Formula 1: 2019 championship battle shaping out to resemble that of 2016?

Is the 2019 Formula 1 championship battle shaping out to resemble that of the 2016 season in terms of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s dominance?

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport have been by far the best team in Formula 1 since the V6 turbo hybrid era began in the 2014 season. The Brackley-based team have won 76 of the 102 races that have been contested since then.

Meanwhile, Scuderia Ferrari have won 14 of the other 26 races that have been contested during this team while Aston Martin Red Bull Racing have won the other 12.

But by far the most dominant season of the V6 turbo hybrid era for the Silver Arrows has been the 2016 season. The team’s two drivers, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, combined to win 19 of the 21 races on the 2016 schedule, and they combined to score an all-time record 765 points.

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As far as the constructor championship battle was concerned, it didn’t exist. Red Bull Racing finished in second place in the constructor standings with only 468 points, putting them 297 points behind Mercedes, an all-time record for largest winning margin in a constructor championship “battle”.

But as far as the driver championship battle was concerned, it was one of the most intense battles in recent seasons. Rosberg won nine races while Hamilton won 10, but Rosberg was able to hold off his teammate by just five points (385 to 380) in the driver standings in a battle that came down to the season finale to win his first and only Formula 1 championship.

Meanwhile, the driver who finished in third place in the driver standings, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, scored only 256 points, a total that was 129 points shy of Rosberg’s total.

Through the first two of the 21 races on the 2019 schedule plus the qualifying session for the third, is this year’s championship battle shaping out to resemble that of the 2016 season?

Mercedes have won four consecutive races going back to last season. This is the case despite the fact that Ferrari dominated the weekend of the 2019 season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, but still managed to let what appeared to be almost a guaranteed victory if not a 1-2 finish slip away.

Mercedes then locked out the front row for the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas taking the pole position and Hamilton qualifying in second place despite the fact that it appeared as though Ferrari would have an advantage over Mercedes throughout this race weekend due to their superior straight-line speed.

Through the season’s first two races, the five-time reigning constructor champions have already opened up a 39-point lead (87 to 48) over Ferrari in the constructor standings.

Meanwhile, as far as the driver championship battle is concerned, it could not be tighter. Bottas holds a one-point advantage (44 to 43) over Hamilton in the driver standings due to the fact that he recorded the fastest lap time en route to winning the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix. They have both earned one victory and one second place finish so far this season.

In other words, both Mercedes drivers have earned almost as many points as the entire second best team have earned through only two races so far this season.

Bottas has proven to be no match for Hamilton in his first two seasons driving for Mercedes since replacing Rosberg following the unexpected retirement of the 2016 champion ahead of the 2017 season, but after a disappointing 2018 season that resulted in him failing to win a race while his teammate won 11 races, something just seems to be different about the 29-year-old Finn this year.

At this point, he undoubtedly looks like the championship contender he needs to look like to give himself a chance to return to Mercedes for the 2020 season and perhaps beyond.

Meanwhile, behind Bottas and Hamilton in first and second place in the driver standings is Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in third. Verstappen has recorded finishes of third and fourth in the season’s first two races and has earned a total of 27 points because of it.

The 21-year-old Dutchman trails Bottas for the lead of the driver standings by 17 points having recorded a top finish that is worse than the worse of Bottas’s two finishes so far this season.

Ferrari teammates Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel sit right behind Verstappen in fourth and fifth place in the driver standings with 26 points and 22 points, respectively.

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Will the 2019 Formula 1 championship battle turn out like the 2016 championship battle with a noncompetitive constructor championship battle that features Mercedes running away with the title but an ultra-competitive driver championship battle that features a tight battle between the two Mercedes teammates?

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