If Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix taught us anything it’s that talent will shine in Formula 1 in 2017.
Shanghai’s swoops did produce better action than in Melbourne two weeks before, not only that but, at one of the most DRS-dependent circuits of the year traditionally, that action felt real and not manipulated in any way.
DRS did help but didn’t dictate down the one-kilometre back straight and, in fact, the secondary passing zone into Turn 6 was the busier of the two hairpins.
It’s clear the drivers are still adapting to the 2017-style of racing, though it does bare much resemblance to that seen a decade ago. You can still feel the desire to save tyres and when attacking some are just waiting for the DRS, expecting it to do all the work.
China also wasn’t a totally normal race, due to the damp start and most trying to complete all their pit-stops during the early periods under a full course yellow.
It was Max Verstappen’s lock-up, with Sebastian Vettel closing in, that changed all that, as his pace was such on fresh tyres that he would have probably overtaken everybody had they not all pitted again.
That’s another aspect of the races that hasn’t fully adapted to the new cars yet. There is still the trend of setting strategy in a way that gets the best result in the slowest time, rather than perhaps doing something different and being aggressive.
That final point, however, is where the main conclusion from the race comes from.
It will be the drivers that can best adapt to a race as it happens as well as produce what is then required that will succeed in the new-look F1.
It wasn’t surprising then that the three on the podium were drivers you would expect to meet those criteria.
Lewis Hamilton certainly produced what was required easing to the win from pole.
Sebastian Vettel looked to adapt by benefitting from an early change to slicks, later saw DRS was ineffective so focused on Turn 6 before then producing the required overtakes at that corner to go on and finish second.
Finally, Max Verstappen capitalised on the damp track to move into the top 10 on lap one, having started 16th, moved up further under the Safety Car periods and would pounce on a slow Daniel Ricciardo to set up his eventual third place.
There were other notable performances too, including Carlos Sainz’s risky but eventually excellent decision to start on slicks and Fernando Alonso, who used the chaos early to run as high as sixth in the McLaren before his eventual retirement.
It’s also no coincidence the same theme is repeated in the championship. The top three in the Drivers’ standings currently is the same top three from today, as Hamilton and Vettel are tied on 43 points, 18 clear of Verstappen in third.
It’s almost a shame that the Dutchman’s Red Bull is unable to match the Mercedes and Ferrari for now.
All their respective team-mates are also already facing a mighty fight if they are to stay in touch.
For Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas, the battle for the best No. 2 looks to be their main goal, while Ricciardo is also staring at the possibility of playing second fiddle to Max if he doesn’t beat him soon.
Undoubtedly the next race in Bahrain will see some different nuances as teams and drivers learn lessons from China, but overall we can say that F1 is back being the best drivers in the fastest cars pushing each other to the limit in the quest for victory and that feels oh so good to know.
