#it was aston at the start of the season then mclaren now alpha romeo
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also apologies to the queen ruth buscombe who is one of my absolute fav women on the paddock for having both alpha romeos in the top 10 coz wtf noone was expecting that
#it was aston at the start of the season then mclaren now alpha romeo#this is CRAZY!! like we r seeing cars who were backmarkers coming up to the front of the grid#and its so fun to see#also hulKENberg as always just gettin in there i.e q3#kudos to zhou and bottas for driving brilliant drives and the sauber team back in the factory for doing their shit coz godDAYUMN#alpha romeo#zhou guanyu#valtteri bottas#ruth buscombe#formula 1#f1#hungary gp 2023#hungarian gp 2023
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recommendations for the 2023 grid to maximize chaos
red bull
my head says dont change anything to have a normal team for comparison but my heart says the rest of the spice girls on rotation
ferrari
put. binotto. in. the. car.
mercedes
obvs a return to brocedes. no question
mclaren
every driver zac brown has said he's going to sign now gets a seat. a rotating coterie of 15 drivers. the top performing two stay for 2024
alpine
french civil war. gasly and ocon
alpha tauri
helmut markos least favorite drivers. if one of them starts to get on his good side switch them out. get that teachers pet outta there!
alpha romeo
keep bottas and zhou but wiley coyote the engineers' tools so the cars break down even more. im talking like one red flag per race at least, cars in places we've never seen before
aston martin
already taken care of. i have money on alonso killing lawrence stroll by the end of the season
haas
thank you gunther, you should be running aew. hulk and kmag-- turn the garage into a boxing ring
williams
latifi but hes driving two cars that are built like that pen jefferson invented that let you write two copies of a letter at the same time. so once you reach the back markers you have to get by two latifis driving side by side.
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I think he didn’t choose Haas or Williams because after his pretty disappointing and lacklustre time at McLaren (overall), he sees them as even further steps back considering how far behind everyone else on the grid their cars are. Plus it’s an ego thing, like he’s “too good” for the back marker teams and he probably still expects to be paid a significant salary (even tho McLaren is footing a lot of the bill next year rip), cause they damn sure wouldn’t be able to afford his regular one. In a way, Haas and Williams have become branded as the “end of career” teams for those that have already had a previous seat elsewhere on the grid. Like yeah they need to get their act together, but it’s not like they’re shit on purpose. It would still give you opportunity to maybe help improve the team, or even jump ship the following year. But then again, after all the shit he’s had to go through with McLaren since last year, maybe he just wants a break from it all. Wouldn’t blame him
I think he’s maybe looking at the immediate opportunity they present rather than looking at the long term. That Haas hasn’t looked bad in some tracks this year and it’s not so much of a disaster anymore and Williams still has a way to go to catch up but looking at what Alex has produced again there’s opportunities. A p12 in one of those cars will always be lauded more than a p12 in a McLaren. He would only have to be producing the same results as he already is to be looking impressive again and that could help him get his confidence back.
But instead of playing it cool, he made a public comment that he wasn’t interested and so now he’s burnt two more bridges. Add those to McLaren and Alpine and then add in the fact that Merc/Ferrari/Red Bull are unlikely to give him a first team seat and Alpha Tauri passed on him this year, that leaves Aston and Alfa Romeo as the only teams he seems to have a realistic chance of getting a seat with and they don’t have spaces immediately on the horizon. Even if he did want to sit out this upcoming season, he’s shrunk his opportunities somewhat for the future.
I wonder if his sponsors have had a hand somewhat, and don’t want to lend their name to specific teams which has stifled his chances. Williams or Haas would have been a pay cut for sure but I think writing them off is a big mistake.
My guess is he knows it’s slim pickings for 2024 as well and the sabbatical line is a bit of PR coming into play. That way he can dabble next year and then say he’s found a great new opportunity for 2024 as a new start if one arises. It does mean he probably won’t get a proper send off though which is a shame. He had his scripted series in the pipeline, maybe he’ll commit time to that. He could hypothetically make more money from treading the media circuit than he gets driving.
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So there are rumours going around the 2023 grid and from what I can tell it's something like: Mercedes (HAM RUS), Red Bull (VER PER), Ferrari (LEC SAI), McLaren (NOR PIA), Alpine (OCO RIC), Alfa Romeo (BOT ZHO), Haas (MAG MSC), Aston Martin (STR ALO) and Williams (ALB DEV). What are your thoughts on this? Do you think this is likely?
Lemme start with the fact that I’m so so confused about the Piastri situation, but we’ll skip that for now😂
So I think you’re spot on for Merc, RBR and Ferrari! I doubt Lewis is gonna break his contract to retire so no changes happening there.
I also agree with Alfa Romeo and Aston: Zhou is doing great and they have a good team dynamic, and let’s be real Stroll ain’t leaving till his dad sells that team. I’m personally expecting Alpha Tauri to keep Yuki for at least another year cuz I don’t think the rbr junior drivers are quite ready for f1 yet so imo there’s no reason to replace Yuki (if ofc he keeps this season consistent).
Mclaren is very difficult cuz Daniel has a contract extension for 2023 and rumour has it that Mclaren can’t really break that contract + I personally don’t think it’ll do him any good to change to a new car again. Then Alpine… they basically have first dibs on Piastri so you’d think he’d go to alpine.. but that’s a hopeless clusterfuck atm
Haas is difficult cuz it really depends on how Micks season will end but I have no clue who they could replace him with😅 as for Williams.. I do not want de Vries in f1 at all. He’s shit at tire management and I’m tired of everyone pretending he has the same talent as Max.. dude is 27 if he’d been a real talent he would’ve been in f1 already 🙄 I like the rumours about Logan Sargeant better but Latifi is definitely gone after this year!
So yeah I think a big part of the grid next year is dependent on Daniel and Oscar but I’m gonna have a lot of fun watching this spiral😅
#great predicted 2023 grid#this was fun!#pls come back if you wanna talk some more about it!#f1#soph’s asks
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ok ok i gotchu babes
where to watch: https://f1livegp.me is one and another is https://www.totalsportek.com/nine/ but i suggest to get an ad blocker. i will say that just haven’t tried the second link but the first one works.
who to know: mini summaries of all drivers and teams
redbull: championship fighting car
max verstappen - current reigning champ, redbull golden boy, championship fighter
sergio “checo” perez - great teammate and second driver, mexican minister of defense, got too much rear end (meme)
ferrari: championship fighting car
charles leclerc - current championship leader, very very bad luck in monaco, pretty boy with zero thoughts, seems to crack under pressure (only when not leading race), only driver this year to secure front row start at all races thus far
carlos sainz - underrated driver, has a lot of potential, has had bad luck in past races
mercedes: high midfield car
lewis hamilton - not performing as well as fans thought, (imo) has bad attitude about not winning anymore, still solid driver (ish)
george russell - new to mercedes, only driver this year to get top five results in all races thus far, has a lot of potential, doing better than teammate
mclaren: had a bad start but seem to be doing better
lando norris - first driver, has potential but sometimes makes stupid mistakes, future world champ material, overall good guy with natural flaws
daniel ricciardo - having a hard time starting the season right, not having a fun time, (i hate it too but) seems to be past his prime, may get better but probably not 😔
haas: mildly inconsistent midfield car
mick schumacher - seems to have the talent but lacks execution, gets bad light because of him not performing with the surname he has, definitely get close them botches it somehow
kevin magnussen - used to be in f1 until got kicked out by nikita mazepin but came back after mazepin got kicked out because he’s russian, first race result was p5 so everyone expects him to be in the midfield, a lot of potential but sometimes makes mistakes or just has bad luck, definitely midfield driver tho
alpine: midfield car
fernando alonso - needs to retire, very old, like almost zdeno old, pretty okay for his age, not much to say
esteban ocon - pretty okay as well, does what he can with the car, not much to say here as well
alpha tauri: midfield car
pierre gasly - good driver, got potential but not good enough car, not much to say here
yuki tsunoda - little boy (5’3”), besties with pierre, constantly angry, sophomore in f1, getting better but there is room for improvement
alpha romeo: midfield car
valtteri bottas - used to in mercedes, really good in alpha romeo, gets solid results, talented but getting old eek, again not much to say other than he is milking every drop of speed out of his car lol
zhou guanyu - rookie, pay driver (china literally bought his seat for him), inconsistant but when good, he’s good, when he’s bad, he’s BAD, not good middle ground, seems to have potential but can’t really see it in races right now
aston martin: bad car, like sad bad
sebastian vettel - four time world champion turned i don’t even know what, car sucks so he tires to do whatever he can, gets some luck, has covid in beginning of year and missed two races, got solid result earlier but i don’t think that will happen a lot
lance stroll - his dad owns aston martin 🫥, pretty solid driver in a sucky car, sometimes gets good result but again not too consistently, not much to say, does what he can with the car
williams: bad car that can work miracles depending on driver
nicholas latifi - not the driver the car works miracles with, notorious for crashing into walls and getting red flags at very bad times, just a bad pay driver
alex albon - the drive that the car works miracles with, has a superstition where he dyes his hair red to get prints but it actually works lol, get points in this shit box, used to be redbull reserved driver but still has that sponsorship, didnt driver last year because of demotion
so yeah. i think that’s it. if you have questions, feel free to ask :D
oh bless this is awesome thank you so much
I recognize some names just because I used to hang with my dad while he watched F1 but I never looked into them and stuff but Ricciardo, Hamilton, and Alonso have been around for a while and obviously I know Sebastian and a little bit about Mick
definitely looking forward to learning about the rest
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My favourites
Alpine: Alonso (I was there for 05/06 Alonso and I can’t help but love that man)
Aston Martin: Vettel ( It’s Seb, the love started at Red Bull)
Ferrari: Leclerc ( Nothing against Carlos I just prefer Charles)
McLaren: Ricciardo ( Danny Ric is just.. & I can’t warm to Lando just yet)
Williams: Russell ( it’ll be fun to see him next season)
Haas: Schumacher ( I mean it’s Mick and well look at his teammate)
Alfa Romeo: Raikkonen (Kimi, nothing more)
Red Bull: Verstappen ( Again nothing against Checo I just think Max has and has always had more grit)
Alpha: Pierre ( man has too much talent; needs to move on in the future)
Mercedes: Toto ( Bottas was boring, only coming to life now he’s leaving. Lewis, we’ll can’t stand his bad attitude. So that leaves Toto although Stoffel come a very close second)
#formula 1#f1#aston martin#sebastian vettel#lance stroll#lewis hamilton#valterri bottas#mercedes#toto wolff#fernando alonso#sergio perez#lando norris#mclaren#george russell#daniel ricciardo#kimi raikkonen#mick schumacher#nikita mazepin#haas#pierre gasly#yuki tsunoda#esteban ocon#charles leclerc#Carlos sainz#nicholas latifi#antonio giovinazzi
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alright i’m already being dramatic about the ✨2021 post season test✨ so let’s write this out and figure out what we know, what we can be mostly sure of, and what we can speculate. first, we know that teams will be allowed to test the new 18 inch Pirelli tyres that will be run in 2022. second, we believe that a mule car will seemingly be required. third, we can assume that the FIA will maintain the rule that the driver(s?) must not have participated in 2 or more GPs in 2021. finally, we are still trying to find out if the teams can run 1 or 2 cars.
alright, let’s hop into this under the cut cause this got out of hand
Mercedes: Stoffel Vandoorne (likely) / Nyck de Vries (possible) / Frederic Vesti (long shot)
with Stoff playing the role of main reserve driver this season and having run in the post season test last year, this is the most likely scenario, though Merc might want to reward Nyck’s FE championship and put him in, as he is the second official reserve driver. throwing in Fred for shits and giggles cause he is a merc junior.
Red Bull: Jüri Vips (confirmed) / Alex Albon (possible) / Dennis Hauger (long shot)
Jüri has been confirmed to be driving for RBR; if the teams are running 2 cars, i would think that their next best bet would be to run Alex, as he did develop the 2022 car, so would be able to provide good feedback to the team. Dennis is a long shot but with RBR you just never know 🤪
McLaren: Pato O’Ward (confirmed)
Pato has gone for his seat fit, and I don’t see the team running a second car at all, even if they can. they didn’t run in last year’s post season test, and this year’s is just a reward for Pato more than for proper testing, so i’m pretty sure this will be the final lineup.
Ferrari: Robert Schwartzman (likely) / Antonio Fuoco (possible) / Callum Ilott (possible)
this is where there is the most interest to see who will run. Ferrari have a whole host of talented academy drivers to choose from; i’ve got Robert in there as likely just because he ran in last year’s test and is having a relatively good end to the F2 season after a slow start. if they’re running a second car, i would expect to see Callum as the most likely second, again because he developed the 2022 car and would be able to provide good feedback, but with how shafted he’s been by Ferrari, i’ve got Antonio (who ran last year’s test) in there just so i can already let myself down easy 🥲
Alpine: Guanyu Zhou (likely) / Oscar Piastri (equally likely)
this will 100% come down to 1) the F2 title and 2) the final Alfa seat. if Guanyu is getting the 2022 Alfa seat, I would assume that Alpine will release him to run with Alfa and put Oscar in for the test. they really have nothing to lose by running either of them, so it’s going to be interesting to see how this shakes down.
Aston Martin: Nico Hulkenburg (possible) / may not participate at all?
i mean, Nico is the Aston reserve, so I don’t see there being anyone else possible? tbh, i’d be a little surprised if they do participate -- they didn’t participate last year, but i guess, look where that got them 🤷🏼♀️
Alpha Tauri: Liam Lawson (confirmed) Alex Albon (possible) / Dennis Hauger (long shot)
with Liam confirmed for Alpha, Alex would only be an option if the teams can run 2 cars and if hes not already driving for RBR. would honestly expect them to only run Liam though.
Williams: Will not participate (confirmed)
Williams confirmed they will not participate in the post season test, which is what kicked off my whole thought process on this. will be a loss, cause they could have run Alex if RBR had released him, but i guess we’ll see what the car looks like in march.
Alfa Romeo: Theo Pourchaire (likely) / Guanyu Zhou (likely if 2022 seat) / Callum Ilott (long shot, but if no Guanyu, possible)
i would probably expect Alfa to run Theo. now, that would assume that they 1) cannot run 2 cars and 2) are not signing Guanyu. if they can only run one car and do sign Guanyu, i would absolutely expect them to be smart enough to give him the chance to get experience on the 2022 tyres already rather than prioritize their academy drivers who will be doing another F2 season; however, you never know with these guys LOL so Theo is who my money is on. if they can run 2 cars AND don’t sign Guanyu, that’s when I would expect Callum to get in the car, as Robert is no longer elligible with his 2 GP starts replacing Kimi.
Haas: Pietro Fittipaldi (likely) / Callum Ilott (long shot)
normally, i would assume that Haas doesn’t have the money to run this test. HOWEVER, knowing that they’re running mule cars + 2022 tyres, they bETTER be running cause they only threw away their whole 2021 budget to get this damn 2022 car built. i would assume that Pietro will run in this test, just because he is their reserve driver, but i’ll be real honest and say im holding out a very small token of hope that Callum could get in there?? pls Guenther im on my knees begging 😩
#f1#formula 1#post season test#am i gonna tag all the teams?#haas#alfa romeo#mercedes#red bull racing#alpha tauri#aston martin#alpine#ferrari#mclaren#williams#pls enjoy this#needed this out in the world so that i could build myself up about callum maybe driving an f1 car for the last time#OH GOD WHAT IF ITS ALREADY BEEN THE LSST TIME#DONT TOUCB ME IM FRAGILE#come hmu in my ask box about this lmao
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Why aren't the Mercedes bring upgrades to this year's car? Is it because they're not allowed to or they're not bringing because of 2022 regulations?
Hi anon, this is a great question that I’m sure a lot of people are wondering, it’s kind of a combination of both, along with the cost cap.
There is a whole selection of components can’t be changed in the 2021 season, there is also the cost cap this year which makes it harder for teams to bring upgrades, due to the R&D cost, and a lot of teams are focusing their work on 2022.
Any upgrades that you see that teams have brought, they are likely either for reliability or they were meant to be on the car earlier in the year and got delayed. Teams aren’t likely to be bringing big performance upgrades this year, and Mercedes in general don’t bring significant upgrades during the season.
Teams are allowed to bring upgrades but because of the massive list of components that are now frozen there isn’t a lot that they can change.
I’ve gone more into the frozen components and token system under the cut, as well as what we know about where teams focused their upgrades.
So going into the 2021 season the FIA announced that 40 components on the cars would be frozen; meaning that it’d have to be the same as it was on the 2020 model, unless the team wanted to spend their tokens on upgrading it.
Components that were frozen include the monocoque, front floor structure, impact structures, plank assembly, rear wing adjuster, gearbox and associated parameters, inboard suspension, brakes, auxiliary oil tanks and more.
Teams could change these if they wanted with the use of their tokens, some components have been given a value of one token, which means they can be updated twice. Whilst bigger components, such as inboard front and rear suspension, have been assigned a value of two tokens.
That means teams can only deploy one change in specification once the design is homologated.
So these parts were frozen part way through last year, with teams having to submit the changes they wanted to the FIA, and by the start of this season there were more components added to the list of frozen components.
Outboard front and rear suspension, steering column, gear ratios, driveshafts, these were frozen in the opening practice for the first round of the season and they will not allowed to be updated all year.
Where did each team spend their tokens (as far as we know)
Mercedes: Something on the rear; probably suspension focused
Red Bull: Rear suspension to fix instability
McLaren: Both tokens spent on switching power unit
Aston Martin: Got Mercedes 2020 suspension without having to spend tokens (customer team), spent tokens on survival cell
Alpine: Rear end of the car likely inboard or outboard rear suspension
Ferrari: New rear transmission and suspension
Alpha Tauri: New nose and outboard front suspension
Alfa Romeo: Complete new nose assembly
Haas: No Tokens Spent
Williams: They spent a token in the 2020 season (didn’t reveal on what) but likely to be floor
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Expectations and predictions for the 2021 season of Formula 1
Intro
As of writing, we are five days to seeing the cars out on track in Bahrain. Many changes happened from where we left off in Abu Dhabi, specifically driver changes, team changes and my overall expectations for the year.
Driver changes
Many changes in the driver pairings for this year. Daniel Ricciardo to McLaren, Carlos Sainz Jr to Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel to Aston Martin, and Sergio 'Checo' Perez to Red Bull are the key driver swaps. We also say farewell to Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen as they venture to Indycar and IMSA respectively. Alex Albon has been demoted to the position of reserve driver for Red Bull while Daniil Kvyat moves to Alpine, as a test driver.
Plenty of new faces as well as one new but very familiar face. The rookies of the 2021 season are Yuki Tsunoda in Alpha Tauri, Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in Haas and two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso in Alpine.
Having Alonso back in F1 was never quite a huge surprise since everyone expected him to return sooner or later. Personally, I'm glad that he's back in the cockpit and excited to see his performance this year with Alpine.
Now back to the actual rookies, Schumacher, Tsunoda and Mazepin finished in the top five of the 2020 Formula 2 standings in first, third and fifth respectively.
Schumacher and Mazepin in Haas came as quite a surprise. At the end of 2020, Haas was in terrible shape so having two rookies with minimal experience in an F1 car brings many questions : Is this what Haas really needs? Can the two rookies bring out the best in the 2021 car? Will the fresh slate be what Haas needs to get back on their feet?
Enough about Haas, let's talk about the drivers themselves. Mick Schumacher, 2020 F2 champion, member of the Ferrari Driver Academy and son of seven time world champion, Michael Schumacher. He is a talented driver and it's not just because of his last name. Speedy starts and smart, tactical braking are some key attributes of Schumacher's driving style. He is a very capable driver and fought hard against Vice Champion and fellow academy driver, Callum Ilott. The world definitely has its eyes on him.
Nikita Mazepin, fifth in the championship and hailing from Russia. His performance in 2020 was quite a surprising one since his team, Hitech GP, was a brand new team in F2 and he had a pretty underwhelming 2019 season. Mazepin has a very aggressive driving style and questionable on track movement. It doesn't get any better off track because he has plenty of controversies following him. (Topics surrounding him are pretty sensitive so I will not cover them here because I aim to speak about his driving ability without prejudice and bias.) Expectations both on track and off track are high for him.
Yuki Tsunoda, member of Honda Formula Dream Project and Red Bull Junior Team, winner of the 2020 Anthoine Hubert award (Rookie of the Year), and youngest driver on the 2021 grid hails from Japan. A lot of expectations on him in the Alpha Tauri car as he replaces long time Red Bull academy driver Daniil Kvyat. With a new RB junior driver making the step up to F1, there are many doubts as to which driver is capable of matching number one Red Bull driver, Max Verstappen. Many have come and failed but Tsunoda seems to have good prospects of being the one seeing how he is able to quickly adapt to new cars. Very excited to see his performance this year.
Team changes
Two teams have had major rebranding as mentioned earlier. Racing Point will now be known as Aston Martin Cognizant while Renault is now Alpine. Some key changes that come with the name change is colour. Aston Martin will race with British racing green colour and Alpine will pride themselves with the colours of the French flag. These two have had quite the battles in the last few years for the "Best of the Rest" position in the constructors championship. Very excited to see them go head to head on track especially since they will both have one relatively young driver (Lance Stroll vs Esteban Ocon) and extremely experienced world champions (Sebastian Vettel vs Fernando Alonso).
Expectations
Now, the moment you've been waiting for.... My predictions for the constructor championships~ (no driver standings because honestly it can be pretty unpredictable)
Team Standings
Mercedes
Red Bull
McLaren
Aston Martin
Alpine
Alpha Tauri
Ferrari
Williams
Alfa Romeo
Haas
I believe that a completely fresh driver lineup at Haas will do them some good but the car has already been built so there's not much other than to build data and learn from there. Hopeful for them in 2022, not so much for 2021....
The reason why Alfa Romeo is below Williams is simply because I am unsure of the reliability and strength of the Ferrari-powered engines. An engine can really make or break the car and since. Ferrari has been going down, I think they might lose out to the Mercedes-powered Williams.
Williams have been improving pretty rapidly and I trust in their upward growth and potentially see points this year! There have been a bunch of Q2 appearances for George Russell and Nicholas Latifi has finished P11 a few times, I really think 2021 will be the oasis in the desert for them.
Ferrari is just not doing too well in my opinion. I love Ferrari and have supported them since I first started watching F1 but whatever is going on with the car has been really sad. Not sure how good of a chassis they can come up with since they wanted to try something new this year which is very bold of them. With Leclerc and Sainz, they are both really good drivers and have. their merits but they tend to make poorly planned moves and pretty bad luck. So yeah, P7 for them.
Alpha Tauri with Gasly and Tsunoda is a superb combination. The Alpha Tauri car is also very competitive and with the right circumstances even won a race! They have potential to fight for that P3 in the constructors but not too sure about the Honda engine as compared to the Mercedes engines and Alpine.
Now this is where the competition gets tight. Honestly, this could be anyone's game but I decided to put them as McLaren, Aston Martin, and Alpine respectively. McLaren has made leaps and bounds in terms of progress. Since 2019, they've gotten 3 podiums and that was with a Renault engine. Now. imagine how many more they can get with a Mercedes engine. That's where the 2021 McLaren car comes in, along with the experience of Daniel Ricciardo. Aston Martin will follow closely behind but I think they might have a slow start to the season and then pull in big points towards the end. Lastly, Alpine in P6. I think they're great but the team has a very strange power play since they don't actually have a team principal. They are also the only one with a Renault engine so they might lose out a bit more than the others.
Obviously, the top two are Mercedes and Red Bull respectively. I don't think I need to clarify further. Even though Mercedes have shown some struggle during Winter Testing, I think they will have everything settled by the first race in Bahrain. Red Bull might be much closer in competition to Mercedes than previous years if Verstappen doesn't have a bad luck streak of getting knocked out by other people and Perez is able to withstand the pressure of being Red Bull's second driver and is able to hone the car to his strengths as he is quite a consistent driver.
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Monaco Grand Prix Preview
It’s funny how much more excited we all are for Monaco, having only missed it for one year. I feel like it shows that the sport cannot be without this track on its calendar, although some changes may need to be made to help the action. Or alternatively, other teams could follow McLaren’s lead to spice up the liveries!
Mercedes come to this iconic circuit, off the back of a start to the season which they didn’t expect, after Max took pole in Bahrain to start the year. They have shown though, that in race trim, with brilliant strategies, they can get the better of Red Bull, even if they aren’t as fast. Having said all that, the season is by no means over, Lewis only has a 14 point lead, which could evaporate with a single mistake! As always, Mercedes have said that they aren’t the favourites here, but past form suggests otherwise. They will be my pick to win, however Red Bull are not the only threats! I love the fact, that there is tension beginning to build between Lewis and Max, we need that if the title fight starts to get serious down the line, as we near Abu Dhabi!
I’m not sure whether to regard these first 4 races as a good start to the year for Red Bull, or not so positive, as whilst it has gone better than previous years, some wins have escaped their grasp, either through team or driver error. At least here there is no track limits to worry about! Today, Max was not happy with the car it seems, he wasn’t far off Mercedes, but felt that when they put a full lap together, Mercedes will be well ahead. This could be him sandbagging, however looking at how good the Mercedes was at Barcelona, it may well be true. Some good news though, is that Perez is fast around these streets, at least in FP1. So, even if they don’t have the out right pace, they could use strategy to mess with those ahead!
I can’t quite believe I am saying this, however, what if neither of the two teams I just mentioned are fastest here? Going off the times today, you would say that Ferrari are favourites here, as they were 4 tenths ahead of the rest, which is a big gap! We know that they have made massive improvements over last year, and considering the engine is still their main weakness, it makes sense for them to be fast here. That gap to the Mercedes, suggests that even if they did run higher engine modes and less fuel, they are still going to be close in qualifying. They are not my pick for the weekend, although if Leclerc can pull out one of his stellar laps again, pole isn’t out of the question! Sainz is doing well too, so I truly have no idea where they will end up, it would just be great to see Ferrari back where they deserve to be!
McLaren never show their hand too much in practice, so don’t read much into them being back in the pack, I would imagine they will be with Alpha Tauri, trying to get near Ferrari. Having started the year so well, being almost dominant in the mid field, they are now having some of their weaknesses exposed, or maybe it is just other teams improving and learning their cars. I do think it will be a year long fight between Ferrari and McLaren for 3rd in the constructors, as on power hungry tracks, the Mercedes engine in the McLaren can trounce the Ferrari. The key will be maximising the bad weekends, such as this one for the Woking team, to keep bringing in points!
Is this the weekend where Gasly finally gets a strong set of points? The car has shown promise, the execution has just been terrible, but once again here, Pierre has been able to hold pace near the front of the times. Much like Leclerc, he is able to pull one lap wonders out of the bag, which is crucial here, so what is possible for him? Tsunoda started with so much promise in his F1 career, it seemed as though he could channel is passion into brilliant pace and race craft, yet we have started to see scrapy drives from him in the past few races. Again, here in Monaco, he lost running in FP2 after he scraped the wall. He has to be careful, as the Red Bull driver programme doesn’t have much patience!
There may be some hope for Aston Martin here, as the low speed circuit, demands less of a high rake set up of the car, with chassis being more important. This has been backed up by some promising times today, especially from Vettel. Points should be on the cards for them here! They look to have swapped places with Alpine, who have admitted, that they lacked pace today, compared to other teams. They can take solace in the fact that this is a one off track, an outlier in the calendar, and the car looks much stronger in ‘normal’ conditions, so they may just have to suffer through this weekend!
I would be amazed if Alfa Romeo are as high up on Saturday, as we saw them today, however, with that Ferrari engine, you would say that this track should help them! I just think that they used more engine modes today, as we have seen before this year, although you never know, if one of the drivers put a lap together, they could be in the mix for points!
Williams, for their 750th race, may not really have as good a race as saw last time out in Spain, with George almost getting points! They are not miles away from the pack, but when we saw them in the mix in previous races, it has been clear to see from the start of the weekend! It is the same story as it has been all year for Haas, just let the drivers learn, build experience, and see what they can do! Unfortunately for Mick, the day didn’t end well, as he lost the rear end, and hit the wall in Massenet, ending his day early, and giving the team some work to do! In fact, with Mazepin beating him in both sessions, it wasn’t a great day for Schumacher, and we should give Nikita some credit for the job he did today.
It would be incredible to see 3 teams in the battle for the pole and win this weekend, but to be honest, I doubt we will get all of them up there, in with a shot in Monaco. The good thing to take from today, is that Ferrari are truly on the path back to the front, and with a regulation change, and them having more wind tunnel time, they could be at the front before we know it!
-M
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F1 drivers 2021
The drivers market seems to be almost over for what has been another crazy season.
Let’s start with Racing Point, who come 2021 will be racing as Aston Martin Racing. Lance Stroll keeps his seat. Being honest is he only there at this point because his dad owns the team. Who in this situation wouldn’t though? Sergio Perez is a better driver and over the last few races has made far less mistakes and had better results than what Stroll has. Lando Norris making comments about Stroll not learning, perhaps he doesn’t. I have seen him make the same mistakes and misjudgements time and time again over the last few years. Did he deserve to stay over Perez? No. Perez has been a consistent mid-pack driver for many years and that opportunity for himself to prove anything more has not come calling. I do hope this is not the end in F1 for him. Perez be released for Sebastian Vettel I don’t believe is the right decision. Vettel all 2020 season has been a long way behind his team mate both in qualifying and the race. Yes, not all season they have been running identical cars however from the outset he has been down and Leclerc’s times. He just isn’t the racer everyone thought he once was. In his Red Bull days, was it the car that made him look better than he is? He has continued to lock up regularly and made silly mistakes this season with him barely scrapping into the top ten and him missing out on Q3 and a regular basis. The results are not just down to the car.
As for Mercedes, who this past weekend earned their 7th consecutive constructor’s world title has signed Valtteri Bottas for next year. Many might say is this the right decision? Yes, it is, he has been plagued with bad luck this season. If his team mate wasn’t Lewis Hamilton would he be a world champion? Probably. I have always been a fan of his and when he was driving for Williams showed great promise for the future. Hamilton now has come out and passed doubt on his future in F1 beyond this season. For me this is an obvious choice of whom the seat should be given to. George Russell, he has got more out of the Williams than he probably should have done. His test for Mercedes at the end of last year was impressive and with him already being a Mercedes driver surely his future looks bright. His only opposition is Esteban Ocon, himself doing okay but really isn’t showing anything special. Would Hamilton go anywhere else but Mercedes or is this the end for Hamilton.
This would leave Williams needing a second driver. After a season that has seen the sad news of the team being sold and no longer a family business. They have seen improvements in the car, however still not where they need to be to be truly competitive. There is always the chance that one day soon they will return to fight in the top of the mid-pack like they did with Bottas and Felippe Massa. So Nicholas Latifi and? Surely the only option would be Perez. The team still lacking funds, one would presume and someone like Perez coming with backing would surely help the team move forward along with his experience and feedback.
Red Bull have been in a tough place all season. Max Verstappen doing it solo. The team with the second strongest car on the grid, with one future world champion and Alex Albon. Surely another falling foul of Red Bull bringing in drivers that are just to young and inexperienced to drive at the level they are requiring. Admittedly it worked with Verstappen but is a team really going to get that lucky twice? Albon hasn’t always had the easiest of races, being taken out by Hamilton or other drivers since being brought up from Alpha Tauri. He himself though has crashed into others and made mistakes, leaving him without scoring a point or well down the order. Red Bull need a driver up there with Verstappen to challenge the mighty Mercedes. My option would be to bring in Nico Hulkenberg. This season stepping in for both Racing Point drivers at different points and reportedly giving feedback to the team which has aided development. Is Hulkenberg a driver that just hasn’t been able to prove himself in a top team or is he just a great mid team driver? I hope he is given the opportunity to drive in 2021 with Red Bull.
Bringing us onto Alpha Tauri. They have already announced Pierre Gasly for the season, the right decision to make. He has had some good results and taken advantage of the opportunities given winning the race at the Italian Grand Prix. His future could be bright if he is given another opportunity at a top team in the future. Daniil Kvyat for me is done. He went form Toro Rosso up to Red Bull, didn’t live up to the requirements of a Red Bull driver back to Toro Rosso then lost his seat and didn’t race in 2018 and then back to Toro Rosso. I personally don’t see a future for him anywhere else than where he is. I would put Albon back into Alpha Tauri. He was asked to step up with little experience and just like Gasly didn’t live up to expectations and the demands of the team. They are both young drivers and still learning their craft and Alpha Tauri could give them the experience and build confidence for the future.
In early 2020, Ferrari made the decision of there drivers for 2021. Charles Leclerc remaining and the omitting of Vettel. Ferrari bring in Carlos Sainz from McLaren. Not a bad decision to bring him to the team however is Sainz regretting the decision. All season long the McLaren has looked stronger and faster than the Ferrari and anyone would bet on Ferrari getting back to race winning ways but how long will this take?
With Sainz going to Ferrari this left a seat alongside Norris at McLaren, another driver with so much talent and one of the most likeable drivers to watch pre- and post-race. McLaren are bringing in Daniel Ricciardo. This is going to be a strong team especially given that the McLaren will have a Mercedes engine.
Renault well, they went for the big surprise of 2020. The return of Fernando Alonso. The team in which he won back to back world titles in 2005 and 2006. In the second half of this season Renault have looked stronger earning two podium finishes. With conformation that Ocon will remain at the team for 2021 as well, both seats are taken. Will Ocon’s second run in F1 be fruitful or should he just of stayed gone?
This past week Alfa Romeo have announced no driver change for 2021. Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi remaining at the team. Honestly Raikkonen has nothing left to prove and racing just because he wants to. Giovinazzi hasn’t done much wrong this season making up places at the start consistently.
As for Haas. A fresh start in 2021, wanting to take the 2021 drivers into the 2022 season with all the changes coming. Drivers likely to be at the team are Mick Schumacher, who in my opinion could do with more time driving elsewhere before steeping up. I admit he has come a way in the last two seasons in F2 however you can still see flaws in his driving. In a previous FP1 he was supposed to drive for Alfa Romeo but due to whether wasn’t able to. Other drivers linked with Haas is Nikita Mazepin and Callum Illot, he himself during the same weekend as Schumacher was supposed to drive, he was to have the same opportunity in the Haas car.
Only time will tell who will really get the remaining seats.
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if you don't mind answering a non driver question. what's your opinion on the current f1 teams
Hell yeah I love answering all questions
I don’t think about teams too much because they all suck on a base level but we’ll keep it brief
Red Bull could set me on fire and I’d still support them. They’re ruthless and tough but it works and they’re successful. I think they’d be better off with Marko sniffing around, and maybe tone down the driver switching. But otherwise I don’t think I could fault them
Mercedes are dominant but I don’t think I rate them as a team. I think they handled the Hamilton/Rosberg drama badly and continue to handle team orders badly; if Bottas wasn’t such a team player the drama would have been strong. I’d also put money on them knowing about the V6 engine plans way before they happened and thats why they’ve had the best engine since the switch Any team that’s had ties to Ross Brawn cannot be trusted in my eyes
Ferrari are trash. They preach loyalty, yet don’t show it. They preach family, and don’t show it. They’ve never had a good car and only ‘dominated’ by other teams being bad and by cheating bending the rules. I would rather take a bullet than support this team.
McLaren are the same sort of hot trash as Red Bull but people like to pretend they aren’t. Ron Dennis was a dickhead but at least the team was successful under him. I think new McLaren is very different to old McLaren. They’ve made a mistake in signing Ricciardo but he’s also better than the obvious alternative so at least they have some brain cells. They should focus on F1 before they tried Indy out but what can you do
Williams is a team only middle aged, middle class, British white men support. If you support Williams what are you doing with your life. They need to forget their roots and do whats best for the team; find solid investment and not just whichever billionaire child wants a seat. Very strange how they went from top end of the midfield to so far back they were F2 front runners I will never truly understand. Just a mess. Not even a hot one.
Haas. Wish they were better but they’re just bad. They could do with an engine supplier change because the Ferrari just aint it. They could also do with a team principal change. Actually just throw away the team and start again. Their best assets are the drivers
Alfa Romeo. Nothing to say about them, just give me Sauber back.
Alpha Tauri can say they’re name is pronounced however we want but I will continue to read it as tory. They just a feeder team for Red Bull. I forget they exist most of the time. They should replace at least one of their drivers for next year, neither of them are very inspiring and they need fresh blood for the future.
Renault are a dumpster fire. Trashy, not classy. Soft spot for them because of the early 2000s. They make bad decisions and throw money around in stupid ways. They need to commit to drivers for more than 2 seasons, they need to give someone a long term contract to build around them. I would love to see them do well again but I think its a few years off at the minimum
Racing Point. Get rid of the owners son, sign a good driver instead. For now they should build around Perez, he’s fast and experienced. They’ve always been a fighty team, right back to when it was Jordan (honestly the crew has barely changed since then). I don’t like their name or the way one of their drivers is there just because of who he is. Will be interesting to see them effectively become Aston Martin, would be lovely to see them do well.
#the teams are all trash just varying levels#I dont care for the teams except red bull#im more of a driver kind of boy#f1#Anonymous
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Spanish Grand Prix Preview
For the first time since 2014, Barcelona did not host pre-season testing, even still this track should present a true representation of the running order in 2021, given the wide ranging corners and straights it has! So, can Red Bull show they are a threat this year, or will Mercedes continue to dominate at this venue?
It is unlikely Mercedes will dominate, but they could well be the fastest car this weekend, they had a really productive day of practice, with their car looking fast, although slightly edgy. The gap to the midfield should not be read too much into I think, as it can probably be explained with engine modes. Once again, the race pace of that car should be where it excels, so if Max can get pole, it could be a tight battle for the win, with pit stops being all important, on a track where overtaking is rare! Bottas is on form in practice, after a tough race last weekend, although it wouldn’t be the first time he looked good on Friday, to then fall off later on!
Where Red Bull stand is not clear, you would have to expect them to be ahead of McLaren and Ferrari, however I don’t get the feeling they have what it takes to challenge Mercedes, on a track they go so well on. The car does look stable, apart from the new Turn 10, where Verstappen really throws the car into it, but we have seen before the unstable Mercedes be faster! Over one lap they may have a chance, if they can nail it, however, the race is where I am worried, that they may fall back. Despite saying that this track would show the running order for the year, if Red Bull can be close, then they are still in with a chance, however Max’s mistake in Bahrain, and Portugal for that matter, may look more panful than before! Perez is settling in well to a car we know is tough to tame, I think that for them to win here, they need to have two cars in the fight this race, which could be possible!
As per usual, McLaren do their fair share of sandbagging on Friday, even more than the top teams, so you have to expect another fairly strong weekend from them, hopefully I’m not jinxing it! The other good news, is that Daniel was near to Lando today, which may suggest that he is starting to unlock the pace of the car, and drive it naturally. This would be a worrying prospect for the other teams, as Norris on his own has destroyed the midfield, so with two of them, who knows what will happen. That being said, the threat from Ferrari and Alpine cannot be underestimated, as they understand their cars more!
Being within two tenths of the top time in FP2, must be very satisfying for Maranello, despite the knowledge that they will pull away come tomorrow. I really feel that there is momentum in the team, which given their focus on 2022 already, plus the extra wind tunnel time, is very ominous for the new regulations. Focusing back on the present, if McLaren are on form again here, it may be hard for Ferrari to catch them, so they need to focus on the start and pit strategy, as well as those medium tyres which hurt them in Portugal! Sainz is already up to speed, so if Daniel is not quite yet, they could try a pincer movement on the lone McLaren, to try and top the midfield here!
The fact that we are disappointed that Ferrari is fourth fastest, but pleased when Alpine is fifth, given they are both big manufacturers, just shows what our expectations are from the French outfit. At least they have a good result in Portugal to build on, which seems to be continuing here, their aim should be points, although with Alpha Tauri on their heels, it won’t be easy! We spent last year, wondering if a year out had cost Ocon his pace, yet it has come back to him now, it just took longer than we expected, and will be keeping Alonso on his toes!
I do feel for Alpha Tauri, we spent all of pre-season testing hyping them up, saying that the rule changes would shoot them to the front of the midfield. But whilst we have seen pace from them, especially on a Saturday from Gasly, it has never materialised into points, and with Alpine resurging, anything more than fringe points may be tough! It is a similar story for Tsunoda, who flew in testing, making us think he would do incredible things in that car; however, he does seem to be overdriving it now, possibly due to them not scoring points! Meanwhile, Gasly is just doing all he can to rack up points, being a solid driver, deserving of more, but lowly points may be all he can aim for again in Barcelona!
Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo are pretty equal in the pecking order, although in much different situations, Aston Martin is dropping due to the rule changes, aimed at the team they were copying, which they have no reason to complain about! Whereas Alfa Romeo are on the up, aided by an improved Ferrari engine, hoping to score some points. However, on a two by two track like this, where drama is rare, I can’t see points being a possibility for them, unless we get some first lap crashes!
Williams have fallen back from the pace we saw in Imola, and Saturday in Portimao, which hints that for most of the year, this is where they will be. At least they aren’t last though, and I hope they are focusing on 2022, to get right back in the fight! Haas actually showed some real promise last time out, with Mick driving brilliantly, saying he could have actually done better, and passed both Williams! He isn’t that far off them here in practice, so who knows if he can get in a tussle with them this weekend!
Spain is not a thriller of a racetrack, at least on Sunday, so qualifying will be crucial, as well as pit stops, however with a long run off the start into Turn 1, the grid order isn’t guaranteed to stay put in the race! Red Bull are 2-1 down so far, and the signs aren’t looking good so far here, but don’t assume anything this year, as we have already had our fair share of drama!
-M
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Portuguese Grand Prix Preview
F1 is at the stunning Portimao track, for not only Round 3 of the championship, but Round 3 of the fascinating duel, between Mercedes and Red Bull. With a win each, who can get the upper hand here, as the races start to come thick and fast?
We saw last year that this was a track which suited Mercedes very well, so this could be a much closer affair here, than at Imola, with cool temperatures, hard tyres, and a smooth track surface, adding to the equation. This was proved today, as Mercedes topped both sessions, although Hamilton was struggling with a loose rear end throughout the day. The race pace, as we have always seen in the hybrid era, is where they come on strong, so even if Max gets pole, watch out for the two Silver Arrows to be chasing him on Sunday! Despite smooth tracks suiting Bottas, with Lewis having to give his all to fight Red Bull, I would honestly be surprised if Valtteri can match him, but he should be close!
Horner said that here and Barcelona, given they have always been good tracks for Mercedes, will be the true ‘acid test’, as to what their chances are in 2021, and he is right, as if we see big gains in the next two weekends from them, it could really put Mercedes under pressure! The day was not flawless from Red Bull though, as Verstappen lost some time in FP2, with a Brake by Wire issue. That being said, when he was able to run, he was there on pace with the German cars, and his car looked much less squirrely! I think the weather could be their Achilles heel this weekend, as we know that Mercedes do better in cooler conditions, even if they are without DAS. I think Max is favourite for pole, but the race could be a whole other story, whilst Perez should be ahead of the midfield really, both on Saturday and Sunday!
As we saw in Imola, McLaren have been quiet on Friday, not wanting to chase headlines, and as it worked for them last time, we should all expect the same here! That being said there will be other teams wanting to catch them off guard, who could pose a real threat! Norris is one of the stars of the season so far, and especially over one lap, so he could get close to the leaders on Saturday! As for his new teammate, hopefully he can start to build a rhythm with the car, and extract from it the pace we know he should be able to bring. Once that happens, the others better watch out, as we know how good Daniel was at Red Bull, when he was fighting for good points and podiums!
Ferrari may be the most impressive team of 2021, although that says more about 2020 than anything else, but the way they have bounced back, shows the strength and belief they have, which could really push them forward into the new regulations. Their pace today, suggests they will once again be 4th fastest car this weekend, their main challenge will be countering the blows that McLaren send at them, to try and be best of the rest. Sainz has adapted rather well to his new environment, the conditions in Imola hid his progress! So, as we return to a more normal weekend, he may be able to really close on Charles here!
Alpine came almost out of nowhere today, to be comfortably in the top 10 in FP2, showing true pace over one lap. Obviously, we did see Alonso make Q3 in Bahrain, so it shouldn’t be a shock, however it does hint at gains being made, as they do need to get their act together soon! I can’t see them matching McLaren or Ferrari, although with a gap opening up behind those two, they could easily slip in there, to try and save some face for Groupe Renault! We should also remember that this is practice, and it could all be different come tomorrow afternoon!
Alpha Tauri on the other hand, look to have slipped back further into the clutches of the midfield, with the obvious caveat I just mentioned about Friday running! The start of the season has been disappointing, as there have been opportunities to score a bucket load of points, in the first two rounds, and be on par with McLaren and Ferrari, but they haven’t got it. This year is by no means a right off, as we know the car should work well, with its high rake philosophy, they just need to get it to work, and more importantly, grab the points they deserve. As for here in Portimao, a couple of points may be all they can achieve!
Everything that can be said has already been said about Aston Martin, with their low rake car, the more pressing issue, is that Vettel just cannot get the car to work like Stroll can. It is unclear what the issue is, but we know from the past that he has struggled to adapt to new cars, so it could just be that. Either way, points would be a brilliant result for the team, who are trying to salvage all they can from 2021.
Alfa Romeo will be in a similar position, in trying to scrap for the edge of the points, although it is still better than what they were doing a year ago. They just need to watch out for Williams who are improving at a rate of knots! Speaking of Williams, with George up in P13 in practice, could this be another weekend where they are close to the points? I don’t think they are as fast as they were in Imola, but if we see some chaos, who knows what could happen!
Portimao was able to produce a pretty good race last year, with the long straight being perfect for overtaking, although the DRS may have been too long! Now that we have come back, with a tighter field spread, and a battle up front, who knows what we could see come Sunday!
-M
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Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Preview
As the sport returns again to an historic track, will it be Red Bull this time with the upper hand after their form at Bahrain? Or have Mercedes found answers after being on the back foot at the season opener?
If Red Bull wanted to keep its momentum up, as they try to bring down the might of Mercedes, today didn’t really do much to help that cause. It was close between the two in FP1, however FP2 really threw a spanner in the works, as Verstappen’s car stopped early on with a broken driveshaft. This meant we do not know where they stack up against the rest, and neither do they, which could leave them on catch up for the rest of the weekend. They will likely be in the mix for pole and the win, although with the Silver Arrows looking improved, it could be a more difficult proposition. I have a feeling that Perez will be more in the fight this time around, we saw glimpses of pace at Round 1, so now after some time to digest that, he may be able to fit in better with the car.
After today’s running, are Mercedes favourites for the win? They may well be, at least they are much closer than what we would have thought yesterday. The car looks more planted and stable here, which was their main issue at Bahrain, it is possible that the first round was an outlier, although I don’t think anyone hopes it was. If they are ahead it won’t be by much, as the Red Bull does look quick too, so expect another tense battle for the win. Bottas has continued his good form here from last year, where damage was what cost him the win, let’s just hope he can keep it up when it counts!
The midfield may have a similar pattern to 3 weeks ago, as Ferrari and Alpha Tauri have stellar one lap pace, however McLaren could well be saving their energy for the race, where it really matters. The Woking based team showed no signs of qualifying pace today, which could be slightly worrying, given how hard it is to overtake here, especially compared to Bahrain. They may just be keeping their powder dry at the moment, but I don’t see any major gains in not seeing what you have.
Ferrari have to be boosted by the form we saw today, with Sainz able to back up Leclerc, they will be a force to be reckoned with, for the other teams in the mix. The crash from Leclerc should not have done that much harm, he didn’t lose any laps compared to his rivals, and the damage is not major really. I would not be at all surprised if they top the midfield this weekend, although another Italian team will want to one up them here.
Having spent so much time testing here, this surely is their best shot for Alpha Tauri to be third best team for a weekend, all year, unless another track particularly suits their car. Given how well they raced here last year, you would imagine they have a good shot. It could be a tantalising fight between them and Ferrari, and their strong line up should be able to be a thorn in the side of the Scuderia.
Behind these three teams, Aston Martin and Alpine are settling into positions in the pecking order that they shouldn’t really be in. Aston Martin has been hurt with the regulation changes for this year, which makes their slump more understandable, although there is no reason to start throwing your toys out of the pram about it! You have to remember that they only got to where they were through copying Mercedes’ car, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the regulations will be aimed at slowing them down. As for Alpine, it is a continuing saga of mediocrity for a manufacturer team which should be on the up, if it weren’t for the fact that it keeps restructuring the team every year. Both of these teams will be battling for the last few points this weekend most likely, although there was some hope for Alpine after Alonso’s great pace at the first race.
Alfa Romeo have really been able to drag themselves away from the bottom pack, I don’t see points being easy for them, given how many fast teams are ahead of them, but the odd point is possible. Williams’ plan to focus on specific weekends to try and get points, means we don’t know where they will be at any given weekend, until we ascertain which tracks, they have focused on. Their pace does look improved here, so we could see them battling nearer the pack on this occasion. Could they finally grab some points?
Not much to say about Haas really, a tough year has only just begun for them, Mazepin continued to struggle behind the wheel of the car today, spinning a fair few times. His woes only accentuate how well Mick is doing to keep it on the track, and get some pace out of it.
This tight and twisty track, is unlikely to give a thriller of a race, like we saw at Bahrain. Although if we get some rain like has been predicted, that could all change, plus even in the dry there are many storylines to watch out for, throughout the field!
-M
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Bahrain Grand Prix Review
What a way to start the season! The first race of the year, has given us so many reasons to be excited about 2021, and reminded us of why we love F1, even if the FIA continue to be inconsistent in the policing of the rules!
Let’s get straight to the big talking point, which seems to have angered a lot of fans, the Turn 4 track limits situation. Firstly, I want to make it clear, that there is no reason to lay any blame on Mercedes. After talking to other teams and drivers, it appears that down the paddock, different teams interpreted what the FIA was saying in different ways, so it wasn’t Mercedes intentionally cheating! The problem is, that the FIA do not seem to have a hard and fast rule on track limits, it is fluid, and even when they do set out a plan, they don’t always stick to it.
From what I heard, track limits were not mentioned in the drivers briefing for the race, so some teams assumed the rules from qualifying carried over and some did not. Then during the race, it looks from the outside, that the FIA only started looking at Turn 4, after Red Bull told Max to start using it, because they realised Mercedes were. This kind of lack of awareness and communication, makes it look as though they are favouring teams when they are not. Just to clarify, I agree with the decision to tell Max to let Lewis through, as he went off track to help complete the manoeuvre, even if he was already ahead as he went out of bounds. The one that I question, is that Hamilton apparently went off track there 30 times, with only a warning, was this because he did not gain an advantage for most of them, or the FIA took too long to pick up on it? I hope it is the former, as this will not affect the racing, but if it is the latter, the FIA really need to get their act together, before we get a more farcical situation.
As I said, it is likely that Turn 4 did not determine the outcome of the race, and even if it did, Red Bull cannot claim they had a faultless race on their part. This is because, Mercedes showed today why they are champions, as they used aggressive strategy to put Red Bull under pressure, despite not having their car pace. This left Verstappen with a lot of work to do, and meant he had to do risky moves, like the one we saw, which cost him the race win. Admittedly I can’t see too much that Horner and the team could have done, apart from maybe saving the mediums for the end of the race, and pitting Max earlier for the last stop, as an almost 9 second gap to close up, is a lot to do, when you also have to pass the car.
The drive by Lewis was also incredible, holding off Verstappen for so long, making him use up tyres, until he was unable to pass him anymore. Best of all, it has set us up for a hopefully season long battle between those two teams, which could go right down to the wire. Their teammates may not be too far off either, as Bottas did not have a terrible race in terms of pace, he was just screwed by the long pitstop, without that he would have been within 10 seconds of the win, which whilst not being where he needs to be, is an improvement on before. Perez made up for a tough Saturday, with an inspired drive from the pitlane to P5, this shows that his race pace is up there with the leaders, so once he can get on top of the one lap pace, he could be able to help his teammate more often.
As expected, McLaren were there when it mattered, Lando started well, got past Leclerc and Gasly, and was off into the distance, grabbing a useful haul of points in P4. Daniel did not have his teammates pace, with tyre wear holding him back from pushing more, nevertheless, P7 is not bad for his first race with the team, I am sure he will only improve from there.
2020 was dismal for the Scuderia, their worst since 1980, and whilst they are not back where they need to be, 2021 has started off much stronger. The car seems to be better in all areas, and they could actually be the biggest threat to McLaren if they keep progressing like this. Leclerc got all he could from the car, as Sainz admitted he took it easy today, to make sure he finished and learnt from it. As they head home to Imola, can they keep this up?
If Alpha Tauri are disappointed with just 2 points, they should take it as a compliment, Gasly was where he needed to be for the race, however he made the smallest mistake, clipped Ricciardo and broke his front wing. Who knows what race pace he had, although I expect maybe not as good as McLaren’s? Tsunoda should come away from this weekend proud of his work, he got into Q2 yesterday, and fought back from a tough lap 1, overtaking many cars in the chaotic midfield, to score some points. The future looks very bright for him, if he can keep building from this.
Aston Martin may have been hurt the most with the regulation change, as Mercedes have the might to reclaim a lot of their lost performance. The car, which was third fastest last year, may now only be sixth or even seventh in the pecking order. Stroll was able to grab the last point today, but that was only as result of Alonso’s brake issues, and Ocon’s crash with Vettel, which pretty much summed up the 4 time champions weekend, as he careered into the back of the Frenchman. It could be a tough road ahead for them, until 2022 comes into view.
Alfa Romeo may not have any points to their name yet, however with their pace, and where they finished overall, it might as well feel like it. They have jumped clear of Williams and Haas, and should be in with a chance of a good haul of points this year. Alpine have had a rough start to their time in F1, the car has pace at least, with Alonso reaching the top 10, and staying there until his brake issue. I don’t think they will be as strong as they were last year, although with Alonso anything is possible.
Williams never really featured in the race, apart from the odd battle with cars exiting the pits, their pace looked on the whole better, as Russell was not far off the midfield pack. I wonder if they now need to focus fully on next year, to try and boost up the field. Haas’ race was tougher than even we had expected, Mazepin once again this weekend lost the car and crashed, with Mick also spinning early on, before settling into a rhythm. Hopefully he has learnt a lot from today, doing a full race, and can be nearer the pack in the future, although it is unlikely.
Compared to the usual procession in Melbourne, this was a much more enjoyable way to start the campaign. When you look back at 2020, it was an incredible season, with many great races, and story lines, all it missed was a title fight at the front. Now, with everyone’s cards laid on the table, we might get just that, on top of action throughout the field. Is it too late to cancel the 2022 regulations?
-M
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