Rating the F1 teams after the Bahrain GP: Are Red Bull fastest and are Aston Martin in trouble?

[ASFN Admin]

The 2021 Formula One season is underway with a bang after arguably the most thrilling opening race for years. For the first time since 2018 Mercedes have genuine competition at the front, this time from Red Bull. It is promising for a captivating season ahead and a straight on-track battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. But are Red Bull actually the quickest team? Will Mercedes and Hamilton need to be at the very top of their game just to compete, as was the case on Sunday? And what about the rest of the grid? Now that we've had a decent amount of competitive running, it is a little easier to see the overall picture. We have carefully sifted through the numbers and data to work out who the real winners and losers of F1's opening weekend were, and what this means for the season ahead. As well as qualifying and race performance, we looked at a team's overall position as well as their progress relative to a) their average last season and b) the first race last year. We have combined this to create a progress percentage on their raw pace. The overall rankings, then, are as much a chart of improvement as anything, rather than the "correct" order. So, who should be quietly confident and who is facing a long season ahead? 10. Haas – This will be a long and painful year Even on the limited running we have seen so far, Haas look to be in a similar position to Williams in 2019. That is to say they will be hopelessly adrift of even the second slowest team for the entirety of the year. Given that they say they are not developing the current VF21 at all this season and the fact that they have two rookies in Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin, this will be a long and painful season. The primary aim will be to bring their young drivers up to speed but with so little experience behind the wheel of a car that looks problematic, you have to question the wisdom of this. No team has moved further back since 2020 and that is likely to be the direction of travel throughout 2021, too. Progress rating: -1.050% (10th) 9. Aston Martin – A single point and a troubling debut

Continue reading...