F1 Talk: The Manic Midfield Story So Far – Part One

Most of Formula One’s discussion is always about the big three teams: Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. The sport is not just about them though, without the teams in the midfield F1 would not even be a thing.

In 2019, the midfield battle has been as close as it ever has before. Haas, Renault, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Toro Rosso and Racing Point are all fighting for best of the rest and the game is on.

After four rounds in Melbourne, Sakhir, Shanghai and Baku now is the right time to investigate and discuss how each of the midfield teams are getting on.

Albert Park is affectively a street track with a mix of high and medium speed chicanes, Bahrain is mainly about straight line speed and how the rear tyres can handle the traction zones and then China is a front-limited circuit which has lots of long, high speed turns along with a 1.1KM straight.

Then, you have Baku which contains the longest ‘flat out’ section of the season as well as lots of 90 degree corners and the fact that it is a proper street circuit. Making conclusions is now very much representative and there has been enough racing to make a reasonably good judgement.

Just like the front of the field, the tyres play a huge part so the midfield battle will swing around with different teams having their day and alternatively teams will have their off day and score zero points. With the incredibly tight margins it makes for an unpredictable and fascinating fight for the remainder of the year.

As a driver, you must maximise your qualifying lap and your race. Any off-day will suffer in an elimination in Q1 or no points on race day. A small mistake in a Mercedes or Ferrari will put you 5th on the grid at worst, make that same mistake in a midfield car and you will drop 10 positions. That is why whoever finishes 7th or 8th in the drivers’ standings this year will have had a sensational season.

2019 Constructors Standings After Round 3

1. Mercedes – 173
2. Ferrari – 99
3. Red Bull – 64
4. McLaren – 18
5. Racing Point – 17
6. Alfa Romeo – 12
7. Renault – 12
8. Haas – 8
9. Toro Rosso – 4
10. Williams – 0

(4th)  McLaren – 18 points

Is this the start of some kind of resurgence for McLaren? Eight points does not tell the story of the promising sings coming from the Woking camp. Both cars got into Q3 in Australia and Bahrain whilst in China the team struggled with setup and we never saw what they could have done in the Grand Prix after both cars suffered in a first lap collision involving Daniil Kvyat and themselves.

They hit back in Azerbaijan with a first double points score and things look good for a much improved year.

That said, this time last year McLaren looked pretty good before it all unravelled from Spain onwards. We will have to see how things pan out this time round but there is a sense of momentum and at each Grand Prix they are capable of scoring points.

McLaren had a major aerodynamic issue last year and there are no signs of that problem occurring again. The issue they had last year is not normal so do not expect McLaren to experience similar problems with development.

Carlos Sainz should have actually scored a lot more points but has been desperately unlucky at times. In Bahrain, Sainz maybe should have been more cautious with Max Verstappen and a massive points haul should have been scored there. Then there was China, so some unnecessary accidents have cost McLaren. They should comfortably be ahead of the rest to be honest.

Sainz and Norris have shown a lot of potential but need to be doing more to maximise points, especially in this tight midfield. With the pace of this car though and the low drag that the car seems to have, I would go as far as saying McLaren could even nick a podium at some point this year in a chaotic race.

(5th)  Racing Point – 12 points

Things did not look good during winter testing and Melbourne for Racing Point but things look much brighter now. It is hard to tell where the car is at but at least it is in the mix and with a mighty, reliable Mercedes engine when others inevitably slip up Racing Point can pick up the pieces and score some crucial points.

As Force India, the team were very good with their development so if they can do that again, the plucky pink panther team could find themselves outperforming many people’s expectations. Speaking of expectations, Sergio Perez has impressed again. An excellent race in China followed by an even more impressive weekend in Azerbaijan – Perez is a very good midfield driver who generally stays out of trouble, knows who he’s racing and is one of the best drivers on the current specification of Pirelli tyre.

Conversely, Lance Stroll has been in Perez’s shadow not showing anything special yet. His race pace looks okay but its just one lap pace. He has not got out of Q1 yet whilst teammate Perez has at each of the four Grand Prix. If he can just put himself in a better position for Sunday then he can match/beat Perez.

But, someone like Stoffel Vandoorne was given a lot of negativity when finishing far behind Fernando Alonso and for Stroll to be finishing far behind Perez is poor. I am sure Stroll will have his moments (in a good way) at times this season but he really needs to up his game in qualifying.

(6th)  Alfa Romeo – 13 points

Alfa Romeo have built another great car this year. Kimi Raikkonen is the only driver outside the top three teams to have scored points at each of the Grand Prix this season. You can’t help but feel that he is happier at Alfa Romeo and he is doing a very good job, racing well and staying out of trouble whilst taking advantage of the troubles of others.

As for Antonio Giovinazzi, I suspect most will feel that he is doing a poor job. From the outside it looks like that but he has been unlucky. Prior to Baku, the Italian had not had a weekend where he has been able to put everything together. In Bahrain, he missed the crucial free practice two session (the only practice session to take place at night with similar conditions to qualifying and the race) and in China he missed two practice sessions. For a rookie, you need all the track time that you can get so Giovinazzi has been unfortunate in that respect.

Things were better in Baku for Giovinazzi and he was much closer to Raikkonen but he is still yet to get some points on the board.

Big credit has to go to Frederic Vasseur who I believe is the best team principle on the grid – at least right up there with Toto Wolff. Renault were wrong to lose him at the end of 2016 and Alfa Romeo have gained massively from his leadership.

I have to be honest, I did not expect Alfa Romeo to be ahead of Haas (both with the Ferrari engine) at this point in the season so it has been a relatively good start for Alfa Romeo.

That is Part One, Part Two will be on Motorsport.radio soon where I look at the rest of the teams including a dismal Renault and a nightmare scenario for Williams.