Where do the teams stand in terms of their performance, based on testing and the first two races of 2020.

It has only been two races in an already shortened 2020 season. But we can see a pattern emerge. Testing happened a long time ago and we couldn’t infer much from it given that so many idle months had passed by in between. The Austrian and the Styrian race gave us a glimpse of the 2020 season and potentially even 2021 given that most of the car development will be locked for next year.

Lets start from the back and move to the front.

Williams

Williams have a new driver in the Canadian Nicholas Latifi along with the much admired George Russell for the 2020 season. The car does show some improvement from last year. It is not enough though to move up the order. George has shown good qualifying pace but their race pace seem lacking again. Most likely they will be languishing at the back of the grid, again. William has confirmed the same driver pair for 2021. Let’s hope things change for good for them.

Alfa Romeo and HAAS

Both the teams having the Ferrari engine seem to be struggling.

While there were some green shoots for HAAS in the testing, they all went down the drain right from the first practice session at the Austrian GP. They had brake issues and the car spun a few times. The car in general lacked pace. This year too the team is clueless about the car aero and performance. HAAS has a long road ahead.

Alfa Romeo did surprisingly well last year with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi. While Antonio was average, Kimi was regularly into points, at least in the first half of the season. This year doesn’t seem to be so bright for them. The Ferrari engine lacks pace ( something which we will hear a lot this year). Kimi seems to be less interested in racing and the team in general lacks the drive to move up the order.

Alpha Tauri

The team formerly known as Torro Rosso sits somewhere between the backmarkers and the mid-field. The two drivers Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kyvat ( The Red Bull rejects) do a decent job. Their performance ranges from being good enough to be in Q3 to really bad and getting out in Q1. As RedBull’s B team they are doing an OK job.

Racing Point, McLaren and Renault

Without a doubt the most interesting competition is in the midfield in 2020. It is more fascinating than even the front runners. All the three teams are very impressive, punching above their weight and providing some solid entertainment to the fans.

Racing Point car in 2020 are dubbed as the Pink Mercedes has been the talking point of the paddock with their car almost being a carbon copy of last year’s Mercedes. As of this writing, Renault has launched an official complain against them alleging that they got some of their part designs from Mercedes which they are not supposed to. Anyway the team performed supremely well in the testing and this continued in the race as well. Sergio is very quick and consistent. Racing Point with their Mercedes engine has the pace to beat Ferrari and even Red Bull at times. Some thing that would have been unthinkable even a few months ago. If they can be consistent and regularly haul points then they can easily beat their rivals in the mid-field and give Ferrari and Red Bull a run for the money.

Things have been looking rather good for McLaren. They got the fastest lap in both the Austrian GPs. Last Lap ‘Lando’ was superb. His first podium of the career came at the first Austrian GP. While Carlos is leaving for Ferrari next year, both the drivers have great chemistry and understanding. Seidl has been a great team Principal, encouraging the team and taking them forward. Their aero package is working well and the Renault engine is not disappointing either. McLaren must surely be looking forward to having the Mercedes engine next year. For this year, if they can be consistent and keep grabbing points then they will surely be leading the mid-field race, even challenging Ferrari and Red Bull.

Renault has had a mixed season so far. They were caught off guard with the news the news of Daniel Ricciardo leaving for McLaren next year but bounced back by snatching the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso for 2021. Testing showed improvement from last year, although they are far from what they want to achieve this year i.e. getting regular podiums. The car seemed to have pace but there were DNFs in both the race, one each for Daniel and Ocon. They need to get their act together and be consistent if they want to compete with Racing Point and McLaren in the mid-field.

Ferrari

No one could have predicted that Ferrari would be in some much trouble in 2020. Where to we even begin. The news of Ferrari not even making an offer to the four time world champion Sebastian Vettel was shocking to everyone. He has kept a brave face but clearly seems disgruntled. First two races have not been great for him either. Reasonable driver vacancies are shrinking and Vettel looks troubled although there is an outside chance of Vettel driving for Racing Point which will be renamed as Aston Martin next year.

Ferrari has signed a multi-year with Charles Leclerc, which is great for both the parties. Clearly Ferrari has put all their eggs in his basket. Charles did a commendable job of working with the unwieldy Ferrari and coming P2 in the first Austrian GP. However he messed up royally in the second race, crashing into his team mate on turn 3 of the first lap, taking out both of them. He remains a solid driver though.

The biggest problem with Ferrari is that the car simply lacks the pace. They are literally one second slower per lap as compared to last year, which is astonishing. Even since the FIA directive about the doubtful fuel meter in the Ferarri engine, they just don’t have a competing engine. Charles and Vettel are struggling to make it to Q3. Other teams using the Ferrari engine, HAAS and Alpha Romeo are struggling as well. Ferrari needs to find a solution soon. Else with the new rules they will have to drag this engine to 2021.

Forget Mercedes, Ferrari cannot even keep up with Red Bull in the current form. It would be more than satisfactory if they can stay ahead of the mid-field teams like Racing Point and McLaren.

Red Bull

Thanks to the under-performing Ferrari, Red Bull is the only team left which can even think of mounting a title challenge to Mercedes. Red Bull has signed a multi-year deal with Max Verstappen and he is their star performer. Alexander Albon has been ok at best, playing a good wingman to Max. He came a reasonable 4th in the second Austrian GP but severely lacked the pace that his team-mate Max had. Austria has been a good hunting ground for Red Bull but the first race ended without points for both their cars. Second race was better but couldn’t match the mighty Mercedes.

It looks like Red Bull will be a distant second to Mercedes. Ahead of the mid-field but doesn’t have everything together – Engine, Aero, Drivers – to realistically challenge Mercedes.

Mercedes

Just as everything is going wrong for Ferrari, Mercedes continues with its winning streak. They are a well oiled machine and it shows. Fantastic engine, great aero, superb drivers. Still they are pushing harder and innovating with things like DAS ( Dual-Axis Steering). Mercedes clearly has the pace much superior to any other team. They got a great aero package. Lewis is as much the supreme driver as he has always been. His quali lap in the rains in the second GP was a sight to behold. He was 1.2 seconds ahead of Max which is unbelievable. Valtteri looks a much better and complete driver, winning the first GP and coming second in the other one. He will be the only competition, if any, to Lewis.

Mercedes with be the team to beat, just like it has been since the dawn of the hybrid era.

All in all, despite being truncated, we have a great 2020 season lined up ahead!

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Two time World Champion Fernando Alonso will return to F1 in 2021 with Renault

Alonso, 39 later this month, left Formula 1 at the end of 2018 but always kept the door open for a potential comeback.

He will be returning with the team for whom he won his two titles in 2005-6.

“It’s an extremely happy day for me coming back to F1 first but also to the team with which I had the best experience in the category,” Alonso said.

Alonso said in the team’s announcement that he was convinced by the plan Renault had for its F1 programme moving forward.

Fernando announced it to the world with this video on twitter:-

Renault’s progress back to the front stalled last year, when they slipped from fourth to fifth in the constructors’ championship.

“The signing of Fernando Alonso is part of Renault’s plan to continue its commitment to F1 and to return to the top of the field,” insisted team boss Cyril Abiteboul.

The return of an F1 icon – and a boost for Renault

Alonso left McLaren at the end of 2018 after four disappointing and often-turbulent seasons. He then pursued other racing disciplines, including the Indianapolis 500 and World Endurance Championship – where he became a world champion again, with Toyota.

The Spaniard is making a third attempt at Indy with McLaren’s new full-time team at the rescheduled Brickyard race in August. A win at Indianapolis would mean Alonso becomes just the second driver after Graham Hill to claim the ‘Triple Crown’ of victories at the Monaco GP, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indy 500.

Can Alonso win at 40?

Alonso is the sixth most successful driver in F1 history in terms of wins with 32, and is regarded as one of the greatest racing drivers in the history of the sport. This is in addition to his two world titles.

“The stopwatch is the only thing that matters, not the age,” Alonso said.

“I feel ready and I feel I’m at 100% in terms of driving.

Alonso has kept himself busy since he left F1 at the end of 2018.

He has become a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, adding victory in 2019 to his first win in 2018, won the world endurance championship and also competed in this year’s Dakar Rally.

He has set himself the target of winning motorsport’s so-called triple crown. For this he needs to add only the Indy 500. The Monaco Grand Prix and Le Mans victories he has already achieved.

Alonso starred on his debut at Indy in 2017, driving a McLaren-branded car run by Andretti Autosport.

But a second attempt last year with a newly established McLaren team ended in embarrassment. Unfortunately he failed to qualify.

Alonso is returning to America’s biggest race this year with McLaren, on his delayed date in August.

Fernando is “100% committed” to Indianapolis in August. Would “start the serious job” with Renault in September.

Fernando Alonso picks a car up and carries it, and so is very exciting to watch. He does turn 39 on the 29th of this month. We’ve got a lot of young kids in there at the moment in their early 20s getting the job done. We thought there was a changing of the guard, and we were losing the older drivers

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