That debate is now well and truly over.
First, there have been the areas in which we expect him to thrive: a
straightforward 3-1 victory over Rosberg in qualifying, with all three poles
coming in the wet.
Australia and China (both below), were particularly impressive.
Melbourne, because it was largely unchartered territory in the wet with these
new cars.
And Shanghai for how he attacked the high-speed section on intermediate tyres,
posting a time more than a second quicker than his team-mate. Regardless of
Rosberg’s successive spins, the margin remains impressive.
A simple comparison of the margin to his team-mate in qualifying trim tells
the story.
But the most impressive aspect has been on Sundays. Apart from a retirement in
Australia, through no fault of his own, Hamilton essentially has a 100 per
cent record.
The laps led chart is another example of his, as well as Mercedes dominance:
And while Rosberg has spent 125 laps in second place – essentially trailing
Hamilton – the Briton has spent just three away from the very front. When
both have been racing, Rosberg has spent just four laps ahead of Hamilton.
That, in a nutshell, illustrates how emphatic Hamilton’s dominance has been in
terms of his performances. He must be just a tad frustrated then that he
still trails in the championship.
Grunt Mercedes trump card
Aerodynamically Mercedes have built a superb car. It has allowed Hamilton and
Rosberg to push on from where they were last year. But there can be little
denying that their new hybrid engine, and its successful integration into
the rest of the package, has been the biggest single factor in determining
the order of the pack so far this year.
While some teams have been flattered by their engine (McLaren, Force India),
others have been crippled by theirs (Red Bull are the obvious candidates for
this award).
Christian Horner, Sebastian Vettel, Dr Helmut Marko et al have taken any
opportunity presented to them to (rightly) highlight how Renault’s troubles
have left them utterly crippled; unable to take it to Mercedes.
Speed trap data in F1 doesn’t get a huge amount of airtime, but it crudely
demonstrates the kind of advantage the Mercedes teams have over their Red
Bull and Ferrari rivals.
The graph below shows how far down you have to go through the speed trap
tables to find a car other than one with a Mercedes engine.
E.g, in Melbourne, the fastest seven cars were all powered by Mercedes.
In every qualifying session and every race the fastest car in the speed traps
has been one with a Mercedes engine.
A comparison of the fastest speeds set by each engine manufacturer in the four
races also illustrates the point.
In short, if Renault and Ferrari can’t sort out their engines then the title
challenges of their respective works teams are toast.
A whole lot of noise about not a lot of noise
On the subject of engines, apparently this year they are quieter than last
year. (You may have noticed a few headlines to this effect).
Fans, so we are told, remain unhappy about this. After my race report in
Malaysia I received one email from an incensed reader labelling me a “disgrace”
for failing to talk more about the engine sound.
Our
interactive quiz comparing the new engines with old highlights the change:
What began as a perfectly valid complaint about the duller sound of the V6
turbos morphed into a fully-fledged assault on F1 2014 in general.
A sense of hysteria added to the usual political discussion in Bahrain, as all
the big hitters came along to opine on what they thought about the new
regulations. The conclusion of some, as put so eloquently by Vettel when
asked about the new sound, was that it’s all gone a bit s***.
Ferrari’s Luca di Montezemolo was among the most vocal:
Like the engines, however, everything quietened down after Bahrain – touted
with good reason by one of my colleagues as the “race of the decade”.
(FYI, as the chart below shows, it’s not actually a case of the engines being
too quiet, it’s that the sound is too dull, with drivers going nowhere near
the rev limit).
There are still those who feel strongly, but some planned experimentation in
improving the sound after this weekend’s race in Barcelona should help to
put the matter to bed.
Vettel’s winning replaced by whining
One of the principal whingers amid the debate around F1’s new rules has been
the four-time world champion.
I have to say, first of all, that I find Vettel a very nice bloke, and an
exceptional driver (those who are writing off his achievements on the basis
of four races this year are being more than a tad foolish).
But the complaining about the rules has gone a step too far. In Malaysia he
said the engine sound was “s***”. In an interview with Telegraph
Sport he said there was “nothing” to love about the new F1,
and he returned to the theme this week in his home country.
Aside from his position as an ‘ambassador’ for the sport (he is the four-time
reigning champion after all), it just looks like sour grapes given how he
has not exactly prospered so far in 2014.
More than all the talk of rules, Vettel’s performances on track have been far
more interesting so far.
On two occasions – in Bahrain and China – he has been asked to move aside for
Daniel Ricciardo (the latter provoked a defiant response, at first at
least):
While he leads the Australian by nine points in the championship, this is
largely due to Ricciardo’s disqualification from second in Melbourne.
Vettel has been honest enough to admit he is struggling, although he has fared
better against his team-mate than Kimi Raikkonen has managed against Fernando
Alonso.
Looking ahead…
To briefly sum up, so far in 2014 the dominance of one team (Red Bull) has
been replaced with the dominance of another (Mercedes). That phenomenal
engine has powered Force India back to the podium, and has left Red Bull and
Ferrari struggling to keep up on the straights.
Spain is traditionally the time of upgrades galore, so we should learn whether
the championship is effectively over or a live issue after this weekend.
N.B. For those of you who read this expecting to be told exactly what
happened in each race, then these reports might be what you’re looking
for…
Australian
Grand Prix: F1’s new era gets off to bumpy start
Malaysian
Grand Prix: Hamilton secures maiden victory in Sepang
Bahrain
Grand Prix: Hamilton holds off Rosberg in classic
Chinese
Grand Prix: Hamilton cruises to third straight victory