With the start of the 2014 Formula campaign only a week away, CAR’s ex-intern Charlen gives us his thoughts on the what the new season might hold.
A lot has been said after the recent tests in Bahrain, especially on the Mercedes works team: their car clearly seems the best of the eleven teams. Though it is not always possible not to give your ideas and opinions on what to expect, one has to feel slightly inclined to believe that they, Mercedes GP, are better off, even if only marginally, than the competition. This opinion is highlighted by the fact that Mercedes have had the most consistent of pre-season testing.
As with all teams, they too had their share of troubles to overcome, but the manner in which they did it and how they came back stronger every time, is what leads one to believe that they might be in the pound seats for 2014.
Although ultimate lap times aren’t always chased during pre-season testing, it was the Williams team, now Williams Martini Racing, which delivered the fastest time over the eight days in Bahrain. After an already forgotten 2013 season, the Williams team strengthened their team with the additions, amongst others, of two Ferrari-men: Felipe Massa (driver) and Rob Smedley (Massa’s Ferrari race engineer). These additions seem to have aided Williams’ quest to be competitive again, as reflected by their Bahrain results. Massa had this to say ahead of Australia:
“I’m really happy with the car and feel we found a good balance. We did so much work on the set-up but it is very important that we go to Australia prepared.”
Ferrari, who also had a very consistent pre-season testing, is another team to keep an eye on over the course of 2014. Their champion driver line-up has been delivering consistent performance. Though Ferrari had relatively quiet testing, the silence could be an ominous sign of what is to come. Fernando Alonso said that the team is working day and night to extract every ounce of performance from the F14 T: “Everyone in the team is very competitive […] to get all the potential out of the F14 T.”
Kimi Räikkönen echoed his teammate’s sentiment: “We have worked hard and the F14 T seems to be a good car, but the track will tell who is quickest.”
The biggest trouble teams faced over the twelve days of testing was the adaption to the new power units. The Mercedes V6 engine seems the more reliable, and more consistent, of the three engine suppliers (Ferrari and Renault the others). It was also Mercedes engine teams who were the most competitive during testing. The Ferrari power unit matched the team’s expectations, but still seems a bit off compared to the Mercedes unit. Renault’s engine unit is delivering more headaches than performance. The unit hindered all the teams Renault supplies, including Red Bull Racing, from carrying out their planned tests.
As with any other sport, things can change overnight in Formula 1, and the pecking order may be different when the teams line up for Australia. The first four legs of the 2014 campaign will give an indication of where teams are relatively to one another, but a clearer picture will emerge as the season progresses.