The 2012 Formula One season has gotten off to an
exciting start, with a remarkable six different winners from six races, with
five different constructors reaching the top step of the podium. The top of the
field is as competitive as never before, with both Drivers’ and Constructors’
Championships destined to go to the final laps of the season. However, with the
good comes the bad, and several early season missteps – blunders – have left a
few teams and drivers looking to rebound. The winners of the early season
blunder awards go to …
McLaren
McLaren showed up at the opening round in Melbourne,
Australia as the class of the field, running at the top of the timing sheets in
all sessions and being rewarded a victory with Jenson Button and a third-place
finish for teammate Lewis Hamilton. However, so much of that early promise has
been erased by uncharacteristic – for McLaren – gaffs. Problems with tire
changes during pit stops have relegated both the McLarens several critical race
positions at most every track. More troubling is a questionable qualifying strategy
in Spain, where Hamilton lost any shot at victory in the race when his pole
winning time was disallowed, pushing him to the very back of the field. There
have also been set-up, strategic, and reliability concerns with Button’s car,
with his lone victory and one second place finish tarnished by the collection
of just two points over the other four races. Compounding the situation is the
feeling around the paddock that other manufacturers have closed the initial
performance gap found in Melbourne. Simply, the McLaren team has squandered and
given away a bushel of potential points for both the Constructors’ and Drivers’
titles. The good news is the season is young enough to allow a comeback, and
the team still ranks second amongst constructors, trailing only Red Bull.
Michael
Schumacher/Mercedes
This is an award shared between driver and team.
Through six races, Schumacher has two points compared to the 59 of teammate
Nico Rosberg. To be fair, Schumacher’s Mercedes team has let him down, with
reliability gremlins striking, including a botched tire change in China that
eliminated him while running second. However, it’s also worth noting
Schumacher’s developing trend of running into the back of cars he’s looking to
overtake, a fairly common occurrence during the 7-time world champion’s two
plus seasons coming back from retirement, and most recently evidenced in
Barcelona when Schumi climbed over the back of Bruno Senna’s Williams. Schumacher’s
brilliant pole win at the next race in Monaco went for naught as his 5-spot
grid penalty pushed him back into harm’s way, into the barrier entering the
first corner, and eventually into the garage with another DNF. Again, with
fully 2/3rds the season to go, Schumacher and Mercedes have an opportunity torealize the potential that seems tantalizingly close. The fast qualifier spot
at Monaco shows the driver/car capability, but for now, with just two points, a
blunder award is the only trophy on the mantle.
Felipe Massa
Massa has had a difficult time matching the
performance of teammate Fernando Alonso, which probably doesn’t make him
special, as Alonso is singularly regarded as one of the best drivers in the
world. However, Massa has never been just an ordinary driver, and was even an
extraordinary driver, narrowly missing out on being the 2008 world champion by
just a couple of rain-slickened corners. This year, while under intense
pressure from media, fans, and his Ferrari team alike, Massi has simply
underperformed. In the same equipment as Alonso, Massa trails his more
decorated teammate in points, 76-10. While Massa grabbed eight points in Monaco
with a well-deserved 5th place finish, skeptics look for his struggles
to continue, as the slow, twisting Monte Carlo circuit likely hid a great many
of the Ferrari’s performance deficiencies. Massa definitely knows the pressure
is on for him to perform – his team has said as much. If he wants to keep his
seat at a top-tier F1 team, his results have to spike up immediately.
Force India
Coming off 2011’s impressive 6th place
finish in the constructors’ standings and falling just four points shy of
Renault for 5th, Force India was thought by many pundits over the
winter as being the best of the mid-tier teams and a strong candidate to evolve
into one of the sports heavy hitters. Now, it’s apparent that Force India
missed on its design for 2012; they lost the scent of Lotus (nee Renault), who
looks like an eventual race winner this year, and have slipped behind both
Williams and Sauber. Drivers Paul Di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg wrested a
combined 10 points at Monaco with their 7th and 8th place
finishes, giving the team hope for improved results as developments are made on
the car. Until then, though, a blunder award is bestowed for positively missing
the mark during the early season.
Selected Media
Some media members are speculating that six winners
from six races borders on being bad for the sport, with race outcomes being
wholly unpredictable on the nature of NASCAR, and dependent on the follies of
tire management and circuit/car compatibility. For sure, there are three other
drivers with very real aspirations of winning in 2012 – Hamilton and Lotus’
pair of Kimi Räikkönen and Roman Grosjean. Those bemoaning the current state of
affairs will have a better argument if those three win the next three races. But
look for repeat winners soon, and for the cream of F1 pit lane to rise to the
top in this incredibly competitive, compelling engaging season.
Growing up in
Indianapolis, Ray spent the better part of each spring at the “Brickyard,”
losing a lot of his hearing, but gaining a life-long appreciation of all things
sleek, fast, and loud. Run laps with Ray on Twitter @RayHartjen.
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