Racing: 2021 Formula 1 Season

[JoVel]

Aight as good as the 2020 F1 season might've been I think we can all agree to just leave that whole year behind us shall we?

The calendar of 2021 as of the time I'm typing this looks as follows. What it's going to look like tomorrow, a week or a month from now is a whole nother thing. Australia is already all but guaranteed to be cancelled/postponed but no official word on it yet so I'm gonna throw it in there.

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit	March 19-21
2	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	March 26-28
3	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit	April 9-11
4	TBC	TBC	April 23-25
5	Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya	May 7-9
6	Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	May 20-23
7	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit	June 4-6
8	Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	June 11-13
9	French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard	June 25-27
10	Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring	July 2-4
11	British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit	July 16-18
12	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	July 30 - August 1
13	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	August 27-29
14	Dutch Grand Prix	Circuit Zandvoort	September 3-5
15	Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	September 10-12
16	Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom	September 24-26
17	Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit	October 1-3
18	Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course	October 8-10
19	United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	October 22-24
20	Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez	October 29-31
21	Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	November 12-14
22	Saudi Arabian Grand Prix	Jeddah Street Circuit	November 26-28
23	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit	December 3-5

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Lewis Hamilton's contract is yet to be announced and reports say there is some friction between the two parties. I'm not going to believe for one second the contract is not going to be made until I see Mercedes announcing it.

Mercedes		Valtteri Bottas
Red Bull	Max Verstappen	Sergio Perez
McLaren	Lando Norris	Daniel Ricciardo
Aston Martin	Lance Stroll	Sebastian Vettel
Alpine	Esteban Ocon	Fernando Alonso
Ferrari	Charles Leclerc	Carlos Sainz
AlphaTauri	Pierre Gasly	Yuki Tsunoda
Alfa Romeo	Kimi Räikkönen	Antonio Giovinazzi
Haas	Mick Schumacher	Nikita Mazepin
Williams	George Russell	Nicholas Latifi

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Preseason testing is scheduled on March 2-4, but is likely going to be switched from Catalunya to Bahrain.

Racing Point is rebranded as Aston Martin, Renault as Alpine.
Grosjean, Magnussen, Kvyat, Albon leave the grid. In come the new rookies Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. Tsunoda's probably going to be the easiest to spot as he's a full 11 centimetres shorter than the next shortest guy on the grid.
FP1 and FP2 are reduced to 60 minutes, meaning the total practice time comes down from 4 hours to 3.
F2 and F3 will now have three races per weekend, and will no longer race on the same weekend with each other. W Series will also become a support series to Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton currently sits at 95 race wins and 98 pole positions so when/if he re-signs with Mercedes he's all but guaranteed to be the first driver to hit the big fat number of 100. A record 8th world title is pretty much his alongside dozens of more or less relevant records.

Click to read more...

 

[Khelandros]

F1 set to change start time of grands prix
10 things every F1 fan should be excited for in 2021 | Formula 1®
New Mercedes/Williams partnership long overdue | F1 News by PlanetF1
2021 F1 car changes bigger than many expect, says Fry

And finally, I can't decide if this is stupid or brilliant:
Max Verstappen reveals how father Jos taught him to shun data and rely on intuition | Formula 1®

 

[Paris in Flames]

Looks like the rumours of BWT being out are true. So.... possible no pink livery in F1 this year unless they move over to Haas or something.

Cognizant's colour is a deep blue so maybe we're getting a blue and green livery for Aston Martin.

 

[SoupyFIN]

Looks like the rumours of BWT being out are true. So.... possible no pink livery in F1 this year unless they move over to Haas or something.

They could be a sponsor without imposing the colour change. I can't see any team agreeing to it with the amount of pink Mercedes, Racing Point and Force India -jokes that team would get.

 

[Ceremony]

A good interview here with Stroll Sr.: Aston Martin F1: Owner Lawrence Stroll aiming for world titles with renamed team - BBC Sport

 

[Paris in Flames]

Doesn't sound like it was Cyril's choice.

Also. Jerkweed from Rich Energy has posted a video saying they're coming back to F1....

 

[JoVel]

Also. Jerkweed from Rich Energy has posted a video saying they're coming back to F1....

I mean... if there's a team out there that's willing to commit to Rich Energy after that shitshow with Haas then frankly they deserve to get screwed.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Yeah I just gotta assume he's trying to get free publicity at this point. Gets people talking. Blah blah.

 

[JoVel]

 

[Paris in Flames]

Just do the inevitable and cancel Canada. I want my refund money to buy a ps5.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Leclerc tests positive for Covid. I'm just shocked it wasn't Ricciardo.



Alpine revelaed their "Winter Livery"....which...I'm not even sure what that means.

Fairly ugly. But I saw somebody modify it in the comments. This is fairly nice.

 

[Khelandros]

The Blue is the traditional Alpine Livery sooooo...?

Merger places Alfa Romeo's F1 future in doubt - report | F1 News by PlanetF1
'Fed up' Claire Williams felt compelled to sell team
and finally,
Lando Norris to cut down on sim-racing for family time | F1 News by PlanetF1

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

Charles Leclerc develops COVID 19

 

[PanniniClaus]

Leclerc tests positive for Covid. I'm just shocked it wasn't Ricciardo.



Alpine revelaed their "Winter Livery"....which...I'm not even sure what that means.

Fairly ugly. But I saw somebody modify it in the comments. This is fairly nice.

A hint of France there as well. I like it.

 

[JoVel]

F2 and F3 will now have three races per weekend, and will no longer race on the same weekend with each other.

And as a result of this Matteo Nannini will race in both F2 and F3 this year with HWA, pretty sure that's not what they intended. Unless I'm mistaken you can only gather super license points from one championship per year, so teams can't just do this to bring a verstappen into F1 earlier.

 

[nyrmetros]

I would rather see Colton Herta in the HAAS.....

 

[CHRDANHUTCH]

I would rather see Colton Herta in the HAAS.....

Colton Herta is with Andretti Autosport (INDYCAR), because of the Bryan Herta Autosport has connections with AA

Gene's F1 Team hasn't been there long enough....

 

[Khelandros]

Button says there’s a ‘new sense of optimism’ at Williams as he prepares for new role with the team | Formula 1®

 

[Ceremony]

 

[Siamese Dream]

When I first saw that I thought it was a photoshop

 

[FormulaE3456]

I think Formula E would be a lot more popular if the cars were not so slow. Even so, I like it.

 

[JoVel]

I think Formula E would be a lot more popular if the cars were not so slow. Even so, I like it.

Formula E probably draws most of its viewers due to it being more or less the graveyard of former F1 drivers. It's fine for now but I don't think that's what they want in the long term.

 

[JoVel]

Feelgood story to start the week: Juan Manuel Correa will be racing for ART in F3 this season. Considering at one point he wasn't sure if he'd keep his legs, I'd say that's a win in my books.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Feelgood story to start the week: Juan Manuel Correa will be racing for ART in F3 this season. Considering at one point he wasn't sure if he'd keep his legs, I'd say that's a win in my books.

It's also significantly earlier than doctor projections too. This is as feel good a story as there is.

In other news. F1 grid getting closer to herd immunity as Pierre Gasly confirms he tested positive for Covid.

 

[JoVel]

Apparently due to cancellation in 2020 and postponement this year they're planning to make changes to the GP at Albert Park this year. I hope they work because I really like the place but damn does it produce boring races.