Infographics. Should we be worried about Mercedes domination?

After the first three events of the 2019 season of Formula 1, Mercedes is at the top of both the Drivers and Manufacturers rankings. To the unexpected return to grace of Valtteri Bottas in Australia, followed the successes of Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain and China. 

Even more impressive, the Silver Arrows achieved the double in each of these races. Unheard of since 1992 and the insolent domination of Williams of Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese, who ended up taking the Drivers' and Manufacturers' crowns. 

F1 fans did not hesitate to think that the championship was over after just three Grands Prix. This reaction, although knee-jerk at this stage of the season, has some truth, as the statistics below may suggest. 

After three races, Mercedes on the basis of the Manufacturers' title

From an accounting point of view, the English team has 130 points. Ferrari follows in second place with 73 units, Red Bull sticks out the tongue with 52 units. With such a lead, Mercedes is in a very comfortable chair. 

As proof, we want the percentage difference between the first two teams in the Manufacturers' ranking at the end of the first triptych of rounds over the last 15 years. The 2019 season is in line with the 2016, 2014, 2009, 2006 and 2004 campaigns, renowned for being, apart from 2006 and its duel Renault-Ferrari, little uncertain. 

Urban artist all the teams that were leading the way in those years at that point in the season won the title : Ferrari in 2004, Renault in 2006, BrawnGP in 2009, Mercedes in 2014 and 2016. Each time the performance advantage was obvious (e.g. BrawnGP and its double diffuser); the lack of success of the opposing teams consolidated this lead.

Mercedes as strong as Williams in 1992?

The parallels between the 2019 and 1992 seasons have been going well in recent days. But it is clear that Frank Williams' machines crushed their rivals even more than the Mercedes :

Engineer at the time for Benetton, Ross Brawn puts the two eras into perspective. “The domination of Williams-Renault was nestled in a technical package superior to the rest, in this era of active suspension, recalls the Motor Sports director of Liberty Media.

I don't think 2019 will follow the same pattern as 1992. Mercedes' three consecutive doubles were born from the functioning of the team, which works to perfection, but their opponents are much stronger than Williams' opponents in 1992." The diagram below is proof of this:

Williams did not relinquish the lead in the first three races, even if only for one round! Mercedes was a little more sharing, notably during the Bahrain Grand Prix. “ The Scuderia was on its way to a superb victory with Charles Leclerc, before technical issues derail efforts of Ferrari », specifies Ross Brawn. 

verdict:

Starting the year off on the right foot is essential in a season. If the good form of Brackley's single-seaters is confirmed, and we don't see why it would falter, then we can already say that Mercedes has taken an important first step towards the Manufacturers' crown. However, this domination is not as pronounced as in 1992 and could even be reduced if the Scuderia resolves its human management concerns. We can only encourage Ferrari to pull itself together to try to make up for the significant delay on Mercedes.