After four weeks off, Formula One is back. As is tradition, the first race back from summer vacation is the Belgian Grand Prix from the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit. It’s not exactly a leisurely summer drive. While a lap is 70% full-throttle and is a kilometre longer than any other track on the calendar, it has some of the toughest and most iconic corners in F1. Who will conquer the last great F1 circuit? The F1 power rankings tries to answer the question.
F1
F1 German Grand Prix: The Race to 2017
Is it a home victory if the manufacturer wins rather than the driver? In Italy, that is certainly the case as we know that Ferrari is a religion there. I can’t help but feel that Germany wouldn’t be as open to a foreign driver winning for the domestic constructor. That was the situation at Hockenheim after the German Grand Prix that saw Brit Lewis Hamilton take home the win for Germany’s Mercedes.
F1 Power Rankings: Hungarian Grand Prix
It’s time for Magyar Nagydij! While I’ve never been a fan of the Hungaroring, the combination of low grip and low-speed that requires high downforce takes the perpetual Mercedes advantage away so that the field can have a legitimate chance at victory without a fluke happening. The last time Mercedes won in Hungary was before the Turbo V6 engine formula was introduced. Could they pull of the victory this time? The F1 Power Rankings attempts to answer that question.
Formula One: 2016 Silverstone Mid-Season Test Recap
For the second time this season, the teams of Formula One stayed a few extra days after a grand prix for an in-season test. With most of the teams having exhausted their experienced driver test days, most of this test was a Young Drivers’ Test in all but name. However, experience still carried the two days of the test as the fastest times were set by the 2nd and 3rd most experienced men on the grid.
F1 British Grand Prix: A Bronx Cheer
The British Grand Prix started behind the safety car because of standing water on the track. Fans complained about the overly cautious start to the race but little did they know that this start to the race would make for the most exciting part of the afternoon. Changing conditions made for some exciting moments as drivers coped with a track that was too wet for inters and then too wet for slicks.
Lewis Hamilton ended up winning his home grand prix in a race that will likely be remembered for the first penalty from F1’s radio rules.
F1 Austrian Grand Prix: Here We Go Again
In racing, it’s not who leads the first lap, the halfway lap or even the most laps. Nico Rosberg led the most laps of the Austrian Grand Prix but he didn’t taste the winner’s champagne. In fact, he turned out to be a villain of Maldonado-ian levels after the chequered flag flew. A last lap collision with teammate Lewis Hamilton while defending the lead left Rosberg worse for wear, as is often the case when this occurs, and handed the win to Hamilton.
F1 Monaco Grand Prix: Better Lucky than Good
Twenty years ago, the Monaco Grand Prix featured a downpour, changing conditions and only three cars running at the end of the two-hour time limit. Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix looked like it could go the same way but the difference was that 15 cars finished. A series of strange moments throughout the race saw Lewis Hamilton luck his way into his first win of the 2016 World Championship.
F1 Power Rankings: Monaco Grand Prix
It’s finally time for Formula One to have its biggest race of the year on the biggest day for motorsports of the year. Before we can watch the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, we must start the day with the Monaco Grand Prix. All eyes will be on Mercedes as they try to recover from the debacle in Barcelona because if they pull that trick here, most of the field will crash out with them.
Formula One: 2016 Barcelona Mid-Season Test Recap
It’s a little known article of the Formula One Sporting Regulations but F1 can’t go to Spain without having an obligatory test session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. So after Max Verstappen’s shock win in his Red Bull debut, the teams stuck around for a few more days to do some testing for the first time during this season.
F1 Spanish Grand Prix: Come Together
The big controversy of the last week in Formula One was completely overshadowed in less than two hours on Sunday. Red Bull’s driver swap dominated conversation from when it was made official last Friday through to the start of the race on Sunday. After a fourth turn collision between the two Mercedes, suddenly that controversy was put on the back burner and a new Mercedes one rose to the forefront.
The other thing that ended the Red Bull controversy? That would be Max Verstappen taking the opportunity that Red Bull handed him and scoring his first victory in Formula One in his first race for Red Bull Racing.
The Lowdown 