MorrisF1

F1 is not at death’s door, but it is looking a bit sickly. None of its problems are insurmountable, but action needs to be taken or they could lead to long term decline. A few years ago the BBC hosted free-to-air, Bafta-winning coverage of the sport. Then the BBC and Sky decided to ‘share’ the coverage, a situation we have recently seen continue between Sky and Channel 4 (in reality, Channel 4 got half live and half highlights coverage, Sky being fully live). Next year, almost the entire sport goes behind the Sky pay wall (British viewers will get to see the British Grand Prix live on Channel 4. Everything else is highlights or Sky). Why does that matter? Well, for the UK, more than half the teams are based in a small part of southern England. It’s great for the teams, because engineers can change jobs without moving country, and sometimes without moving house or forcing their kids to switch schools. It’s also great for the economy, as F1 brings in high end, well-paid jobs,

Mercedes Hamilton Bottas Points 408 247 Points finishes 20 19 Pointless finishes 0 0 DNFs 1 2 Points per finish (average) 20.4 13 Looking at those stats, the sheer chasm between the two drivers is laid bare. Must say it was larger than I imagined. Hamilton’s average points (per finish, so discounting the DNF) is between a 1 st and 2 nd place. That’s unbeatable. Bottas’ equivalent stat is between a 3 rd and 4 th , which isn’t bad by any stretch but is only two-thirds what Hamilton achieved. Indeed, by the end of the 14 th race (Italy), exactly two-thirds through the season, Hamilton had 256 points, exceeding Bottas’ final tally. It’s worth noting Bottas had some bad luck, occasionally being hit by others, and the debris in Baku robbed him of a certain victory, replacing a 25 po

Racing There were some very good races indeed, and some absolute dogs. Season-long patterns were also interesting, as the initial Mercedes-Ferrari fight became a three way battle when Red Bull improved in the latter half of the season. The best of the rest contest was also intriguing (NB Renault would’ve narrowly beaten Force India even had the Pink Panthers kept their pre-takeover points tally), and the midfield was tightly competitive (excepting Williams, who languished at the back for pretty much the whole season). I’ll look at how the driver pairings stacked up in intra-team battles in more detail in a separate post, probably as a precursor to looking at next year’s pairings. This review will focus more on title contenders, the fight for third, and the battle to be best of the rest. Title Duel At the start of the year, Hamilton seemed to have the Australian Grand Prix sewn up, only to lose it to a cunning Ferrari strategy call, bringing Vettel in for a rela