The disappointment which accompanies unrealised expectations reared its inevitable head on Saturday at Melbourne, as Mercedes reasserted their dominance in qualifying.
Following the winter of eternal optimism, these 60 minutes at the season opening event always break somebody’s heart, and in this instance, the German marque’s rivals are left to contemplate another campaign making up the numbers for want of a better phrase.
Lewis Hamilton spent pre-testing insisting that Ferrari had established itself as favourites, yet the Briton swiftly rebuked his feined concern with a galling display during the first session of relevance in 2017.
Establishing a fresh pole position lap record by a considerable margin with a 1:22.188, was a devastating statement of intent that Mercedes aren’t going anywhere.
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“I’m so proud of our team… the guys have just worked so hard to make this car what it is today”, expressed an elated Hamilton.
While Sebastian Vettel admirably split the Silver Arrows, the Maranello outfit continues to lack the final crucial tenths as feared.
Hamilton’s sixth pole at Albert Park and fifth in the past six seasons is testament to his inherent single lap pace around the street circuit. The sole respite is that the three-time champion has failed to convert this to victory twice in his past three attempts. In each case, his Silver Arrows teammate triumphed.
The Brackley outfit cannot be accused of anti-competitive conduct, having dealt with the regulation upheaval following three seasons of peerless domination. Conversely, their opponents must accept their collective failure to seize the initiative which tearing up the rulebook presents.
This invites the notion whether the changes were necessitated in the first instance, though it merely consolidates Mercedes’ looming entry into the lexicon of all-time greats in transcending eras.
Ferrari’s wisdom in topping the timesheets at Barcelona, only to leave the ultimate objective to be desired once the season commences poses the renewed question of its presence in the sport outside of selling cars. Even if Saturday confirmed that inroads have been made, boasting the second fastest car on the grid isn’t synonymous with greatness.
For the frustration of the Prancing Horse continuing the myth, thirteenth on the grid, despite labelling as “nothing to celebrate”, represents a huge triumph for Fernando Alonso and McLaren – on account of the Spaniard’s tenacity despite his obvious discontent, belying the crisis presently gripping the Woking outfit and its besieged supplier Honda.
Red Bull affirmed the reality that they remain a way short of the mark, with the quiet impatience manifesting in Daniel Ricciardo’s accident in the third session, while Max Verstappen wasn’t in the mood to wait behind his teammate in the preceding session.
A central theme in coming weeks and months will be to witness when the bloodletting takes effect at Milton Keynes if progress isn’t forthcoming, and Renault clearly has a job on its hands to avoid a recurrence of 2015’s finger pointing.
Mercedes has swept all before it in recent times, yet time doesn’t stand still and the need to evolve was placed before them.
Saturday at Melbourne established that its competitors are immediately faced with returning to the drawing board.
Confirmation that the bandwagon which hasn’t stopped rolling since 2014 remains in motion will be realised by Sunday evening.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
For now very little representative form can be gleaned. For all we know, Mercedes might be a stretch too fast for Ferrari with the longer straights at China, though conversely, how Hamilton responds if it becomes apparent that the latter's competitiveness isn't circuit dependent and he becomes unnerved will have a considerable bearing on the championship.
steve
Guest
Yep, the Renault is disappointing. though I'm actually interested to see How Lewis reacts next up in China knowing that he may not actually have the best car out there. If Ferrari are on pace again, Lewis's mood will become most glum indeed. actually looking forward to it if I'm honest. His whining during today's race was quite amusing, " I cant get past this guy" ( Verstappen ). TBF, he didn't even attempt to overtake the slower Red Bull car. I think Sebastian and Ferrari have Lewis rattled already.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
Promising signs early, though Ferrari needs to deliver these performances consistently if they're going to trouble Mercedes over the balance of a campaign. Red Bull's sole consolation is that upgrades could swing either way and if they're relentless with improvements, they can still feature. Renault appears to be the primary deficiency at this stage.
steve
Guest
I think we saw in testing that Seb Vettel is clearly on pace with Lewis, todays race suggests this year is going to be a Hamilton vs Vettel battle for the title. The Red Bulls will be in the mix at places like Monaco, Barcelona and Hungary where power isn't the be all and end all, but it seems with the Renault power unit they just aren't in the mix for race wins and podiums. for Aussie fans its going to be a Dan vs Max battle for that 4th, 5th and 6th spots with Kimi. the only genuine hope for podiums is DNF's from a couple of the Ferrari's and Mercedes. I was hoping with the F1 changes we would have seen Red Bull right in the mix with Mercedes and Ferrari, but it appears that isn't the case.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
The bleating from Red Bull if they continue to struggle that the rules which they had a hand in formulating are unfair can be anticipated, as will Renault being scapegoated for the entirety of their combined shortcomings. Ferrari is promising though it'll take a concerted effort to reign in the crucial few tenths which separate best from the rest. Optimising strategy remains the greatest variable, if they can rectify this, they'll have gone a considerable way to making the leap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Red Bull have been quite disappointing this weekend. All this hype about the 'aero era' and Adrian Newey designing the best car has been rubbish thus far. Renault still don't have a powerful enough motor, which doesn't help either. At least with Ferrari, we know they can be capable of getting closer to Mercedes AMG on race pace. If Vettel or Räikkönen get the starts they had in 2016, then they'll easily be able to control from the front.
Bayden Westerweller
Roar Guru
The development cycle leaves a lot of room for improvement, though to be commencing the season this far adrift with Mercedes and Ferrari also evolving doesn't bode well. Ricciardo carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, the inevitable expectation on home soil is a small consideration, yet the need to establish himself as the driver to back for a title bid with Verstappen already shaping as Red Bull's future must have contributed to the desperation which culminated in his crash.
steve
Guest
Just as I expected after the two preseason tests. Red Bull are about that 1.2 - 1.5 seconds off the pace. Seems as though Daniel Ricciardo will be scrapping with Max and Kimi this season for 4th - 6th places for the most part. Here's a tip Daniel, do everything you can to secure the second Ferrari seat, sure Kimi wont go around again in 2018. You are wasting the prime of your career in a car that just isn't quick enough.