F1 2021 Season

First topic message reminder :

The season opening Australian Grand Prix & the Chinese Grand Prix have been postponed.

Bahrain Grand Prix on the 28th March to be the first race of the 2021 season.

Formula 1 to revert to 2pm race start times at European races this year.

F1 practice sessions will be shortened to one hour during Fridays across the 2021 season.

Cognizant have been announced as Aston Martin’s new title sponsor. They will be called ‘Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team’.

Alex Albon will drive in DTM this season, on selected race weekends

Lando Norris has confirmed he has contracted Covid, while staying in, Dubai.

I kind of agree with John that sprint races are a very gimmicky American thing and if it wasn't for the fact that current quali format is pretty boring and frequently predictable, I'd be against them.

But at this point, I'm at least open to the idea of seeing how they work in F1.

As to Bertie's point about them leaving less time for testing and setting the cars up...that could actually make things more interesting.

Again it is a very gimmicky way of doing it, but F1 teams are so well drilled at analysis, fault-finding and fixing issues, that this could be the only way to take them out of their comfort zone.

Back to tomorrow's race, Bottas managed to squeak pole by a few thousandths, but you can bet your house he won't stay in front very long. With Lewis and Max behind him, he'll probably be 3rd by the end of lap 1.

Expect Hamilton & Verstappen to pick up where they left off. Perez will likely end up in a race of his own and finish where he starts (4th).

Could be an interesting scrap between Ocon, Sainz and Norris for 5th to 7th.

Shock of the day has to be Vettel qualifying in the top 10, taking Stroll's usual spot. Could this be the start of Seb's comeback?

If F1 teams can give reserve drivers entire practice sessions they don't need 3 sessions

GSC wrote:Could be entertaining, if not it won't be back again next year. Qualifying isn't particularly exciting beyond the last 30 seconds anyway, I don't see the harm in trying new ideas

Totally agree - if it doesn’t work they’ll just bin it off, I’m kinda intrigued by the idea and concept. Not sure they’ve nailed it with how they’re actually going to go about it mind

Agree with Verstappen. Purely a money making idea, which increases the quantity of bad racing, not the quality.

Fear it will showcase how the Sunday race will pan out, how much overtaking will happen, and the general competitiveness and order of the cars. Will ultimately take away the excitement of the traditional Sunday race, as people will have already seen how the action will generally unfold.

I mean, red bull and mercedes occupied the top 4 in quali too

Just John wrote:Agree with Verstappen. Purely a money making idea, which increases the quantity of bad racing, not the quality.

Fear it will showcase how the Sunday race will pan out, how much overtaking will happen, and the general competitiveness and order of the cars. Will ultimately take away the excitement of the traditional Sunday race, as people will have already seen how the action will generally unfold.

Thats largely because they got the distance / format wrong IMO. 1/3 race distance or 100km is not a "sprint race" IMO. It also means the number of laps can vary from track to track.

What they should have done is make them 10-15 laps maximum, regardless of actual distance. This would better emulate the final stint of a GP, allow the cars to have low fuel and push their tyres harder.

As it is, I think 100km is just long enough for fuel and tyre management to play a part...meaning a processional stint of the race will be necessary. If it does pan out this way, as GSC said they will probably can the idea. Or at least tweak it and shorten the distance.

I don't know what the conditions will be for the race but drivers have been complaining Friday and Saturday about the track surface not providing them with much grip coupled with the impact of having gusty conditions.

Welp. Not a classic by any means.

Good start by Bottas and lead the first stint. Managed the restart well after the SC for Raikkonen, but ultimately couldn't keep Lewis behind him. Also not helped by a slow pit stop which allowed Verstappen to get the run on him. At least picked up fastest lap to go with his 3rd place, after a late pits top for soft tyres. Max tried the same tactic but had his time deleted for track limits.

Lewis again doing what he does. Stuck with his team mate early on, lost a place when Verstappen reacted better after the SC ended, but as always made sure he was there to take advantage when the time came. Couple of nice overtakes on Valtteri and Max. otherwise a solid if unspectacular drive to finish top of the podium again.

Decent drive by Perez...ended up leading for a good few laps, but ultimately had to settle for 4th, following a very late stop.

Norris again best of the rest. Leclerc delivering another respectable result for Ferrari.

Alpine surprisingly strong here - 7th and 8th for Ocon and Alonso. Is this a one-off...does this track just suit them?

Red Bull thought this would be a mercedes track and so it proved. In the end a reasonable result for Max to beat Bottas and limit the damage.

As for Bottas though, yikes... This is a very tame surrender of his seat

As GSC said this was a Mercedes track and Hamilton won. No surprise really. Red Bull, like Ferrari in 2017-18, aren’t as good on the hard compound. Whenever those tyres are used Mercedes will be favourites. Barcelona should suit Red Bull more.
Pretty boring race overall but that’s to be expected as not every race can be a barnstormer.
I miss Alonso at Ferrari...
Mazepin needs to be sacked he’s literally the worst I’ve ever seen. Heck he literally robbed Callum Illot of a seat.

Jeff Navarro wrote:As GSC said this was a Mercedes track and Hamilton won. No surprise really. Red Bull, like Ferrari in 2017-18, aren’t as good on the hard compound. Whenever those tyres are used Mercedes will be favourites. Barcelona should suit Red Bull more.
Pretty boring race overall but that’s to be expected as not every race can be a barnstormer.
I miss Alonso at Ferrari...
Mazepin needs to be sacked he’s literally the worst I’ve ever seen. Heck he literally robbed Callum Illot of a seat.

Can barely keep his car on the track, finished about a minute behind Schumacher and ignored loads of blue flags. He really has no business being in F1. Terrible advertisement for pay drivers.

GSC wrote:
As for Bottas though, yikes... This is a very tame surrender of his seat

I'd hardly call it that. He simply isn't as good as Lewis or Max. Doesn't make him a bad driver...just that he can't hang with the best.

His pit stop was nearly a second slower than Lewis' - which could have made the difference in staying ahead of Max long enough to get his tyres up to temp. He also had issues with his powertrain which cost him about 4-5 seconds and basically ended his chances of getting 2nd.

Factor that in and this was easily his best result of the season so far, after finishing over half a minute behind Lewis in Bahrain and his DNF at Imola.

Rumour has it the only reason Haas are still going this year is because of Mazepin Senior bankrolling them - so without Mazepin there may not have been a Haas team competing in this seasons Championship.   They certainly made big changes getting rid of two experienced drivers for two rookies - one with a name and Ferrari backing and the other with a very wealthy father.  The issue with Mazepin is that he looks to be embarrassing the sport (and hence his father) with his poor start to the season.

Some say in future there may be more pay seat drivers.

Dmitry Mazepin is looking to acquire Haas, he’s already made a deal with Renault to use their engines

Hmph. Another wealthy dilettante with more money than he knows what to do with.

I don't see swapping Ferrari engines for Renault helping them much...especially with the drivers they have. What they should be spending money on is the engineering department, getting together teams that can design a competitive chassis and aero package.

If it does happen, I'd put money on Mazepin going the same way as Haas after a few years. Pouring money in for little or no return on his investment.

I'm actually surprised Haas haven't made a better go of F1, given their background in US motorsport.

No name Bertie wrote:
Some say in future there may be more pay seat drivers.

I'm really hoping the cost caps being introduced will make that unnecessary. Its one thing when a driver with some talent brings a lot of sponsorship with them, but when rich dads start buying seats for their kids, so they can pretend to be racing drivers, that really is sounding the death knell of F1.

Romain Grosjean will get a final F1 outing in Lewis Hamilton’s championship winning car at Paul Ricard. Really cool from Mercedes to give the Frenchman that opportunity. Pretty sad that neither Alpine or Haas offered Grosjean the opportunity.

poles for LH

Verstappen 2nd and Bottas 3rd. Ocon done a good job to get fifth. Signs age might of caught up with Alonso, from what I’ve seen so far.

Another milestone racked up for LH. I know lots of people thought Schumacher's records would never be broken, but I think it will be a long time before anyone even gets close to Lewis.

Max seems to like Barcelona...its where he got his maiden win. Hopefully he'll give Lewis a tough race.

Not a great quali session for Perez, but I expect him to make up a few places.

Bottas looking set for another quiet race on his own.

McLaren uncharacteristically slow. Maybe they'll have better race pace?

Alpine looking unusually quick - great job by Ocon to get 5th...though I think he'll struggle to stay there. Alonso looking off the pace, but its still progress to get into Q3.

Wasn't Perez' best qualifying but he complained of being physically unwell during it. He was brought in to help Verstappen and Red Bull get closer to the titles. Leclerc and Ocon finishing 4th and 5th in qualifying were notable but there was a large gap between the top three and the rest.

Ah, poor Max. What do he and Red Bull have to do to get a win?

Brilliant dive past Lewis at the start and led the majority of the race, but Mercedes were very canny with their strategy. I think they fooled RB into thinking they were only going to 1-stop, then sacrificed the lead to put Hamilton on fresher tyres, which allowed him to catch Verstappen hand over fist in the closing stages.

RB kept Max out, so he had no tyres to defend the lead at the end and despite leading just 12 laps of the race, Hamilton was in front at the chequered flag. Must've been awful for Max, judging from his message to the pits, he knew what was coming, long before it happened. At least he got fastest lap to go with his 2nd place (thanks to another late stop).

Have to take your hat off to Mercedes. Even when they're on the back foot, they manage to find ways to win.

Another anonymous race for Bottas, aside from what looked like a display of petulance, forcing Hamilton to make a proper overtake, rather than letting him past. I'm guessing Valtteri knows his time is running out and he just doesn't care anymore...or want to be the dutiful wingman.

Great drive by Leclerc. Surprised he managed to keep his Ferrari 4th.

Some decent midfield tussles, but other than that, not a hugely memorable race.

Yeah Bottas is just playing out his rope at this point - it's pretty disappointing that Perez hasn't been able to challenge him, he's been the biggest disappointment of the season so far.

Not a great deal else this weekend, Schumacher had a good weekend in the Haas I thought

The Hamilton/Mercedes package is just mighty together. Superb drive.

Verstappen/RB now know the scale of the task ahead.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:it's pretty disappointing that Perez hasn't been able to challenge him, he's been the biggest disappointment of the season so far

Not surprised really. Both Verstappen and Hamilton know how important this year is, and they’ve both taken their levels, to even greater heights. Therefore, there’s no surprise Perez and Bottas are miles behind. Both B seats at Merc/RB are poison chalices, whoever goes in there.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Not a great deal else this weekend

Yep, not much really happening elsewhere. Alonso & Vettel being bent over by their teammates is a bit sad to watch. Both look shot.

Hamilton complaining about the flex in the Red Bull rear wing, causing the FIA to investigate and bring in new tests on rear wings

The usual stuff

I think the second seat at Mercedes is not a poison chalice. Russell in jumping into Hamilton's car whose cockpit was too small for him, was immediately at Bottas' pace in free practice as well as qualifying, while in the race he outperformed Bottas. Bottas is generally as fast as Hamilton when it comes to free practice and qualifying - his main issue is race performance across the season.

The biggest question for me was why Ricciardo, who many believe to be one of the best drivers in the field, bailed out of Red Bull for Renault in 2019. Ricciardo's performances were comparable to the emerging talent of Verstappen and Ricciardo's last season at Red Bull in 2018 was affected by mechanical failures - however he was still able to win races with it.

Turkey on the verge of being cancelled after it got put on the UKs red list. Another Austria race would be the replacement

Would much prefer a return to Mugello or perhaps another french circuit, as it's Paul Ricard after the Turkish GP slot. If that were the case, that there wasn't to be a Turkish GP.

French GP would get bumped forward

GSC wrote:Turkey on the verge of being cancelled after it got put on the UKs red list. Another Austria race would be the replacement

Holding a race in Turkey would be plain idiotic given the country is now on our red list. Why risk another Covid outbreak among the teams that could put the entire season in jeopardy?

That said I'm not thrilled about the prospect of the Snorefestring replacing it. Would rather have another double-header at one of the other venues.

Fluxy wrote:
Hamilton complaining about the flex in the Red Bull rear wing, causing the FIA to investigate and bring in new tests on rear wings

On the surface it seems a bit petty as if RB are gaining any performance from it, its not enough to give them an advantage over Mercedes. OTOH it puts the other teams on notice not to try pushing their luck.

Notable that the FIA haven't said RB actually broke any rules. They just reiterated whats in the rule book. A reminder to everyone that they'll be watching even more closely from now on.

Honestly the team complaints and chain rattling are just a staple.

Remember when everyone complained about RBs front wing flexing every year during the Vettel title seasons

Apparently Tito Wolf had words with Christian Horner & the FIA about the flexing Red Bull wing prior to the latest FIA announcement.

He should be called Tito Wolff from now on

No name Bertie wrote:I think the second seat at Mercedes is not a poison chalice.  Russell in jumping into Hamilton's car whose cockpit was too small for him, was immediately at Bottas' pace in free practice as well as qualifying, while in the race he outperformed Bottas.  Bottas is generally as fast as Hamilton when it comes to free practice and qualifying - his main issue is race performance across the season.

The biggest question for me was why Ricciardo, who many believe to be one of the best drivers in the field, bailed out of Red Bull for Renault in 2019.  Ricciardo's performances were comparable to the emerging talent of Verstappen and Ricciardo's last season at Red Bull in 2018 was affected by mechanical failures - however he was still able to win races with it.

Ricciardo left Red Bull as he was scared of Verstappen. He thought the team would end up as it did towards the of the Vettel/Webber partnership. Whereby Verstappen would be favoured.
Let’s be honest and Verstappen is a class above Ricciardo. Ricciardo opted for the easier route at Renault and subsequently McLaren...but Norris isn’t playing anymore.

Turkey officially removed, I was hoping for Mugello but we have a double header at the Red Bull Ring. Not to unhappy with that as it’s also a fantastic track.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Mazepin needs to be sacked he’s literally the worst I’ve ever seen. Heck he literally robbed Callum Illot of a seat.

Don't know if this is really a related point, but I've liked seeing Giovinazzi and (to a lesser extent) Latifi showing signs of being competent drivers. I feel like both of them could have disappeared in the offseason and been remembered as 'I can't believe he got a F1 seat' guys.
Also, it's incredible how quickly the shine has come off Tsunoda. Although I suppose if fhe Honda engine keeps Verstappen in the title race it doesn't really matter to anyone involved.

Jeff Navarro wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:.... The biggest question for me was why Ricciardo, who many believe to be one of the best drivers in the field, bailed out of Red Bull for Renault in 2019.  Ricciardo's performances were comparable to the emerging talent of Verstappen and Ricciardo's last season at Red Bull in 2018 was affected by mechanical failures - however he was still able to win races with it.

Ricciardo left Red Bull as he was scared of Verstappen. He thought the team would end up as it did towards the of the Vettel/Webber partnership. Whereby Verstappen would be favoured.
Let’s be honest and Verstappen is a class above Ricciardo. Ricciardo opted for the easier route at Renault and subsequently McLaren...but Norris isn’t playing anymore.

The fall off between Ricciardo's Red Bull performances and that of promising rookies Gasly and Albon was fairly precipitous.  I don't think Gasly was given enough time in the Red Bull but his demotion back to alphaTauri seemed to have down him some good as he soon began to look like a fantastic driver and his reputation as a driver soared.  Albon looked quite promising early on but he had some collisions with Hamilton and then ultimately he faded away compared to Verstappen as the 2020 Red Bull developed a reputation for being difficult to drive.  Now Albon is "out" of F1.  

With regard to Ricciardo I assume he received a huge pay incentive to go to Renault as well as a promise to be the number one driver - but I feel going from a competitive Red Bull where he was winning races and getting podiums finishes, to a somewhat uncompetitive Renault team was a large backward step career-wise.  When Alonso left Mercedes after the 2007 season and the resultant furore surrounding his leaving - it seemed he never fully recovered career wise given at the time he was a two time world champion.  He still won races and was close to winning a championship with Ferrari but it had seemed he could have been something more.

Lowlandbrit wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Mazepin needs to be sacked he’s literally the worst I’ve ever seen. Heck he literally robbed Callum Illot of a seat.

Don't know if this is really a related point, but I've liked seeing Giovinazzi and (to a lesser extent) Latifi showing signs of being competent drivers. I feel like both of them could have disappeared in the offseason and been remembered as 'I can't believe he got a F1 seat' guys.
Also, it's incredible how quickly the shine has come off Tsunoda. Although I suppose if fhe Honda engine keeps Verstappen in the title race it doesn't really matter to anyone involved.

The Williams, Haas and AlfaRomeo teams are so far off the pace it is difficult to judge the drivers - they can only really be compared to their team mates.    With Tsunoda it seems it is the whole team, alphaTauri, that are sort of struggling, as this season has progressed, compared to last season especially towards the end of last season.

Giovinazzi and Lafiti where better drivers than Mazepin at the junior categories. Mazepin will always have his father’s billions to console his failed f1 career.

No name Bertie wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:

No name Bertie wrote:.... The biggest question for me was why Ricciardo, who many believe to be one of the best drivers in the field, bailed out of Red Bull for Renault in 2019.  Ricciardo's performances were comparable to the emerging talent of Verstappen and Ricciardo's last season at Red Bull in 2018 was affected by mechanical failures - however he was still able to win races with it.

Ricciardo left Red Bull as he was scared of Verstappen. He thought the team would end up as it did towards the of the Vettel/Webber partnership. Whereby Verstappen would be favoured.
Let’s be honest and Verstappen is a class above Ricciardo. Ricciardo opted for the easier route at Renault and subsequently McLaren...but Norris isn’t playing anymore.

The fall off between Ricciardo's Red Bull performances and that of promising rookies Gasly and Albon was fairly precipitous.  I don't think Gasly was given enough time in the Red Bull but his demotion back to alphaTauri seemed to have down him some good as he soon began to look like a fantastic driver and his reputation as a driver soared.  Albon looked quite promising early on but he had some collisions with Hamilton and then ultimately he faded away compared to Verstappen as the 2020 Red Bull developed a reputation for being difficult to drive.  Now Albon is "out" of F1.  

With regard to Ricciardo I assume he received a huge pay incentive to go to Renault as well as a promise to be the number one driver - but I feel going from a competitive Red Bull where he was winning races and getting podiums finishes, to a somewhat uncompetitive Renault team was a large backward step career-wise.  When Alonso left Mercedes after the 2007 season and the resultant furore surrounding his leaving - it seemed he never fully recovered career wise given at the time he was a two time world champion.  He still won races and was close to winning a championship with Ferrari but it had seemed he could have been something more.

Ricciardo was on more Monet then Verstappen at Red Bull. Ricciardo basically ruined his career

Never really been in the camp that Ricciardo ruined his career by leaving RB. If he was still there, he still wouldn’t have a championship. Yes, he left for worse teams, but Verstappen hasn’t achieved anything either, other than a few wins. Verstappen has stayed there for promises RB have made and so far failed to deliver. That is pretty much all that matters.

You can’t really blame Ricciardo for the decision. He knew it was Max’s team, but he also knew this was a Merc era. Think anyone in that position, at that age, would decide to bank £40m from Renault and safeguard himself financially. He could still come good at McLaren in, 2022.

McLaren livery for Monaco

Danny Ric was never gonna win a title against Max, and he's undoubtedly too good to trundle around picking up podiums behind an elite driver like Webber or Bottas. So he took a gamble that Renault could have a Mercedes like rise. Didn't pay off but that's life

All good points being made. I would have liked Ricciardo to have stayed and fight his corner. Maybe he will talk about it some day.

So Monaco this weekend - weather looks set fair, so probably a boring race and most of the action will be on Saturday

I'll set the line at 2.5 for the over/under Mazepin crashes

RB should win this weekend comfortably. Expecting Ferrari to cause Mercedes a few issues due to them seemingly good under low speed traction see Spain Sector 3 for example.

Charles LeClerc pole position at Monaco but crashed on last flying lap. Verstappen second, Bottas third.
Sainz
Norris
Gasly
Hamilton
Vettel
Perez
Giovinazzi

Qualifying:
p2: Verstappen ... 1:10.576
P6: Gasly ........... 1:10.900
P9: Perez ........... 1:11.573
P16: Tsunoda ..... (1:12.096)

Aston Martin:
p8: Vettel .......... 1:11.419
p13:  Stroll ....... (1:11.600)

Alpine:
p11: Ocon ......... (1:11.486)
p17: Alonso ....... (1:12.205)

Well at least we have a mixed-up grid for this race. Didn't even need rain!

I see Ferrari have made some more illegal modifications to their cars...only way to explain being 2/10ths quicker than Red Bull.

Quite the shock to see Charles on pole, even with it being his home track and his record there.

Be interesting to see if Max can find a way past him. May have to rely on RB's famously quick pit stops. Disappointing 9th for Perez...he needs to start upping his game or else risk going the same way as Albon. A full second slower than his team mate...not good.

A real shock to see Bottas in 3rd. This circuit isn't usually good for Mercedes, being more a chassis and aero track. Hamilton having an off day down in 7th.

Good opportunity for Sainz, Norris & Gasly to earn some points.

Vettel out-qualifying Stroll again...is he in danger of making Aston his team? Notice Olly has been quiet the last couple of races.

Yeah, interesting grid for tomorrow, but Q3 a slight anti-climax. Hamilton well out of sorts with set-up. Alonso looking dreadful again. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Albon in that AlphaTauri by mid-season, given Tsunoda’s form, and the fact Helmut Marko is already losing faith.

I'm rather hoping Leclerc doesn't get the standard 5-place grid penalty, if his gearbox needs replacing, because then its basically just a case of watching Max going round for 70-odd laps before picking up the win.

LeClerc’s gearbox is fine or an alternate view is Binotto has rolled the dice. Ferrari haven’t stood on the top step since Singapore 2019, so with the difficulty of passing at Monaco it could be a worthwhile gamble.
And I’d like to point out there’s no tricks or illegal parts on the 2021 car. Ferrari has poor straight line speed but good traction at low speed.

Looks like the gamble failed and Charles will be starting from the pit lane.

Between Max and Valtteri to fight for the win...not much of a fight I think.


UPDATE: Ferrari have confirmed Leclerc won't be taking part in the race at all. Gearbox issue could not be fixed in time for the race.