Mercedes Still Far Above The Rest

20 March 2015 09:54

The world of Formula One can rarely be accused of standing still, it is against the very nature of the sport.

However, despite much posturing and promise during pre-season testing, the circus departed Melbourne following the curtain-raiser to 2015 with strikingly similar storylines to last year.

Mercedes. All powerful. Dominating from the front as they look set for another season of record-breaking feats and an in-house battle for the drivers' world championship.

Lewis Hamilton masterfully lead Silver Arrows team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg on a merry dance around Albert Park, never letting the German within striking distance of his lead as the duo left everyone else in their wake.

Red Bull, once the dominant force, already berating the power unit supplied by Renault and humbled so spectacularly in Australia there is talk of the team withdrawing from F1 unless the regulations are tampered with to allow others to reel in Mercedes.

Manor, too, ended up not racing despite a monumental effort to get the team, cars, drivers and infrastructure Down Under, whilst McLaren's rekindled relationship with Honda appears to be a slow-burner.

But there were flickers last Sunday that 2015 will hold different stories, with some old protagonists as well as newcomers, and that beyond Mercedes there could be a strong season ready to unfold.

Williams have again produced a front-runner and they know what to expect from Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas - but their position of best of the rest is under threat from Ferrari.

The 'Prancing Horse' is finally looking like troubling the leaders instead of falling at the first and, in former Red Bull hero Sebastian Vettel and 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen, they have the right men to steer them.

Vettel said his podium in Melbourne felt like a victory for the team, a sign of how their immediate targets have changed from the 2000's, but so many other teams - McLaren, Force India, Lotus - would feel exactly the same way.

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Sauber have also improved massively on last year, but they learnt the hard way that three into two does not go as they settled their dispute with Giedo van der Garde in time to send their drivers out in Australia.

Signing three drivers certainly was not a stroke of genius and Van der Garde was the fall guy, no doubt because he brought less sponsorship revenue to the table.

The Dutchman now believes his Formula One career is over, with Sauber's strong showing surely a bitter pill for Van der Garde to swallow.

Felipe Nasr took fifth place with Marcus Ericsson eighth as the team look to move forward following an ugly start to the season.

Source: PA-WIRE