Formula 1 The Hybrid Era

Glossary

The Hybrid Era

-The biggest change to the 2012 F1 season was Lewis Hamilton from McLaren to the team he races for now-Mercedes AMG. The cars were now being outfitted with an upcoming turbo-powered hybrid power unit, which would allow for more power to the car.

2013

-First things first. Hamilton was still dealing with the high level of success Vettel was performing with on his Red Bull RB9. The season was considered to be two halves. First half was marked by rapidly degrading and useless Pirelli tires, throwing monkey wrenches into the races. Second half was Vettel winning all nine GPs consecutively and taking 13 of the season's 19 races and standing on the podium 19 times. At the Monaco GP, Nico Rosberg fought off the powerful Red Bull to an impressive win. He was then like his father by winning the Principality, spraying the champagne exactly 30 years later. Crashes also made an appearance. At a race at St. Devote, Brazilian driver Felipe Massa was part of two large shunts. He lost the car under braking before going off in the same place and Perez collided with Raikkonen coming out of the tunnel. The most mind blowing of all the accidents came when Max Chilton moved across on Pastor Maldonado, launching his Williams car into the air and striking the barriers at Tabac.

Sebastian Vettel

Lewis Hamilton

Pastor Maldonado

Nico Rosberg

Kimi Raikkonen

Felipe Massa

Max Chilton

-Controversy, like crashes, also found its way into the races. Pirelli had been told to make their compounds softer, to improve the "show". But this didn't work as inconsistency found its way in. At the Shanghai GP, the Pirelli tires lasted only a few laps. Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button opted for medium compound tires while also sacrificing grid positions. This small window of opportunity was seized by Alonso to overtake Vettel and win the race. For the first half of the season, the tires were so delicate that drivers were forced to drive slower. Lewis Hamilton said over his team radio "I can't drive any slower!" At the British GP at Silverstone, that race was won by Nico Rosberg from Lewis Hamilton, but Rosberg's car blew its tires. Elsewhere, Kimi Raikkonen was starting to have issues with Lotus-Renault for reasons such as paying his salary or team failing to match his efforts. For McLaren, things were going down fast. They celebrated 50 years in Formula One. It should have been a celebration, but it didn't seem so. With Hamilton moving from McLaren to Mercedes AMG, it seemed it was the right move.

-During the second half of the 2013 season, it seemed the season had four championship drivers-Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton. At the German GP, Vettel won the race in his home country. At Monza, Vettel won again in his Red Bull car. Vettel's career seemed on the rise, especially at Brazil's Interlagos track. He proved that, despite his young age, he was intelligent enough and confident enough not to listen to too much said by PR people and not to say things that were controversial or even amusing and take into consideration saying/doing things that could upset the teams or sponsors. The 2013 season was scheduled to have an American GP, to take place on a new street circuit overlooking the New York skyline on the cliffs above the Hudson River. It would be back to back with the Canadian GP. After a date was provided, Bernie Ecclestone came clean with the fact that F1's contract had been nullified. The race was cancelled due to not enough necessary permits being obtained from the branches of state and federal government. Many suspected it was also due to the extremely high licensing fees issued by the F1 higher ups. To top this bombshell off, Ecclestone shocked everyone by saying in late 2013, "double points" would be issued to the winner of the final race of the season, at Abu Dhabi. It was mostly if not all for show. Vettel and other Formula One fans were displeased.

2014

-Once again, FIA changed the rules. This time around, they mandated that the engines, which were normally 2.4 liter V8 engines, were to be replaced with 1.6 liter turbocharged V6 units combined with more complex, hybrid energy recovery systems (ERS) to provide a greener, cleaner image to racing. Teams now had 100 kg of fuel to use for the entire race. Blown diffusers, which seemed to have caused controversy in the past, were once again banned. Cars also featured the ugly "platypus nose" design to avoid ride height restrictions. The new rules resulted in slow, unreliable, quiet cars. Ecclestone was horrified by the softness of the season's opener in Australia. Almost every race team, except for Mercedes, struggled with the new regulations. The Germans outpaced everyone on speed and efficiency.

-The race calendar saw serious changes as well. A new race was added. The Russian GP was held at the Sochi Autodrom and Austria even seen a GP added, at Spielberg. India also got a chance at having a GP held in their country. It was on hold at the moment as was the Korean GP. Drivers were also changing teams. Massa left Ferrari, to be replaced by Raikkonen. Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo went over to Red Bull. 2014 also seen its fair share of controversy. Former driver Michael Schumacher suffered a skiing incident in the Alps in late 2013, leaving him a vegetative coma. Then Jules Bianchi had an accident. While practicing for the Japanese GP, at twilight, the Marussia team driver spun out of control and hit a crane that was clearing a car out from a previous crash. Bianchi succumbed to his injuries later on. This, paired with Massa's near head injury, prompted FIA's introduction of the Halo protection system on open cockpit cars.

Jules Bianchi

-Prior to the news of Bianchi's death, the big news that weekend was the big news that Vettel and Red Bull were parting ways. It was announced Vettel would join Ferrari in 2015. Alonso reacted by jumping over to McLaren.

2015

-The 2015 season was marked as "Hamilton vs. Rosberg". Despite being teammates, they were also competing for the same thing-pole position, a win for the races. Nico Rosberg was considered the underdog, the driver taken the least seriously until the scheduled reached nearly the end. Hamilton won race after race, proving that Mercedes was now, seemingly, the top name in Formula One racing. One race Hamilton didn't win was the Spanish GP at Barcelona. It's said he should have won the Monaco GP, but his lead position had Mercedes strategists thinking a late-race pit stop was a good idea. It cost their driver the race. Rosberg won the race from Vettel, Hamilton was behind them in P3 and struggling hard to to catch up to Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull.

Lewis Hamilton 2016

Nico Rosberg 2016

-Throughout the season, Ferrari was the main threat to Mercedes. Vettel picked up a win with Ferrari, with Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen not being a match for Vettel. Hamilton won the race from Rosberg in Japan after Rosberg made an aggressive 2nd corner move. Hamilton also won the race in Russia when Rosberg suffered throttle problems. The best race of the season was the US GP at Austin, at Circuit of the Americas. The drivers struggled hard to generate heat for their tires on the track. Daniil Kyvat had moved from Toro Rosso over to Red Bull. Rosberg had the advantage once the track dried up and he slipped, allowing a window of opportunity for Hamilton to bypass him. Which he did. That race won Hamilton a 3rd World Championship. This was a dream for him, to become like his idol Ayrton Senna

-It was almost comical to note how many times FIA had banned and re-introduced features on cars, changed rules and more. Refueling and traction control came in and went out. Wing and nose sizes bounced back and forth between too big and too small, high and low. Brake bias was only adjusted manually, then in comes electronic-assisted rear braking systems. Tires degraded faster than what one would like. Double diffusers, blown diffusers, off-throttle diffusers, front wing flexibility, F-ducts, fuel flow sensors, "keel noses", bargeboards, engine mapping, "Conda exhausts", radio coaching, one move blocking, track limits violations. It's all too much. Too much to take in!

-One aspect of 2015 rendered unsatisfying was the increasingly frequent use of drive-through, grid and time-position penalties issued by stewards. Thankfully, good things do come to those who wait. The ugly platypus noses on the cars were gone, thank God. A new procedure, however, was introduced. The VSC (Virtual Safety Car). This allowed for temporary, safety-required speed limits without breaking up the whole race track. A new Mexican GP was held, the last one being held in 1992. This new one was to be held at the now updated Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

And with this new GP added, a new driver entered the F1 realm. Meet Dutch driver Max Verstappen. It was frequently questioned whether a 17 year old was too young for F1 racing. He quickly reeled off stats and provided fans with examples of his abilities. He overtook Felipe Nasr at Spa in Germany, where he went around the outside of the track and through the Blanchimont corner and finally over the curbs to complete a 190mph pass. Red Bull, however, was getting increasingly frustrated with Renault's slow progress on development of a power unit that proved useless in 2014. Christian Horner and teammates hung in there, while the Milton Keynes team patched up any issues with Renault's TAG powerplant

Felipe Nasr

Max Verstappen

-McLaren was having a bad season, it seemed. Their new Honda power unit hardly looked like the power house the Japanese had invented in the 1980s and 1990s. Things came to a head when McLaren was beaten on Honda's home grounds at Suzuka. Alonso had called the Honda engine a lowly unit. Things were not so rosy for Lotus, either. Driver Charles LeClerc initiated a legal action for lack of seat time in 2014. The Belgian authorities impounded assets from the team after the race at Spa-Francordchamps. Lotus was allowed to leave with their cars and started at the race in Italy, but would not appear in Formula One ever again. Meanwhile, Hamilton managed to win his 15th title at the US GP at Austin's Circuit of the Americas. At the end of his 8th season with F1, that win set Hamilton on the path to being a driver who was highly successful

Charles LeClerc

2016

-Rivalries also started blooming. The longest grand prix season ever had just begun. 21 races, including a new race in Azerbaijan, the entry of a new American race team, Haas, switching young Max Verstappen from Torro Rosso to Red Bull, the new season was full of changes. Of course, the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg was still going strong. Renault had been given a chance when FIA increased the number of "tokens" available for in-season engine development. Pirelli introduced ultrasoft dry tires for street circuits and Ferrari was the fastest during pre-season testing at the Spanish track Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

-2016 seemed to be Nico Rosberg's season when he started off winning the first four races. He had a dream of achieving the World Championship title and losing to Hamilton numerous times, fueled that dream. He did constant sessions in driving simulators, educated himself on race discipline and even started working out to get into top shape. Meanwhile, Hamilton was at a 43 point deficit, which he planned to change as soon as possible. In Spain, both drivers collided, further fueling their rivalry. With a string of wins in Germany, Austria, Canada and Monaco, his point deficit was at 19. People were starting to lose faith in Rosberg. He regained it by wins at Spa-Francordchamps, Monza, Suzuka and Marina Bay. His "rival", Lewis Hamilton, suffered engine failure in Malaysia and retired from P1.

-Ferrari was struggling hard. They were unable to get Vettel's car to the grid in Sakhir. It didn't win one race, was marred by strategical errors and had seven retirements. Williams and McLaren were no-shows. They were beaten by Force India for the constructor's championship. Renault or Sauber didn't even win any races. The sport was marred by constant rule changes from FIA. These rule changes kept coming. A new one included "exceeding track limit" and "unsafe pit release" penalties. In addition, driver coaching on pit-to-car radio was restricted, the "elimination style" format of qualifying left most cars in their garages. The stewards were inconsistent and always intrusive, always ready to jump at the least little infraction. One example includes Valtteri Bottas having two points on his license (if he had three he would have gotten a 10-place grid penalty) for an accident in the first lap. It was a collision with Hamilton in Bahrain. These constant rule changes were enough to deter even the most diehard of F1 fans. The only highlights were wins by first time driver Max Verstappen in Spain and by Daniel Ricciardo in Malaysia

Valtteri Bottas

-The last four races of the season all, seemingly, belonged to Mercedes, with Hamilton topping Rosberg each time. When Rosberg arrived in Abu Dhabi, he had a 12 point lead and he wanted to make the podium if Hamilton won from the pole position. Despite what he was told, Hamilton intentionally slowed down, allowing other drivers to pass, to catch up to Rosberg. Hamilton had repeated instructions from his team to not risk losing the race to Sebastian Vettel, who had used a pit strategy to get himself in to P3. This idea of Hamilton's failed, allowing Rosberg held off Vettel to finish in second place

-A decade after his debut race at the 2006 Bahrain GP for Williams racing, Nico Rosberg had proven that he is just as good a driver as the others. Five days later, he announced he was retiring. He made the decision and announcement via social media. He was only the fifth driver to not defend his World Championship title and the first to retire as World Champion since Alain Prost in 1993. The toll on his emotions in addition to the intense concentration required to compete against a teammate he called "the benchmark" of racing was one he didn't want to continue paying.

-One common story paints Rosberg an an unworthy titleist due to the mechanical issues suffered by Hamilton. In a sport poll conducted by BBC Sport, 52% said that Rosberg didn't deserve the World Championship title. Sadly, that story is supplied by numbers. Hamilton suffered two DNF's (did not finish) while Rosberg only one. Hamilton won ten races while Rosberg won nine. Both drivers finished in 5th and 7th places in races when the other man won. Rosberg even had more non-podium classifications. They both made first lap errors, one including a wheel-to-wheel shunt in Spain which cost them the podium. Hamilton was said to waste his talent with poor race beginnings.

-The constant nagging on Rosberg ignores the fact that F1 has always been a sport centered around mechanics. Driver Jim Clark in 1962, Nigel Mansell in 1986, Ayrton Senna in 1989, Michael Schumacher in 2006, along with many others, are evidence that, despite engine failures and other technical issues, the driver who wins the most and is the most consistent finisher of races, gets the title.

2017

-Once again, FIA changed the rules. They introduced heavier cars, with tires that had more grip to them. These cars were much faster, even with their small hybrid units. These machines were leaner and meaner looking, adding a feeling of aggression into the races. These new cars helped Ferrari make a comeback. Liberty Media had now bought out Formula One, ridding the world of Bernie Ecclestone. With the new owners, they made it more fan friendly, such as streaming the practice and race session on the internet

-As usual, there was the drama and rivalries. The rivalry was, this time between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Hamilton won his 4th World Championship and Mercedes took home another constructor's award. The races were now becoming professional to the point of overwhelming. Aerodynamics had been become much more complex, allowing overtaking to become much more difficult. This led to a lot of angry radio and media rants and aggressive driving. The rules and penalties process stayed messy, as it always had. The "token" system used for engine development was scrapped. This left constructors free reign to design enhancements as long as they didn't exceed four engines per driver for the season's 20 races. Many ignored this warning and grid penalties became the biggest thing. McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne was hit with a 35 grid penalty in the Mexican GP while Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and newcomers Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly all received 20 spot penalties before the same exact race for replacing parts on their engines. A week prior, at the US GP, Max Verstappen received a five second time penalty for "exceeding track limits". It was for passing Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap. Max even went as far as to accuse the FIA officials of "killing the sport" with "stupid penalties"

Valtteri Bottas

Lewis Hamilton

Brendon Hartley

Fernando Alonso

Pierre Gasly

Daniel Ricciardo

Stoffel Van Doorne

-With a race at Melbourne, Sebastian Vettel captured the pole position quickly. The season turned out to be pretty exciting until October, when the wheels started falling off Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton won the races in China, Spain, Canada, Britain. Vettel won Bahrain, Italy, Hungary, Australia. Bottas won at Sochi. Only Daniel Ricciardo, driving for Red Bull, managed to win a GP before the F1 season took a break. Of all the skills that make Lewis Hamilton a good driver, qualifying is his true talent. A highlight of the 2017 season was when Hamilton was handed one of Ayrton Senna's yellow helmets, which he wore during races. "Ayrton is the one who inspired me to be where I am. To match him and receive this is the greatest honor." Hamilton said. Other highlights of the season include Max Verstappen winning two races at Malaysia and Mexico. Kimi Raikkonen having two fast laps at Australia and Russia. Fernando Alonso showing his talent at the Indianapolis 500. It was the first appearance of a Formula One driver at the Brickyard 500 in years.