Formula 1 in 2016 Part 3 of 3

Toro Rosso, MRT, Sauber- Excepting Toro Rosso which is not perfect, but was a junior team anyways, and has seen several talented drivers pass through it and score excellent points positions. The other two teams are multi million dollar operations that resemble teams we used to hear about all the time Arrows, Minardi, Lola, sure they're in the Circus, but are they teams with chances to win, not really. But do not discount them on points finishes, it is totally possible they finish in the points in 2017 as there is a shake up on car design.

Pirelli- I include the official tire of F1 here for one reason, they are a winner this year, no real complaints about the wear, or the quality of the rubber, and they've reacted to the 2017 rules by changing the tires again for the future of F1. Count this Goodyear Eagle fan of olden times, truly impressed and I hope 2017 goes well for them as well. The only expectation here is that F1 may open up for companies to buy from Goodyear and Michelin, but I expect Pirelli to be the preferred for some time to come.  

That roughly sums up the Formula 2016 season, who wins the championship? Really both Lewis and Nico, even if Nico wins on points. For one, they both really are the best drivers in the sport, and are made so by their ability and by the ability of Mercedes to build a superb car. 2017 will be a hot season to watch and I encourage all to get ready for some interesting reveals as March draws near. 

Formula 1 in 2016 Pt. 2

McLaren-Honda- Oh, what a load of memories I never personally experienced but I have read about. With 1988 to 1992 being astonishing seasons, perhaps the hype was a little too much, even I was excited beyond reason for their chances. Was this season improved, definitely, but this season was not what was hoped for by the fans. 2017 will likely involve podiums if they truly are done playing catch up to the rest of the field, it's only a disappointment we are only going to have Jenson for an advisor next year, unless McLaren surprises even further and starts running three cars. Great things can still happen in this partnership, but then I think the hype train was wholly overloaded, so I can clarify for some as to why McLaren didn't come out winning 15 or 16 races in 2014. The first Honda turbo engines came in 1983 for Williams, that partnership took till 1985 to produce real great results, and till 1986 to win a championship, and 87 to win a Drivers championship, so the 88-91 seasons were the result of years of progress at Williams. They are not losers by virtue of improving, next year may be particularly exciting however, so do not count McLaren-Honda out!

Renault- two years ago I wrote about how we should have Renault back as a team in Formula 1, they are back and they did manage to score some points, again, we don't have to over hype it, this isn't 77 and the teams are not mixing Turbos and Atmos like then. They will improve with time but again, time is not always kind in Formula 1. Next year look for Renault to try for higher points finishes and see more money invested into the team. When the wins will come, no one knows, but they can happen, just as they can happen with all teams mentioned so far. 

Formula 1 in 2016 Pt. 1

Red-Bull Tag Heuer- The great F1 has seen a number of remarkable events this year. Firstly, Max Verstappen, did something his father Jos never did, win a F1 race, to his credit and to the credit of Red-Bull Tag Heuer, who I suspect may just want to use the 2016 race spec engine for 2017 and they may end up winning three or four races or the whole show considering that Niki Lauda at Mercedes needs to calm Lewis and Nico for 2017 and get them back to being friends, we need no repeats of Prost/Senna, which then does bring us to Mercedes. So watch out for Red Bull, they have not forgotten 2013, and they will not be lax in the off season. Definitely rate them a winner this year.

Mercedes who despite what some people think, has dazzled me with their drive for Number 3 Constructors Championship and now, three in a row for Drivers Championship, something only accomplished by Schumacher and Ferrari and McLaren and Senna/Prost. Honestly we have two of the best drivers in Formula 1 in the same team and making outstanding drives every single race just about. There is a definite feeling in the air, and I can tell this feeling is there, the usual suspects are complaining that Mercedes is winning everything and there is no competition in Formula 1. Despite that feeling, do not think Mercedes is going to rest on their laurels, you can definitely be sure that Toto Wolff and his drivers and Niki Lauda are getting the new car ready right now.

Ferrari has this most unique habit of managing to get two number one drivers on a team and then having a difficult time with them in the first couple seasons. In this case, the working relationship between Kimi and Seb Vettel is possibly the best in F1, so that is a definite plus for Ferrari, the real problem is the car, competitive to say the least, and definitely contender to be best of the rest, but this year, there is a huge problem with the fact they might come third against a resurgent Red Bull. The season started with a potential fight for first with Mercedes. The weight on Ferrari's shoulders was large, and self imposed. 2017 has to be a better year or expect heads to roll at Maranello, definite loser this season, upside? Imola may come back as a track in 2017 or 2018 which would be a good psychological boost as there would be two races in Italy and that always energizes the tifosi. 

Haas, the home team for the first time in my life time, what an astonishing performance on their part, the season isn't over, but we may see at least 30 points from them. Definite wins in the future of Haas and we may see some cooperation with Ford to bring back a new turbo engine from them. Ferrari engines have worked well, outside chance of podiums next year and 2018 might even bring us wins. It could be a stunner to do wins next year as well, a winner this year, and if Haas is impressed with his team, he will probably make a bigger investment. I also have an outside hope that he may pick up an American driver of a decent caliber who has expressed interest in Formula 1 racing in the past, I will not name that driver here, but I will say he has championships under his belt already and while he had retired, is certainly a candidate to go back to racing. 

Force India and Williams- I pair these two as they are the primary Mercedes engine customers and are excellent teams, will I call them winners, not necessarily, Williams has had a weaker season this year, but you have to give all four drivers credit for being very consistent on the points. They share three podiums between all 4 and all have finished in the points at least 10 times, there is no internal conflict in the teams either, two excellent teams who if they had a little extra power in their engines, would have more podiums and give Ferrari and Red Bull and even Mercedes themselves a little trouble. So they are unchanged and are not losers in any respect. 2017 will be interesting among these two teams. 

New Introduction

I originally started this blog in 2014, with the hope that today it would have a large readership and a daily or every other day, new article for readers to enjoy or critique. Unfortunately, time and other things got in the way and I left the blog very much more dead than alive.

Well, in 2016, the world of Motorsports and Cars has definitely changed, and we are in a new era, the dawn of another Turbo Era in Formula 1, the emergence of a new generation of NASCAR drivers with new names and the same old engine, Ford has come back to the Endurance Racing scene with it's brand new GT.  All of these motorsport factors alone should astonish and amaze, however the regular car industry has also improved at a impressive rate.

For one, Ford has introduced a Sporty Fusion, a Sporty Focus and a RS Focus for the first time in ages. These three cars are in the stables as the new Ford has settled back on it's feet after the age of recession in 2007, 08 and 09. Chevy has introduced a hatch back in it's line up for the modern young adult like myself who think Hatchbacks are like Old Top Gear, great and amazing. GM also is going to be giving us a mid-engine Corvette, preferably in red or cherry red to start with. Fiat-Chrysler has done amazing work, the Hellcat Engine with it's 707 horsepower is as mighty as it sounds and has featured along side the revitalization of Jeep and has seen new models in the Chrysler 200 and facelift for the ever popular Chrysler 300. The introduction of a Jeep Renegade which to the author is like a small box, but perhaps more traditionally like a old Jeep than the new Cherokee and Grand Cherokee which introduced in 2014 and has also seen strong sales.

Japanese car manufacturers have came on strong since 2014, Honda has thrown itself into F1 again and also given us the NSX in the guise of it's Acura division, coupled with major updates to the Accord and Civic means they have made a major move into the upcoming 2020s. Toyota is sticking with it's very reliable strategy while also killing Scion off, due to most models easily being made with the Toyota badge and also the name GT86 really does sound better than FRS. Couple this with a few facelift models, and you can see why Toyota is a hard brand to beat. Nissan is a brand I really would prefer not to discuss, they have a host of ancient and ailing cars, to Nissan: It is time for a new GT-R, new Zed Car, new everything, even the stuff that might be new now. Subaru, holy moly, we are proud of them, with their Crosstrek and a brand new Impreza, the darling of any real motor enthusiast, coupled with engine and transmission overhauls, are giving yet another burst of fresh air to the auto community.

Now for the Germans...yes, well, uh, VW! Great car company, will have to make 2017 look like nothing has happened and they will recover. If not, who knows. Mercedes has continued on it's merry way to try and appeal to that middle class that has enough to spend $30k or more to buy a car, and they have been successful in this. A word on VW's brands, they're fine, Porsche, Lamborghini, Audi, they're all brilliant groups doing great cars and great work, the parent brand needs work and hopefully the work will happen.

Jaguar in Britain is now owned by Tata, and credit for them, they did amazing work, the F-Type excites all sorts of passion in people, including myself. So they're doing well enough to give us a Jag SUV for the first time ever. We will see what happens there as well. Aston Martin I do not wish to speak of, they dumped those old Ford engines, and that to a Ford guy like me, you get the picture.

So there is my introduction, I intend to go into motorsports later today, as a great start to my old-new blog!