2016 Mid-season report

Pitpass.com

It's the mid-season break and with the teams on summer holiday that's left the Pitpass trio of Chris Balfe, Max Noble and Mat Coch to dissect the first half of the year. In a show that's best described as a marathon and not a sprint, the guys look at each and every team, evaluating their performances and prospects in 2016. There's also discussion on the plight ahead of Nico Rosberg, and just how the German let a seemingly insurmountable points advantage slip through his fingers. Speaking of slipping backwards, Ferrari too has shown worrying signs to Balfe, who suggests the once mighty Italian team is at risk of another dark age. But such is the way with Formula One, as one team's star rises another falls, and as those in red begin spending more time looking over their shoulders Christian Horner and his Red Bull squad must be rubbing their hands together though. Enter Max Noble, who has a cunning conspiracy theory on the current engine situation at Milton Keynes. With its Renault engines - sorry, Tag Heuer engines - working a treat the transformation in the team has been evident in the season so far. There are worrying signs though, and not of another era of Red Bull domination but in its general attitude and swagger according to both Balfe and Coch. The pros and cons of Sauber's new owners is debated as is the fate of Rio Haryanto, Daniil Kvyat and Jolyon Palmer. Indeed the Coch asks his fellow presenters to put themselves in the hot seat at Renault and decide just what it does on the driver front for 2017. Williams, Force India, McLaren and Haas also get discussed as the sport enters its final week of summer holidays, as the Pitpass team brings you bang up to date with everything that we can expect to see in the nine races ahead, with the benefit of the hindsight gleaned from the opening 12 races of the year.