Welcome to the midseason break, where almost nothing happens in the Formula One world due to forced factory closures.
But such pauses are made for reflection, and after last week’s consideration of the season’s best drivers and best teams, this column turns its attention to what will delicately be referred to as the losers of the first half of 2016.
Today, a list of the season’s poorest performing drivers to date, none of whom will be having a relaxing midseason break.
Nico Rosberg
Maybe it’s unfair to include Nico Rosberg on this list given (a) his sizzling start to the season, including four straight wins and five wins from 12 rounds, (b) his securing of a new two-year Mercedes contract, and (c) his misfortune of being paired with Lewis Hamilton, one of the premier drivers of his generation, in peak form.
But can these numbers counterbalance a 62-point points haemorrhage to Hamilton in the seven rounds of the season since May?
The unfortunate fact of the matter is that Rosberg’s early points lead against his teammate had a great deal to do with Hamilton in substandard form and suffering a sprinkling of mechanical misfortune. A good driver capitalises on these moments, as Rosberg did with aplomb, but when Hamilton started turning up on race weekends, the German’s unassailable championship lead looked anything but safe.
His ugly crash with Hamilton in Austria while defending a lead he was almost certainly bound to lose due to brake troubles was illustrative of his opening half of the 2016 – good enough to be at the front when Hamilton isn’t.
Daniil Kyvat
Few feel unsympathetic for Daniil Kvyat.
By the hand of Red Bull management the talented Russian reached the top of the Red Bull driver programme, beat Daniel Ricciardo in his first season at Red Bull Racing, and scored the team’s first podium in 2016 with a gutsy drive at the Chinese Grand Prix.
By that same hand he was mercilessly cut down just four rounds into his sophomore senior season.
The truth stung. Kvyat only rarely genuinely outperformed Daniel Ricciardo, and the temptation to promote prodigious talent Max Verstappen, whose presence at Toro Rosso was destabilising the junior team anyway, was far too great.
Kvyat earnt praise for his dignified handling of the situation in the immediate aftermath, but he unravelled completely after seeing Verstappen win his first race in his old RB12.
Daniil’s struggles coincided with Pierre Gasly, next in the Red Bull queue, winning his first GP2 races, piling pressure onto the driver management programme to make what looks increasingly like the inevitable switch.
For Kvyat, who only a few months ago stood on the podium, the seven rounds after the Spanish Grand Prix could be costliest – and among the last – of his Formula One career.
Felipe Massa
Knowing when to step back from the elite sporting arena is a notoriously difficult decision to make for a career athlete, and Felipe Massa is on the threshold.
Admittedly a similar argument could have been made in the Brazilian’s latter years at Ferrari, which he spent completely demoralised in the shadow of Fernando Alonso. However, his move to Williams in 2014 revitalised Massa’s grand prix career so much so that long-time colleague and Williams head of performance engineering Rob Smedley described him as being in form matching that of his 2008 championship tilt.
He raced so well that even the highly rated Valtteri Bottas couldn’t put him away – until this season, when Massa began to crumble.
Felipe’s form in the last six races is his worst since 2005, and while mechanical problems have played a part, the brutal statistics read that Massa has scored one point in six grands prix.
Rumoured 2017 Williams connections include Jenson Button, who debuted for the team in 2000, and Sergio Perez, whose star is again in ascendancy, and the team isn’t keen on protracted negotiations.
At this stage of the year, it would be difficult to mount an argument for retention against such powerful prospects.
Dishonourable mention: Sebastian Vettel
The 2016 season has been unexpectedly trying for Sebastian Vettel.
Similar to Daniel Ricciardo’s fall to earth in 2015 after being unable to build on his three 2015 wins, Sebastian Vettel has appeared to struggle with the reality that Ferrari has failed to deliver a step forward on last season’s second-best car.
Strategic blunders robbed the four-time champion of victories early in the year, but then Vettel steadfastly refused blame the team.
However, as the season progressed and Ferrari slipped back – first to alongside Red Bull Racing, now very much behind it – Vettel has allowed his poker face to slip.
His performance on track has at times lacked motivation, uncharacteristic with the exception of his final season with Red Bull Racing, and Vettel was forced to admit after his lacklustre home race at Hockenheim that he’s been underperforming.
Though there’s obviously no career risk to Sebastian Vettel as there is for the drivers above, failing to rebuild his form in the face of a dysfunctional Ferrari is critical if he is to fulfil his role as the driver to lead Formula One’s most famous team back into championship contention.
Who has impressed you least in the 2016 Formula One season? Leave your comments below.
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