F1 mid-season review: no stopping Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari falter, Max powers the Bulls, 2020 grid shapes up

After 12 races of the 2019 Formula 1 season the teams and drivers are now taking a well-earned rest for the summer.

So far this year there have been three different race-winning drivers, crashes aplenty and according to @LightsOutF1Blog on Twitter the ten teams have covered a total distance of 67,604.353km.

Luckily for fans it’s only three weeks or so until F1 returns with the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

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In our mid-season review we pick out some of the big talking points of the campaign so far.

Lewis and Mercedes are title-bound… again

With 250 points from 12 races Lewis Hamilton is storming towards a sixth F1 world title.

The Mercedes ace has won eight times in 2019 and unless he suffers a major wobble he’s likely to sew up the drivers’ championship with races to spare. Now with ten grands prix left, the Briton will be eyeing up Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s record for most wins in a season (13).

With Valtteri Bottas winning twice the Silver Arrows are also on course to win another constructors’ championship. Hamilton is 62 points ahead of Bottas in the drivers’ standings, but in the constructors’ Mercedes have built a huge 150-point lead over nearest rivals Ferrari.

Between now and the end of the season expect Mercedes to keep dominating at the front of the grid.

The big talking point won’t be their results on the track but decision-making off it with reports suggesting that Bottas could be replaced by Esteban Ocon for 2020.

Ferrari falter

While Mercedes have won ten of the 12 grands prix in 2019 it’s not been so good for their usual rivals Ferrari.

With Sebastian Vettel partnered this season by Charles Leclerc, the Scuderia came into the new campaign full of confidence they could break their title drought. They last won the drivers’ championship with Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and their previous constructors’ victory was in 2008.

However, not only have they failed to rival Mercedes but they are also struggling to keep pace with Max Verstappen. The Red Bull ace is third in the standings with 181 points while the Ferrari duo Vettel and Leclerc have 156 and 132 points respectively.

Fox Sports Asia gives the Italian team a grade D in its mid-season report and says: “It has been an eventful and inconsistent campaign for Ferrari. The break will allow time to try to work out what they need to do to become competitive on all circuits again.”

Max powers Red Bull’s challenge

Max Verstappen comes into the summer break with recent victories in Austria and Germany. He may have missed out to Lewis Hamilton in Hungary, but the result proves that the Red Bull young gun could be the driver to put up a fight against the dominant Mercedes.

Verstappen is 69 points behind leader Hamilton, but in terms of second place he is now only seven points behind Bottas. His performances have been described as “stratospheric” by The Daily Telegraph’s Luke Slater.

While the 21-year-old Dutchman has impressed fans, rivals and pundits alike with his driving in 2019, the same can’t be said for Pierre Gasly.

Frenchman Gasly has struggled to support the efforts of team-mate Verstappen and his place at Red Bull is under serious threat for next year.

McLaren and the midfield battle

In 2018 McLaren finished sixth in the constructors’ standings with 62 points from 21 races, but this year they have a new driver line-up who are putting on a great fight in the midfield battle.

Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne left the Woking-based team and their places went to Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris. With 82 points the duo have led McLaren to fourth spot in the standings at the summer break.

It’s also been a good first half of the season for Toro Rosso, who are the only team outside of the big three to get a podium finish this season with Daniil Kvyat’s third place in Germany.

For Renault, Alfa Romeo, Racing Point and Haas it’s been a disappointing first half of the campaign and improvements will need to be made.

Williams write-off

Struggling at the back of the grid are Williams, who have won only one point all season. British youngster George Russell has done “everything that has been asked of him so far”, says The Daily Telegraph, but it’s been a “difficult return to F1” for team-mate Robert Kubica.

Fox Sports Asia says this season “can already be considered a write-off” for the Grove-based team.

2020 grid shapes up

The summer break also marks the peak time in the F1 silly season with driver rumours, team fall-outs and contract negotiations hogging the headlines.

There’s been plenty of speculation about Valtteri Bottas’s future at Mercedes and Pierre Gasly’s fortunes at Red Bull. The prospects of Haas duo Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean has also been a big talking point for fans, as has Nico Hulkenberg’s future at Renault.

Planet F1 has taken a look at which drivers have their spots for 2020 and which teams are still yet to confirm their line-ups.

Mercedes

• Lewis Hamilton (contract until the end of 2020)
• Valtteri Bottas (TBC)

Ferrari

• Sebastian Vettel (contract until 2021)
• Charles Leclerc (contract until 2022)

Red Bull

• Max Verstappen (contract until 2021)
• Pierre Gasly (TBC)

McLaren

• Carlos Sainz (confirmed for 2020)
• Lando Norris (confirmed for 2020)

Toro Rosso

• Alexander Albon (TBC)
• Daniil Kvyat (TBC)

Renault

• Daniel Ricciardo (contract until 2021)
• Nico Hulkenberg (TBC)

Alfa Romeo

• Kimi Raikkonen (contract until 2021)
• Antonio Giovinazzi (TBC)

Racing Point

• Sergio Perez (TBC)
• Lance Stroll (TBC)

Haas

• Romain Grosjean (TBC)
• Kevin Magnussen (TBC)

Williams

• George Russell (‘multi-year’ contract with Williams)
• Robert Kubica (TBC)