Just Engines
It is hard to describe something you love as boring, but that is what the 2013 Formula One season was; boring. Race after race and all we saw was Sebastian Vettel standing above the rest of the drivers on the top step of the podium. Some may argue that his dominance is down to his sheer talent, others say the car is responsible but one thing for certain, it did not advertise the high octane, drama fuelled sport Formula One is.
However, the future isn’t set to look so dull; the regulation change that approaches in 2014 looks to put a little life back into the sport as do the changes that happen in the paddock. 2014 will see the end of the 2.4 litre V8 era – for now – and will open a new chapter featuring Turbo Powered V6 engines.
Why will this change things? We will see changes in fuel consumption, aerodynamics and the use of exhausts, but ultimately it will mix up the paddock and the grid. Only the teams who have developed their cars to perfection and gathered countless, precious data will come out on top.
2014 could see a drastic switch up in the order of the teams; when the sun comes up in Melbourne in March 2014 we could see a brand new sport. This change in order should breathe life into a sport that has become mundane. To see McLaren take podiums whilst Red Bull fight for fifth and sixth with Force India would be quite a spectacle. Whilst the engine regulation is set to have a large effect on the sport as a whole, something which will affect the individual teams will be their driver pairings.
At Ferrari – the most prestigious team in Formula One – there are two individual champions ready to face each other. The dynamic at Ferrari will undoubtedly change; Fernando Alonso will go from having a team-mate that would take a gearbox penalty ‘voluntarily’ to having one that is not afraid to tell people exactly what he thinks of them…Mid-race.
Kimi Raikkonen – ‘ice man’ - is poles apart from compliant Felipe Massa, something that could either boost Ferrari’s championship chances or completely ruin them. Where Felipe was loyal and dedicated, Kimi is focused on himself alone; all he wants is another championship. At this moment in time we can only guess what kind of relationship the two team mates will have – It’s not going to be pretty: there will be tears.
The fight for dominance will be reminiscent of Alonso and Hamilton in 2007 which did not end well. Although Fernando is older now, having his position as out and out number one driver challenged, will not make for a happy chappy. Would a world champion rather have a fellow world champion as their team mate, or a complete novice? This is a decision Jenson Button at McLaren had no say in. Imagine being saddled with a baby-faced team mate for the second year in a row, having to show them how the team works, perhaps even being forced to share data and information with them…sounds stressful and frustrating. For the second time, Button is partnered with a team-mate a decade younger than him and with so little experience. The effect this will have on McLaren is unknown. They can’t gauge anything from last season as their car was so unsuccessful; they can know for certain that if Magnussen doesn’t step up and perform like Sergio didn’t, his fate will be the same. Button has been loyal to McLaren since his joining them in 2010, he has often said that McLaren is where he would like to end his career but could this be stretching his loyalty a bit too far? Jenson – the ultimate gentleman racer - needs a team-mate that will help him challenge at the front of the grid, not someone he has to hold hands with as he shows them the ins and outs of the team.
Another pairing that holds potential for either mixing the sport up a bit or making us roll our eyes in frustration is that of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel for Red Bull. Whilst we longed to escape the mind numbing Red Bull dominance of last season, we ‘enjoyed’ the fights between Mark Webber and Seb; Malaysia being a particularly interesting/frustrating point in their ever-changing relationship. I believe the driver pairing for Red Bull was strongly influenced by Seb, despite what he says. I think that he wanted a team-mate that would be ten thousand times more compliant than Mark ever was and even though Sebastian emphasises that he would have loved to have raced with Kimi, that wasn’t the type of team mate he was looking for. In Daniel Ricciardo however he finds a team mate of the same age, miles behind in terms of achievements. I believe Daniel will do anything he can to get ahead in the sport, even if that means letting his team mate walk all over him.
Of course, one change I had hoped to see for 2014 would be the presence of a female on the grid and not just standing, looking pretty in front of the cars. It’s sad that in this day and age it’s even an issue that needs to be reported on and debated. When a slot opened up at Williams, things looked good for Susie Wolff to step up but alas it was not meant to be and Felipe Massa got the drive. Despite how far behind women are in terms of becoming world champions or even challenging during races, there seems to be some progress off the track.
Claire Williams looks set to take over from her father as Team Principal, only the second in the sport to this day; an interesting and positive development. For Formula One to reach out to more people than just their niche fans, the drama must return and the intrigue must be there. It’s hard for the people who watch the sport with true dedication to see it on such a downward spiral but hopefully 2014 is going to turn the sport back onto the right direction. It relies on it.
By Caitlin Marshall
published 11/06/2014 by Online Submission
last update 02/06/2014