Ever since Mercedes debuted their 2014 car on a cold January morning in Jerez, they have looked unstoppable and, the occasional technical gremlin aside, that has proved to be the case, as they have cruised to this year’s Constructor’s Championship with three races still to go.
This weekend’s Russian Grand Prix was a case in point. Despite getting a scare from Valtteri Bottas in qualifying, the Silver Arrows occupied the front two slots on the grid for the fifth race in a row. Nico Rosberg, in second, got a good start and was in a position to overtake pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, but braked far too late, and turned his tyres square (not literally…well, but kind of) and in doing so, ended his chances of winning the race.
Ordinarily, such an error would have consigned Rosberg to a non-points finish, given that such an early stop would play havoc with a carefully laid out strategy. Nevertheless, the German drove a brilliant race to overtake plenty of back markers and eventually find himself fighting for a podium finish. Towards the end, Rosberg was playing Russian roulette (I knew I’d squeeze that pun in somewhere) with his tyres, trying to coax them to the chequered flag, before they were damaged beyond repair.
In the end, it was easy for Nico. Despite having tyres around 25 laps older than Bottas, he pulled away seamlessly from the Finn. Yes, he was lucky his tyres did not degrade – at any other track, they would have done – but he was easily able to hold off Bottas, who ought to have been able to overtake him easily.
It all just goes to show that, in spite of a few obstacles (the Mercedes has not been the most reliable car this year) Hamilton and Rosberg have a car which is so quick, they are well ahead of the opposition. As a result, it is only because of occasional misfortune that they did not wrap up this Constructors’ title much earlier.
Of course, old arguments will resurface as a result of Mercedes’ dominance; it does not matter how good the driver is, if their car is superior, they will win more often than not. Others will denounce this season as ‘boring’, just as they did for the previous three or four seasons, when Red Bull went from race to race, winning with ease. For many F1 fans, this has been a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
However, as a big Lewis Hamilton fan, I’m not too bothered by all this, which kind of highlights the hypocrisy of sports fans; as long as ‘my guy is winning’, nothing else matters. What should be applauded is the skill that goes in to making a car as dominant as the Mercedes. Praise for the drivers should be taken with a pinch of salt, but on an engineering level, the Mercedes team have produced a magnificent car.
As a result, it is almost certain that either Rosberg or Hamilton will win the Drivers’ title this year – another inevitability which should soon be mathematically certain in Austin in three weeks’ time. With all due respect to the Constructors’ Championship (massive prize money incentives notwithstanding), it is the mano e mano nature of the Drivers’ Championship which really fosters regular excitement, omnipresent tension and occasional anger and incredulity.
At the moment, Mercedes will be drinking in (possibly literally) their incredible achievements in 2014, before moving on to the final three races of the season. As Formula One never stops, ensuring that 2015 is just as dominant for them as this year has been is their next challenge.
Everyone at Mercedes has contributed towards a monster of a car, from the hundreds of engineers and mechanics, to the likes of Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe and Niki Lauda, to Ross Brawn, the now-retired mastermind of this incredible piece of machinery.
Formula One teams are rarely dominant for just one year - they tend to enjoy at least a few years at the top. Hamilton and Rosberg will be hoping that this is the case.
