F1 2021 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
Heartbreaking for Verstappen who rode a perfect race. What a talent this guy has.
Hard to think of anyone in F1 I feel less sorry for. Those dominant Mercs covered up his personal failings for years.
What a race that was yesterday. I forgot to comment here at the end of it, but watched it live and well it was interesting race to watch throughout but the end was really special. I was devastated for Verstappen to go out like he did after doing a great race up until that point, especially as it was going to hand a significant points advantage to his main title rival, which you never like to see as a result of mechanical reasons. So the relief when Lewis failed to make that turn 1 corner was something else. I'm not really supporting either, but I'd like to see these 2 keep as close as possible for the majority of the season, and I want it decided by on track racing as much as possible, not mechanical failures. Very rare for Lewis to make a mistake like he did, and I was convinced he was going to win on that restart, and he initially did get away excellently.
Delighted for the drivers who did make it to the podium. Race win for Perez, delivering on the Red Bull's decision to hire outside their driver program. He had a great race before that, obviously he got some luck to get the win, but he deserved a podium regardless. Seb delivering the first Aston Martin podium since their return was also great to see. He's a likeable guy, and it was grim seeing his end to his Ferrari career and his early races for Aston Martin too, so happy he's gotten comfortable with the car and seemingly full of confidence in his driving ability yet again. Also the Gasly redemption arc continues, he's been so impressive back at Alpha Tauri. It's just a matter of time before he'll get a bigger seat if he doesn't want to wait for a Red Bull opening again. However I'm not sure there are many midfield cars better than the Alpha Tauri at the moment, but that can all change next year.
Delighted for the drivers who did make it to the podium. Race win for Perez, delivering on the Red Bull's decision to hire outside their driver program. He had a great race before that, obviously he got some luck to get the win, but he deserved a podium regardless. Seb delivering the first Aston Martin podium since their return was also great to see. He's a likeable guy, and it was grim seeing his end to his Ferrari career and his early races for Aston Martin too, so happy he's gotten comfortable with the car and seemingly full of confidence in his driving ability yet again. Also the Gasly redemption arc continues, he's been so impressive back at Alpha Tauri. It's just a matter of time before he'll get a bigger seat if he doesn't want to wait for a Red Bull opening again. However I'm not sure there are many midfield cars better than the Alpha Tauri at the moment, but that can all change next year.
Haas team boss Guenther Steiner says Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin have "cleared the air" following a dangerous maneuver by the latter over his teammate on the run to the checkered flag in Baku.
The pair were engaged in a fight for P14 in the final two laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the restart, with Mazepin heading Schumacher.
However, the German got a run on his teammate as they charged down the main straight to the finish line, but Mazepin suddenly weaved towards Schumacher who nevertheless got the better of the Russian, beating him to the checkered flag by just 0.07s.
But an angry Schumacher immediately radioed in to complain about Mazepin's antics.
"What the feck was that, honestly?" he said. "Seriously, does he want to kill us?”
"Understood Mick, chequered flag," replied his engineer.
Mazepin revealed that he had ran out of battery energy on the run towards the checkered flag and felt frustrated to lose the position.
"The main thing is I’m a little bit upset about losing my position to the teammate on the main straight," Mazepin said.
"I ran out of battery there, so I was a bit of a sitting passenger, but it is what it is."
Addressing the incident in Haas' post-race press release, Steiner said the Mazepin's maneuver had been the result of a "misunderstanding".
"There was a situation on the straight, that was all resolved, and we’ve cleared the air," Steiner said. "There was some misunderstanding, but we’re fine and all moving on from it."
The pair were engaged in a fight for P14 in the final two laps of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the restart, with Mazepin heading Schumacher.
However, the German got a run on his teammate as they charged down the main straight to the finish line, but Mazepin suddenly weaved towards Schumacher who nevertheless got the better of the Russian, beating him to the checkered flag by just 0.07s.
But an angry Schumacher immediately radioed in to complain about Mazepin's antics.
"What the feck was that, honestly?" he said. "Seriously, does he want to kill us?”
"Understood Mick, chequered flag," replied his engineer.
Mazepin revealed that he had ran out of battery energy on the run towards the checkered flag and felt frustrated to lose the position.
"The main thing is I’m a little bit upset about losing my position to the teammate on the main straight," Mazepin said.
"I ran out of battery there, so I was a bit of a sitting passenger, but it is what it is."
Addressing the incident in Haas' post-race press release, Steiner said the Mazepin's maneuver had been the result of a "misunderstanding".
"There was a situation on the straight, that was all resolved, and we’ve cleared the air," Steiner said. "There was some misunderstanding, but we’re fine and all moving on from it."
He'll never get an offer to go to Red Bull again, I think those bridges have been burnt. The only step I feel he'll make is to Alpine in the future.
I think if he keeps performing as he does, or even improving, he may have to get an offer to go back there, probably when they decide to move on from Perez. However I'm not sure Gasly will stick around that long or even be willing to go back to the team where you will be in Verstappen's shadow. I agree Alpine would make sense, there's the obvious French connection, however presently that would be a step down so a move like that would massively depend on the fortunes of each team after the new regulations. Alpine being a works team certainly has the potential on paper.
Sergio Perez revealed that he was on the verge of having to retire from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but held on just long enough to cross the line and claim his first victory for Red Bull.
"We were close to retiring the car, but luckily we managed to finish the race," he told the media in parc ferme immediately after a dramatic finish to the street race in Baku. "It was quite difficult all the way until the end."
Immediately after claiming the chequered flag, Perez was told to stop straight away at pit exit in turn 1 rather than continue with the usual cool-down lap on the way back to pit lane.
It meant that Perez had to make his way back to the paddock on foot to receive the congratulations of the team for stepping in and delivering victory after Max Verstappen suffered a late tyre failure.
Red Bull principal Christian Horner explained that Perez had been suffering from a hydraulic problem in the final laps of the race and nearly didn't complete the final two-lap shoot-out following the red flag stoppage for Verstappen's exit.
"He was nursing an hydraulic issue," Horner stated. "We were really concerned that the car wouldn't get to the end of the race, which is why he stopped after the chequered flag.
"You thought that we could only lose when they got the restart, but thankfully it all worked out tremendously well, and Sergio did a great, great job.
"We were close to retiring the car, but luckily we managed to finish the race," he told the media in parc ferme immediately after a dramatic finish to the street race in Baku. "It was quite difficult all the way until the end."
Immediately after claiming the chequered flag, Perez was told to stop straight away at pit exit in turn 1 rather than continue with the usual cool-down lap on the way back to pit lane.
It meant that Perez had to make his way back to the paddock on foot to receive the congratulations of the team for stepping in and delivering victory after Max Verstappen suffered a late tyre failure.
Red Bull principal Christian Horner explained that Perez had been suffering from a hydraulic problem in the final laps of the race and nearly didn't complete the final two-lap shoot-out following the red flag stoppage for Verstappen's exit.
"He was nursing an hydraulic issue," Horner stated. "We were really concerned that the car wouldn't get to the end of the race, which is why he stopped after the chequered flag.
"You thought that we could only lose when they got the restart, but thankfully it all worked out tremendously well, and Sergio did a great, great job.
He burned his bridges internally with the team, and specifically Adrian Newey, I'm pretty confident they won't be offering him anything again. He would have been ahead of Perez in the picking ground after his best ever season last year. That should tell you everything about his relationship internally with Red Bull.
Bottas is not solid. Look at Perez protecting Max from Hamilton at the front 3 while Bottas was back in 10th place!
Surely if he's on the way out the team he should step up so he can get signed?
He's a confidence driver, he has never been good once his confidence is knocked. If he leaves Mercedes one of the mid pack will pick him up just to get some Mercedes knowledge for a season or two, he's still a quick driver on his day, he just has no business being in a top car anymore.
Fair point. He has been terrible.
Rosberg was so much closer to Hamilton. Although still always behind, apart from that one freak season.
Except if Bottas brings in a lot of sponsorship money, why would anyone want to hire him for 2022 if Mercedes kick him out? He's not up-and-coming, a proven winner, or anything like that. Given his performances over the past few years, why would anyone think he'd be a good addition to the team?
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We'll find out for definite by the summer break as Mercedes said they will finalise their line up for next season by the summer.
I think Lewis will extend for 2 years and Bottas will be extended for 1 more season possibly his last after this with Mercedes.
Two reasons for this, 1) Keeping Lewis happy. Bottas is a known quantity for Lewis, Russell isnt.
2) More importantly, the biggest changes in F1 for 30 years. Ground Effect areo returns after being banned in 1982. 18 inch tyres, no tyre blankets, torsion bars, heave springs and inerters banned. Gearboxs frozen from development till 2025. Engines frozen from development till 2026. One set of pads and discs per race. Cars in park femme from start of FP3. Sliding scale for aero wind tunnel time and CAD time depending on how well you do in the Constructors championship the season just ending. Theres loads more stuff, without doubt the biggest changes for 30 years to F1.
The cars will be heavier and slower by up to 4-6 seconds compared to this season. All of the above mean its essential that you have known reference points for your new cars. Hence i think Bottas will stay as he is a known reference for the team, experienced and Russell isnt. Otherwise if it wasn't for the huge rule changes id expect to see Russell in the other seat.
Regardless, someons is going to nail / come up with a unique idea ala brawn double diffuser and no-one knows who that will be. You can't really rule any team out. Therefore stability in your driver lineup will be key, hence i expect to see pretty much the same lineup for all the teams next season. Its why Alonso came back and went to Alpine and Seb to Aston Martin because you might just get luckily for one season and end up a WC like Button did with Brawn.
Long winded explanation of why i think Bottas will stay next season. Btw personally i don't rate him as a driver.
I think Lewis will extend for 2 years and Bottas will be extended for 1 more season possibly his last after this with Mercedes.
Two reasons for this, 1) Keeping Lewis happy. Bottas is a known quantity for Lewis, Russell isnt.
2) More importantly, the biggest changes in F1 for 30 years. Ground Effect areo returns after being banned in 1982. 18 inch tyres, no tyre blankets, torsion bars, heave springs and inerters banned. Gearboxs frozen from development till 2025. Engines frozen from development till 2026. One set of pads and discs per race. Cars in park femme from start of FP3. Sliding scale for aero wind tunnel time and CAD time depending on how well you do in the Constructors championship the season just ending. Theres loads more stuff, without doubt the biggest changes for 30 years to F1.
The cars will be heavier and slower by up to 4-6 seconds compared to this season. All of the above mean its essential that you have known reference points for your new cars. Hence i think Bottas will stay as he is a known reference for the team, experienced and Russell isnt. Otherwise if it wasn't for the huge rule changes id expect to see Russell in the other seat.
Regardless, someons is going to nail / come up with a unique idea ala brawn double diffuser and no-one knows who that will be. You can't really rule any team out. Therefore stability in your driver lineup will be key, hence i expect to see pretty much the same lineup for all the teams next season. Its why Alonso came back and went to Alpine and Seb to Aston Martin because you might just get luckily for one season and end up a WC like Button did with Brawn.
Long winded explanation of why i think Bottas will stay next season. Btw personally i don't rate him as a driver.
Nice post, some excellent points, when he is on form Bottas is an excellent driver, if he had been in the Merc and Lewis, I think he would have had 1 maybe 2 WC.
There was a post earlier saying unless Bottas brings in a load of sponsorship money, who would take him? I think a few mid table teams would take him, if Russell went to Mercedes, Bottas would be the favorite to swap.
Lewis I agree is not going anywhere, even if he wins this season, he will want to drive the new car, I have no doubt he has put masses of input in to its build, the same as all the other drivers will have done.
Everybody is saying this season is the best for a long time and I think they are right, but 2022 is going to be even better.
Surely Russel cant just keep content at Williams beyond this season and wait forever for that Merc's seat to open up for him. He is done everything he can do at Williams, lasting there beyond this year is just wasting another year of his career which looks like he will tbh.
All good points, my only thoughts in the other direction is would Mercedes potentially risk Russell moving to another team for the sake of another year of Bottas.
Theres nowhere to go to though. Everyone is pretty much locked in for 2022 other than Mercedes. Besides Russell is contracted to Mercedes stable and on loan to Williams.
RB - no chance for Russell there as Perez has won a race. More than alboin and gasly managed.
AT - no chance for him there as its RB sister team and they aren't going to lose Gasly. Tsundoa is there because of Honda.
AM - no space there. They aint going to get rid of vettel and lance as daddy owns the team.
Ferrari - not gonna happen.
Alpine - Alonso isnt going anywhere. Not sure about Ocon. Gasly is probably a dream signing for the team. But if your Russell do you really want Alonso as a teammate?
AR - They need Kimi for next season and giovanazzi s a ferrari driver.
MC- Nailed in for Lando and Danny Ric.
Haas - Mick there courtesy of Ferrari and mazespin has mega bucks behind him.
Williams - Russell's own seat and latifi whos billionaire dad bought a percentage of the team.
There is literally nowhere for Russell to go other than Merc and same applies to Bottas i.e. Williams. Therefore Wolff can keep Russell at Williams for another season. Besides Williams wont want to lose their own reference point for the car. Latifi is nowhere near Russell on most weekends.
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As bad as Bottas was this past weekend. He was heading for a Podium and a P2 ? in Monaco where Lewis was nowhere himself and going backwards. It was just one of those weekends for Valtteri. Remember when Lewis won the championship in Mexico 2017 in 9th having been struggling further down the pack. It happens.
Real reason Red Bull called for the red flag was to get Perez in to change tires without dropping a place and also to see if the rest of the race could be called off. If the race gets called off, they'll take the position from the previous lap which would have meant Max gets the win.
There would have been outrage from fans the world round if Max had been given that win despite crashing out. Hotrible ruling the count back is. Should exclude anyone who cause the red flag incident.
The reason for the call of the red flag was that he had a significant hydraulic issue that they were managing which, under red flag conditions, they could address and patch up in the pit lane. The tyre call was a bit of a smokescreen. It's why Perez was told to stop the car so quickly after turn one after taking the chequered flag.
Yeah, I know Red Bull wanted it to help Perez, it was why race control decided to go for a red flag rather than just continuing with a safety car given that a red flag is normally thrown if there is damage to barriers and I don't think there was. My initial thought was that they didn't want to risk the race ending under a safety car and wanted a more exciting finish, so cynically threw a red flag but pausing the race because half the field might be on unsafe tyres and there'd be no warning if they were about to burst is a much more valid reason. Given Pirelli later said that they found a large cut on Hamilton's rear left, it was 100% the right call from them.
Pirelli said Hamilton rear left had a deep cut on it. So we dont know if he would have had a blow out as well.
To be honest I don't think any of that really makes a difference. There will be zero reference points for the car apart from the powertrain (which Russell already uses)
The cars are completely changing, what better way than to give Russell his chance to step up on an even playing field?
I think it's clear Russell has given them an ultimatum, give him a chance or let him leave. With the way Bottas is performing right now there is no way they keep him. He's closer to 10th than he is to 1st in nearly all the races this year!
I think Hamilton stays another year, if not 2. Russell will be their lead driver when he goes.
What will a russell ultimatum achieve if there are no seats available other than bottas's seat at Merc next season. Theres a reason why we will have a static grid for next season. All the money is going towards the 2022 cars. Its the biggest chance in god knows how long, to upset the established order.
Russell is hot commodity, teams will be fighting to take him if Mercedes released him.
Obviously in his situation he'd probably have to be 'content' with another year at Wiliams, but he's making noises already that he's not happy sitting at the back. I don't blame him either.
When he looks across at Norris who was his rival in F2 he's seen him walk into Mclaren and become a star. Russell was just as highly rated if not more at that point, he's done his learning at Williams and needs to take the next step.
I think Mercedes know Bottas is a busted flush now, they'll move him on this summer i'm sure of that.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrari-2022-power-unit-ambitions/
Ferrari plan to go in a different direction to the 'split turbo' setup used by Mercedes and Honda (and Renault next year).
It will either result in the best engine on the grid or a realisation that they made a collosal cockup. Roll on 2022 season.
Ferrari plan to go in a different direction to the 'split turbo' setup used by Mercedes and Honda (and Renault next year).
It will either result in the best engine on the grid or a realisation that they made a collosal cockup. Roll on 2022 season.
What teams? He's not going to go to Haas who has a worse car than the Williams.
All the Ferrari powered teams are out and so are the red bulls. That leaves him with Renault, Aston Martin and McLaren. McLaren aren't going to can Lando for Russell and given how much they're paying for Ric, he's not going to be sacked either. Stroll isn't going to sack his son or a former 4 time world champion who just got them their first ever podium. That leaves him with Alpine, who'll be aiming for Gasly if they're moving on from Ocon, because Alonso brings in way more sponsorship money than Russell.
With 2022 we don't know who will rise to the top yet, Williams might end up being an upper mid table team yet so maybe he'll be happy.
Ricciardo only has a 2 year contract so 2023 they could get rid and Russell would slot in nicely, Norris and Russell could be a great young team to drive Mclaren on. The new Button/Hamilton maybe?
Gasly is definitely an option for Alpine but he seems pretty happy at Torro Rosso, they might prefer to go the free agent option of Russell who IMO is even more talented.
Anyway this is all hypothetical, I'm 99% confident Mercedes will be getting rid of Bottas at the end of year and giving Russell his spot. From some accounts it was pretty close to happening this season already, but they wanted to let Bottas see out his contract.
Are there any F1 sites/YouTube channels/podcasts anyone can recommend? I’ve been watching Drive to Survive on Netflix and realising there’s a lot more behind the scenes that is really interesting
Honestly the F1 Youtube Channel is pretty good now - they went and got Craig Scarborough, and do some really good technical analysis as well as behind the scenes interviews etc.
Chain Bear is a fun channel too.
Ocon has signed a 3 year deal win Alpine. Thats pretty much every seat on the grid nailed up other than Mercedes.
Cheers @altodevil will check them out
https://www.racefans.net/2021/06/17/mercedes-hamilton-bottas-chassis-for-french-grand-prix/
This is an odd one not sure if it common practice but merc drivers are swapping chassis.
This is an odd one not sure if it common practice but merc drivers are swapping chassis.
No suprise then that Mercedes swap chassis and lewis complains that there is something fundamentally wrong with the car. Maybe bottas was right and there is a issue with the chassis.
French GP Free Practise
French GP Practice One Timesheet
French GP Practice Two Timesheet
French GP Practice Three Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:33.448 |
| 2) Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.335 |
| 3) Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.432 |
| 4) Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.745 |
| 5) Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.881 |
| 6) Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +1.196 |
| 7) Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +1.245 |
| 8) Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +1.251 |
| 9) Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.259 |
| 10) Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.399 |
| 11) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.502 |
| 12) Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +1.668 |
| 13) Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +1.687 |
| 14) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.827 |
| 15) Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | +1.841 |
| 16) Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +1.894 |
| 17) Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +2.164 |
| 18) Nikita Mazepin | Haas | +3.203 |
| 19) Mick Schumacher | Haas | +3.881 |
| 20) Roy Nissany | Williams | +4.433 |
French GP Practice Two Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Max Verstapen | Red Bull | 1:32.872 |
| 2) Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +0.008 |
| 3) Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.253 |
| 4) Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +0.468 |
| 5) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.678 |
| 6) Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +0.813 |
| 7) Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +0.824 |
| 8) Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.826 |
| 9) Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +0.914 |
| 10) Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.950 |
| 11) Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +0.959 |
| 12) Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +1.049 |
| 13) Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +1.083 |
| 14) Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +1.207 |
| 15) Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | +1.575 |
| 16) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.760 |
| 17) George Russell | Williams | +2.394 |
| 18) Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +2.459 |
| 19) Mick Schumacher | Haas | +2.640 |
| 20) Nikita Mazepin | Haas | +2.679 |
French GP Practice Three Timesheet
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Max Verstapen | Red Bull | 1:31.300 |
| 2) Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +0.747 |
| 3) Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.895 |
| 4) Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +0.938 |
| 5) Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.966 |
| 6) Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.036 |
| 7) Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +1.324 |
| 8) Esteban Ocon | Alpine | +1.381 |
| 9) Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +1.407 |
| 10) Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +1.459 |
| 11) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.520 |
| 12) Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +1.717 |
| 13) Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +1.751 |
| 14) Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | +1.900 |
| 15) Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +2.028 |
| 16) George Russell | Williams | +2.064 |
| 17) Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | +2.124 |
| 18) Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +2.284 |
| 19) Mick Schumacher | Haas | +2.843 |
| 20) Nikita Mazepin | Haas | +3.342 |
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