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The die is seemingly solid. Barring a shock improvement over the subsequent few races, the 2023 Method 1 drivers’ world championship shall be disputed by the 2 Crimson Bull drivers.
Reigning champions Crimson Bull shocked their rivals with the dimensions of their superiority within the opening two races. Their profitable margin in Bahrain was the biggest seen at a season opener in 25 years. On the identical rubber as their rivals in Jeddah the RB19s have been over a second per lap quicker than their rivals at times.
With a bonus that giant, Crimson Bull’s rivals know they don’t seem to be in competitors for titles this yr. “Is it lifelike with as we speak’s efficiency to even speak concerning the world championship?” mused Mercedes workforce principal Toto Wolff in Jeddah, the place his vehicles completed fourth and fifth. “No it’s not. You’re a idiot in the event you suppose that means.”
A repeat of the down-to-the-wire championship struggle between Crimson Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton which gripped F1 in 2021 just isn’t on the playing cards. However simply because one workforce is dominating doesn’t essentially imply the motive force’ championship is a foregone conclusion too.
Ferrari, 2002 and 2004
Factors: 1st – 10; 2nd – 6; third – 4; 4th – 3; fifth – 2; sixth – 1
Factors: 1st – 10; 2nd – 8; third – 6; 4th – 5; fifth – 4; sixth – 3; seventh – 2; eighth – 1
When Ferrari have been on the peak of their powers round 20 years in the past the possibilities of Michael Schumacher being crushed by workforce mate Rubens Barrichello by no means appeared lifelike.
Schumacher overcame McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen to take his first title with the workforce in 2000, then the menace from their rivals receded over the next yr. By 2002 Ferrari had a stranglehold on F1, however anybody hoping their drivers can be allowed to struggle for the title understood that was not the case after the infamous 2002 Austrian Grand Prix the place Barrichello waved his workforce mate by to win in sight of the chequered flag.
So dominant was Schumacher’s title win that yr – he clinched the crown in July with six races to spare – that F1 modified its factors system for the next season and launched different modifications which briefly introduced Ferrari’s rivals again inside attain. However in 2004 Ferrari reasserted their dominance and Schumacher romped to his seventh and closing title, profitable 12 of the primary 13 races on the way in which.
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Mercedes, 2014-16
Factors: 1st – 25; 2nd – 18; third – 15; 4th – 12; fifth – 10; sixth – 8; seventh – 6; eighth – 4; ninth – 2; tenth – 1, double factors at closing spherical
Factors: 1st – 25; 2nd – 18; third – 15; 4th – 12; fifth – 10; sixth – 8; seventh – 6; eighth – 4; ninth – 2; tenth – 1
Hamilton was fast to check Crimson Bull’s efficiency benefit this yr with the prevalence Mercedes loved from the start of the V6 hybrid turbo period in 2014. Actually, Mercedes loved a significantly larger margin over their rivals. However there was typically little to decide on between their drivers, and because of this the title struggle went all the way down to the ultimate race twice in three years.
In 2014 Hamilton suffered an early setback with a retirement within the opening spherical which meant workforce mate Nico Rosberg led nearly all of the season. Hamilton’s eventual profitable margin of 67 factors was flattered by the one-off double factors finale which Rosberg retired from.
The next yr was a extra easy triumph for Hamilton. Rosberg’s season started to go awry when he suffered an influence unit failure at Monza and was unable to totally capitalise on Hamilton struggling the identical downside within the subsequent race at Singapore. When Rosberg dropped out with a throttle fault in Sochi, Hamilton’s third title was all-but determined, and he duly claimed it subsequent outing in Austin.
Mercedes might have questioned their willingness to let their drivers struggle one another when Hamilton and Rosberg took one another out whereas scrapping for the lead within the fifth spherical of 2016. However this was a pivotal second: Rosberg had received the seven earlier races, and Hamilton was desperately in search of to reassert himself.
Six races later Hamilton was again within the factors lead, however this was to be no return to ‘enterprise as common’. Rosberg finally prevailed due to a mix of higher reliability and higher begins in a yr when Hamilton took extra wins and pole positions. The title was determined by 5 factors in a tense finale the place Hamilton, main, backed Rosberg into the chasing pack, over the objections of his workforce, hoping in useless somebody would overtake the opposite Mercedes.
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Factors: 1st – 25; 2nd – 18; third – 15; 4th – 12; fifth – 10; sixth – 8; seventh – 6; eighth – 4; ninth – 2; tenth – 1
Verstappen versus Perez
Simply two races into the record-breaking 2023 F1 season, Verstappen holds a one-point lead over workforce mate Sergio Perez. Can we count on the struggle to stay this shut till the curtain falls in Abu Dhabi eight months from now?
On the power of their earlier two seasons as workforce mates, that looks as if wishful pondering. Verstappen scored greater than twice as many factors as Perez in 2021 and was practically 150 factors clear final yr. Perez might have received the final race from pole place, however would there have been any type of contest had Verstappen not suffered a driveshaft downside in qualifying?
Nevertheless at this early stage within the season it stays to be seen precisely how Perez and Verstappen will face off in opposition to one another in a direct struggle. Charles Leclerc separated the pair within the early levels of the opening races and Verstappen needed to recuperate from fifteenth on the grid final outing.
What is evident, nonetheless, is that Perez will have to be quick-witted in addition to fast. In spite of everything, he may very well be main the championship already had he made a bid for quickest lap on the ultimate tour in Jeddah, as an alternative of backing off originally of the lap and assuming his workforce mate would do the identical.
The query of how Crimson Bull will handle their drivers’ competing bids to turn into champion may even show fascinating. Final yr the workforce was fast to impose workforce orders on them, demanding Perez transfer apart for Verstappen as early as spherical six, at which period he was simply 19 factors behind his workforce mate.
However that scenario was markedly totally different to the place the workforce is in as we speak. Verstappen went into that race trailing Leclerc, who already had two wins and 4 pole positions to his identify. Because the menace from exterior the workforce has receded, hopefully Crimson Bull really feel emboldened to let their drivers settle the future of the title between themselves. Then the query of whether or not Perez can ‘do a Rosberg’ shall be all the way down to him.
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2023 F1 season
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