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F1 2016: The match in the midfield

Are Romain Grosjean's outbursts genuine or exaggerated? (via Haas F1)
Roar Rookie
13th December, 2016
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The second article in this three-article season review series compares the midfield performances in 2016.

The racing in the midfield has been the biggest highlight of the season, and it’s been great to see a lot of clean, competitive driving with five teams fighting for the small points.

The battle between Force India and Williams this season developed into a very tense rivalry by the last round. That was great to watch all year, and even McLaren managed to get in on it towards the end.

McLaren’s development progress started to shine towards the end of the season. The team went from fighting for a point in Bahrain to having a great run at Williams around the finishing point of 2016.

Let’s break down the strengths and weaknesses of each team’s drivers and cars in order to get a full summary and make a judgement of each of their performances this season.

Haas

Haas F1 was interesting this season: they were so strong in the first two races and then all of a sudden dropped off the pace entirely and into backmarker territory for the rest of the season, after which the year became greatly disappointing.

The car was very hard to read. Horrible brakes and downforce problems plagued the team, but it’s hard to figure out exactly what happened to the car considering it was so strong for the first two races and then dropped off entirely!

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The drivers were an interesting combination of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez. Gutierrez had a weak season, and I really doubt he will have a seat for next season. Grosjean was great on the track and did everything he could, but he was far too vocal about the lack of pace from the car and was extremely frustrated by the end of the season. I expect Grosjean and Magnussen to deliver well for next season.

Toro Rosso

What a strange season Toro Rosso had this year – they started off well enough but lost momentum. Whether it was because of the sudden driver change before the Spanish Grand Prix, when the team welcomed struggling driver Daniil Kvyat in exchange for Max Verstappen, or because of the lack of power from the 2015 Ferrari engine, Toro Rosso struggled.

Aerodynamically the car was very good. It was a strong car, but it had a weak engine, which greatly limited its true potential. A deal was done with Ferrari for the 2015 engine due to a lack of time to get a proper deal sorted with another engine supplier after Red Bull tried to cut ties with Renault.

The driver line-up was interesting. After an incredible season last year which saw teenage prodigy Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, who was just as good at times, emerge and put in incredible performances, the line-up in 2016 was resigned.

However, after a poor start to the season for Daniil Kvyat at Red Bull Racing, Verstappen was quickly moved to the senior team. Kvyat’s confidence was rattled, so he found it difficult to find his feet again. His results would suffer for the rest of the season, but he picked back up around Malaysia.

Overall it was a very tough season for Toro Rosso, and it’s a shame they couldn’t carry the momentum from last year into this season.

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Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz of Scuderia Toro Rosso

McLaren

After a devastating season last year McLaren managed to get their act together in 2016. As a result, they came away with many points finishes and a year their fans could be proud of.

Aerodynamically the car was set-up for low downforce in order to compensate for the engine. However, I think McLaren did a good job of trying to find a balance between speed and downforce. As for Honda’s engine, it was a step up from last year, but put it up against other engines and it wasn’t quite there.

The Fernando Alonso-Jenson Button driver line-up was very strong this season. While Alonso was much stronger on paper than Jenson, they both had some very good races and were in fine form right around the summer break period. These two once again proved they are the best drivers to lead McLaren through a very tough period.

In conclusion, there’s a long way to go for McLaren-Honda, but a great driver line-up comprising the incoming Stoffel Vandoorne and Alonso should deliver if they’re in the right car.

Williams

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Poor Williams. It’s been a tough season for the English team. After the dizzying heights of 2014 and 2015 the team’s car development appeared to hit a wall for this season, and they lost a significant amount of pace compared to other teams.

The Williams car this year looked very similar to their 2015 car barring a few minor tweaks. Either the team hit financial issues or decided to focus on 2017’s car. The car itself was stronger around low downforce tracks, and it wasn’t too bad of a car all-around.

Drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were retained from 2015 and did a solid enough job in a car that struggled for pace. While Valtteri’s performance was weaker than last season – in my opinion he clearly needs to move on from Williams – he remained a solid driver who did his best to get the points his team needed. Massa was solid enough, but as usual he wasn’t quite on the pace of his teammate.

In summary, Williams had a tough season this year, and I would dedicate that to the lack of development on the car. Maybe 2017 holds more promise.

Force India

It was another great season for the small Indian team, which managed to punch well above its weight in 2016 thanks to a combination of two strong drivers and an all-rounder car.

The 2016 car was fast in a straight line, but it was also strong around the corners. It was well suited to low-downforce set-ups, but it maintained a healthy balance between speed and cornering. The car was similar to the 2015 B-spec Force India, but it was updated to remain competitive this season.

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The returned driver line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez was very strong, and both drivers had exceptional seasons. Perez was a talking point this season as he put in good performance after good performance at every track. Hulkenberg wasn’t quite on the pace of his teammate, but he was still very strong.

If Force India keeps this up, you never know: they could become a frontrunner. They’ve become a strong team in F1, but with rule changes due in 2017 anything could happen to the team.

The midfield racing in 2016 has been strong, and if it keeps up in 2017, I’ll be very happy. It really has been great to watch. We’ll see if this time next year I’ll be writing about the same teams in the midfield.

Keep an eye out for my last article in this three-part series, which will focus on the frontrunners.

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