Formula One 2017 Team by Team Mid Season Report

With the Belgian Grand Prix less than a week away, many drivers and teams will be using the mid-season break to either train or recharge their batteries. With Sebastian Vettel leading the championship and Lewis Hamilton close behind them, there is no doubt that the battle to the final race of the season will be legendary. But how do the teammates stack up against each other? Essentially Sports analyses.

While Mercedes currently rule the roost in the constructors standings, it is Hamilton who has bested teammate Bottas on many occasions. But out of 11 races, Bottas has finished ahead of Hamilton on 5 occasions, including two race wins. In  terms of Qualifying, Hamilton and Bottas are almost even but Lewis has the edge with the intra-team battle reading 6-5 in Hamilton’s favour.

Ferrari have established themselves as challengers for the 2017 crown and Sebastian Vettel has nominated himself as the prime candidate to take the fight to Hamilton. In terms of Qualifying head to head with teammate Raikkonen, the German leads with a score of 8-3. Comparing their race results, Vettel once again leads Raikkonen, but this time he has finished ahead of the Finn 9 times, barring 1 retirement for Kimi at Barcelona. Raikkonen has only beaten Vettel on 1 occasion and that was at the British Grand Prix where both Ferraris were beset by tire trouble.

The Red Bull Tag Heuer team are sitting comfortably in P3 with Sahara Force India 83 points behind them. The Austrian marquee could have raked in even more points but both drivers, particularly Verstappen, were outdone by mechanical issues. In the intra-team qualifying battle, Verstappen leads Ricciardo with a score of 7-4. In terms of race results, the two can only be realistically compared on 3 occasions where Verstappen leads Ricciardo 2-1. In the other races, at least one Red Bull has failed to see the chequered flag. Without the race retirements, who knows what the results could have read.

The Force India team have established themselves as genuine threats to become the best of the rest behind the Big 3. They are currently 60 points ahead of Williams and safe from any threat. Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon have been going hammer and tongs at each other for a number of occasions. Perez holds the qualifying record over Ocon with a score of 9-2. In terms of race results, although Perez has the upper hand with a score of 8-3, Ocon has started to challenge his more experienced teammate from Monaco onwards.

Williams is one of the oldest teams on the grid, having been on the racing scene since 1977. They have won 7 driver’s championships and 9 constructor’s championships during their long and illustrious career. But now, they are but a pale shadow of what they used to be. Brazilian veteran Felipe Massa has had the measure over Canadian rookie Lance Stroll in all but one race in terms of Qualifying. Stroll had out-qualified Massa at Azerbaijan, later at Hungary, he out-qualified Paul Di Resta who was substituting for Massa after the latter pulled out. In terms of race pace, Massa has had the upper hand over his inexperienced teammate except for Canada and Azerbaijan, the latter of which, Stroll scored a shock podium.

The Toro Rosso team has really struggled this season after a fairly strong start to the season. In the qualifying battle, Sainz Jr leads Daniil Kvyat with a head-to-head score of 6-5 in a closely contested duel. However, race results tell a different story, The Spaniard has finished ahead of the Russian on many occasions and Kvyat has not finished ahead of Sainz even once.

The Haas F1 team have improved a lot from their debut season and both drivers are always in the thick of the action. In the qualifying head to head, Grosjean leads Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen by 7-4. As a bonus, the Frenchman’s highest qualifying position was 6th in Australia. In terms of race results, Grosjean has finished ahead of Magnussen 4 times while Kevin has finished ahead of Romain twice. Other few times, at least one car or both cars have failed to reach the chequered flag.

In Australia, Jolyon Palmer was joined by German driver Nico Hulkenberg at Renault. Right off the bat, Hulkenberg dominated the proceedings while Palmer struggled. In the intra-team qualifying battle, Hulkenberg has had a clean sweep where he leads Palmer with a score of 11-0. Hulkenberg also has had the measure of his British teammate in terms of race results as he has finished ahead in most of the races. It was only in 2 of the last 3 races that Palmer finished ahead of the German. At Silverstone, Palmer was unlucky to be struck by hydraulic failure before the race start.

McLaren-Honda have been perpetually struggling since 2015. Two years later, it has been no different for the Woking team and the talent of the drivers are being under-utilised. Double World champion Fernando Alonso has out-qualified Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne 9 times while the later has only beaten the veteran once. At Monaco, when Alonso was away on IndyCAR duties, his substitute, Jenson Button also out-qualified Vandoorne. In terms of race results, their report card is peppered with retirements, but in the few races where both cars have reached the chequered flag, Alonso has finished ahead of Vandoorne. However, top 10 finishes for both cars in the last race will be very encouraging for the team.

Sauber have had a lot of struggles this year and have been stuck battling McLaren-Honda a lot. Despite missing the opening 2 races, German driver Pascal Wehrlein has been the sole points earner for the Swiss team. In the qualifying head to head, Wehrlein leads Ericsson 6-3, Ericsson also leads Wehrlein’s replacement Antonio Giovinazzi with a score of 2-0. In terms of race results, Wehrlein has finished ahead of Ericsson with a score of 4-3 barring race retirements for either driver.

What Spa Francorchamps holds in store for F1 fans, only time will tell. Worry not F1 fans, hibernation is nearly over, so sit back, relax and roll on the second half of the 2017 F1 season