Four races into the 2016 Formula One World Championship and there is one driver clearly out front of the field. Nico Rosberg has won the first four races of the season and has a near two-race lead over the rest of the field, including teammate Lewis Hamilton. While it’s a great run of form, how much longer will it last? We try to answer that in this weekend’s F1 Power Rankings.
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F1 Russian Grand Prix: Life in the Hot Seat
All the luck at Mercedes seems to go one way. It either goes all to Lewis Hamilton or, as it has lately, Nico Rosberg. With two engine failures in qualifying and a water pressure failure that looks to have rendered another useless, it looks like luck isn’t on Lewis’s side. Nico, on the other hand, has a nearly two-race points lead after winning the first four races of the season including the Russian Grand Prix.
F1 Power Rankings: Russian Grand Prix
Moving up from its traditional (as traditional as something can get over two years) late season spot on the schedule, the fourth round of the Formula One World Championship in Russia. Lewis Hamilton has won both races at the Sochi Autodrom but hasn’t won this season. If there was ever a place to turn his season around, it would be here and now. Do I think he has a chance? This weekend’s Formula One Power Rankings hold the answer.
The Evolution Of F1 Video Games (Infographic)
I’m not sure if we’ll have much in the way of F1 race recap coverage this weekend but we’ll definitely have the Power Rankings before the weekend starts and the news roundup following the race. In the meantime, we have a little F1 infographic for your perusal. The beta test squad that traveled to Codemasters HQ think that F1 2016 will take the series to new heights. Just how far have F1 games come in over 30 years? Well, that’s what our infographic is about.
F1 Chinese Grand Prix: More Races, More Problems
I think we’ve gone over this a few times on the blog but the easiest way to make an F1 race exciting is for there to be a little bit of chaos to shake up the order. Often, it’s changing weather conditions that do the trick. For the Chinese Grand Prix, it was a melee at the start that mixed up the field and forced racing to happen.
Of course, as usual, racing didn’t happen at the front of the field. Nico Rosberg didn’t lead the whole way but it wasn’t like he was strongly challenged for the win either as he scored his third win of the season and sixth-in-a-row going back to 2015.
F1 Bahrain Grand Prix: Demolition Derby
It’s always fun when a pattern develops. I’m not talking about Nico Rosberg winning once again. While Nico Rosberg has won five races in a row, he might not have done so if not for another pattern that might be developing this season. Lewis Hamilton once again started on pole but couldn’t cleanly get through the first turn which cost him a chance at the win.
F1 Power Rankings: Bahrain Grand Prix
Two weeks off and F1 seems on the verge of imploding. The drivers are questioning the decisions of the sport’s governing body and commercial rights holders. The new qualifying format that sent fans home early in Melbourne survives to see another Grand Prix. Bernie continues to chase money with F1 while admitting F1 is broken even though he’s probably the primary cause.
Anyway, among all the controversy over the last couple of weeks, there is a race happening this week. It’s the Bahrain Grand Prix. When Esteban Gutierrez was last there, Pastor Maldonado sent him for a barrel roll. After Australia, hopefully we don’t get any more of that excitement.
F1 Australian Grand Prix: Red Flag Spells Danger
For all the rules changes during the off-season involving qualifying and the radio ban, all it took was new rules over tyre selection and usage and a red flag to shake up the Australian Grand Prix. Remove the red flag and it’s likely that Sebastian Vettel would have won the season-opening race. However, a red flag for a massive crash involving Fernando Alonso and a questionable strategy call gave the win to Nico Rosberg.
F1 2016 Season Preview: Predictions
Our week-long preview of the 2016 Formula One World Championship has finally come to an end. After looking at the driver, teams, rules and video games, it’s finally time for us to pick a winner. The story heading into this season has been whether Ferrari has made up enough ground over the off-season to be able to challenge Mercedes for the top step of the podium. Considering how dominant Mercedes has been the last two years winning 32 of the 38 races since the change in engine formula, that was always going to be a big ask. Perhaps, it’s still far too big for this season.
F1 Power Rankings: Australian Grand Prix
As we are wont to do before every Grand Prix, we preview the upcoming race with a look at the chances of everyone on the grid in the Formula One Power Rankings. As it’s a new season, it’s a fresh set of rankings. Well, it’s a fresh set except at the top because I’m not expecting the front quarter of the grid to be very different.
The Lowdown 