Opinion: Are Mercedes Back on Top or Was it a One-off?

Lets be honest, the Spanish Grand Prix was the worst race of the year so far. After two excellent races in 2016 and 2017, normal service was resumed as we went back to a rather typical race around the Circuit de Catalunya.

Lewis Hamilton dominated the weekend as Mercedes topped all of the sessions over the weekend. Valtteri Bottas missed pole position by just 0.04 of a second and that difference could have cost him the win. Had he started on pole then it could have been him who eased to victory. Instead it was Hamilton who seemed relieved that the car could be as good as it was at the latter stages of last year and that the potential to romp home to a 5th world championship is there for the taking.

But where has the Mercedes pace come from? Coming into the weekend it was known that Pirelli would use a new tyre tread for the Spain, British and French Grand Prix. It’s still not clear who brought the blistering and the concerns to Pirelli but it is thought that it was Mercedes. Was it the correct thing to do from Pirelli. Normally, I give a really clear opinion on everything to do with F1 but I’m in two minds about this.

Teams shouldn’t have to adapt to something as big as tyres because it’s unfair. Mercedes did a better job in 2014-2017 and so far this year, Ferrari have done a really good job by working the tyres at their optimum and to have a wider operating window this season. Perhaps, Pirelli should have at least tried to use the existing compounds (the ones used at all of the races prior to last weekend) at Barcelona and, if there were hints of serious enough problems, then new tyres should have been at the ready.

Everyone knows what happened at Indianapolis 2005 when Michelin did not have confidence in the tyres for that race. Did they allow them to change the tyres? Why should it be different with Pirelli this year? Some teams adapted better to the provided tyre. You could argue that the tyres should be a fixed factor even though safety will always be put in favour of competition. Is it fair that the tyres have changed after no testing with the new tread?

As I write this, I do think I am in favour of the change. Two days of in-season testing have just been completed and after the first day of testing, Sebastian Vettel said that the tyre changes were the right thing to do and images from the cars including the Ferrari show severe blistering on the tyres which weren’t used during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. For Vettel to say this stops any argument that Pirelli were wrong. The 4-time world champion said:

“Obviously you don’t get the chance to revisit these kind of decisions that are made but we did it today and the result is that if we used the normal tyres on Sunday, it would have probably been worse, so it was the correct call.

The in-season test has proved that Pirelli were right but it’s just so easy for fans to criticise them and I do feel sorry for the Italian manufacturer. Pirelli’s contract ends at the end of 2019 and they haven’t had an easy time in F1 compared to the likes of Bridgestone. Pirelli doesn’t need F1 and it’s more of a question of does F1 need Pirelli? If they can find another tyre supplier who will do a better job than Pirelli then I don’t think so.

The big problem I have with the tyres this year is that the operating window seems to be very random. So many factors have to come together and the teams are almost lucking into finding the optimal window. This shouldn’t be the case. Having some randomness is good but not when a lot of your speed comes from the tyres rather than aerodynamics. In other words, the tyres are playing too big a part in how qualifying and the race pans out. You can only blame Pirelli for this because there’s no consistency in how the tyres operate. I honestly think that Ferrari couldn’t find the window which is why even with fresher tyres for his last stint, Vettel couldn’t get anywhere near to Verstappen.

I know it’s a tough track to follow but Vettel lacked pace on Sunday. Mercedes have been the best in the races this year, on pace but Vettel and Ferrari really struggled. Red Bull seemed to have mighty pace on Friday but that didn’t result into anything on Sunday which is very strange. Yes, the conditions were very different but the tyres caused a complete change to who had the speed and who didn’t.

It was interesting to hear Lewis Hamilton tell Bottas in the cool down room after the race that he should have helped him by towing him down to turn 1 so that Vettel didn’t overtake him. You wouldn’t get Hamilton saying that to Rosberg or Alonso when they were his teammates and as I said earlier, Bottas had been doing a really good job since his nightmare start to the season in Australia. I don’t see the line-up changing unless Bottas has another mid-season slump.

It was a quiet start until turn 3 where Romain Grosjean lost the rear of his car after losing downforce from his teammate in front of him who was having his own slide. The whole field were struggling but when Grosjean went off the track, he slid and stupidly decided to put his foot to the floor, which was always going to spin him around, and spin into the pack of cars who were all coming towards him. It was a complete brain fade but probably one of the most stupid ways of seen somebody try to correct a big slide.

To try and go across the track when you know that half of the field has to avoid you is very silly to say the least. It’s the kind of thing you would do on a racing game when you get angry. What was he thinking? Creating a massive burnout whilst putting your car in the most dangerous place possible is ludicrous!

He’s very lucky to only get a 3 grid place penalty for Monaco. Personally, I would have given him a 10 grid place penalty. The collision could have been a lot worse had Hulkenberg or Gasly hit Grosjean in the side of his car or if Grosjean was directly facing the field and he clashed front wings with another front wing. This comes after another crucial mistake when running in 6th place in Baku when he crashed all by himself under the safety car. To be fair Ricciardo spun after the VSC in Spain but that was when he was about to get going again, not when he was trundling around at a much slower speed.

Grosjean has scored no points this season which is remarkable considering the Haas car has had the potential to score points in most of the races this year. It wasn’t his fault in Australia of course but as I’ve said in previous articles, that mistake from the team in Melbourne has proven very costly. Grosjean hasn’t used that to motivate him to recover all of those lost points and instead we’re seeing the return of the Grosjean we saw in 2012 who got involved in multiple incidents. He must score points soon or the end of his F1 career will be on the horizon.

Out in front, not much happened. Ferrari and Vettel were always going to go on a 2 stopper because of their high degradation compared to everyone else so they used the VSC to lose less time. A slow stop probably cost Vettel a podium because he may have got ahead of Verstappen on the exit. With overtaking proving difficult around the track, perhaps with hindsight they should have stayed out but Ferrari have pushed the tyres very far before and suffered from the consequences (Silverstone 2017 and Spa 2015 are recent examples).

A bad day became worse when Kimi Raikkonen suffered from a wiring problem cut the power to the left-hand cylinders in the V6 engine in the back of the Ferrari which was new for Barcelona. The team have said that they shouldn’t have to change the engine for Monaco but with reliability being pivotal this year, Raikkonen might be one of the first victims of some grid penalties due to extra engine parts.

Kevin Magnussen had another excellent qualifying and race to prove that he could be a driver who had an outside chance of taking a Ferrari seat. He’s only 25-years-old which I always find staggering. His behaviour can get to some of the other drivers as proven in FP1 when Magnussen nearly caused an aeroplane crash as he moved very late on Charles Leclerc down the main straight. There was no need for it and he just needs to be careful at times. I do love his style though and F1 needs drivers like him, who are ruthless and very aggressive. As long as the Dane doesn’t become dangerous (which I admit he had been before) then he can do very well in F1.

I said Charles Leclerc needed to back up his 6th place in Baku with another points finish in Spain and he did exactly that. He battled with Fernando Alonso very well and his speed is now coming through as he starts to beat his teammate, Marcus Ericsson, regularly in every session. After disappointing results from GP2 champions, Stoffel Vandoorne and Jolyon Palmer recently, Leclerc could be the real deal. I hope so and should he continue this fine form then Ferrari should put him alongside Vettel sooner rather than later.

Fernando Alonso made it 5 points scoring finishes from 5 races. The upgrades on the McLaren didn’t quite give them the performance that I expected. The car is probably 6th best behind the big 3 and Haas and Renault. It’s not what McLaren want though and they need to be right with Red Bull by the end of the year to deem it a success. Something that will be unacceptable for them is if they are the worst team with a Renault engine. Monaco will be another chance to get some good points but with such high expectations from themselves and their fans, they are nowhere near were they need to be. The base is good but can they convert their upgrades into podiums this year. It’s unlikely at the moment.

It’s been a strange season so far as the favourite for the championship is still very unclear. This is great though and the team that has the pace will only know when the cars are actually on track. We go into every race weekend not knowing the pecking order and the potential for a classic F1 season is there.