It’s been a week and a half since we saw Nico Rosberg take the 2016 World Championship at Abu Dhabi, and then a few days later, abruptly retire.
But there’s not time like right now to offer an evaluation of every team’s performance, starting with the teams that aren’t necessarily the quickest on the grid, the backmarkers: Manor, Sauber, and Renault. This could take awhile, and speaking of things that can take a while, let’s start with Manor.
Manor Racing
Manor had a very decent season this year. After being incredibly far off the pace in 2015 after encountering large financial difficulties, the team was rebranded and focused on one goal for the 2016 season. Points.
The car for the season was probably the worst car all round, but it was a huge step up from last season. The car focused largely on straight line speed, and didn’t quite have the downforce of its competitors, hence the better performances at tracks like Canada and Austria, but weaker performances at places like Monaco and Singapore.
As for the drivers, Pascal Wehrlein was a standout all season, constantly finishing in positions that were much better than where the car really should have been, and was a great driver all-round, especially for his first season at F1.
Rio Haryanto, who had his last race at Germany as he ran out of Indonesian sponsorship money, wasn’t as good as a driver, but was still strong and did reasonably well. Estaban Ocon was a great driver, almost just as strong as Wehrlein at some times, and fully deserves his seat at Force India next year.
Overall, Manor should look to be reasonably strong if they continue this momentum they have, but watch for a struggle in this offseason to get their seats filled in time for 2017.
Sauber F1 Racing
Sauber had a difficult season this year. Not only did their drivers fight with each other, largely as a result of on track incidents, but they only just managed to get in front of Manor at the second last race of the season in Brazil.
The car for the season was very similar to the car from 2015, largely due to the amount of financial issues that Sauber came across, and it wasn’t especially great compared to anyone else in any aspect.
As for the drivers, Felipe Nasr struggled from confidence issues all year and has faded into the background since 2015. He only managed to get points courtesy of a retirement and accident filled Brazilian Grand Prix, and was quite lucky. Ericsson wasn’t great either, but both drivers I will estimate will be back for 2017, despite Sauber’s ongoing talks with Mercedes for the services of Pascal Wehrlein.
Overall, Sauber had a write off of a season that both team members and fans alike would best forget and move on to the new era of Formula One for next season.
Renault Sport F1 Team
No one was expecting very much from Renault at the start of the season. The Lotus take over took far too long to finish, and unfortunately, there wasn’t much time to get the car ready for 2016.
The car was basically the Lotus from the last year with a few smaller adjustments, and is something I’m sure Renault wasn’t happy with. However, looking to next year we know what Renault can do, so expect a strong performance for next year.
The drivers were an interesting combination of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, and I have mixed opinions about the line-up. Magnussen was a strong enough driver who handled himself well on and off the track, and fully deserves the seat at Haas next year, even if I’m not entirely convinced that it was a great move for his career.
Palmer, however, wasn’t the best. His inexperience wasn’t helping him, he was rarely quicker than his team mate, and become increasingly frustrated in interviews off track. I’m surprised he retained the seat, especially when Renault must be full of ambition for a title next year.
Overall, a write off of a season for Renault, but it wasn’t ever going to be good anyway, they didn’t have enough time after the takeover to properly develop their car.
The battle between all the backmarkers showed that each team’s car’s strengths were all very different.
The Manor we’ve already looked at – fast in a straight line but not nearly good enough in high-downforce circuits.
Then you had the Sauber, which wasn’t really a great car all round, and didn’t really excel in any certain condition compared to rival teams. I really don’t feel that Sauber deserved to beat Manor, but that’s just me.
The Renault, which wasn’t great in a straight line or in corners, but had a better all-round package than the Sauber, and had enough downforce in high and low-speed corners to be quicker than the Manor.
So as a result, the on-track racing has been a bit all over the place due to the specific strengths of each car, but we have seen some tight battles over the season. Most in the paddock and the fans enjoyed drivers like Wehrlein punch well above their weight.
Hats off to the backmarkers, they’ve given us some good racing, even if they do get the odd Ferrari driver mad at them for blue flags every now and then.
Can any progress into the mid-field battle next year, or beyond? We’ll take a look at the mid-field battle from 2016 next.
deleteaccountplease
Roar Rookie
Thanks very much for reading Jawad! Yeah for sure I think Magnussen needs to get stuck into his racing at a team with long term prospects, which would be Haas for sure. Grosjean could prove an obstacle to getting a Ferrari seat, but we'll see what happens. As for Sauber, I agree, I think they might encounter some difficulty next season even with the funding because of the engine, but I hope they do better than this season. Manor could really be a weapon in 2017 with funding coming through and Mercedes greatly helping them along. Thanks so much for reading it means a lot to have experienced Journalists like yourself comment on my articles so thank you.
deleteaccountplease
Roar Rookie
Thanks so much Bayden! I for sure think that if Sauber continues to be motivated to get points just like they were at Brazil this year, they should have a good season next year, and also with those new funds they'll have in the bank. Palmer for sure is just a fill in driver for 2018, I can totally agree with what you're saying, unless he puts in a crazy good performance next season. Very true about Magnussen, he could easily be in a Ferrari if he succeeds at Haas. Thanks very much for reading, it means a lot.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
I agree with Bayden's sentiments regarding Renault. Magnussen the talent he is, falling victim to the politicking of management. At the same time Renault were only willing to offer a one-year deal to their second to Hulkenberg, which Magnussen thought better of and decided to go somewhere he has long term prospects at. Two points-less seasons for Sauber in the past three years is concerning and you'd hope that with their new funding in place they'd be stronger in 2017. Then again the fact they're going to utilise a 2016-spec Ferrari donkey could hurt them, as it did Toro Rosso this season (despite their chassis being one of the best on the grid). Manor, you'd hope with the revival and soon-to-be further investments would come out strong in 2017. With that Mercedes-Benz PU this season they probably should have scored a couple of more points to finish ahead of Sauber, but as you say Sam their car was the worst on the grid. Much to look forward in '17 and also looking forward to the next portion of this review.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
Nice write up Sam. It was a shame to see Manor lose its' looming financial incentive so late in the piece, though credit must be afforded for Sauber, which continued to press for the points which finally came at Brazil. If Wehrlein surfaces at Mercedes, it's hard to see Nasr being dropped even if his Banco do Brasil funding has ceased. Palmer seems certain to represent a placeholder for a bigger fish in 2018, somebody convinced by hopeful progress next season that victories and titles will beckon prior to the conclusion of the decade. I'd expect Renault to glean a similar return to McLaren's 2016 campaign, though new regulations could bolster its potential. Magnussen was rightly weary from the French politicking and craved stability, even at the cost of manufacturer support. If he impresses at Haas, the Dane could yet find himself courted by Ferrari in the future.