2015: THE MERC’S & THE MAX
The final race of this season wasn’t the highlight of the season. At the front the two AMG Mercedes Benz drivers were fighting over who would have (or get) the right strategy, because that would determine who would win. And very predictable, Rosberg was allowed to win the race. It became clear during the race that the team had lots of discussions with Hamilton about the strategy. He wasn’t convinced the team was operating in his best interest in order to win. Hence, he made the wrong decision on tyres during the last pit stop. And the team must have thought that Rosberg should get something in return for all the times he was ‘left behind’ by the team in order for Hamilton to win the Championship. I wonder how the 2016 season will develop, it might be that Rosberg is either relaxed and has forgotten all about the 2015 season, or he is furious fast like the last races and won’t allow any advantage for Hamilton in the first races. That would be interesting, and could result is some proper race battles.
Luckily the 2015 season was not only about Mercedes Benz winning the title again. There was a young guy entering F1, Max Verstappen. F1 Drivers, Rule makers at the FIA, Team bosses and Former F1 drivers all had their opinion about this young 17 years old guy. He was too young, with too little experience to drive F1. Well… we now know that they were wrong in their judgement. What an excellent performance during this year, overtaking is an art when you let Max drive. It brought the excitement of racing back to the grid, NO more driving around in a parade. Despite all the discussions about the cars, the engines and tyres that weren’t good enough to race and overtake… he showed that it can be done. Even overtaking from the outside, at 325Km/h is an option or at the end of the long straight in Brazil… twice!
For next year the Toro Rosso team need to sign the Ferrari engine contract, so they can build on a reliable and powerful engine. And if the car is as good as the STR 10, then we can expect the team to fight for the top 10 all the time. Looking forward to 2017, the contracts of Rosberg and Räikkönen will end, so two of the best seats will become available. So who would be the best to replace them? Based on their talent and performance my shortlist would be: Bottas, Perez, Ricciardo, Verstappen.
Luckily the 2015 season was not only about Mercedes Benz winning the title again. There was a young guy entering F1, Max Verstappen. F1 Drivers, Rule makers at the FIA, Team bosses and Former F1 drivers all had their opinion about this young 17 years old guy. He was too young, with too little experience to drive F1. Well… we now know that they were wrong in their judgement. What an excellent performance during this year, overtaking is an art when you let Max drive. It brought the excitement of racing back to the grid, NO more driving around in a parade. Despite all the discussions about the cars, the engines and tyres that weren’t good enough to race and overtake… he showed that it can be done. Even overtaking from the outside, at 325Km/h is an option or at the end of the long straight in Brazil… twice!
For next year the Toro Rosso team need to sign the Ferrari engine contract, so they can build on a reliable and powerful engine. And if the car is as good as the STR 10, then we can expect the team to fight for the top 10 all the time. Looking forward to 2017, the contracts of Rosberg and Räikkönen will end, so two of the best seats will become available. So who would be the best to replace them? Based on their talent and performance my shortlist would be: Bottas, Perez, Ricciardo, Verstappen.