3.. 2.. 1.. Its Formula One Time!

17 races up, 3 to go!

The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship is drawing to a close. This is the 71^st season and has been one of the most exciting ones. It features the 68th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which is recognised by the sport’s governing body. The sport’s governing body is the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

The twenty-Grand Prix Tournament started on 26^th March in Australia and would end up in Abu Dhabi November 26^th.

Formula One saw the retirement of the reigning champion in Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver hung up his boots in December last year. 2017 is the first instance, since 1994 where a defending champion has not competed. On the Constructor’s front, Mercedes is the defending champion after winning its 3^rd title at the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix.

Coming to this year, we are 17 races down with the last 3 remaining. With 331 points, undoubtedly, Lewis Hamilton is at the top. Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas are next on the list with 265 and 244 points respectively. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing complete the first three spots for the World Constructor’s Championship. While Mercedes tops with 575 points, Ferrari is currently at 428 points. The Red Bull Racing claimed the 3^rd position with 315 points and 3 races to go.

Here, Let’s take a look at this year’s 17 races and analyze the competition.

AUSTRALIAN GRAND-PRIX

First of the 2017 World Driver’s Championship. The race was contested over fifty-seven laps of the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit. Lewis Hamilton started from the pole position with car number 44. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel came first with a time of 1:24:11.672. Hamilton and Bottas followed.

CHINESE GRAND-PRIX

Hosted at the Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, its track is 5.451kms long. The race took place on 9^th April 2017. Hamilton here claimed the first position. Sebastian Vettel finished 2^nd. Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer’s Max Verstappen bagged 15 points coming 3^rd.

 BAHRAIN GRAND-PRIX

This took place a week later on the 16^th of April at the Bahrain International Circuit. Nico Rosberg was the winner of the precious Bahrain Grand-Prix. Hamilton and Vettel were levelled before this 3^rd round. For the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes was a point over 2^nd ranked Ferrari. Vettel went at the top with a win in this race, while Hamilton came 2^nd. Bottas finished third.

RUSSIAN GRAND-PRIX

The fifty-two lap race was held at the Sochi Autodrom, marking the fourth running of the Russian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. Bottas won the race by 0.617 seconds over Vettel and also by the smallest winning margin since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Going into the race, Vettel led Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers’ Championship by seven points, with Bottas third; they remained in the same order after the race. In the World Constructors’ Championship, Ferrari was in the lead ahead of Mercedes before the race, with Red Bull Racing third; Mercedes was ahead of Ferrari after the race.

SPANISH GRAND-PRIX

Lewis Hamilton really came into his own in this particular race. Starting from the pole position, he went on to grab the 25 points by winning the race. Also, this was the fastest lap of the race. The race was held on 14 May 2017 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. It was the fifth round. Mercedes won the constructor’s here. It was the twenty-seventh time that a World Championship round had been held at Catalunya.

MONACO GRAND-PRIX

The sixth round was held on 28 May 2017 at the Circuit de Monaco, a street circuit that runs through the Principality of Monaco. Kimi Räikkönen started the race from pole position. It was Kimi’s first since 2008. Ferrari’s first win since 2001 came here after Sebastian Vettel’s win. The fastest lap came from Sergio Perez.

CANADIAN GRAND-PRIX

Lewis Hamilton unleashed what he had in Spain. It was a repeat of Spain.

AZERBAIJAN GRAND-PRIX

 Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo recovered from a crash in qualifying to claim his fifth career victory ahead of the Mercedes of Bottas. Hamilton started from the pole position. The Constructor was won by Red Bull Racing-TAG HEUER.

AUSTRIAN GRAND-PRIX

The race, contested over seventy-one laps, was the ninth round of the 2017 season and marked the thirty-first running. While Bottas emerged the winner, Mercedes topped the Constructor’s chart.

BRITISH GRAND-PRIX

The race was dominantly won by Lewis Hamilton, who achieved a grand slam, starting from pole position, leading every lap of the race, setting fastest lap, and finally winning with a 14-second lead over Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Total Dominance, isn’t it?

HUNGARIAN GRAND-PRIX

Date and place were 30 July 2017 at the Hungaroring in Mogyarod, Hungary. Sebastian Vettel came to the party winning the race. He was already leading the chart by one point over Hamilton. His Constructor, Ferrari came on top here.

BELGIAN GRAND-PRIX

In his 200th Grand Prix, Hamilton started the race from pole position for the 68th time in his career, equaling the record of Michael Schumacher for most poles. He went on to win the race. In doing so, he closed to within seven points of Vettel’s championship lead.

ITALIAN GRAND-PRIX

It was Lewis Hamilton all over again at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy. His win gave him the lead of 3 points over Vettel.

The latest was the Singapore, Malaysian, Japanese and USA Grand-Prix. Barring the Malaysian, it was the Hamilton show all over. Max Verstappen got the Malaysian. As the Championship is drawing to a close, Lewis Hamilton is topping the charts. For Vettel, it looks difficult to make a comeback now.

So, whom are you supporting?