By David Fitzgerald
2018 Preview/ Talking Points
1. Can Mercedes Stay on Top?
After a back-and-forth 2017 Mercedes still reigned supreme keeping their perfect championship record in the v6 hybrid era after their closest battle against a resurgent Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari where Hamilton took charge after the summer break. The question is now can they keep development going or have to hit the ceiling of engine and aero performance!
2. Can Ferrari and Red Bull catch up?
The real question is can Ferrari build a good car two years in a row? Thats the question as normally they put all their efforts in one year and have to catch up for the next two. While for Red Bull the question really is can they start off strong? Thats mostly due to the Renault engine not being up to par and Red Bull playing catch up the first half of the season.
As shown in previous years they normally challenge for wins and podiums week in week out in the latter half of the season so thats the real focus Red Bull need to work on, try to build back up a broken relationship with Renault.
And who will win the team mate battle of Ricciardo vs Verstappen and will tensions run high if they are fighting for a championship.
3. A resurgent McLaren?
The last three years of the renewed McLaren Honda relationship hasnt gone the way Fernando Alonso and McLaren would have hoped but with the switch to Renault power for this year should see a McLaren resurgence to the top .
For the first time in three years they should have decent running in winter testing by changing their engine and it will be great to show a rejuvinised Fernando Alonso racing at the front in an attempt to win his third world championship!
4. Best of the rest
Now with the Big 4 firmily at the top of the sport another big talking point is who will be the best of the rest? Force India have the done well finishing fourth under the partnership of McLaren reject Sergio Perez and aspiring Merecdes rookie Esteben Ocon on a limited budget!
But with Renault putting all the assests on their F1 team I expect them to be strong with a very strong partnership of Hulkenberg and Sainz who they have nabbed on loan from Toro Rosso and with a big budget they should be near the top very soon! Now the curious case of Williams will this be the year they change up the car and focus aero instead of Straight line speed.
This concept worked in previous years thanks to them having the undisputed best engine in Mercedes but with others catching up they need to change. Due to a limited budget and a very inexperienced line up of Lance Stroll who came of the back off an inconsistent 2017 and rookie Sergey Sirotkin I can only see Williams falling back farther from their firth place in 2017!
5. Back of the Grid
Its very hard now to talk about the back of the grid because their might not be a guarenteed backmarker as Sauber with the Sponsorship and partnership of Alfa Romeo and Ferrari should be better in 2018 especially with Rookie sensation Charles Leclerc while Haas with the dynamic duo of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen can pull results out of the bag but are incosistent on some tracks and with Ferrari money expect them to make progress in 2018 but not much.
Last but not least Toro Rosso, long gone are the days of Vettel and beating their senior team Red Bull they have struggled recently and not having the resources to keep up the development and normally by the end of the season are near of at the back. Amazinly they finished last season going through four 4 drivers retaining Hartley and Gasly for this season. But crucially they have switched to Honda Power.
6. What Next for Honda?
After their McLaren partnership going up in Flames they have now switched to Toro Rosso. Its safe to say they overestimitated these engines when they entered the sport and were unprepared.
Another reason for slow development is the people working on the engine, they refuse to hire foreign engineers for their base in Fugi , Japan which means their engineers dont have any experience with the engines and of course the language barrier between English and Japan and now Italian but now they start fresh with Toro Rosso.
The only bright side at the end of 2017 was the engine was getting to a decent reliability stage but it wasnt fast.
Those are the talking points, now its time for some detailed info on the teams, competitors & events.
2018 Constructors:
• Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
• Scuderia Ferrari F1 Team
• Red Bull Racing F1 Team [Aston Martin title sponsor]
• Sahara Force India F1 Team [ Name likely to change to Force 1 Racing Team]
• Williams Martini Racing F1 Team
• Renault Sport F1 Team
• Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 Team
• Haas F1 Team
• McLaren F1 Team
• Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
2018 Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton 44 – Mercedes – England
• Valtteri Bottas 77 – Mercedes – Finland
• Sebastian Vettel 5 – Ferrari – Germany
• Kimi Raikkonen 7 – Ferrari – Finland
• Daniel Ricciardo 3 – Red Bull – Australia
• Max Verstappen 33 – Red Bull – Netherlands
• Sergio Perez 11 – Force India – Mexico
• Esteban Ocon 31- Force India – France
• Carlos Sainz 55 – Renault – Spain
• Nico Hulkenberg 27 – Renault – Germany
• Lance Stroll 18 – Williams – Canada
• Sergey Sirotkin 35 – Williams – Russia
• Romain Grosjean 8 – Haas – France
• Kevin Magnussen 20 – Haas – Denmark
• Fernando Alonso 14 – McLaren – Spain
• Stoffel Vandoorne 2 – McLaren – Belgium
• Brendan Hartley 28 – Toro Rosso – New Zealand
• Pierre Gasly 10 – Toro Rosso – France
• Marcus Ericsson 9 – Sauber – Sweden
• Charles Leclerc 16 – Sauber – Monaco
Car Launches
Williams FW41 (Mercedes) February 15 London, UK
Sauber C37 (Ferrari) February 20 Online
Renault R.S.18 (Renault) February 20 Online
Ferrari TBC (Ferrari) February 22 Online
Mercedes W09 (Mercedes) February 22 Silverstone, UK
McLaren MCL33 (Renault) February 23 TBC
Toro Rosso STR13 (Honda) February 26 Barcelona, Spain
Pre-season testing
Barcelona, Spain February 26 – March 1
Barcelona, Spain March 6 – 9
What’s new for 2018?
Technical regulations:
– T-wings and shark-fin style engine covers outlawed
– halo cockpit protection device mandatory
– suspension systems that could alter the car’s aero performance over a lap not allowed
Sporting regulations:
– drivers allowed three rather than four power units per season
– simplified grid penalties for power unit changes
– wider range of dry tyre compounds [Introduction of the Hypersoft and Superhard Tyres
HALO – Head Protection
2018 Races
Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne Street Circuit-Albert Park
• 23 March -25 March
• First GP- 1996
• Number of Laps[NOL]- 58
• Circuit Length-5.3 Km
• Lap Record- M.Schumacher-1:24.125 -2004
• Live on Sky- C4 highlights
• Qualifying March 24th 06:00- 07:00
• Race March 25th 06:10- 08:10
Bahrain Grand Prix- Sakhir – Bahrain International Circuit
• 06 April – 08 April
• First GP- 2004
• NOL- 57
• Circuit Length – 5.4 Km
• Lap Record – 1:31.447 – P.de la Rosa- 2005
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying April 7th 16:00 – 17:00
• Race April 8th 16:10 – 18:10
Chinese Grand Prix – Shanghai – Shanghai International Circuit
• 13 April – April 15
• First GP – 2004
• NOL – 56
• Circuit Length – 5.4 Km
• Lap Record – 1:32.238 – M. Schumacher – 2004
• Live on Sky – C4 Highlights
• Qualifying April 14th 07:00 – 08:00
• Race April 15th -07:10 – 09:10
Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Baku – Baku Street Circuit
• April 27th – April 29th
• First GP – 2016
• NOL – 51
• Circuit Length – 6Km
• Lap Record – 1:43.441 – S. Vettel 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying April 28th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race April 29th 13:10 – 15:10
Spanish Grand Prix – Barcelona – Circuit de Catalunya
• May 11th – May 13th
• First GP – 1991
• NOL – 66
• Circuit Length – 4.6KM
• Lap Record – 1:21.670 – Kimi Raikkonen – 2008
• Live on Sky – C4 Highlights
• Qualifying May 12th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race May 13th 14:10 – 16:10
Monaco Grand Prix – Monte Carlo – Circuit de Monaco
• May 24th – May 27th
• First GP – 1950
• NOL – 78
• Circuit Length – 3.3Km
• Lap Record – 1:14.820 – Sergio Perez – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying May 26th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race May 27th – 14:10 – 16:10
Canadian Grand Prix – Montreal – Circuit Gilles- Villeneuve
• June 8th – June 10th
• First GP – 1978
• NOL – 70
• Circuit Length – 4.3 Km
• Lap Record – 1:13.622 – Rubens Barrichello – 2004
• Live on Sky – C4 highlights
• Qualifying June 9th 19:00 – 20:00
• Race June 10th 19:10 – 21:10
French Grand Prix – Le Castellet – Circuit Paul Richard
• June 22nd – June 24th
• First GP – 1971
• NOL – TBC
• Circuit Length – 5.8 Km
• Lap Record – TBC
• Live on Sky – C4 Highlights
• Qualifying June 23rd 15:00 – 16:00
• Race June 24th 15:10 – 17:10
Austrian Grand Prix – Spielberg – Red Bull Ring
• June 29th – July 1st
• First GP- 1970
• NOL – 71
• Circuit Length – 4.3 Km
• Lap Record – 1:07.411 – Lewis Hamilton – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying June 30th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race July 1st 14:10 – 16:10
British Grand Prix – Silverstone – Silverstone Circuit
• July 6th – July 8th
• First GP – 1950
• NOL- 52
• Circuit Length – 5.8KM
• Lap Record – 1:30.621 – Lewis Hamilton – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying July 7th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race July 8th 14:10- 16:10
German Grand Prix – Hockenheim – Hockenheimring
• July 20th – July 22nd
• First GP – 1970
• NOL – 67
• Circuit length – 4.5KM
• Lap Record – 1:13.780 – Kimi Raikkonen – 2004
• Live on Sky – C4 Highlights
• Qualifying July 21st 14:00 – 15:00
• Race July 22nd 14:10 – 16:10
Hungarian Grand Prix – Budapest – Hungaroring
• July 27th – July 29th
• First GP – 1986
• NOL – 70
• Circuit Length – 4.381KM
• Lap Record – 1:19.071 – M. Schumacher – 2004
• Live on Sky – C4 Highlights
• Qualifying July 28th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race July 29th 14:10 – 16:10
Belgium Grand Prix – Spa Francorchamps
• August 24th – August 26th
• First GP – 1950
• NOL – 44
• Circuit Length – 7KM
• Lap Record – 1:46.577
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying August 25th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race August 26th 14:10 – 16:10
Italian Grand Prix – Monzo – Autodromo Monzo
• August 31st – September 2nd
• First GP – 1950
• NOL- 53
• Circuit Length – 5.7KM
• Lap Record – 1:21.046 – Rubens Barrichello – 2004
• Live on Sky – C4 highlights
• Qualifying 1st September 14:00 – 15:00
• Race 2nd September 14:10 – 16:00
Singapore Grand Prix – Singapore – Marina Bay Street Circuit
• September 14th – September 16th
• First GP – 2008
• NOL – 61
• Circuit Length – 5KM
• Lap Record – 1:45.008 – Lewis Hamilton – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying 15th September 14:00 – 15:00
• Race 16th September 13:10 – 15:10
Russian Grand Prix – Sochi – Sochi Autodrom
• September 28th – September 30th
• First GP – 2014
• NOL – 53
• Circuit Length – 5.8KM
• Lap Record – 1:36.844 – Kimi Raikkonen
• Live on Sky – C4 highlights
• Qualifying September 29th 14:00 – 15:00
• Race September 3th 13:10 – 15:10
Japanese Grand Prix – Suzuka – Suzuka International Race Course
• October 5th – October 7th
• First GP – 1987
• NOL – 53
• Circuit Length – 5.8KM
• Lap Record – 1:31.540 – Kimi Raikkonen
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying October 6th 07:00 – 08:00
• Race October 7th 06:10 – 08:10
American Grand Prix – Austin – Circuit of the Americas
• October 19th – October 21st
• First GP 2012
• NOL – 56
• Circuit Length – 5.5KM
• Lap Record – 1:37.766 – Sebastian Vettel – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying October 20th 22:00 – 23:00
• Race October 21st 19:10 – 21:10
Mexican Grand Prix – Mexico City – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
• October 26th – October 28th
• First GP – 1963
• NOL – 71
• Circuit Length – 4.3KM
• Lap Record – 1:18.785 – Sebastian Vettel – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying October 27th 19:00 – 20:00
• Race October 28th – 19:10 – 21:10
Brazilian Grand Prix – Sao Paulo – Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace
• November 9th – November 11th
• First GP – 1973
• NOL – 71
• Circuit Length – 4.3KM
• Lap Record – 1:11.044 – Max Verstappen – 2017
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying November 20th 18:00 – 19:00
• Race November 11th 18:10 – 20:10
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Yas Marina – Yas Marina Circuit
• November 23rd – November 25th
• First GP – 2009
• NOL – 55
• Circuit Length – 5.5KM
• Lap Record – 1:40.279 – Sebastian Vettel – 2009
• Live on Sky – Live on C4
• Qualifying November 23rd 13:00 – 14:00
• Race November 24th 13:10 – 15:10
Past F1 World Champions [Drivers]
• 2017- Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 2016- Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
• 2015 – Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 2014 – Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
• 2013 – Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
• 2012 – Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
• 2011 – Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
• 2010 – Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
• 2009 – Jenson Button – Brawn
• 2008 – Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
• 2007 – Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
• 2006 – Fernando Alonso – Renault
• 2005 – Fernando Alonso – Renault
• 2004 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
• 2003 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
• 2002 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
• 2001 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
• 2000 – Michael Schumacher – Ferrari
Past F1 Champions [Constructors]
• 2017 – Mercedes
• 2016 – Mercedes
• 2015 – Mercedes
• 2014 – Mercedes
• 2013 – Red Bull Racing
• 2012 – Red Bull Racing
• 2011 – Red Bull Racing
• 2010 – Red Bull Racing
• 2009 – Brawn
• 2008 – Ferrari
• 2007 – Ferrari
• 2006 – Renault
• 2005 – Renault
• 2004 – Ferrari
• 2003 – Ferrari
• 2002 – Ferrari
• 2001 – Ferrari
• 2000 – Ferrari
