Formula One 2011 Rd.2 Malaysian GP: Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) during the second practice session on Friday. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the previous post I rated the relative performances of the drivers so far in 2012. This time it’s the teams’ turn. Which teams’ members are punching the air and which are punching each other?
Top Bananas
HRT: If you take a conventional points, podiums and wins point of view, then it would be difficult to place HRT in the upper echelons. However, considering their change of ownership, move to Spain and failed crash test, turning up and being well within the 107% hurdle by race 2 is a significant triumph. They’re maybe not Champions, but nor are they a real embarrassment.
Lotus: setting aside all the Group Lotus/Team Lotus kerfuffle last year and the black and gold paintwork, the current “Lotus” has absolutely nothing to do with the legendary Team of Colin Chapman, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt and Mario Andretti. It does, however, share its DNA with Senna’s Toleman, Schumacher’s Benetton and Alonso’s Renault and seems, now, to be remembering that.
Sauber: 2012 has shown both the very best and worst of Sauber. For a Team that was left for dead by BMW a couple of years ago to be pushing near the front is impressive. However, when the moment came in Malaysian, the Team’s instinct was for caution and consolidation, not to go for the win.
Williams: After its worst ever season in 2011 it would have been challenging for Williams not to have performed better this year. I still have my doubts about the driver pairing, but it would be churlish not to acknowledge the Team’s competitive revival.
Orange Squashed
Marussia: The Team may have lost its Virgin status, but nothing else seems to have changed. Is there any point in being the second worst team in F1?
Caterham: The Caterham Team are a bit like the scenes in the cartoon Scooby-Do when Scooby and Shaggy start running away from the old caretaker dressed as a mummy; there’s lots of energy and effort but they don’t seem to make any movement forward.
Toro Rosso: You have to judge a Team by its own purpose and criteria for success. Toro Rosso exists as the Red Bull kindergarten. On that basis, neither Ricciardo and Vergne have yet been able to establish themselves as potential promotees.
Mercedes: On the one hand, that Chinese win was a huge step forward for the Mercedes Team, as demonstrated by Norbert Haug’s Champaign and tear soaked grin on the podium. However, taken as a whole, the season hasn’t proved yet whether the Silver Arrows can be consistent Championship challengers.
Sour Grapes
Force India: [This commentary has been left deliberately blank under instruction from FOM]
Red Bull: If only there was a Germanic equivalent of the word schadenfreude. It was delicious hearing Sebastian Vettel’s desperate enquiries during the Chinese GP practice, “Is it enough? Is it enough”. No, it wasn’t. Like a reverse Williams, Red Bull really had nowhere to go but down after their 2011 season and we have all been the beneficiaries, so far.
Ferrari: 1962, 1965, 1969, 1973, 1980, 1991-1993, 2009 – In its long history, Ferrari have had substandard performances and have recovered. However, I doubt that is much consolation to Fernando Alonso. At least they didn’t try and use the Malaysian win to paper over the cracks.
McLaren: I have posted separately about the trials of the McLaren Team. Is McLaren basically the fastest car, undermined by the vagaries of the Pirelli tyres and a few fumbled pit stops, or is there some more fundamental flaw in the Woking set up?
The good news is, based on 2012 so far, it’s likely that this post will fall out of date very quickly, which wouldn’t have been the case in 2011.
FORMULA ONE MUM
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