Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)
Behind Mercedes and Red Bull, rivals for world titles in Formula 1, the fight for the place of "best of the rest", that is to say third manufacturer, promises to be just as close between Ferrari, McLaren and now Alpine.
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State of the forces
After four rounds, the last Sunday in Spain, the ranking of the world championship is not entirely revealing.
McLaren (65 points) and Ferrari (60) stand in a handkerchief, already far from Red Bull (112) and Mercedes (141). For the British team, third last year and which now has a better engine thanks to Mercedes, that is no surprise. For the Scuderia, which had its worst season since 1980 with a sixth place in 2020, "it proves that everything we have done, the directions taken in terms of development, are the right ones", says Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc .
With 15 units, Alpine does not seem to play in the same league but, after a start to the season in the interior, the French manufacturer had the best in Portugal a week ago, before repeating in Barcelona, a complete track on which to good performance generally guarantees a good year.
"We have confirmed that we are going in the right direction," said Spanish driver Fernando Alonso.
With a 6th position on the starting grid for his teammate Esteban Ocon in Portimao and a 5th in Barcelona, qualifying seems to be under control.
Sunday, "we lacked a bit of pace compared to Ferraris and McLarens, so we have work on that and on our strategy," points out the French on the other hand.
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What can make the difference
McLaren in Bahrain, Alpine in Portugal, Ferrari in Spain: the three teams exchanged the status of "best of the rest" race after race. This should continue, according to McLaren drivers, for whom domination "will depend on the circuits". The fast tracks seem to suit the British, the full ones for the Italians and the slower ones for the French.
In addition, with the same technical regulations in force since 2014, the performance gaps between teams are narrowing. Previously, "on a great weekend at 105% or a bad at 90%, you were between 9th and 11th place, whereas this year you can be 7th or 15th in two tenths", remarks Alonso, back in the category after two years of absence. A premium will therefore go to those who commit the fewest errors and suffer the least damage.
In this context, the performance of other players in the middle of the table could lose some valuable points. AlphaTauri made a few mistakes and showed weaknesses in Portugal and Spain but the Frenchman Pierre Gasly knows how to get the best out of his car to regularly place it in the Top 10. Fourth manufacturer last year under the name of Racing Point, Aston Martin was particularly handicapped by the aerodynamic changes imposed in the offseason but the English team are introducing developments to remedy this.
Ferrari, McLaren and Alpine also have in common to welcome a new driver this season: the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr for the first, the Australian Daniel Ricciardo for the second and Alonso for the third. No one knows the fastest of adaptations (they have scored half as many points as their teammates) but all say they are starting to feel at ease in their new car. It will become urgent to master it to offer their own the maximum possible points.
Last but not least, F1 will experience a technical revolution next year.
Probably the "biggest regulatory change" in the history of the category, according to Toto Wolff, the boss of Mercedes.
A trade-off will therefore quickly be necessary between fighting for the best ranking in 2021 (synonymous with higher commercial income paid by the promoter of the championship) and directing most of its resources towards 2022 to start this new era as well as possible.
© 2021 AFP