And so it begins… The 65th
season of the Formula 1 World Championship kicked off in Melbourne with changes
aplenty; nine of the eleven teams fielded a different driver line-up, almost
all drivers changed their car number, there was a merry-go-round of high-level
team personnel and just the odd difference in technical regulations. Before we
get underway, a mention to all the people involved in getting those 22 cars
onto the track in Australia. From the research and development into the brand
new technology to honing the set-ups on the radically different cars and
everything in between, this has been a simply astonishing achievement from everyone
to get their car ready; especially from the three power unit manufacturers:
Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault. Without much further ado, here we go!
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| A Mercedes taking the chequered flag - could be a common sight this season Source: Getty Images |
1. Nico Rosberg
It’s
advantage Nico in what promises to be an ultra-competitive team-mate battle. As
widely anticipated, Mercedes had a significant advantage over their rivals and
only their own reliability issues would halt them – as proved the case with
Lewis Hamilton.
2. Lewis Hamilton
Despite
his DNF, the 2008 champion has every reason to be optimistic about this season.
The retirement was clearly not his fault but simply ‘growing pains’ in the new
era of Formula 1 (he also ground to a halt on his first lap of the weekend). As
said above, Merc have a huge advantage come rain-or-shine but they need to take
advantage of their superiority while it lasts.
3. Kevin Magnussen
Best
of the rest in the first F1 Power
Rankings of the season is Kevin Magnussen after a fantastic debut weekend. Having
flourished in a tricky qualifying session, he then somehow saved his car from
crashing into the wall seconds into the race before settling down into a
flawless 57 laps. He becomes just the third man to visit the podium on his
debut in a whopping 43 years (Jacques Villeneuve 2nd in 1997,
Hamilton 3rd in 2008).
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| Young Kevin Magnussen had an outstanding debut weekend Source: McLaren F1 Team (Facebook) |
4. Daniil Kvyat
I’ll
be honest: never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be ranking two rookies in
the top four! 19-year-old Daniil Kvyat enjoyed a stunning weekend to become the
youngest driver to score a point in F1 history. He overcame the difficult quali
conditions to make Q3 (we’ll forgive him the brush with the wall) to run inside
the top-10 all day long on Sunday, setting the fourth fastest lap of the race,
en route to an eventual P9.
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| Even younger Daniil Kvyat also enjoyed a superb debut Source: Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
5. Valtteri Bottas
Despite
recording a career-best 5th-placed finish, Bottas and his team leave
Melbourne wondering “what might have been”.
With their newly-equipped Mercedes power unit, Williams appeared to be well
on course to deliver on their pre-season potential until the weather in
qualifying threw a spanner in the works. Whilst fighting his way through the
field, a clout with the wall saw Bottas tumble down the order but he again came
charging through the field to pick up ten points – doubling the team’s total
from the entire 2013 season!
6. Daniel Ricciardo
A
flawless performance from the Aussie saw him delight his home crowd in both
qualifying and the race before it all went pear-shaped in post-race scrutineering.
Rules are rules but the report by the FIA specifically stated that “this parameter [was] outside of the control
of the driver”. Indeed, the penalty seems to be as a result of insubordination
on the part of Red Bull – who defied the FIA. RBR will appeal, although
goodness knows just how long it will take the FIA to come to a decision. It was
still difficult to rank Ricciardo given it’s impossible to judge how much he
was assisted by the fuel flow issue (if at all) and I could have placed him
anywhere from fourth to tenth, so settled for the middle ground.
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| The home crowd went wild for the Perth-native... but it was all gone just after midnight Source: F1 Fanatic |
7. Felipe Massa
It’s
never easy ranking a driver who failed to make it past the first corner but,
clearly, Massa was completely blameless in the incident as Kamui Kobayashi and
his Caterham nose spectacularly rear-ended him. As mentioned above, Williams
appear to be the second quickest team but the inclement weather stymied their
charge on Sunday, which ultimately cost them on Sunday. Rain is not uncommon in
Malaysia, so they will hope to avoid any repeat of their troubles and battle
for the podium. Massa himself looks rejuvenated.
8. Jean-Eric Vergne
It
was Kvyat who stole the show on his debut but we must not forget that JEV did
manage to outqualify his rookie team-mate and finish above him too. I had
initially pegged the two STRs together on the rankings but, all things
considered, Kvyat’s debut performance deserved the plaudits. It’s a critical
year for Vergne; he simply must defeat his team-mate in order to retain his
place in F1, or he’ll have Carlos Sainz, Jr. snapping at his heels for a seat
next year.
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| Vergne shone in the wet qualifying and backed it up on Sunday Source: Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
9. Fernando Alonso
It
was a rather average weekend for the Scuderia but Alonso still managed to pick
up a solid 4th-placed finish. Ferrari are some way behind Mercedes
in terms of ultimate pace but it will be heartening to have got both cars home,
albeit with electrical problems. Alonso will probably be most content by the
fact he comfortably had the measure of new team-mate Räikkönen all weekend.
10. Jenson Button
An
emotional weekend for JB ultimately ended on a heart-warming note with his late
award of a trophy for P3. Having just missed out on Q3, two well-timed pit-stops
helped him vault up the order – the first of which was the latest of late calls
as the SC came out – but he still received a huge wake-up call from young
Magnussen.
11. Nico Hülkenberg
A
fine weekend for The Hulk on his return to Force India. I’ll admit that
eleventh in the F1 Power Rankings is
probably doing him a slight disservice – but he is comfortably ahead of his
team-mate. He ran comfortably inside the top ten throughout the race but lost
ground to his rivals in the pits. Worryingly for the team, they appear to be
the slowest of the four Mercedes-powered teams.
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| Beauty & The Beast? Source: Scuderia Ferrari (Facebook) |
=12. Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian
Vettel
A
difficult start to the new season for these two world champions – who both
found themselves dropping out in Q2. Räikkönen appears to be struggling to get
to grips with the radically different car and was soundly beaten by Alonso
(granted, his electrical problems were allegedly worse than his team-mate’s).
Vettel endured a frustrating weekend; something he had probably expected to
encounter given their pre-season, but he will have no doubt been miffed at being
out-qualified by Ricciardo.
14. Max Chilton
The
start of Marussia’s season was reminiscent of the 1999 Australian Grand Prix
when both Stewarts went up in flames prior to the race. Luckily, there was no
lasting damage to either car and both managed to complete the race. Indeed,
Chilton has yet to retire in F1.
15. Adrian Sutil
A
rather underwhelming weekend for Sauber; both cars seemed to lack outright
speed but at least both cars saw the chequered flag – for which they can feel
unlucky not to score some points based on the general pre-season reliability
concerns – having run one-stop strategies.
16. Kamui Kobayashi
It
appeared as if Kamui’s return to F1 was in true ‘Kobacrashi” style but the
stewards absolved him of any blame in the first corner shunt with Massa.
However, the crash did raise serious questions about the new brake-by-wire
system, which was deemed faulty, as well as the Caterham nose, which launched
the rear end of the Williams into the air. On the bright side, full credit to
him for making it into Q2 despite the lack of practice running.
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| There's a Caterham in the gravel trap somewhere... Source: Caterham F1 Team (Facebook) |
=17. Romain Grosjean & Pastor
Maldonado
It
would be unfair to split the Lotus drivers in the F1 Power Rankings given the well documented problems that have
affected the team. With so little set-up work, it was nothing short of
remarkable that the pair of them ran competently in the midfield – and for so
many laps, too! Lotus will be intriguing to watch once they get a handle on the
new technology. Incidentally, both cars ran a one-stop strategy.
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| Proof that both Lotus cars did make it out on track Source: F1 Fanatic |
19. Sergio Pérez
You
could be forgiven for thinking that Checo was no longer in F1 after a hugely
anonymous weekend. A dismal qualifying effort saw him outqualified by former
team-mate Kobayashi and he then picked up a puncture on the opening lap. The
safety car helped him re-gain touch with the rest of the field and he ended up
a rather lonely 11th, which turned into a point (and his first
mention of the weekend) after Ricciardo’s DQ.
20. Jules Bianchi
Having
spent his rookie season pummelling his fellow newcomer team-mate, Bianchi
experienced the other side of the coin as his sophomore season began. Problems
in both quali and at the start of the race scuppered his chances of beating his
team-mate, although he did manage to set a faster race lap.
21. Marcus Ericsson
Unlike
his fellow rookies, it was a baptism of fire for the young Swede as his
Caterham was beset with problems throughout the weekend. As was the case for
the Caterham/Marussia rookies last season, it will be a bit of a struggle – but
at least he kept his nose clean.
22. Esteban Gutiérrez
It
appeared as if “Stevie G” was turning the corner at the end of last season but
the new era of F1 has not been kind to Sauber so far, and Gutiérrez never
really got any momentum going. Things can only get better.
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| The exit of Turn 3 looks a bit different when the F1 circus isn't in Albert Park! Source: Personal photography (c) |
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