The 2014 Formula One season has now reached its summer break. Finally, Australian fans can grab some extra sleep on Sunday nights.
The mid-season interlude couldn’t come at a better time for the world’s spectators. With the exception of Austria, the last five rounds of the championship have provided plenty of entertainment and some results that greatly differ from those we saw in the first six Mercedes-dominant races.
Between pre-season testing and the build up to the first race in Australia, it looked as though Mercedes had the wood on everyone.
They removed any doubt about their pace in the first six races of the year, winning all of them between drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
They owned the head of the field as they scored five consecutive 1-2 finishes between Malaysia and Monaco. The only thing that really stopped them getting the same result in Australia was a spark plug problem for Hamilton.
Their maximum points’ hauls also made the Constructors Championship look effectively done and dusted, with the Drivers Championship becoming a two-horse race.
However, things went pear shaped for Mercedes in Canada, when Red Bull pilfered an unlikely race victory thanks to another technical issue at Mercedes.
But this time the mechanical gremlins affected the pace of both cars. Was it a possible Achilles heel? Or did the Silver Arrows just have a bad weekend? Hamilton had his second DNF of the season, and Rosberg couldn’t hold off a surprisingly speedy Red Bull for a win.
Since Round 7, Mercedes have only finished 1-2 once, despite winning three of the next four races.
They’ve only had one DNF on a Sunday, courtesy of Rosberg’s loss of power at Silverstone. But Hamilton’s races have been compromised by awful qualifying sessions at Hockenheim and the Hungaroring.
These came about from some serious technical dramas, ranging from brake malfunctions to fuel fires. Sure the problems may have been on the Saturday, but when
you’re contesting the Drivers Championship, having to start from outside the top 10 two races in a row isn’t desirable.
Fortunately for Mercedes, when their cars are working well they are the quickest on the track. This puts them in a handy position to salvage championship points from a race should they need to embark on a recovery mission.
They have the added advantage of a commanding 174-point lead over second-placed Red Bull in the Constructors Stakes, heading into the second half of the season.
If Mercedes are truly having reliability problems, then the remaining eight races will be worth watching. Some of the remaining circuits Formula One is still to visit this season are designed to challenge the car in very specific way.
Monza is notoriously tough on engines, or power units as we now have. Singapore is hard on brake wear. Interlagos is one of the bumpiest tracks in Formula One.
Add to that a brand new race in Russia, where everything is an unknown, and despite that huge lead Mercedes have accumulated they aren’t out of the woods with that fragile car just yet.
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