F1 UniONE CAREER S4 (2017 Season)

2016 Season [S3]

2018 Season [S5]

## Overview

Season 4 of the F1 UniONE CAREER will be contested between 10 teams, using the F1 2017 official game.

## Teams and Drivers

The following teams and drivers are confirmed entrants for the FIA 2017 F1 UniONE World Championship.

## Pre-Season Testing

### **Driver Transfers**

**Ferrari**

Ferrari keep on 5 time World Champion Sebastian Vettel, as well as capturing free agent, Jean-Eric Vergne.

**Mercedes-AMG**

Fernando Alonso stays on for a second season. Pascal Wehrlien is promoted to the works team to partner the 2 time World Champion, as Valtteri Bottas chose to take a sabbatical year out of F1, whilst also signing for Renault as their reserve driver, should his services be required.

**Renault**

Renault name an unchanged driver line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo. The team expecting higher than 9th in the Constructor's.

**Toro Rosso-Renault**

Carlos Sainz was understandably frustrated that he wasn't given the opportunity to fill the vacant seat at Red Bull, despite out scoring Max Verstappen in 2016. Sainz's new team mate was to be Frenchman, Pierre Gasly, who makes the move up from Super Formula.

**Williams-BMW**

The 2016 Constructor's Champion's keep on defending World Champion, Josh Tirowee for another season. Sebastian Buemi also stays on at the British team for a third season.

**Haas-BMW**

Lance Stroll is promoted to the BMW B-Team, on a two year contract. After being deemed fit to race by the FIA, Robert Kubica returns to F1, with unfinished business with BMW.

**McLaren-Mugen-Honda**

McLaren keep on Rio Haryanto, after an impressive debut season, with a best finish of 2nd at Germany. Partnering the Indonesian, was 2015 Lotus driver, Carmen Jorda, after proving she could beat Josh Tirowee with the same machinery.

**Red Bull-Cosworth**

Daniil Kvyat starts his second full season with the team, hoping the change from Renault to Cosworth Power Units can help deliver him his first World Driver's Championship. Max Verstappen was promoted to the Sister team to partner the young Russian.

**Sauber-Cosworth**

After inspired performances in the final rounds of 2016, Adrian Sutil saved his seat at the Swiss team, whilst also becoming the Ferrari Reserve Driver. Ferrari's next young driver, Antonio Giovinazzi partnered the German. Ferrari are reported to have paid upwards of $30M to Sauber, in order for Giovinazzi to race for the Swiss outfit. Aston Martin GT driver, Thomas Laurent is to compete in 5 races for the Swiss team, as part of the deal between Red Bull and Ford, for Sauber to receive free Cosworth Power Units for 2017.

**Toyota-AMG**

Toyota returned to F1, and intended to make their presence known, as they signed 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton on a 2 year contract, with an option for a third year. Partnering the Brit, was Esteban Ocon, after an impressive debut season with the predecessors, Force India.

### **Team Performances**

**Mercedes-AMG**

Mercedes look to have returned to winning ways, as Alonso topped the time sheets during winter testing on 3 of the 4 days. Also, Mercedes' reliability looks to be much improved from 2016. AMG have managed to get their hands firmly on the Mercedes Power Unit for the W08H. Their work looks to have paid off. With the all new MB-AMG H-ONE01 second only to BMW's M-Sport03H, for raw power. Mercedes were the early favourites for the 2017 Championships.

**Ferrari**

It was well known that Ferrari started work on their 2017 challenger early in 2016, and their work looks to have paid off. The Maranello team look to be hot-on-the-heals of Mercedes, with the Ferrari SF062H Power Unit only at a slight deficit to AMG. However, Ferrari were confident their superior chassis and aerodynamics would be enough to overhaul Mercedes.

**Red Bull-Cosworth**

Red Bull terminated their contract with Renault for Power Units, after a frustrating 2016 season, with multiple engine failures. Aston Martin wanted to increase their involvement with the team, however as the British motor company don't make their own race engines, Ford came in to supply the RB13 with their new Cosworth CA2017H. As Ford supply Aston Martin with race engines in other categories. Ford were confident their new breed of F1 engine would be much more successful than 2010-2013 efforts.

**Williams-BMW**

The 2016 Constructor's Champions enter their 40th year of competition. However, they looked to have slipped a long way off of the front running pace, as the new regulations and car designs have not played to the team's strengths. It's a well known fact that aerodynamics have never been Williams' strong point. Once again, the British team will be ever reliant on their BMW M-Sport03H Power Unit to drag their cars up the order.

**Toyota-AMG**

Toyota bought out the struggling Force India team at the close of the 2016 season. However, to reduce the cost of the buyout, Toyota will use Mercedes-AMG engines for 2017, as Force India were already contracted to relieve their H-ONE01 engines. This will give the Japanese team a further year to work on their engine design, as they look to beat their other native rivals, Mugen-Honda. BWT become the team's main sponsors, which many in the F1 paddock found to be ironic. As the Toyota's cars will be pink, and the red and white from their last partnership with Panasonic would make pink, if the colours were mixed together. Toyota also look to lead the midfield battle, going into the start of the season. Toyota were confident, as their car design is relatively high-downforce for a mid-field car, assured by AMG their Power Unit would deliver.

**Renault**

Renault look to be much improved, as 2017 is their first proper year of competition in the V6 Hybrid era, as the chassis and aerodynamics of the RS17 is all the design of the team. Without the added pressure of Red Bull's demands, Renault are now free to develop their car how they see fit.

**Haas-BMW**

The American team look to build on an encouraging first season in F1, finishing 7th in the Constructor's. Once again, Haas were hoping the raw power of the BMW M-Sport03H would help boost them up the grid, to compete with Renault and Toyota on a regular basis. As Robert Kubica completed the most laps during winter testing, the team were confident of taking 6th or higher in the Constructor's. BMW have also stated, that Haas will receive extra Power Unit upgrades throughout the season, as Williams look for a pathway to get them back to the front of the grid.

**Toro Rosso-Renault**

With the loss of Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso look to have slipped back over the winter. Franz Tost admitted it would be a real struggle for the team to finish 5th in the Constructor's for a second year running. However, the team were confident of a podium finish, as they've done so, in at least one race, in each of the 3 seasons in the V6 Hybrid era. The Italian team also sign a new 2 year deal with Renault for Power Units.

**McLaren-Mugen-Honda**

McLaren were expectant that Honda could build off an excellent 2016 campaign, with a highest finish of 2nd (Haryanto at Germany). However, the Honda look to have gone back to 2015, as the their Power Unit looked to be inferior once again to BMW, AMG, Ferrari, Renault and Cosworth. Haryanto even stated the car is "Dangerously slow on the straights. We're not far off 15pmh slower than the Saubers". Mugen also return to F1, for the first time since 2000, in an attempt to return McLaren to their winning ways of 1988-1993. One thing McLaren have going for them is their excellent chassis and aerodynamics, meaning on slower speed circuits, such as Monaco and Singapore, the team expect top 12 finishes.

**Sauber-Cosworth**

After a dismal 2016 campaign, in which they finished last in the Constructor's Championship, for the first time in their history, the Swiss team were hit with financial difficulties over the winter. A lack of funding means a lack of car development. Due to this, their car is only 1.2 seconds faster per lap than their 2016 challenger, when best Pre-Season laps are compared. Whereas, the top teams have found gains of over 3 seconds. Also, Sauber sign a deal with Ford and Red Bull, where Sauber must allow French Aston Martin junior GT driver, Thomas Laurent to compete in the Belgian Grand Prix, as it's the closest to France, and also the final 4 races of the season. In return, Sauber will receive free Cosworth CA2017H Power Units for the 2017 season. These engines will also be to the same spec as Red Bull's, and both teams will receive upgrades at the same time.

**\* Manor-Mercedes**

Despite finishing 10th in the Constructor's Championship in 2016, Manor bosses saw they would make a financial loss if they continued in F1 in 2017. After beating out Caterham and HRT, in the 'New Team' battle, F1 returns to having only 10 teams on the grid. Manor have now turned their attentions to their WEC programme, which lead to one of their cars finishing 7th overall, and 6th in class, in the 2017 Le Mans 24H.

## Regulation Changes

For 2017, the cars were to under go significant change. Tyres are wider, front wings are wider and curved. Rear wings are wider and lower. This meant the cars were able to follow better in the dirty air of the car in front. Also, lap times were in excess of 3 seconds quicker, during Pre-Season testing. However it's very track dependant as to how much quicker the cars will be. 'Shark Fins' also return, for the first time since 2010. Engines were increased to 2.0 V6 Hybrids, instead of the 1.6 V6 Hybrids engines used from 2014-2016. The idea behind this was to attempt to end BMW's dominant reign, as their BMW M-Sport02H Power Unit gave the Williams team almost 20mph extra in straight line speed. However BMW look to have kept their grip firmly at the top of the table for pure engine power, but AMG and Ferrari look to be a lot closer. Affected most by the change was Honda. The Japanese team look to have slipped back to their 2015 state, and have significant gains to make if they're to challenge the front runners.

Spare cars also return, for the first time since the 2007 season. However, spare cars are only to be used following a Red Flag situation on lap on of each race. Restarts will happen using the original qualifying positions. Each team is required to have one 'T Car' prepared for each race meeting. In the event that a driver is unable to take the restart, the reserve driver will take their place on the grid.

## Season Calendar

Hungary returns to the F1 calendar, after a 1 year absence. Germany will not host an F1 race for at least the next 3 years, due to lack of funds.

## Mid-Season Driver Transfers

**Round 7: Canada - Esteban Ocon & Kamui Kobayashi, Carlos Sainz & Niko Kari.** After Ocon and Sainz were both handed one race bans for dangerous driving when the Williams drivers came up to lap them, it was down to the reserve drivers to race in their place for Canada. Kobayashi impressed many in the F1 paddock, qualifying 11th for the race, and finishing an excellent 5th in the race (the highest finish for Toyota at that point in the season). The experienced Japanese driver would also lead the race for a lap - the first of his career. Kari would retire from the race with only 5 laps left to go, due to gearbox failure. He was running 10th at the time, after starting the race from 14th and running as high as 7th in the race. 3 days after the Grand Prix, Toyota announced that Kobayashi would race along side Lewis Hamilton for the remainder of the season.

**Round 8: Azerbaijan - Sebastien Buemi, Robert Kubica & Mick Schumacher.** After causing a high speed incident early into the Canadian GP with 2008 World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, Williams made the shock announcement that Buemi was to be replaced by Kubica. This would cause huge tension within the team, most of all with defending World Champion, Josh Tirowee, as he and Buemi are good friends. Despite Tirowee having a contract at Williams for 2018, multiple rumours are circulating that he is looking else where for a drive for next year. With a seat now vacant at Haas, third driver, Mick Schumacher (son of the legendary Michael Schumacher) would make his F1 debut. However, things wouldn't got to plan for the young German, as he would crash into the pitlane wall and rebound off into Josh Tirowee. Both would continue, however Schumacher would finish 19th and last of the classified finishers, whilst Tirowee would recover up to 7th.

**Round 12: Belgium - Adrian Sutil & Thomas Laurent.** Thomas Laurent made his first of five scheduled appearances for the Swiss team. As Ferrari paid Sauber upwards of $30M for Giovinazzi to race at Sauber, Sutil had to step aside and allow the young Frenchman to race.

**Round 16: Japan - Adrian Sutil & Thomas Laurent.** Laurent returns for the remainder of the 2017 season. The Frenchman would go on to finish 12th in the race, and take home a very valuable point for Sauber.

## Championship Standings

Points were awarded to the top 12 classified finishers using the following structure:

In the event of a tie, a count-back system was used as a tie-breaker, with a driver's best result used to decide the standings.

### Points Tables;

Click on the table to enlarge it

Key;

* Gold - Race Winner
* Silver - Second Place
* Bronze - Third Place
* Turquoise - Points Finish (4th - 12th)
* Blue - Classified finish outside of the points paying positions
* Blue ^ - Driver did not finish, but was still classified, as they retired within the final 6 laps of the race
* Purple - Did Not Finish
* Black - Disqualified
* White - Driver/ Team did not race