| By Glenn Freeman | |
| Autosport.com Editor |
Lewis Hamilton's spectacular Malaysian Grand Prix engine failure not only effectively decided the 2016 Formula 1 world championship, but it also overshadowed a moment that could become a significant storyline for 2017. It's easy to assume that Red Bull holds the key to F1's new super-fast era, with the shift back towards more aero-dependent rules likely to put the Milton Keynes-based team back in the title picture. The new rules were enough to relight Adrian Newey's F1 fire, and that in itself is a tantalising prospect that will strike fear - or at least a heightened awareness of the Red Bull threat - in the minds of the other big hitters. If Red Bull can take the fight to Mercedes this year, F1 gets a much-needed shot in the arm. The dominance of the Silver Arrows from 2014-16 should be applauded, but we're well overdue at least a two-team fight for the world championship. But there's something else F1 needs this year, and we had a preview of it at Sepang last season shortly before Hamilton's world title hopes went up in flames. Interest in sport is often built on rivalries. Formula 1 has had iconic head-to-head clashes throughout its past, and it's on the verge of a new chapter beginning between two drivers with buckets of talent, racecraft and personality to capture the imagination of fans all over the world. Nico Rosberg vs Hamilton only really caught the eye when they collided, perhaps because ultimately they weren't always that equally matched in the car. The same cannot be said for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen: there was very little to choose between them once they became team-mates in 2016, and both seemed to repeatedly push each other to new heights. At Sepang, two laps before Hamilton's engine set Rosberg on a path to joining his father as a world champion and then retiring from F1 on the day he would collect the trophy, Ricciardo and Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel in one of the on-track moments of the season.
It started with Verstappen - on fresher tyres – attacking down the outside into Turn 4, before the team-mates went side by side through the left-right sweepers of 5 and 6, and Ricciardo hung on around the outside into Turn 7 to hold the upper hand. Formula 1 cars rarely spend several corners side by side in combat, and that makes those moments even more memorable. The brilliance of both drivers – who were superb throughout 2016 – was showcased in fine style during the battle that ended up proving decisive in the fight for the victory following Hamilton's heartbreak. Ricciardo had crucial track position, and while he could not have foreseen the path to victory opening up in front of him when Verstappen attacked, he knew he could not afford to let Red Bull's latest wonderkid to get one up on him. The shots of two blue, red and yellow cars so close to the edge at Sepang evoked memories of the same race in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber brought Red Bull's internal 'Multi 21' instruction into the public domain thanks to Vettel's failure to obey it. Verstappen complained on more than one occasion during the race that Ricciardo was in his way, echoing Vettel's messages from 2013, but Red Bull decided against using team orders. In fairness it was Vettel who was instructed to hold position behind Webber on the previous occasion, but Red Bull showed weakness in that scenario when its then three-time world champion decided to play by his own rules. Verstappen wasn't told to hold position in the same way. Team boss Christian Horner said at the time: "There was no interference. The instruction was 'you're racing each other, respect each other and give each other space'." Unlike Vettel, Verstappen also refrained from throwing his toys out of the pram. He raced Ricciardo hard but with respect, not letting his frustration at being held up and receiving no help from the pitwall get the better of him as he went into battle with his team-mate.
If Red Bull is indeed in the championship mix this year, let's hope it can hold its nerve and continue to take that stance. But that's easier said than done. After three years in the role of underdog against the might of Mercedes, Red Bull has often been able to race with less at stake than it had in the Vettel/Webber years. As Vettel has shown at Ferrari, it's much easier to play the happy-go-lucky thorn in the side of the championship's dominant force (as he did in 2015) than it is to remain in such good spirits when more is expected (as was the case in 2016). Red Bull became a ruthless, hard-nosed winning machine during its run of four consecutive world championship doubles from 2010-2013, and while it could be forgiven for reverting to that mindset this year, its popularity certainly suffered during the 'Vettel years'. Webber believed his position in the team relative to Vettel suffered because only one of them was a product of the Red Bull junior programme, headed up by Helmut Marko. If there was any truth to that, it shouldn't be a problem this time around as Ricciardo and Verstappen have both been guided through the ranks to F1 stardom by Marko. As for allowing the drivers to fight each other as they did at Sepang, that's easier to do in a one-off situation than it is over the course of a championship campaign. Just ask Mercedes. Toto Wolff & co rightly pat themselves on the back for how they managed to avoid calling off the fight between Hamilton and Rosberg on several occasions over the last three years. Many other teams would have pulled the plug on the 'free to race' mantra at the first sign of trouble. It's also very difficult to find similar circumstances in F1 history where a team kept two big dogs in the same yard for three seasons. Williams only managed two with Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet taking shots at each other in the 1980s, and the same goes for Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren in the following two years.
But Mercedes had the advantage of being so far clear of the chasing pack that it could afford the occasional hiccup – or even a total annihilation such as at the Spanish GP last year – without its championship train getting derailed. That's a similar situation to the one McLaren found itself in with Senna and Prost; you can afford a bit of in-fighting if the chasing pack are too far behind to make you pay heavily for it. When the gaps are closer, the task gets even harder for a team fielding two top drivers. McLaren famously robbed Williams's Mansell and Piquet of the 1986 drivers' title with Prost, and it was on the receiving end of something similar in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen somehow snuck off with the crown at the expense of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Red Bull will have kept a close eye on how Mercedes tried to keep a lid on things over the last three years, and it will of course be mindful of how difficult it was to manage the Vettel/Webber relationship, particularly whenever the Australian was on form and could pose a legitimate threat to the effective team leader. But what if Rosberg's retirement in fact positions Hamilton as the Prost or the Raikkonen to Red Bull's Mansell/Piquet or Hamilton/Alonso? Even if Valtteri Bottas is highly-rated and deserving of a chance in a top car, unless he hits the ground running immediately, it could in fact be the team that has had so many headaches over driver rivalry in the last three years that finds itself in the more straightforward position of only needing to back one horse. That will just make Red Bull's position even tougher. It won't be easy, but F1 will owe the team a huge debt of gratitude if the 2017 championship fight includes two of the most exciting talents being allowed to race each other properly. We've seen enough hints from Ricciardo and Verstappen on track to know that the results would be spectacular. With present F1 seemingly desperate to increase its popularity, this is exactly what is needed in 2017.
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| By Glenn Freeman | |
| Autosport.com Editor |
Lewis Hamilton's spectacular Malaysian Grand Prix engine failure not only effectively decided the 2016 Formula 1 world championship, but it also overshadowed a moment that could become a significant storyline for 2017. It's easy to assume that Red Bull holds the key to F1's new super-fast era, with the shift back towards more aero-dependent rules likely to put the Milton Keynes-based team back in the title picture. The new rules were enough to relight Adrian Newey's F1 fire, and that in itself is a tantalising prospect that will strike fear - or at least a heightened awareness of the Red Bull threat - in the minds of the other big hitters. If Red Bull can take the fight to Mercedes this year, F1 gets a much-needed shot in the arm. The dominance of the Silver Arrows from 2014-16 should be applauded, but we're well overdue at least a two-team fight for the world championship. But there's something else F1 needs this year, and we had a preview of it at Sepang last season shortly before Hamilton's world title hopes went up in flames. Interest in sport is often built on rivalries. Formula 1 has had iconic head-to-head clashes throughout its past, and it's on the verge of a new chapter beginning between two drivers with buckets of talent, racecraft and personality to capture the imagination of fans all over the world. Nico Rosberg vs Hamilton only really caught the eye when they collided, perhaps because ultimately they weren't always that equally matched in the car. The same cannot be said for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen: there was very little to choose between them once they became team-mates in 2016, and both seemed to repeatedly push each other to new heights. At Sepang, two laps before Hamilton's engine set Rosberg on a path to joining his father as a world champion and then retiring from F1 on the day he would collect the trophy, Ricciardo and Verstappen went wheel-to-wheel in one of the on-track moments of the season.
It started with Verstappen - on fresher tyres – attacking down the outside into Turn 4, before the team-mates went side by side through the left-right sweepers of 5 and 6, and Ricciardo hung on around the outside into Turn 7 to hold the upper hand. Formula 1 cars rarely spend several corners side by side in combat, and that makes those moments even more memorable. The brilliance of both drivers – who were superb throughout 2016 – was showcased in fine style during the battle that ended up proving decisive in the fight for the victory following Hamilton's heartbreak. Ricciardo had crucial track position, and while he could not have foreseen the path to victory opening up in front of him when Verstappen attacked, he knew he could not afford to let Red Bull's latest wonderkid to get one up on him. The shots of two blue, red and yellow cars so close to the edge at Sepang evoked memories of the same race in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber brought Red Bull's internal 'Multi 21' instruction into the public domain thanks to Vettel's failure to obey it. Verstappen complained on more than one occasion during the race that Ricciardo was in his way, echoing Vettel's messages from 2013, but Red Bull decided against using team orders. In fairness it was Vettel who was instructed to hold position behind Webber on the previous occasion, but Red Bull showed weakness in that scenario when its then three-time world champion decided to play by his own rules. Verstappen wasn't told to hold position in the same way. Team boss Christian Horner said at the time: "There was no interference. The instruction was 'you're racing each other, respect each other and give each other space'." Unlike Vettel, Verstappen also refrained from throwing his toys out of the pram. He raced Ricciardo hard but with respect, not letting his frustration at being held up and receiving no help from the pitwall get the better of him as he went into battle with his team-mate.
If Red Bull is indeed in the championship mix this year, let's hope it can hold its nerve and continue to take that stance. But that's easier said than done. After three years in the role of underdog against the might of Mercedes, Red Bull has often been able to race with less at stake than it had in the Vettel/Webber years. As Vettel has shown at Ferrari, it's much easier to play the happy-go-lucky thorn in the side of the championship's dominant force (as he did in 2015) than it is to remain in such good spirits when more is expected (as was the case in 2016). Red Bull became a ruthless, hard-nosed winning machine during its run of four consecutive world championship doubles from 2010-2013, and while it could be forgiven for reverting to that mindset this year, its popularity certainly suffered during the 'Vettel years'. Webber believed his position in the team relative to Vettel suffered because only one of them was a product of the Red Bull junior programme, headed up by Helmut Marko. If there was any truth to that, it shouldn't be a problem this time around as Ricciardo and Verstappen have both been guided through the ranks to F1 stardom by Marko. As for allowing the drivers to fight each other as they did at Sepang, that's easier to do in a one-off situation than it is over the course of a championship campaign. Just ask Mercedes. Toto Wolff & co rightly pat themselves on the back for how they managed to avoid calling off the fight between Hamilton and Rosberg on several occasions over the last three years. Many other teams would have pulled the plug on the 'free to race' mantra at the first sign of trouble. It's also very difficult to find similar circumstances in F1 history where a team kept two big dogs in the same yard for three seasons. Williams only managed two with Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet taking shots at each other in the 1980s, and the same goes for Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at McLaren in the following two years.
But Mercedes had the advantage of being so far clear of the chasing pack that it could afford the occasional hiccup – or even a total annihilation such as at the Spanish GP last year – without its championship train getting derailed. That's a similar situation to the one McLaren found itself in with Senna and Prost; you can afford a bit of in-fighting if the chasing pack are too far behind to make you pay heavily for it. When the gaps are closer, the task gets even harder for a team fielding two top drivers. McLaren famously robbed Williams's Mansell and Piquet of the 1986 drivers' title with Prost, and it was on the receiving end of something similar in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen somehow snuck off with the crown at the expense of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Red Bull will have kept a close eye on how Mercedes tried to keep a lid on things over the last three years, and it will of course be mindful of how difficult it was to manage the Vettel/Webber relationship, particularly whenever the Australian was on form and could pose a legitimate threat to the effective team leader. But what if Rosberg's retirement in fact positions Hamilton as the Prost or the Raikkonen to Red Bull's Mansell/Piquet or Hamilton/Alonso? Even if Valtteri Bottas is highly-rated and deserving of a chance in a top car, unless he hits the ground running immediately, it could in fact be the team that has had so many headaches over driver rivalry in the last three years that finds itself in the more straightforward position of only needing to back one horse. That will just make Red Bull's position even tougher. It won't be easy, but F1 will owe the team a huge debt of gratitude if the 2017 championship fight includes two of the most exciting talents being allowed to race each other properly. We've seen enough hints from Ricciardo and Verstappen on track to know that the results would be spectacular. With present F1 seemingly desperate to increase its popularity, this is exactly what is needed in 2017.
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