Lights Out! 2019 Formula 1 campaign gets off in Melbourne today in a promising season

By Darshana Abayasingha

The 2019 Formula 1 Season unfolds today at Albert Park in Melbourne with the first session of Free Practice, in what former Ferrari and Brawn GP boss, Ross Brawn, predicts will be “a vintage season” with Ferrari and Mercedes locked in battle for the crown. 

During preseason season testing in Spain, the Ferrari’s of Sebastian Vettel and new boy Charles Leclerc demonstrated strong reliability and great race pace, setting the fastest time around the Barcelona circuit. Mercedes kept their powder during most of the sessions, before Lewis Hamilton clocked in the second-best time just 0.003 seconds off Vettel’s best. 

However, the general consensus around the paddock and observers is that Ferrari have built an even stronger car this year, which is “very forgiving” round corners when getting the power down, and is billed to give Mercedes – who have won for five years in a row – a serious challenge in this year’s championship. 

The third manufacturer in the fold, Renault, boast they have the “strongest driver pairing on the grid” in Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenburg, which can be substantiated by their experience and temperament, but it remains to be seen if the French team can provide their drivers with the necessary firepower, with Hulkenburg last year lamenting the lack of horsepower in their power-unit to challenge the top three teams. Whilst the German delivered the fourth best time during testing, he was still six-tenths adrift of the top time.

Red Bull’s marriage with Honda is expected to deliver a better than anticipated honeymoon, as both Bulls and the sister Torro Rosso team showed effective pace, at the hands of four very young and extremely exciting drivers. 

Once again, Red Bull’s undoing could be their own warring drivers, as teammates Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly will be out to prove who has a better grip on things, and will no doubt provide fans and administrators with much spice.

Last season, it was Red Bull who took the fight to Ferrari and Mercedes taking the occasional victory, and this year too we can look to the Bulls to spring a surprise, but with Alfa Romeo possibly joining the fray. Effectively the Ferrari ‘B’ team, this year Alfa will be propelled by the same engine bolted to the back of the prancing horse. With veteran Kimi Raikkonen and the exciting young Antonio Giovanazzi at the wheels, there is much anticipated from the boys who shed the Sauber name for this year’s campaign. 

It is difficult to anticipate the any other team will challenge for podiums this year, with the only exception being Hass – also powered by Ferrari engines – who launched a very strong campaign at the outset last year, but disintegrated due to lagging team dynamics and silly mistakes especially at the hands of Romain Grosjean. 

Whilst there is great anticipation that McLaren would discover some of their former glory, no doubt only few would be willing to bet big money on the team. 

Former greats Williams will endure yet another torrid season following the disastrous 2018 campaign, the worst in its illustrious history, and testing in Barcelona this year provided no hopes for improvement. Technical Director, Paddy Lowe, has been sent on leave indicating changes are afoot, but Williams have a long and difficult campaign ahead with 2019 already looking a write off. It seems prudent for the Grove outfit to turn their attention very early to the 2020 season, to bring themselves out of this current predicament.

The 2019 season promises yet another scintillating battle between defending champion, Hamilton, and Vettel. But, the advent of young, extremely ambitious and talented stars in the form of Leclerc, Gasly, George Russell and Lando Norris will definitely provide much more action and surprises this year, and will have Seb and Lewis looking much more in their mirrors. I believe that intra-team rivalry will play a big role in deciding this year’s driver’s champion, with the top three teams – Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull – all packed with drivers looking to stake a claim for greatness. As Ross Brawn predicted this definitely has the makings of a vintage season.