Formula 1 2016 season review: Rosberg-Hamilton rivalry, Verstappen's ascent made year memorable

Looking back on 2016, one things is for certain — it was a memorable year for Formula 1. After two years of Mercedes dominance in 2014 and 2015, another season of it seemed like a drag. Luckily, the intense battle between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton for the world championship kept spectators hooked, and how. Rosberg vs Hamilton [caption id=“attachment_3132524” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Mercedes’ Formula One driver Nico Rosberg shakes hands with Lewis Hamilton. Reuters[/caption] Rosberg vs Hamilton had all the makings of a saga. Rosberg was the underdog, the challenger that most didn’t take seriously until much later into the season. Hamilton was the champion, and looked set to pick up his fourth title. He had beaten Rosberg twice already as teammates, and many in the paddock thought that Rosberg looked like a beaten man — he just didn’t have it in him to be a champion. The first sign that this could be Rosberg’s season was when he got off to a flying start, winning the first four races on the trot. Staring at a huge 43-point deficit, Hamilton fought back. Spain saw one of the defining moments of the season, when the duo took their aggression to the next level and collided on track. A string of race victories by Hamilton (coupled with forgettable performances by Rosberg) in Austria, Canada, Monaco and Germany saw the balance shift back in Hamilton’s favour. By the summer break, Hamilton converted the deficit to a 19-point lead. At this point, most expected Hamilton to speed away to a fourth championship, writing off Rosberg. Instead, Rosberg peaked after the summer break and fought back, stringing spectacular victories in Belgium, Italy, Singapore (his best of the season, we believe) and Japan. This winning run followed by Hamilton’s engine failure and retirement from the lead in Malaysia saw the needle shift in Rosberg’s favour. However, Hamilton struck golden form to won three races (USA, Mexico and Brazil) on the trot to take the battle all the way to Abu Dhabi. Never before have such dramatic shifts been seen in the world championship, and this was made possible by this season being the longest ever at 21 races. Although Hamilton won 10 races this season while Rosberg won only nine, the championship went to the more consistent driver — Rosberg has failed to score points only once this season (Spain). Being Hamilton’s teammate is never easy (the bar is set so high) but Rosberg has held his own. I’m sure it was especially tough for him since most in the paddock didn’t believe in him, questioned his talent and dismissed him as being where he was due to his father’s influence. 2016 has been a story of Mercedes dominance. Hamilton driving slowly intentionally in Abu Dhabi and Red Bull, Ferrari still unable to catch up is a good indication of just how fast the car has been. Luckily for us, Mercedes allowed Rosberg and Hamilton to race all through the season, because of which we didn’t have a winner till the very end. This is unlike other constructors (Ferrari and Red Bull Racing) who in their years of dominance employed strict team orders. So thank you Mercedes, for letting your drivers race, even if it meant they took each other out. The Red Bulls and Ferraris [caption id=“attachment_3132566” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Red Bull’s Max Verstappen emergence made 2016 even more thrilling. Reuters[/caption] Red Bull was never quick enough to challenge Mercedes on track, but they were there to pick up the pieces when Mercedes made a mistake. Daniel Ricciardo drove a good solid year, finishing P3 in the World Drivers’ Championship. He was rather disgruntled with RBR’s strategic gaffes in the first half of the season, which cost him several good results, but he made up with a spectacular victory in Malaysia. What we’ll all remember about Ricciardo in 2016 is how he brought ‘shoeys’ to the podium. The legendary discovery of the season has been Max Verstappen. After being promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull after the Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen showed good reason for the move. He took a race win at his first race for RBR in Spain, and since then, has been on the podium five more times. Verstappen set countless records as the ‘youngest ever’ and took practically every Driver of the Day award thanks to his raging popularity (he even win the award at a race in which he retired). Verstappen brought overtaking back to Formula One, going wheel to wheel countless times through the season with supposedly more experienced drivers — and winning. His gutsy drive from the back of the field to the podium in Brazil reminded us why we love F1 so much. He is one of the few drivers who can boast of getting the FIA to ban a trademark move (his defensive driving technique, simply called ‘The Verstappen.’) Forget Rosberg vs Hamilton, 2016 will always be remembered as the year of Max Verstappen. Ferrari had a forgettable season, struggling to keep pace with the RBRs. They didn’t win a single race this year, and struggled with strategy errors which cost them podiums. Luckily for the team, they ended 2016 on a high with flying to Sebastian Vettel P3 in Abu Dhabi — and crucially, scaring the Mercedes drivers ahead. Kimi Raikkonen crucially had a good season too, beating Sebastian Vettel in overall qualifying and delivering some solid performances for the team. After Felipe Massa and Jenson Button’s retirement this year, Raikkonen remains the last of that era of drivers on the grid in 2017. Middle field battles The most watched constructors battle was Williams vs Force India (with both glory and money at stake) Ultimately, Force India triumphed, grabbing fourth place, their best ever finish. Force India’s success is crucial for the sport a where ’the more money you have, the quicker you go’ is the believed mantra. Force India were the underdogs who have beaten teams that are far better funded, including word champion teams such as Renault, McLaren and of course Williams. Even better, Force India grabbed two podiums thanks to the talented Sergio Perez (just for the record, Williams had just one podium this year while Mclaren had none). The only man dissatisfied with this season in the Force India garage will be Nico Hulkenberg, for missing out on a podium yet again. Mclaren-Honda had a forgettable year — the highlight of the year was Fernando Alonso and his memes. The car continued to suffer from reliability woes, though there was some glimmer of hope with several double-point finishes. Button seemed to have lost interest in the sport after he announced his retirement (sabbatical), which was evident in Abu Dhabi, when he capitalised on his premature race-ending to start the party early. Backmarkers Not sure if the under-revamp Renault should be classified as a mid-field team or backmarkers. The former World Champion team managed only eight points as they spent much of 2016 building for their future. Going into 2017, Hulkenberg seems like the only bankable aspect of the team. That they managed to lure the Force India veteran and 2015 Le Mans champion might indicate that they may still have a trick or two up their sleeves. For Formula 1 and Hulkenberg’s sake, we keep hope. Haas finished eighth in their first season in Formula 1 — Romain Grosjean’s sixth place finish at the season opening Australian Grand Prix will be remembered for a long time to come. Unfortunately, the Haas car lost out in the second half of the season, managing only one-point finish. Esteban Gutierrez scored no points this season, and still managed to irk a lot of drivers when they came up to lap him. Sauber had a dismal season, struggling between funding issues and poor performances. They looked set to finish the entire season without any points, until a gutsy drive by Felipe Nasr in Brazil saw them pick up two points. Manor had an interesting year as they experienced moments of brilliance thanks to Pascal Wehrlein, who even brought home his car in 10th place in Austria to give the team a point. Rio Haryanto was replaced by Esteban Ocon in the second half of the season, though neither driver managed to break into the top 10. With new regulations being introduced in the sport in 2017, let’s hope that there are far more competitive teams for the fans. If not, Formula 1 should order Mercedes to do what Hamilton did — slow down and bunch up the field. Possibly, this is the only way we will get some entertainment. In the off-season, we will be on Firstpost every week with the Inside Line F1 Podcast, so remember to tune-in for your dose of Formula 1.