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.

Jeff Navarro wrote:All getting a bit petty now between Mercedes and Red Bull. Wolff ‘wants clarification on rules regarding tape used on rear wings’.
In general regards using tape actually hinders performance rather than increase performance.

You'd think so. At least I can't imagine it improves aerodynamic performance...unless its slippery Teflon tape or something. Presumably they were using it to hold something in place, but it would have been nice if the stewards had shown the same level of interest...just to make sure everything was above board.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Hamilton’s rear wing failed by 0.2mm as per Wolff interview

Just as I suspected...fractions of a millimetre.

I know rules are rules but I still feel its bloody ridiculous sending a driver to the back of the grid for such a miniscule infringement that clearly was not the result of any deliberate shenanigans by the team...and would have provided a negligible advantage, if any.

Especially when Verstappen got away essentially with a slap on the wrist for touching a competitor's car in parc fermé...which is about the same level of seriousness IMO.

Great win for Hamilton. Superb drive What a weekend, given the circumstances.

Championship still alive.

What a drive by Lewis Hamilton. Truly a win against all the odds. One of the best drives I've ever seen. Surely ranks up there as one of the best of his career.

DQ'ed in qualifying and forced to start the sprint race last. Finishes 5th. Starts the GP 10th due to an engine penalty. Makes up 7 places in 5 laps. Gets run off the track by his rival, but makes the pass stick on the 3rd attempt.

An uphill battle for Lewis all the way, but he rose to the challenge and overcame.

Frankly I'm flabbergasted, as I felt sure Red Bull would have the edge at Interlagos and for a good part of the race it looked to be the case. Max and RB certainly tried everything. It looked like being a Red Bull victory until the last few laps, with Lewis right on Max's gearbox, but unable to find a way past.

With Bottas keeping Perez off the podium the points haul certainly helps swing the title battles back Mercedes' way. The last 3 races could end up being real ding-dong battles, as both teams will be putting everything into them.

With the straight line speed advantage Mercedes have found it is looking very much like advantage Mercedes and Hamilton for the remaining three races. An 8th drivers championship is looking like a very good possibility. Given that Verstappen still seems to have an edge over Bottas by the time we reach the final race we could very much see Hamilton and Verstappen tied on points. Verstappen currently leads Hamilton by 14 points in the drivers championship.

Losail could be an interesting battle. There’s that massive straight but it’s offset by a lot of corners. So very slow.
In MotoGP Yamaha has had a lot of success there despite their lack of BHP. But also on the opposite hand Ducati has been very strong there with their insane straight line speed.

The stewards fined Hamilton €5,000 for loosening his seatbelts(further €20,000 suspended).
Seems like the stewards want to be part of the show…

Jeff Navarro wrote:Seems like the stewards want to be part of the show…

Pretty unanimous verdict on that T4 incident, post race. Amazingly, the stewards didn’t even review Verstappen’s forward facing onboard camera, which I assume, would showcase that he didn’t turn the steering wheel, and was nowhere near the apex. The stewards have pretty much set the precedent for allowing drivers to basically ignore the circuit and run their competitors significantly wide, and even off track, without receiving a penalty.

Great win for Hamilton. Yes Mercedes were fast, and the new engine helped, but to make up 24 places from qualifying is still mightily impressive.

I must say I find the stewards' decision on the Hamilton-Verstappen incident baffling. In Silverstone, Hamilton got a five second penalty for missing the apex of the corner, which led to him running wide and into Verstappen. Here Verstappen at best completely misses the breaking point, leading to him running a long way wide (much much wider than Hamilton's line at Silverstone was going). The only difference is here Hamilton took action to avoid crashing, whereas Verstappen in Silverstone didn't.

So it seems the stewards have taken a decision based on the outcome (i.e. they didn't crash), which seems incredibly reckless to me.

I'm finding it harder and harder to defend Verstappen TBH. Seems to really have a mentality of "It's the other drivers responsibility to avoid crashes, not mine". Some of that can be understandable in a rookie driver, but Verstappen is now experienced enough to know that there are situations where he really needs to back off.

Anyway, sets us up beautifully for the end of the season.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:As for today’s race, think a 3/1 bet on a Hamilton win is decent value - clearly the quickest car and is able to pass easily, Perez won’t be much issue…just depends if Bottas can get ahead of Max and hold him up sufficiently so that Lewis can close in the latter stages

Of course, always a decent chance of a safety car at Brazil too which would help Lewis

Lovely little earner that one - called it right away.
If Merc have a power advantage like they did here in the final few races, the title is there for Lewis to win

dyrewolfe wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Hamilton’s rear wing failed by 0.2mm as per Wolff interview

Just as I suspected...fractions of a millimetre.

I know rules are rules but I still feel its bloody ridiculous sending a driver to the back of the grid for such a miniscule infringement that clearly was not the result of any deliberate shenanigans by the team...and would have provided a negligible advantage, if any.

Especially when Verstappen got away essentially with a slap on the wrist for touching a competitor's car in parc fermé...which is about the same level of seriousness IMO.

Breaching the technical regulations is black and white - they have to have the rules set somewhere. Similar to Vettel’s fuel issue post race in Hungary which took away his podium…it might be harsh but everyone knows the rules and the punishments beforehand, if you fail them you fail them

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Great win for Hamilton. Yes Mercedes were fast, and the new engine helped, but to make up 24 places from qualifying is still mightily impressive.

I must say I find the stewards' decision on the Hamilton-Verstappen incident baffling. In Silverstone, Hamilton got a five second penalty for missing the apex of the corner, which led to him running wide and into Verstappen. Here Verstappen at best completely misses the breaking point, leading to him running a long way wide (much much wider than Hamilton's line at Silverstone was going). The only difference is here Hamilton took action to avoid crashing, whereas Verstappen in Silverstone didn't.

So it seems the stewards have taken a decision based on the outcome (i.e. they didn't crash), which seems incredibly reckless to me.

I'm finding it harder and harder to defend Verstappen TBH. Seems to really have a mentality of "It's the other drivers responsibility to avoid crashes, not mine". Some of that can be understandable in a rookie driver, but Verstappen is now experienced enough to know that there are situations where he really needs to back off.

Anyway, sets us up beautifully for the end of the season.

The stewards have been weirdly inconsistent on contact/penalties all season throughout the grid - Gasly getting a penalty for basically just existing in turn 1 at Turkey springs to mind as another head scratcher.

Mercedes’ main issue with the stewards and the DQ is that the new engine has clocked up 700km this weekend.
According to Wolff after 1000km their engines are degrading quite considerably.
Had Hamilton started P1 on Saturday, they could managed the engine as the advantage was pretty large.
But they ended using much more power than you expected and the 700m altitude doesn’t help either.

There’s a high probability that in one of the remaining race Hamilton will have to go back to the Mexico engine and that’s already heavily degraded. Mercedes gunned that engine in Texas and Mexico.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:I'm finding it harder and harder to defend Verstappen TBH. Seems to really have a mentality of "It's the other drivers responsibility to avoid crashes, not mine". Some of that can be understandable in a rookie driver, but Verstappen is now experienced enough to know that there are situations where he really needs to back off

Max is incredibly immature, and fast becoming one of the most unlikeable drivers on the grid. Unfortunately, he won’t change, because his behaviour and racing approach is being encouraged by the stewards inaction, and the toxic environment he is surrounded by at RB, especially from the likes of Helmut Marko. Hamilton has had to yield all season, just to avoid damage and multiple DNF’s, due to this one’s ultra aggressive, reckless approach.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Mad for Chelsea wrote:Great win for Hamilton. Yes Mercedes were fast, and the new engine helped, but to make up 24 places from qualifying is still mightily impressive.

I must say I find the stewards' decision on the Hamilton-Verstappen incident baffling. In Silverstone, Hamilton got a five second penalty for missing the apex of the corner, which led to him running wide and into Verstappen. Here Verstappen at best completely misses the breaking point, leading to him running a long way wide (much much wider than Hamilton's line at Silverstone was going). The only difference is here Hamilton took action to avoid crashing, whereas Verstappen in Silverstone didn't.

So it seems the stewards have taken a decision based on the outcome (i.e. they didn't crash), which seems incredibly reckless to me.

I'm finding it harder and harder to defend Verstappen TBH. Seems to really have a mentality of "It's the other drivers responsibility to avoid crashes, not mine". Some of that can be understandable in a rookie driver, but Verstappen is now experienced enough to know that there are situations where he really needs to back off.

Anyway, sets us up beautifully for the end of the season.

The stewards have been weirdly inconsistent on contact/penalties all season throughout the grid - Gasly getting a penalty for basically just existing in turn 1 at Turkey springs to mind as another head scratcher.

Yeah that was a particularly weird one. I remember seeing it, going "racing incident - pigeonhole principle*", not an unusual occurrence in turn 1. Then Gasly got a penalty . I mean, where was he supposed to put the car??

*The pigeonhole principle states that if there are numbers n of 'pigeonholes' and m>n pigeons trying to get into them, at least one pigeonhole will become overcrowded (have more than one pigeon trying to get into it). It applies for F1 cars: if a corner has space for n cars, and m>n cars enter the corner alongside each other, there will likely be a crash of some sort. Also known as the "3 into 2 doesn't go" principle (F1 pundits), or - in French - the "chest of drawers" principle (where the pigeons are socks).

Verstappen was asked about the turn 4 incident and he admitted he purposely drove wide explaining he went into the corner too fast and he decided to then take a wide line so as not to risk losing the car and sliding off in an uncontrolled manner.

.... we both of course tried to be ahead into the corner and so I braked a bit later to try and keep the position and the tyres were already a bit worn so I was really on the edge of grip so that's why I think I was already not fully on the apex so then it's a safer way of
of just running a bit wide there.

Verstappen also mentioned something that Jeff Navarro raised above, that he thought the main pace advantage of Hamilton in this race came from Hamilton's new engine and he was hoping the pace gain would fall off in later races in line with degradation expectations of the Mercedes engine.

Hamilton on his part said he didn't know where the extra pace came from this race weekend and said it must have had something to do with getting the car perfectly optimized for the track.  One thing both Hamilton and Bottas commented on was how well their tyres maintained grip and Bottas felt a one stopper would have worked for him and that he could have got second place with that strategy, but he said he would need to discuss this with the  team and go over the data to be certain.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Mercedes’ main issue with the stewards and the DQ is that the new engine has clocked up 700km this weekend.
According to Wolff after 1000km their engines are degrading quite considerably.
Had Hamilton started P1 on Saturday, they could managed the engine as the advantage was pretty large.
But they ended using much more power than you expected and the 700m altitude doesn’t help either.

There’s a high probability that in one of the remaining race Hamilton will have to go back to the Mexico engine and that’s already heavily degraded. Mercedes gunned that engine in Texas and Mexico.

Either that or take another engine penalty...

If nothing else Mercedes have shown they can overcome them with a new unit.

This is another reason I'm against sprint races. Not only do they tend to pan out like Sunday races (unless anyone is starting out of position) but they also place more stress and mileage on power units.

If they insist on continuing / expanding sprint races, they need to increase the number of engines teams can use.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Hamilton’s rear wing failed by 0.2mm as per Wolff interview

Just as I suspected...fractions of a millimetre.

I know rules are rules but I still feel its bloody ridiculous sending a driver to the back of the grid for such a miniscule infringement that clearly was not the result of any deliberate shenanigans by the team...and would have provided a negligible advantage, if any.

Especially when Verstappen got away essentially with a slap on the wrist for touching a competitor's car in parc fermé...which is about the same level of seriousness IMO.

Breaching the technical regulations is black and white - they have to have the rules set somewhere. Similar to Vettel’s fuel issue post race in Hungary which took away his podium…it might be harsh but everyone knows the rules and the punishments beforehand, if you fail them you fail them

Thats the problem - there is no room for "common sense".

As Toto said (and the stewards themselves noted) the measurements did not indicate any evidence of foul play, or an attempt to gain an unfair advantage. Which should be the crucial factor in deciding whether to award a penalty or not.

We are talking about a part of the car that is designed to flex (within defined limits) under load and the fact it was 0.2mm over the limit on one side, clearly suggests it was a result of distortion, fatigue or mechanical wear.

Mercedes did nothing wrong - the part simply failed mechanically (by a ridiculously small amount). As Toto also said, the sensible course of action would have been for the team to be allowed to repair or replace the wing...as Red Bull have done quite a few times this season...without any kind of penalty.

Feels like there is one rule for Merc and another for other teams.

Slightly off topic, but lots of reports this morning that Audi are poised to by the McLaren group, with a view to entering F1.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-finance-and-corporate/audi-buys-mclaren-group-secure-formula-1-entry

Certainly looks like when the new 2026 engine formula comes into effect, there is a bunch of new manufacturers lining up to get on the grid. Can only be a good thing imo

Back to the two contentious decisions of the weekend:

1 - Penalty to Hamilton / Merc for the DRS flap opening too much was correct to the letter of the law. 0.2 mm excess to one side only does suggest a part having bent or come loose rather than any intent to cheat. I would be interested to know how close to the limit they actually construct the DRS flap - is it normally 84 mm opening, or 84.95 mm?
Don't see how anything Max did in Parc Ferme could have had a measurable effect, but again he technically breached the rules so the fine was justified.

2 - Turn 4 incident. Sorry, but Max was way in the wrong on this one and should, based on precedent from earlier races, have been penalised regardless of the lack of contact with Hamilton. I've seen some Verstappen fans arguing that he was in his right because he was ahead at the apex, ignoring the fact that he was only there because he braked at least 25m too late to make the racing line. At least Hamilton saw it coming and was able to take evasive action in an area where there was run-off.

Masi had a mare on that T4 incident.

Michael Masi, in-race: "Ron, having looked at it ALL COMPLETELY, and we've had a GOOD look, we're going with no investigation"

Masi, post race: “We didn't have Max's forward looking onboard camera & didn't view telemetry, as it was only noted and not investigated”

The guy is woefully out of his depth, and has been, since he took over.

I think the straight speed is an advantage for Mercedes but Red Bull crying over nothing really.
I was told Red Bull's main issue is their rear wing keeps falling apart.
I previously said they ran the Austria spec wing in Texas and Mexico but I was then told they couldn’t run that wing as it would’ve shattered.
They’ve had to revise their rear wing and it’s still falling apart.
That’s on Newey and whom ever else does the aero stuff at Red Bull.
The track layout in São Paulo obviously helped Hamilton with that new engine. From T12 to T4, it’s a combined 35 seconds(+\-), nearly 30 seconds is flat out.
So if you’ve got a new engine obviously there will be an advantage.
Some suggestion that Mercedes may revert to the previous engine for Qatar, so we’ll see what the real picture when both have worn engines.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Slightly off topic, but lots of reports this morning that Audi are poised to by the McLaren group, with a view to entering F1.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/business-finance-and-corporate/audi-buys-mclaren-group-secure-formula-1-entry

Certainly looks like when the new 2026 engine formula comes into effect, there is a bunch of new manufacturers lining up to get on the grid. Can only be a good thing imo

McLaren ‘categorically’ rejects any notion that they’ve sold up.

Verstappen onboard

https://mobile.twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/1460584835563630593

Hearing that FIA has lined up Red Bull Ring as a potential standby if Jeddah isn’t ready.
Seems absolutely ridiculous as it’s freezing cold in Austria at this time of year.
Maybe snowmobiling as a title decider...

Mercedes has submitted a right to review the Verstappen turn 4 incident.

Not a surprise really. They were always going to request a review, given this camera feed wasn’t available. I think it’s clear as day, but I doubt anything will come of it now. Mercedes will probably push for the 5 second penalty, with Bottas jumping up to second place

Max should have gotten a penalty all day but I dont think the onboard is providing anything new. It's the usual chain rattling

Mercedes review denied. Time to move on

Verstappen dominated FP1

Pretty much similar to silverstone didn’t see the fia changing then nor now.
Either way this track isn’t designed for f1 cars but it looks a decent enough circuit at this early point.

It looks a pretty fun track to drive, but overtaking outside of the DRS zone on the front straight will be pretty much impossible.

The front straight is long enough to overtake 3 or 4 cars though!!!!!

Its a long time since I have seen a track where the entry and exit of the pit lane are both on the main straight. Can't quite get my head around whether that means more or less time lost for a stop though

Some sections of this track look difficult to get right.

There is some suggestion that Hamilton could be using an older engine for Friday practices to get the set up right and then switch to the newer engine for Saturday.

ps: narrow track with lots of fine sand not too far away. I guess overtaking will occur on the main straight while the rest of the circuit will be a procession, although overtaking opportunities if the car ahead slides off the track.

Yet more rear wing dramas for Red Bull in FP2. I’m slightly baffled why FIA isn’t warning them or enforcing changes.
The DRS flap looks like it about to break off with every activation.

Jeff Navarro wrote:I’m slightly baffled why FIA isn’t warning them or enforcing changes

FIA & RB are in bed together, that’s why

The DRS flapping around is surely pretty bad for Red Bull, no? Last thing any team wants is more drag on a straight

It'd be more about the instability it caused when cornering. Though if it failed in a race they'd be called into the pits to fix it. Clearly it's fragile though if it was a good chance to fail in the race they wouldn't be running it, so they can strengthen it I guess.

There seems to be some "rear wing wars" going on. Christian Horner has been questioning the Mercedes rear wing, it is clearly something on their minds and we had Verstappen prodding at it.

Then we have the Red Bull rear wing which had to be redesigned because it was found to be too flexible in qualifying / race conditions but the redesigned rear wing is not sturdy enough and falls apart.

Absolutely shambolic from Perez, knocked out in Q2

Stunning lap from Hamilton for pole. Bottas won’t mind the tow in third. Verstappen in P2. Woeful for Perez

Gasly’s wing broke off and caused that puncture

Title is there for Hamilton - clear the Merc improvements have them so far ahead on the straights of Red Bull, Max is really worrying more about Bottas than Lewis tomorrow especially with Bottas getting the tow into T1 (and no Perez strategy wise)

Good work by Gasly again - both the Alphatauri’s and Alpine looks quick here

New load tests where introduced by FIA on the rear wing.
According to the data Mercedes and Red Bull straight line speed, without DRS, is equal this weekend.
Tyre life will be critical tomorrow, in MotoGP this track is a tyre killer.

Verstappen
Bottas
Sainz

Have been cited for alleged yellow flag breach.

Bizarrely the stewards will wait until Sunday to sort this out.

Usually yellow flags come up on a driver's dashboard, and from Verstappens onboard I couldn't see any, even when he was passing a stationary Gasly so not sure

There certainly didn’t appear to be any on the broadcast - seems pretty unlikely three drivers would’ve got it wrong

Interesting to note that these delay FIA decisions are being linked with the next series of the F1 Netflix series. As in to build up hype.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Interesting to note that these delay FIA decisions are being linked with the next series of the F1 Netflix series. As in to build up hype.

Nothing surprises me. The FIA are nothing short of a disgrace right now. As for Masi, he is weak and completely incompetent, hence why Horner & RB are leaning on him.

General consensus is that it’s a penalty. Either FIA sweep it under the carpet, or they start enforcing the rules. Norris was handed a five place penalty in Turkey for not respecting yellow flag rules.

Bottas 3 place grid pen

Verstappen 5 place grid pen