2017 as it happened
After a rather disappointing 2016 Formula One season, Scuderia Ferrari returned to Maranello to lick its wounds over the winter. The Italian team chose a silent approach as far as the media was concerned, too busy plotting their comeback. And it paid off when they scored a surprise breakthrough in the season opener, with German driver Sebastian Vettel beating Lewis Hamilton in a straight fight in Melbourne. After that, the battle went back and forth and both teams knew they had a real championship fight on their hands. Scuderia Ferrari’s SF70H was proving a genuinely competitive all-rounder, while Mercedes admitted that the W08 was a ‘bit of a diva’. By the Monaco Grand Prix, Seb was 25 points ahead of Hamilton and Ferrari had 17 points over Mercedes, which seemed to be a very encouraging sign.
Unfortunately, that proved to be the high point as far as their challenge went. Sebastian still led the drivers standings by the summer break. However, Mercedes was firmly back on top in the constructor’s battle. After that the air seemed to go out of the Ferrari effort and they could not match a resurgent Mercedes, either on pace or reliability. The Asian leg of the season was particularly damaging and the constructor’s title was formally decided in Austin. Despite taking five poles and Grand Prix wins in 2017, the gloom at Maranello was palpable. It had been a major leap forward on the previous year., but the question now was whether Ferrari could carry their momentum into 2018 and go one better, or whether their progress has already stuttered to a halt.
What we know from the winter testing sessions
The most important question raised from testing was: will Red Bull start as Mercedes’ closest challengers or did Scuderia Ferrari just encounter specific issues at Barcelona that can be remedied in time for the new season? One thing is for sure, the Italian team’s pace was blistering enough to warrant speculation they will still be in the mix. Then there were those mysterious plumes of smoke that wafted out of the car whenever it was fired up in the garage. Perhaps a giveaway clue they have been hurt by tweaks to the engine regulations? Vettel’s 1:17.182 was the fastest lap overall, but it still fell short of a hoped-for 1:16, with the four-time champion admitting on his final day they needed to find more performance from an otherwise reliable SF71-H.
2018 Potential
In theory, this should be Ferrar’s year. It is rare for one team to dominate the sport for 5 years in a row, however the last team to do that was Ferrari back in the early 2000s. Last year’s Ferrari was around 14cm shorter in wheelbase than the Mercedes, helping it to be significantly lighter (pre-ballast) but contributing to a higher drag level and potentially surrendering some underfloor downforce.
On the Scuderia’s new car, the wheelbase has been extended by moving the front axle forward relative to the cockpit, and the rear back by a slightly greater extent. And the significance of this change? A potential downforce benefit at both ends of the car. However aerodynamics mean squat when their engine was down 10-15bhp on the Mercedes last year, a fact that probably lost them the title. An improved engine could see the Scuderia pull clear of the rest as the aero package combined with the overall race solution was arguably the strongest on the grid.
Driver Pairing
Sebastian Vettel says Kimi Raikkonen is the best team-mate he has ever had in Formula 1 because the Finn does not try to play political games. Kimi Raikkonen says his partnership with Sebastian Vettel is good for Ferrari, as speculation will most likely continue regarding his future. Seb will have his orders to win the championship at all costs, while Kimi will hopefully pick up many podiums to help Ferrari’s Constructor battle. Just like during the the last three years, it will not be about Vettel vs Raikkonen, it will be about Ferrari vs Ferrari to decide the future of the biggest team in F1.
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