1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: Scuderia Toro Rosso

Photo Credit: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images

Team Grade: C+

Driver Grades
Carlos Sainz Jr: B
Daniil Kvyat: D

No one in the sport of Formula 1 mistakes the fact that the Italian-based Toro Rosso race team is heavily influenced by Red Bull Racing. Both drivers competing with Red Bull Racing were recruited directly from Toro Rosso machines.

While switching back to Renault power units after a season with Ferrari power, Toro Rosso has shown no major movement away from their 2016 performance. Toro Rosso is still a steady mid-marker organization on the Formula 1 grid for 2017 with their STR12 race machine (similar to Red Bull Racing, the Renault name does not appear on Toro Rosso vehicles).

In his third consecutive season with the team, Carlos Sainz Jr has developed into a solid top-10 runner. In 11 races, the Spaniard collected championship points in seven events with his season-best performance being a sixth place at the Monaco Grand Prix. Sainz suffered retirements in all four races where is missed the top-10.

Since being ‘demoted’ back to Toro Rosso after his stint with Red Bull Racing was abruptly ended after an on-track incident in the 2016 Russian Grand Prix, Daniil Kvyat has not been able to carryover the consistency he found through 2015. Since rejoining Toro Rosso, the Russian has finished no better than ninth place. In point finishes in Australia and Spain, Kvyat crossed the line on both intenses in ninth.

Thoughts of Team for Remainder of 2017:

With exception to the unforgettable Sebastian Vettel victory at the Italian Grand Prix with the team, Toro Rosso has long-appeared content with motorsport mediocrity. Contending at the lower portion of the top-10 through qualifying and on race day, a podium result would jazz-up this otherwise humdrum group.

1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: Sauber F1 Team

Photo Credit: Sauber F1® Team / Sauber Motorsport AG 

Team Grade: C-

Driver Grades
Pascal Wehrlein: C+
Marcus Ericsson: D

Part of the Formula 1 grid since 1993, Peter Sauber gave up ownership of his team in the late part of 2016. Now controlled by Longbow Finance (a Swiss-based investment firm), the new owners and managers of the motorsport group appear intent to maintain the Sauber F1 Team branding. For 2017, the team acknowledges 25 years of competition in Formula 1. The Sauber team’s new owners have yet to immediately change the fortunes of the struggling organization.

After 11 races in the 2017 Formula 1 season, Sauber has scored five points coming entirely from German Pascal Wehrlein. Driving last season for the now-defunct Manor Racing team, Wehrlein missed the first two grand prix events as a result of injuries suffered in pre-season Race of Champions event. Sauber test driver Antonio Giovinazzi served as a replacement for the Australian Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix. Giovinazzi finished 12th in his Formula 1 debut but was involved in a massive crash at the Shanghai International Circuit. An accident closely mirroring a qualifying crash the Italian endured a day prior, Giovinazzi escaped both incidents unhurt. Participating with Sauber for a third consecutive season is Swedish pilot Marcus Ericsson. Finishing 11th place twice before the Formula 1 summer break, Ericsson hasn’t scored a Formula 1 championship point since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.

Thoughts of Team for Remainder of 2017:

There remains a chance that the Sauber team will be able to add to their constructors’ point total for 2017 in the remaining races. However, while both Wehrlein and Ericsson will be competing to break into the rear portion of the top-10, the team’s primary devotion may be slated towards 2018. Much of the performance disadvantage with the race cars is connected to the team’s deal with Ferrari for year-old spec engines. Planning for next year, Sauber has already secured an arrangement to receive Ferrari power units built to current specifications.

1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: Red Bull Racing

Photo Credit: Charles Coates/Getty Images

Team Grade: A-

Driver Grades
Daniel Ricciardo: A-
Max Verstappen: C


Since 2014, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have appeared to exchange ‘second-in-class’ honours in Formula 1 behind the Mercedes AMG team. Although Scuderia Ferrari has surged forward into a viable challenger against the Silver Arrows in 2017, Red Bull Racing has not been standing still. Continuing to source power from a rebadged Renault engine called a TAG Heuer, the Austrian-owned race organization has a total of six podium results in the first 11 grand prix events.

One of the more outstanding performance of the season is coming from Daniel Ricciardo. After an opening round in his home country where his car was unable to take the starting grid but still completed a handful of laps, the Australian driver hit a major stride starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. Ricciardo would grab a podium position in five consecutive races. The success was coupled by a ritualistic sight of Ricciardo drinking from his shoe and sharing it with fellow podium scorers. The highlight for Daniel Ricciardo a victorious outing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Ricciardo’s first win since Malaysia last season, a Red Bull Racing machine’s win placed a third team at the top of the podium in 2017 (the first time since 2013 when more than two constructors won races in a season).    

The 2017 season has not been kind to Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen. Promoted to the team last season, Verstappen instantly became a winning driver when he captured the Spanish Grand Prix. In his first full season behind the wheel of a Red Bull-TAG Heuer, the 19-year-old’s progress has been countered by bad luck. With five retirements in 2017 (three related to vehicle failure and two resulting from collisions), Max Verstappen finishing results are led by a third place at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Thoughts of Team for Remainder of 2017:

Red Bull Racing has many desirable ingredients for a winning Formula 1 team with a solid driver lineup and a proven technical development staff. About the only obstacle to Red Bull Racing enjoying greater success in 2017 is the Mercedes AMG and Ferrari race cars. A matter of just a few tenths of a second keeps the cars away from being a surefire contender for race wins. Depending on the race track, a Red Bull-TAG Heuer could again find victory in 2017 under the right circumstances.

1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: Ferrari

Photo Credit:  Zak Mauger/LAT Images

Team Grade: A

Driver Grades
Sebastian Vettel: A
Kimi Raikkonen: A-

Scuderia Ferrari needed a strong 2017 season after a winless 2016 campaign. This year, the tifosi was presented with a massive rallying cry thanks to the SF70H race car being wheeled by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

At the first race of the 2017 Formula 1 season in Australia, the prancing horse stormed out of the starting gate against the established Mercedes AMG juggernaut. More than just a race win, Sebastian Vettel’s 2017 Australian Grand Prix victory sent an affirmative message to the motorsport world that the Mercedes AMG could be beaten on pure race pace. While Hamilton and Mercedes AMG grabbed the second race of the season in China, Vettel countered by taking the next event in Bahrain. Winning a total of four grand prix races in 2017, Sebastian Vettel has nosed-out a 14-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in drivers’ championship after 11 events. In the team’s second Ferrari, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen has been enjoying a consistent season. Raikkonen has placed on the podium for four races so far in 2017 and has played a valuable role in Ferrari’s battle in the constructors’ points.

While Ferrari was able to beat the Mercedes AMG cars three times this season, Ferrari has gone through some unpleasant moments in 2017. A win in Monaco by Sebastian Vettel was an uncomfortable 1-2 finish for Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen started on pole at the Monaco Grand Prix but had to settle for the runner-up spot due to questionable pit strategy where Vettel was allowed to gain an advantage through the first round of pit stops. Assessed by analysts as team orders favouring Vettel, Raikkonen was visibly displeased with the result during podium festivities.

Thoughts of Team for Remainder of 2017:

The Scuderia Ferrari squad has already exploited the mortality of Mercedes AMG in 2017 in a manner no rival had accomplished since the beginning of the 2014 season. With Sebastian Vettel leading the drivers’ championship and the team firmly in the constructors’ title hunt, there is a change for Ferrari to massively disrupt the Silver Arrows’ modern Formula 1 dynasty. In light of a highly contentious drivers’ championship battle between Vettel and Hamilton, we should expect to see Kimi Raikkonen become a support player in the remaining races of 2017.

1 Racing Mind's 2017 Formula 1 Summer Break Report Card: Intro

Photo Credit: Charles Coates/LAT Images

An almost month-long silence of Formula 1 engines will be broken this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The summer break for drivers and teams provide a rest period from touring across the world. For the 20-race 2017 calender taking teams through parts of Europe, North America, Australia and Asia, the break effectively breaks the season into two pieces.

Already in the 2017 Formula 1 season, audiences has already witnessed several spectacular scenes we haven’t seen for a while. Namely, steady competition against Mercedes-AMG for the first year since the introduction of the current gasoline/electric powertrain regulations. Ferrari has been an ongoing threat to defeat the Silver Arrows in almost every race. Between the manufacturers, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are battling for the 2017 drivers’ crown. 2017 is also the first time since 2013 that three constructors have won grand prix events.

Although the summer break is meant as a time to detach from the pressures of the grand prix schedule, there was little chance anyone involved in the sport was not constantly reviewing the first 11 races of the 2017 grand prix season or have not been looking ahead to the final 9 events.

Looking back to the season between the Australian Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix, 1 Racing Mind has compiled the strengths as well as weaknesses for each Formula 1 teams.

Formula 1 Team Report Cards

Mercedes AMG
Scuderia Ferrari
Red Bull Racing
Force India
Williams Martini Racing
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Haas F1 Team
Renault Sport Formula One Team
McLaren Honda
Sauber F1 Team