Well the 2017 Grand Prix is just around the corner, with the first one, The Australian Grand Prix being held on 23 – 26 March at the Circuit of Albert Park in Melbourne. How all the cars are transported from the current testing sites to Melbourne and then to all the other GP circuits is still beyond me – but it happens, every year, every race. Transportation of these cars and all the equipment, with tight deadlines, is a monumental task and a magical process.
The Australian GP year promises to be better than ever and hope the weather is better than last year when I attended practice in horrible cold and wet weather – but did not dampen the enthusiasm.
We have new cars, new drivers and of course some new regulations. The 2016 World Champion, Nico Rosberg, retired whilst at the pinnacle of his career, no more intriguing, breath taking battles between Nico and Lewis Hamilton. But we have Valtteri Bottas replacing him in the Mercedes team, having only raced in 77GP’s, with zero wins, zero pole positions and only 9 podium finishes will for sure to be out to prove the right decision being made in giving him the “hot” seat at Mercedes.
In what is possibly the first time F1 has made aesthetics a central pillar of future regulations, 2017's cars are set to look more "aggressive" thanks to regulations to make them wider, heavier and run on fatter tyres. Wings will also be wider, with the rear wing lower than is currently the case. This means the cars will go faster, possibly reducing some lap times by up to 3 seconds per lap, however, will this make overtaking more difficult –only time will tell.
Lewis Hamilton is over the moon with the changes and has described his initial rides in testing, “I am like a kid on a rollercoaster ride because it is so much better than before”. But the likes of Ferrari are being stated as the fastest so far in testing, McLaren, Red Bull with local favourite Daniel Ricciardo, will all be up there for sure. Previous World Champions, Vettel, Raikonnen, Alonso will be out to win further titles, and we have the rookie of the year with no F1 experience in Lance Stoll of Canada driving for Williams at just 18 years of age.
2017 promises to be an intriguing F1 season….let’s go……