From Bahrain to the Constructors’ Trophy – Part 2: The Pack

Much has been made out of Alonso’s podium, Red Bull’s 1-2 and of course Ferrari and Mercedes’ woes in the maiden race of the season. However, McLaren and Alpine also had a retirement each, but one still managed to get in the points. Meanwhile, Williams Racing and Alfa Romeo edged out Alpha Tauri and Haas in the points, but how representative are these points of the cars themselves and how much can we expect to change?

Poor Piastri, Poor Lando

McLaren’s Lando Norris made about 6 pit stops in his first race of the season, which completely ruined any hope of a points finish. However, at least he saw the chequered flag. His teammate Oscar Piastri’s first race in Formula 1 was cut short because of an electrical issue.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella maintains upbeat that if reliability issues are solved, then consistent points finishes are a possibility for the team. One hopes so, but for a team that has been sniffing about 3^rd place for the last two seasons, a hope of simply getting in the points is definitely not where they want to be.

Lando Norris has shown in recent seasons that given the correct car he can challenge with the best. He has now racked up a few podiums and almost got his maiden win but for a freak rainfall event. In him, and Piastri, the team has a proven race driver and a rookie but exciting prospect.

As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see how quickly such reliability issues are resolved. The team would then be able to focus on taking the performance of the car to the next level.

Gasly’s Redemption & Ocon’s Retirement for Alpine

For the first time in his Formula 1 career, Pierre Gasly is in the cockpit of a non-Red Bull-powered car. Up until qualifying it looked like he may have a long road ahead of him, but he fully redeemed himself to come back from last place, undercutting the pack and getting himself into the points.

Meanwhile, Esteban Ocon, a race winner with Alpine, was forced into early retirement and we did not get to see the two battle it out on the track for long.

Alpine Renault have lost the epitome of experience with the departure of Fernando Alonso, but with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon they have two race winners who are in the prime of their career. It will be interesting how they will fare against the likes of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas, who is now in his second season with the team. If McLaren can get Lando Norris in there, these four will surely put on a show.

Where Do Alpha Tauri, Williams & Alfa Romeo Stand Really?

Valterri Bottas finished 8^th for Alfa Romeo, whilst teammate Zhou Guanyu had a poor start and then lost out in the virtual safety car, ending in 16^th place. Meanwhile, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda just missed out on the points and was outspoken about his frustration at his race start, which meant he spent the race playing catch up. 

Teammate Nyck DeVries kept his cool in his maiden race in F1 and rose from 17^th to finish 14^th, just three places behind Tsunoda. Williams’ Alex Albon took the last points finish (10^th place) whilst rookie Logan Sargeant got twelfth place in his first-ever race in F1.

Tsunoda praised Williams’ straight-line speed and lamented the resulting difficulty to catch up to Williams’ Alex Albon. Meanwhile DeVries was compromised by the team’s decision not to pit him for new soft tyres during the virtual safety car. This suggests that the three teams are close in performance, but that some races might favour one car’s strengths over another. It gives the opportunity for all to earn some points. 

A Balance of Experience against Daring Rookies

The three teams have opted for a mixed line-up of experienced and young talent. Williams Racing have a rookie in Logan Sargeant, who is likely to take some time to get used to the chaos around him and like all beginners in F1 might be more prone to make some mistakes. However, if he can hit the ground running then things point to some excitement for the team. The same goes for Alpha Tauri in Nyck DeVries, who made the switch from McLaren academy to Red Bull’s sister team. It will be interesting how the two fight it out.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo lost their long-time boss Frederic Vasseur to giants Scuderia Ferrari, but have some experience having retained their driving line-up from last year. Bottas and Guanyu, the latter now in his second season in F1 and the team, will take the fight to their rivals.

Haas Banking on Experience to Propel Them Forward

Guenther Steiner opted to keep Kevin Magnussen and prompted the return of Nico Hulkenberg, in favour of Mick Schumacher, for the second driver seat this season. The two drivers had a very public fallout in the past, but according to Hulkenberg have both matured and put the incident behind them. Time will tell how deep the wound lies.

Following the race, Magnussen spoke in delight of his 13^th place finish, whilst Hulkenberg got 15^th place despite racking up 15 seconds worth of penalties for track violations. According to Magnussen, Haas may have gotten the race strategy wrong, which suggests that perhaps the team can battle it out for points if they get it right on the weekend. However, the driver also spoke of heavy tyre degradation as an area for improvement.

So Who Is the King of Midfield?

The first race result suggests that Alpine and Alfa Romeo could be the strongest midfield runners. However, the alternation between teams from 8^th place back is a sign of how close the pack is.

Like Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo and Williams, the two drivers for Haas were separated by another team’s driver. It will be interesting to see if Haas and Alpha Tauri can manage some points next time out in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, if McLaren can get their power unit sorted out, then perhaps they can put the team principal’s words to the test and make amends.

Alpha Tauri’s Tsunoda has already lamented his team’s straight-line speed being inferior to Williams in Bahrain. The next track in Saudi Arabia has 3 DRS zones making straight-line speed imperative.

It’s early doors, but so far things point to a well-balanced midfield, with no obvious struggler. Good strategy, degradation and reliability will all play an important role in distinguishing oneself from the rest. Formula 1 has never given much room for error, but perhaps the phrase has never been truer than this year.

Photo by Carl Jorgensen on Unsplash