At the half way point of the 2013 season all signs point to
yet another Red Bull/Sebastian Vettel benefit, despite some close racing at the
front of the field and some unpredictable results on account of the tyre issues
that have dogged all the teams to a degree. The German is 38 points ahead in
the standings despite some bad luck (retirement from the lead in Silverstone)
and a mysterious lack of pace in certain races (Spain for example). However,
while his championship lead has grown his popularity with the fans has
dwindled, thanks mainly to the
‘multi 21’ saga in Malaysia where he passed team mate Mark Webber against
team orders. As well as displaying the ruthless streak that defines almost all
the great F1 champions, this episode demonstrated that Vettel’s motivation
remains intact and that he’s as keen as ever to add to his three titles. On Webber’s
part, the incident undoubtedly contributed to his
decision to retire from F1 at the end of the season in favour of a move to
Porsche’s Le Mans effort. His year has been the usual story of occasional
inconsistency, bad luck and gritty drives in the face of adversity.
Speaking of adversity, Ferrari have gone off the boil
alarmingly after a great start (by the standards of recent seasons at least),
and Fernando Alonso has struggled
to hide his frustration. His dominant home win in Barcelona in early May was his
most recent triumph, but he’s struggled to even get on the podium in the last
few races. He could still win the title, but needs his car to be improved fast,
and without any of the niggly
problems creeping in that cost him points earlier in the season. Felipe
Massa started the year well, but like the team has not been able to shine as
regularly since. Monaco was chastening with two crashes, and he also binned it
in Canada and (less spectacularly) Germany. In general the Brazilian only
appears as good as his car at best at present, and it’s hard to see him
retaining his drive for yet another year.
The extent to which his stock has fallen is shown by the fact that
Ferrari are looking towards Kimi Raikkonen as a replacement, a man who they
paid 20 million euros not to drive for them as recently as 2010!
Kimi remains at Lotus for now of course (despite being
linked to both Red Bull and Ferrari), and the Enstone outfit are having a fine
season. Car development appears solid, despite a brief dip around
Canada-Britain and stories that Raikkonen
hasn’t been paid in time raising doubts about the team’s finances. Like
last year the Finn is a championship outsider, but it’s hard to see the team
making the performance jump they need to start taking big points off Vettel
every week. In the second car, Romain Grosjean remains as frustrating as ever;
for a while it appeared his season was one of mistakes punctuated with flashes
of brilliance, but the good moments have outweighed the bad in recent rounds.
The Frenchman remains a magnet for trouble (witness his harsh penalty for brilliantly passing Massa
around the outside at the Hungaroring) and a liability around Monaco (three
crashes in as many days!) but could easily win a GP this season having come
close in Germany and Hungary already.
Short of a potential Grosjean win, Mercedes look set to be
the most positive surprise of the season, closely followed by their driver Nico
Rosberg who won after a faultless drive in Monaco and a fortuitous one in
Britain. He’s also borne
the brunt of Mercedes’ reliability problems though, which remain too
prevalent for a front running team. Despite some early season issues with tyre
wear the Silver Arrows now look like the closest challengers on pace to
Vettel’s dominance, and Lewis Hamilton drove beautifully in Hungary to record
his first win for his new squad. The
infamous and controversial Pirelli tyre test at Catalunya appears to have
paid dividends, and further changes to the tyre’s construction since the
Silverstone blowouts also appear to be in the team’s favour. Spa will be
crucial in assessing whether the team can fight for the championship or will be
restricted to odd race-winning cameos for the rest of the year.
In contrast, the Mercedes-powered team that Hamilton left
behind are struggling. McLaren haven’t had a winless season since 2006, but are
currently podium-less – you have to go back to 1980 for the
last time that happened. It’s hard to understand how things have gone quite so
badly wrong, especially since Sergio Perez has slotted into the team relatively
easily and given Jenson Button a few things to worry about (including
collisions…). One wonders if Hamilton is perhaps a better development driver
than he’s previously been given credit for, as the MP4/28 hasn’t really
improved a great deal during the season thus far. The loss of Paddy Lowe was a
blow, and if the team continues to haemorrhage talented drivers and staff
suspicions will increase that they are in terminal decline, Williams-style. Honda’s return as engine
supplier for 2015 will be a boost, but will the rest of 2013 and even 2014
have to be written off as a result?
McLaren’s lack of form has given some of the usual midfield
runners the chance of points on a more regular basis, and the chief beneficiary
of this has been Force India. The former Jordan/Midland/Spyker outfit are ahead
of McLaren in the team standings after picking up points in all bar three races
so far. Paul di Resta has generally impressed slightly more than the returning
Adrian Sutil, although some bad luck and poor judgement in qualifying have
hampered recent races and also called the dour Scot’s temperament into question
as he’s repeatedly
panned the team, sometimes excessively. Sutil has been quieter on track and
off (thankfully, in the context of his infamous 2011
nightclub incident) but drove particularly well on his F1 return in
Australia. While development seems to have stalled somewhat, the Silverstone
based outfit still have a genuine chance of holding off McLaren to finish the
year 5th overall which would be a magnificent feat.
Toro Rosso have also impressed. While all the attention has
been on which of their drivers (if either) will make the step up to Red Bull to
replace Webber the team has produced a tidy car, allowing Daniel Ricciardo and
Jean-Eric Vergne a realistic shot at regular points finishes for the first time
in their careers. Both have put in some fine drives, but Ricciardo’s better
qualifying form (particularly in recent races) has seen him more heavily linked
with the senior team – indeed, there are rumours he will be confirmed
at Spa as a 2014 Red Bull driver. The junior squad, meanwhile, look secure
in 7th place in the constructors’ championship which would be a major
achievement for the relatively small Italian outfit.
The major disappointments of 2013 so far, McLaren aside, are
undoubtedly Sauber and Williams. The Swiss team, who so often start seasons
well, have struggled both on and off the track. Funding issues were rumoured
from early in the year, and came to a head around the German GP. The announcement
of Russian investment swiftly followed, but fresh reports that the monies
haven’t actually been forthcoming are worrying, as is their lack of form on
the circuit. Nico Hulkenberg must be kicking himself for leaving the improving
Force India in favour of driving his heart out for the odd 10th place, but to
his credit he’s still performing well when his machinery allows. Esteban
Gutierrez has really struggled in the second car (a spirited drive at Barcelona
notwithstanding) and with Sauber looking set to have a Russian rather than
Mexican flavour going forwards expect him to make a swift exit, perhaps even
before the end of the year.
Money worries haven’t been quite so acute at Williams,
though finishing 9th in the constructors’ (where the team currently languishes)
come season’s end won’t boost the coffers much. Rookie Valtteri Bottas has
impressed despite the team’s issues, and was a brilliant
3rd on the grid in the wet in Canada before dropping back as far as 14th in
the dry race despite making no obvious mistakes, which gives you an idea of how
bad the car is. Pastor Maldonado has been more consistent than in 2012, but
regular mediocrity is hardly welcome (though not entirely his fault). He did at
least pick up the first Williams point of the year in Hungary last time out
which is hopefully a sign of improvements to come.
At the back of the grid, the battle of the “young teams” (as
they are now seemingly known) has been close, although neither Marussia nor
Caterham have got anywhere near the established runners on a consistent basis.
Marussia have definitely made a step forward though, an impressive feat given
that they lost Timo Glock over the winter and are the only team still using the
Cosworth engine which isn’t really a match for the world championship-winning
Renault that Caterham use. Jules Bianchi was
a revelation in early races – with virtually no testing he was easily the
best of the tail-enders, and scored the best finish among them with 13th in
Malaysia. He’s consistently shown Max Chilton the way; in truth the Briton has
looked out of his depth at times, and if he were not for his nationality he
would surely have suffered a media mauling by now.
Over at Caterham Charles Pic has generally been the best
performer, and impressively outqualified Romain Grosjean in Canada in the wet.
However, it’s actually been rookie team mate Giedo van der Garde who has made
most of the headlines, for reasons both right (15th on the grid in Monaco) and
wrong (driving
into Webber while being lapped in Canada). Unsurprisingly Caterham are
already concentrating their development efforts on 2014, but it would be highly
embarrassing for the team if they were to finish 11th and last in the standings
(albeit no more than they deserve after dropping their established driver Heikki
Kovalainen pre-season).
So the pecking order has been more or less set, but could
well change again before the end of the year. All the teams will be balancing
their priorities between working on their radically different 2014 machines as
well as trying to improve the pace of their 2013 challengers, and Pirelli’s recent
alterations to their tyres are sure to have an impact over the remainder of
the season. With nine races coming up over the next thirteen weeks things could
change fast, and a good run of form at the end of year flyaway races will be
more crucial than at any point of the season so far. It makes for a tantalising
prospect…
In
many ways, the 2013 Formula 1 season looks set to be one of continuity,
especially in the context of the sweeping rule changes for 2014 and beyond. The
off-season has suggested as much; after a winter spent refining designs and
driving technique using team (and in
Giedo van der Garde’s case, personal) simulators, the new cars were
launched, and despite the addition of a vanity panel here and a passive double
drag reduction system there the new cars look fairly similar to last
year’s. The main changes, in fact, are on the driver front, with only four
teams keeping the same line-up as last season. With five rookies on the grid
and experienced podium finishers like Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock, Pedro de la
Rosa, Heikki Kovalainen and Kamui Kobayashi gone (not to mention a certain
Michael Schumacher), there is a new feel to the grid this year despite the
familiar technology. The driver changes create some
fascinating subplots – how will Lewis Hamilton do in the Mercedes (and on a
related note, just how good is Nico Rosberg)? Can Sergio Perez deliver in a top
car? Which of the rookies will impress? Will Adrian
Sutil justify his reselection? And will any of the pay drivers run out of
money mid-season and be replaced (keep your phone switched on Sakon Yamamoto)?
As
well as excitement on the driving front, one benefit of unchanged technical
regulations is that the grid usually tightens. There were already a number of weekends
last year where the majority of the field were covered by around a second, and
of course we had the oft-quoted seven different winners in the first seven
races. It’s unlikely that we’ll have that many this year (seven in total would be
fine; only that many managed a podium in 2002, to pick a random previous
season!), but if the racing stays close, the tyres remain unpredictable and the cars can
do a bit of overtaking again then we’ll be in for a cracking year.
Team-by-Team
Red Bull
During
a recent BBC Radio 5 Live Formula 1 programme, not one guest tipped Sebastian
Vettel to retain his crown in 2013. Only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael
Schumacher have managed four titles in a row (or three for that matter, until
Vettel came along) so it’s not altogether surprising from a statistical point
of view that the pundits don’t fancy the German. Another issue could be
Vettel’s motivation in the wake of his previous triumphs, but he seems aware of
F1 history and his place in it and managed to stay sufficiently interested last
season to make up a 45 point championship gap. He also demonstrated some
excellent racecraft in 2012 and looks a more complete driver by the year. Mark
Webber also remains at the team for a seventh successive season, despite some harsh words from
Helmut Marko regarding his abilities. It’s doubtful the no-nonsense Aussie
is particularly bothered, but he has admitted he needs to re-find his previous
consistency in order to put together a title tilt. The combined times
from the final test do suggest that the momentum has swung away from the
team slightly, and given that the RB9 is clearly a refinement of last year’s
design it will inevitably get more difficult for the brilliant Adrian Newey to
squeeze more performance from the car. This in turn, due to the closeness of
the field and the fact that Red Bull weren’t actually all that dominant for
much of 2012, could give their rivals a look in. But despite what the experts
say and the law of diminishing returns, until the rules change for 2014 it’s
hard to see past Red Bull as title favourites. Remember, Vettel and the team
haven’t lost a championship since 2009…
Ferrari
The
Scuderia simply has to get it right this season. Despite Fernando Alonso coming
oh-so-close to the world championship last year the boxy, Lego-like F2012
simply wasn’t good enough, especially at the start of the season. Outpaced by
Ferrari customer Sauber at many circuits, only Alonso’s genius kept the
legendary Italian team in contention most weekends. The Spaniard has already
admitted that this year’s car cannot be worse than last year’s – hardly
unreserved praise for his team’s efforts but a realistic assessment. The F138 is
described as evolutionary, which in some ways is worrying given the lack of
inherent pace in the 2012 chassis. Alonso, by his
own admission, is in the form of his career, and it would be unjust in the
extreme if he was unable to add to his two world titles at some point in the
next few years. Few would argue that team mate Felipe Massa was experiencing a
similar purple patch in career terms, but his form did improve dramatically in
the second half of 2012 and a great drive in support of Alonso at home in
Brazil resulted in an emotional podium. The operative phrase in that last
sentence is ‘in support of Alonso’, and that’s a role which Massa will
inevitably continue to play both contractually and in terms of outright pace.
So, with both drivers looking in decent shape for the new season, it’s over to
the men in Maranello to see if they have produced (and can develop) a car to
match the very best. With the field looking even closer than 2012, a slow start
would be incredibly costly – expect heads to roll if, once again, the red cars
cannot contend for the podium straight out of the blocks.
McLaren
It’s
all change at McLaren this season, with the prodigal son Lewis Hamilton taking
his talents elsewhere. Jenson Button seemed happy enough about this state of
affairs, cheerfully
commenting that he’d rather lose Lewis than Paddy Lowe. How prophetic those
words have turned out to be with the erstwhile McLaren designer placed on
gardening leave as he prepares to join the rest of the pit lane’s technical
directors (and Hamilton) at Mercedes. Luckily the MP4-28 was already finished,
but the loss of the man who shaped it can only harm car development. This is already
apparent in pre-season testing, with the squad’s admission that they
are struggling to understand their new machine. Hamilton’s experience would
no doubt have been useful here too, but at least in Button the team can still
turn to a former world champion with over 200 races under his belt. Whether
Button is quite good enough to put a championship challenge together again
(when not armed with the best car) remains to be seen, and it will be
interesting to see how he copes with being the outright team leader for
arguably only the second time in his career (Takuma Sato never offered much
opposition at BAR). Sergio Perez joins the team fresh from a generally great
season at Sauber which tailed off so alarmingly that many observers are now
questioning McLaren’s decision to employ the young Mexican. The last South
American to drive for McLaren (Juan Pablo Montoya) didn’t work out too well,
but the one before that (a certain A. Senna) seemed to do okay. Neither Perez
nor Button are great qualifiers, and that may partly explain the
team’s pessimism going into Melbourne. Nevertheless, they should win races
(plural).
Lotus
The
former Renault/Benetton/Toleman team were the revelations of 2012. Their car
was consistent and fast out of the box, and Kimi Raikkonen remained in outside
contention for the championship for much of the season. The monotone Finn
remains in situ for 2013 and despite a lack of qualifying pace last year at
times, certainly knows what he’s doing in an F1 car (by his own admission!). Romain
Grosjean is in the second seat once more and at times seemed to have no idea
what he was doing in 2012, particularly off the start line. The (slightly
harsh) one race ban he received for causing the frightening shunt in
Spa that in effect cost Alonso the world championship should hopefully calm
the Frenchman down without tempering the raw pace which saved his drive. The
team were the first to launch their 2013 challenger, which looks outwardly
similar to last year’s machine but still managed to prove unreliable in
testing. Nevertheless, when the car has been running the lap times have looked
good, and Lotus are widely expected to be contenders in Albert Park and for the
rest of the season. One wonders whether they can really do much better than in
2012 though – the team don’t have the biggest of budgets and are no longer Renault’s
focus due to no longer having works status and because of the success of Red
Bull. Their relative lack of finance and manpower may harm the team’s chances once
work on building a car to the 2014 rules takes precedence, so Raikkonen will surely
have to score some big results early if he wants to be a world title contender
once again.
Mercedes
The
off-season for Mercedes has been somewhat fraught after the appointment of the abrasive
Niki Lauda as a non-executive chairman. Given his
previous form for firings when in charge of Jaguar in 2002, it’s hardly
surprising that Norbert Haug has already headed for the exit and Ross Brawn has
been linked with a departure from the team which used to bear his name. At the
other side of the revolving door are Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, as well as Lewis
Hamilton after the team pulled off a massive coup by persuading him to leave
McLaren towards the end of last season. Frankly it’s harder to name F1
technical staff who don’t work for Mercedes, and a ‘too many cooks’ situation
could easily develop. To his credit Hamilton doesn’t seem phased, and is
willing to bide his time confident that the team will come up with the goods
for 2014. With the might of Mercedes behind them they may well do, but what of
this year? Well, Hamilton’s
rivals expect him to be able to win, while the Briton himself isn’t so
sure. Team mate Nico Rosberg is almost forgotten in all this, but he did win
Mercedes first race in Shanghai last year (where he always goes well).
Worryingly however, an aging Michael Schumacher often seemed to produce the
standout race drives between the pair over the last couple of years. Rosberg
and Hamilton are great mates and should work well together, and the new W04 has
looked quick at Barcelona in testing, so an improvement on last year’s fifth place
in the constructors’ should be possible. With manufacturer backing, two experienced
drivers, numerous technical staff and Lauda in charge, what
could go wrong?
Sauber
I wrote
last year that Sauber’s history and form in Formula 1, and seemingly their
whole outlook, is summed up by their black and while colour scheme. The fact
that this year they’ve switched to grey suggests more of the same. But that
would be to totally ignore 2012, which was a season of stunning (relative)
success for the Swiss squad. Four podiums was a fabulous return which could
have been even better but for a bit more luck. Their 2013 car, aside from the
new paint job, features tiny sidepods apparently
inspired by Sergio Perez’s 2011 Monaco crash. Whether that was the extent
of the Mexican’s car development skills will soon become clear, as the team has
an all-new driver line-up for this year. Nico Hulkenberg’s arrival from Force
India is something of a coup given his end of season form, and the German will
hope to further enhance his blossoming reputation with some giant- killing
performances – both he and his new team managed plenty of those last year.
Esteban Gutierrez’s arrival has been met with less enthusiasm, particularly as
it has led to fan-favourite Kamui Kobayashi’s unemployment. The second Mexican
on the grid has looked solid in pre-season testing, but doubts remain as to
whether he is F1 quality with his promotion from a test driver role seemingly coming at the behest of the
team’s backers. Given the stability in the regulations and the loss of two
good drivers, the Swiss cars reaching the podium again in 2013 would constitute
a success, and if Williams and Force India can string full seasons together they
may relegate Sauber a couple of places in the constructor’s standings.
Force India
Despite
murmurings of financial
issues for Vijay Mallya and his Kingfisher airline, Force India have
received a fresh injection of funding for 2013 which should allow it to
continue to challenge for points. The team started 2012 slowly but shone in
later races, almost catching Sauber for sixth in the constructor’s standings
and even coming close to winning the wet Brazilian Grand Prix through Nico
Hulkenberg’s great drive. The German has made the sideways leap to Sauber, but Scot
Paul di Resta remains. Di Resta is an unexciting
but capable driver, though given the hype the British media (i.e. the BBC) have
given him in the past one has to wonder why no better teams have tried to snap
him up before now. The choice of Adrian Sutil as the team’s second driver has
been questioned in some quarters, but to this observer it makes total sense.
Why spend a year bringing Jules Bianchi up to speed when (provided he performs
well) Ferrari could take him back again at a moment’s notice? Far better to go
for the experienced and proven Sutil for 2013, especially as he was clearly in
the form of his career at the end of 2011. Criminal convictions have dulled a
driver’s competitive edge in the past (as Bertrand
Gachot can attest), but there’s no evidence from testing that the hungry
Sutil will suffer. On the technical front Mercedes engines remain an asset, and
the new car looks a tidy evolution of last year’s design. Testing pace has been
solid, so all the ingredients are set for another season nibbling at the rear
of the big boys. Two drivers capable of scoring points from the off could see
them defeat Sauber this time round.
Williams
On
the surface, it seems ridiculous to state that Williams underachieved last year
(except by 1990s standards) after they
took their first win for eight years in Barcelona having scored only five
points during 2011. But consistency was lacking, especially from Circuit de
Catalunya victor Pastor Maldonado, and this led to an eventual eighth place
constructor’s championship finish. Time and again strong finishes and even
potential podiums were lost through incidents, so more regular points placings
will rank as a priority for 2013. Maldonado (and his substantial state oil
company backing) remains, and his outright pace (and improved end of year form)
last season shouldn’t be overlooked, just as his numerous shunts can’t. It’s
hard to say whether the arrival of the highly-rated Valtteri Bottas will push
Maldonado towards glory or gravel traps,
but the team as a whole should benefit as Bruno Senna never quite managed to
get onto the ultimate pace last year. Finnish
drivers tend to be successful (all the Finns in F1 since the 1980s have scored
podiums) and a year spent doing Friday practice sessions should benefit Bottas,
who’s my tip to be the rookie of the year from the larger-than-normal
selection. The new FW35 was the last new car to launch (HRT used to have that
one sewn up!) but has looked strong so far, and Maldonado in particular has
been effusive in his praise of the team’s latest creation. With a race
winner (Maldonado… that still seems odd) in one seat and a rookie tipped to
make it to the very top in the other, as well as the world championship-winning
engine from the last three years, Williams no longer have any excuses to
underperform.
Toro Rosso
After
being stuck in no-man’s land for most of 2012 (not fast enough to challenge the
midfield regularly, nowhere near slow enough to be beaten by the tail enders),
the Italian Red Bull junior squad are hopeful of progress in 2013. The arrival of
James Key as technical director is a coup, as the Englishman has previously
worked with, and improved, just the teams (Force India, Sauber) that Toro Rosso
should be looking to beat. The former Minardi squad are one of the few teams in
the pit lane to retain the same drivers as last season which will provide
welcome continuity, although in truth neither man consistently impressed in
2012. Sixth on the grid in Bahrain aside Daniel Ricciardo was somewhat
anonymous, although he did improve in the latter half of the year and was
certainly the better Toro Rosso driver in qualifying. Jean-Eric Vergne is an
accomplished racer who needs to work on his one lap pace – he dropped out in Q1
too many times in his debut season. On last year’s form he will do so again in
2013, especially given the
change in qualifying format necessitated by the loss of HRT which means two
established runners (six in total) drop out after Q1. Being closer to the points
positions at each race would constitute a success, but it’s hard to see Toro
Rosso beating Sauber, Williams or Force India over a full season. More
interesting is the team mate battle between Ricciardo and Vergne, as whoever
shines the most has a great chance of a drive at the sister Red Bull team in
the near future. The danger is they match each other again, and then both get
the chop – just ask Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari…
Caterham
Despite
an 11th place race finish in Brazil, which at least saved the team the
embarrassment and financial cost of finishing the constructors’ championship
behind Marussia, Caterham never looked close to scoring their first ever point
last year. Three seasons with no score is a pretty dismal record, and few outfits
in the last 20 years have been able to sustain such mediocrity for so long
(Minardi spring to mind, although points were only given to the top six or
eight cars when they competed). No surprise, therefore, that Caterham team boss
Cyril Abiteboul has lowered expectations for 2013 after outlandish predictions
of matching the midfield in the past two years. This lack of optimism has
proven sensible thus far, as the Caterham CT02 has only been a match for
Marussia’s MR02 in testing, despite being initially fitted with a
performance-enhancing covered exhaust which
the FIA now deem illegal. With hasty modifications needed, and without
Heikki Kovalainen, don’t be surprised if the green cars find themselves lagging
behind the Marussias for the first time. Charles Pic, who has made the switch
between the two tail-end teams in a manner which would have made Roberto Moreno proud,
must wonder what he’s let himself in for. The Frenchman had a decent debut
season, matching and beating Timo Glock on occasion, but will now be expected
to lead his new squad – it will be interesting to see how he copes. Giedo van
der Garde has been floating around the
junior formulae for what seems like an eternity, but finally gets his F1 chance
after numerous previous tests and some slightly above-average performances in
GP2 (and after writing a few
cheques...). With neither driver considered a potential superstar, another
interesting battle between team mates awaits.
Marussia
2012
was a year of steady progress for the Russian-owned, British-run team. The
former Virgin squad managed to create daylight between themselves and the
now-defunct HRT outfit, and matched the Caterhams in some races. But
heartbreakingly losing
tenth place in the constructors’ standings, and the money that goes with
it, in the rain of Interlagos may have major long-term ramifications. Though
team bosses say their finances are stable for this year, this is largely due to
the removal of Timo Glock as lead driver. The experienced German, while
occasionally seeming fed up with his lot, was the lynchpin around which the
rest of the team was built and provided valuable car-development feedback. With
Pic having moved to Caterham, Marussia are left with an all-new, all-rookie
driver line-up (the first all-rookie F1 team since Jordan in 2005). Max Chilton
is probably the least heralded British driver to join the grid since Ralph Firman (remember
him?), but his results in the junior formulae haven’t been all that bad.
Brazilian Luiz Razia was due to take the second seat, but lost it to Ferrari-protégé
Jules Bianchi after failing to keep up sponsorship payments. The fourth French
driver on the grid is highly rated by the paddock, despite not having won a
championship since the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2009. It will be fascinating to
see who comes out on top (Bianchi is the more likely) and whether either driver
is able to forge a long-term F1 career as so few former Marussia/Virgin drivers
have managed to do (again, Bianchi’s Ferrari links will help him here). Whether
the impoverished team themselves have a long term future, with costly
regulation changes looming for 2014, remains to be seen.