The French proverb plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose roughly translates to the more things change, the more they stay the same. This pretty much sums up the first four races of the 2011 Formula 1 season.
So far this year we have seen the introduction of the Drag Reduction System (DRS), a.k.a. the moveable rear wing, the reintroduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and the switch to [intentionally short-lived] Pirelli tyres. For better or worse, these changes seem to have done exactly what the FIA wanted; we have seen record numbers of successful overtaking moves and pit stops and the races are less processional and more entertaining than they have been in many years. After four straight flyaway races, for the first of the European events virtually every team brought some changes to their aero packages to Turkey with new wings, brake ducts and floor pieces being fitted up and down pit row.
However, as we approach the first-quarter mark of the new season, looking at the results we can see that nothing much has really changed.
Red Bull has continued from where they left off at the end of last year, dominating almost every aspect of each event. Sebastian Vettel has locked out qualifying with four straight poles and has turned them into three wins and a second place finish when Lewis Hamilton scored a surprise win in China. Mark Webber has suffered through problems with KERS and some poor starts and has still managed to turn in some stellar drives giving him the fastest lap in three of the four races. After this weekend’s race in Turkey he is in third place in the drivers’ championship just four points behind Hamilton.
Behind Red Bull are the usual suspects that you would expect to see there. Although some way back already, McLaren are their closest follower with strong performances from both Hamilton and Jenson Button. Then comes Ferrari with Fernando Alonso the biggest threat to Red Bull dominance. Solid performances from both Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov at Renault and Nico Rosberg for Mercedes have kept their respective teams in the top five in the constructors’ title chase and should keep them in contention for the occasional podium finish.
The only surprise about the midfield pack of Sauber, Toro Rosso and Force India is that Williams is not there with them. Despite the efforts of Rubens Barrichello, Williams have yet to score a single point this season and they are mired amongst the ‘new’ teams at the bottom of the pack. With Lotus, Virgin and HRT now in their sophomore season it remains to be seen how long they will continue to be referred to in this way. Of the three, Lotus are continuing to show the biggest improvement and they are perilously close to one day having at least one of their cars making it into the the second round of qualifying.