivation than usual for the designers and engineers in Maranello.
The Mercedes drivers are comforted by the additional power their designers have found. It’s reported that they have added another 80bhp to the engines, giving them a significant edge over the Italians.
While Ferrari’s design is more striking, Mercedes left Brackley with a car which focused on maximising the aerodynamics of the rule changes. With the extra power generated, Hamilton and new team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, look set to compensate for Ferrari’s overt speed advantage.
The Finn is looking for his maiden Grand Prix victory but few expect him to offer significant resistance to Hamilton’s charge, this season at least.
The Rest
Red Bull are the obvious leaders of the chasing pack. Renault has developed an engine which comes close to the power Mercedes enjoyed last season. It’s estimated to be worth almost half-a-second per lap; it’s a phenomenal improvement.
Max Verstappen is destined for a great future in the sport and will be looking for an improvement on last season’s Spanish Grand Prix win. Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, served the fastest lap in his native Australia last season. Either driver is capable of winning in the first race of the season; if that happens, it will be impossible to rule out Red Bull.
Toro Rosso are the interesting team this year with Carlos Sainz Jr expected by many to feature in many of the shake-ups during the season. Over at Force India, Esteban Ocon is a great prospect who can upset the odds. The French youngster, a member of the Mercedes Development Team, has a bright future ahead of him, more than capable of finishing in the top ten of many Grand Prix’s this season.
STATS
- No Australian has ever finished on the podium in the Melbourne GP.
- Lewis Hamilton can equal Ayrton Senna’s record of six pole positions in Australian GP this weekend.
- Hamilton has finished on the podium in his last twelve races.
- Sebastian Vettel and Hamilton currently share the record for most podium finishes in a season (17 in 2016).
FORMULA ONE - DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP ODDS (Best Priced Odds)
Lewis Hamilton: 6/5 with Stan James - Bet Here!
Sebastien Vettel: 7/2 with bet365 - Bet Here!
Valtteri Bottas: 13/2 with Sportingbet - Bet Here!
Max Verstappen: 8/1 with Sky Bet - Bet Here!
Daniel Ricciardo: 10/1 with William Hill - Bet Here!
Kimi Raikkonen: 12/1 with William Hill - Bet Here!
Felipe Massa: 200/1 with bet365 - Bet Here!
Fernando Alonso: 300/1 with Sky Bet - Bet Here!
Carlos Sainz: 1000/1 with Sky Bet - Bet Here!
Stoffel Vandoorne: 1000/1 with bet365 - Bet Here!
Lance Stroll: 1000/1 with bet365 - Bet Here!
Nico Hulkenberg: 1000/1 with Sky Bet - Bet Here!
Any other 1500/1 plus!
SUMMING UP!
Every team is showing improvements in their designs and speed; the key to this year’s championships is likely to be reliability. Mercedes have a strong head-start in that department and with fewer pit stops expected in each race, it could prove to be the decisive factor.
For Lewis Hamilton, it’s vital to get off to a flying start in Melbourne and Shanghai. With Bottas not commanding the same power in the team, the British driver will be looking for his team-mate to be more divisive among Ferrari’s drivers than being a genuine threat to his own title aspirations.
Mercedes recent dominance of the constructor’s championship could be at an end. Ferrari are quicker and if they can engineer better reliability, they will most likely finish top of that table. Verstappen and Ricciardo are a stronger pair than the two Mercedes drivers but it seems likely that they will take points off each other, leaving Hamilton with a more straightforward run to the driver’s championship than he might have expected.
MY RECOMMENDED BETS
- Lewis Hamilton to win the driver’s championship: 6/5 with Stan James – Bet Here!
- Ferrari to win the constructor’s championship: 3/1 with Betfair Sportsbook – Bet Here!
- Sebastian Vettel to win the driver’s championship: 10/3 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!
- Daniel Ricciardo to win the Australian GP: 10/1 with William Hill – Bet Here!
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