F1 in 2017: What we have learnt so far - and the numbers to prove it

Ferrari have caught Mercedes
All square at the top of the Drivers' Championship, and separated by one point in the Constructors', Mercedes and Ferrari have gone toe-to-toe so far in 2017.

Winners in Australia with Sebastian Vettel, there is also evidence to suggest Ferrari may have had the faster race-day package in China, with race winner Lewis Hamilton admitting "there were times when Sebastian put laps in and it was hard to even match the time".

After arguably eight consecutive seasons of one-team title dominance, F1 finally looks to have a true two-team duel on its hands - and two of its most illustrious names at that.

But Mercedes remain F1's qualifying kings
Their dominance may be under threat, but Mercedes still hold the edge over a single qualifying lap in F1's new rules era.

Hamilton's poles in Australia and China mean they still have only been beaten three times on a Saturday since F1's hybrid engines were introduced in 2014 - giving them a stunning pole strike rate of 95 per cent over the last 61 grands prix.

Hamilton's six poles in a row dating back to last October's US GP also mean he is just two short of equalling Ayrton Senna's record of eight which has stood for 28 years. He is also just five away from matching Michael Schumacher's all-time F1 record of 68 career poles.

Seven drivers have yet to be outqualified by their team-mate after the opening two rounds, with the Saturday scores at Mercedes and Ferrari among those reading 2-0.

And a rookie has yet to beat his team-mate in any track session to date.

Experience is counting
With a nod to the fact the season remains in its nascent weeks, and Friday's practice sessions in Shanghai were all-but written off, but there's early evidence to suggest experience is counting in F1's new era of faster and harder-to-drive cars.

The four drivers who are either in their first, or first full, seasons of F1 - Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne and Sauber stand-in Antonio Giovinazzi - are yet to outpace their respective team-mates in any session (P1, P2, P3, Qualifying, Race) in which they've both set a time.

F1 has its need for speed back
The blueprint for F1 2017 was to bring some of the sport's core historical selling points to the core and, with significantly faster cars the net result, lap times have already tumbled in the season's opening two race weekends.

In qualifying, the 2017 cars are already hitting new outright fastest lap times with the quickest pole position times ever set recorded in Australia and China by Hamilton's Mercedes.

But it's in race conditions with heavier fuel levels where the biggest difference is being seen. Armed with tyres that no longer degrade to anywhere near the same extent, Hamilton's fastest lap from Shanghai was 4.4 seconds quicker than last year's equivalent and the fastest in exactly a decade.

Red Bull in the wrong kind of splendid isolation
F1 is certainly no more one-horse race, but it's not yet a three-horse contest.

Red Bull may have unexpectedly finished on the podium in China, but the detail of the timesheet reveals the scale of Mercedes' and Ferrari's early-season advantage.

Max Verstappen crossed the line 45 seconds behind race-winner Hamilton and, excluding the six laps which ran under the controlled conditions of a virtual and then full Safety Car, that works out at 0.9s of performance deficit per lap.

Still, that's at least closer to the leading pace than qualifying, where Red Bull have trailed pole by 1.3s in Australia and China.

The one comfort is that Red Bull do not have to be too concerned about what's behind them at the moment - the first non-Mercedes or Ferrari car, the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz, finished half a minute further back last Sunday.

F1's Mr Consistents
Only three teams have scored points with both of their cars in each of the first two races - Mercedes, Ferrari and… Force India. The consistency of last year's fourth-placed finishers means they are currently on the longest points-scoring sequence in their history, 14 races, stretching back to the British GP last July.

A new-look podium....
After 42 races and eight top-three finishes in F1, Verstappen has finally stood on a podium alongside Hamilton and Vettel after the Red Bull driver finished third behind the multiple champions in China.

...but a familiar starting grid
Hamilton-Vettel-Bottas-Raikkonen. Hamilton-Vettel-Bottas-Raikkonen. The top four on the grid have lined up in the same order at both races so far, the second season in a row that has happened. In 2016, it was Hamilton-Rosberg-Vettel-Raikkonen.

Tough at the bottom
Sauber and McLaren share two unwanted records so far in 2017 - the only two teams to neither make Q3 nor score a point in a race.

Renault also remain point-less after the first two rounds, but did at least make the top 10 on the grid in China when Nico Hulkenberg qualified seventh.

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