Part 1 of Formula 1 2016 Season Review (the teams)

Two parter Formula One season review of the 2016 season. In this post I will review each team of 2016. Which, I will say one sentence that will be positive with each team. And one sentence that will be negative for each team. So starting with Mercedes below.

Mercedes:
+ As you were from 2014 and 2015, Best car and drivers on the grid with the F1 W07 Hybrid, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, with 20 poles, 19 race wins, a Constructors' Title and a Drivers' Title with Nico Rosberg.
- Bad races in Barcalona and Sepang; the shocking retirement of Nico Rosberg despite being World Champion, and no news who will replace him till January 2017 at the earliest.



Red Bull:
+ Impressive performance from Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen includes a famous race win for Verstappen in Barcelona and for Ricciardo in Sepang, also great improvements from the RB12 and the Renault power unit (under the Tag Heuer name) this season to finish second in the constructors' standings.
- Despite a more reliable and powerful power unit from Renault, the Renault power units are still around 50-60bhp less than the Mercedes power units; also the poor pit-stop in Monaco cost Ricciardo the race win in Monaco.



Ferrari
+ Some great race performances from both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen, which includes second place finishes for Räikkönen in Barcelona and Vettel in Montreal.
- SF16-H has not been fast enough then the Mercedes nor the Red Bull in race pace this season, also poor strategies has cost race wins for Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne and Montreal to conclude with no wins this season for Ferrari and finishing only third in the constructors' standings which is a step backwards for a team like Ferrari.



Force India:
+ Some impressive performances from Sergio Pérez this season which include two third place finishes at Monaco and Baku; also finishing fourth in the constructors' is a massive achievement for Force India.
- Losing Nico Hülkenberg to Renault next season, although replacing him with Esteban Ocon might soften the blow for next season.



Williams:
+ Some great performances from Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa this season, which includes podium for Bottas in Montreal.
- No points at Silverstone or Singapore, apart from that the FW38 been too slow and underdeveloped this season, fifth in the constructors' is a step backwards from Williams this season, also Felipe Massa leaving the team at the end of the season; while uncertainty on Valtteri Bottas driving for the team next season with strong rumours of Bottas replacing Rosberg at Mercedes next season.



McLaren:
+ Some great race performances from both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, which includes two fifth place finishes for Alonso in Monaco and Austin, Button in the Red Bull Ring finishing sixth place; sixth in the constructors' is an improvement from last season.
- Despite a much more reliable Honda power unit, power unit are still round 90-100bhp behind of the likes of Mercedes power unit; and the thirsty Honda power unit has not helped the team getting more points; Jenson Button taking a sabbatical(or going into retirement from a curtain point of view) will be blow for the team although being replace with Stoffel Vandoorne may soften the blow; and McLaren are going without the leadership of Ron Dennis going into 2017 after stepping down from his role from McLaren.



Scuderia Toro Rosso:
+ Some impressive performances from Carlos Sainz, Jr. this season which include three sixth place finishes at Barcelona, Austin and Sao Paulo.
- Despite the podium finish in Shanghai for Daniil Kvyat for Red Bull, detonating back to Toro Rosso in mid-season has destroyed Kvyat's confidence only managing 4 points compare to Sainz's tally of 42 points in that period; while using year old power units from Ferrari started to show during mid-season and only managing seventh in the constructor's standings was the best they can do; although thankfully back to Renault power units for next season.



Haas:
+ 29 points in the teams debut season includes a sixth place finish for the teams debut Grand Prix with Romain Grosjean in Melbourne, then a fifth place finish for Grosjean in Bahrain, to finish eighth place in the constructor's standings.
- no points from Esteban Gutiérrez, missing out on points with a few bad first lap starts, apart from that a good debut season from Haas.



Renault:
+ A seventh place finish for Kevin Magnussen at Sochi, best result all season for Renault.
- 78 points last season as Lotus, this season as Renault only 8 points, only 1 point from Jolyon Palmer, a very undeveloped and little to no downforce from the RS16 and with focus going to the 2017 Renault F1 car; ninth in the constructors' was not acceptable for a team like Renault.



Sauber:
+ A ninth place finish for Felipe Nasr at Sao Paulo, best result all season for Sauber.
- 36 points last season, this season 2 points, no development to the C35 for most of the season meaning slowest car at most tracks, and Peter Sauber has sold the team to Swiss-based investment firm Longbow Finance meaning the team is in a healthy state for the short term; while the team will be using year old Ferrari power units for next season.



Manor:
+ A tenth place for Pascal Wehrlein at the Red Bull Ring gives Manor their first points in Formula 1 for over two years with the help of the Mercedes power units and Williams transmission and suspension components for 2016.
- Despite the MRT05 scored a point this season, the car is undeveloped and little to no downforce meaning battling into the midfield is limited to some tracks, while Rio Haryanto lost his drive for the second half of the season due to sponsors difficulty from Indonesia, meaning Esteban Ocon replacing Haryanto for the rest of the season; and finally they finished eleventh place in the constructors standings won't help Manor going into 2017.



In part 2 of Formula 1 2016 Season Review my top 10 Formula 1 drivers of 2016. And my final thoughts of Formula 1 2016.