The 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix was indeed defined by a titanic battle between Hamilton and Rosberg, then Mercedes team-mates, although there were plenty of other battles through the field. But the quality of the racing was more a factor of differing tyre strategies in a hot location, on highly abrasive asphalt, rather than engine performance.
What Canada 2026 and Bahrain 2014 do have in common is that they took place early in the season against a background of dissatisfaction with new engine rules. 2014 was the year the 1.6-litre hybridised turbo format was adopted, Mercedes proved to be dominant, and the likes of F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo were publicly decrying the lack of engine noise.
On race day in Canada this weekend, all the drivers had to contend with very cold temperatures which made it difficult to generate tyre grip, making the cars very skittish. The track layout also militated against the kind of yo-yo overtaking that his angered the drivers as well as a large segment of the fan community.
Although ‘energy poor’ in terms of the ratio of straights to corners, and the number of short-duration corners, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve offers very little room for variation in energy harvesting and deployment strategies, so it presented a less unflattering picture of the present technical regulations.
Talks have been taking place between the FIA, the teams and the engine manufacturers over the weekend to reach a compromise solution over proposals to shift the ratio of internal combustion engine power to electrical output for next season. Mercedes is one of the few teams which has been able to persuade its drivers to abstain from criticising the new rules in public.
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“I think it was circuit-specific that it [the race] was particularly good,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “There will be more difficult ones. But you know, we keep saying this for a long time, every single race was in itself good entertainment.
“So it was today again. I’ve already said it – we need to dissect those rules with a scalpel and make it better, rather than overshooting or undershooting and make it actually worse.”
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