2021 F1 Discussion

[camelspyyder]

First real F1 news item for the New Year.

 

Opening race set to be postponed:

 

2021 F1 Australian GP set to be postponed amid COVID restrictions | F1 News | Autosport

 

Could be back to Bahrain for the first event.

[camelspyyder]

Albon to race for RedBull in 2021...

 

 

 

In the new dumbed-down low-tech DTM. Wow, that's a serious demotion.

[camelspyyder]

Covid is going to wreak havoc with racing again in 2021 it seems. This amended schedule has apparently been presented to teams by new boss Domenicali.

 

Here is the proposed 2021 calendar in full:

 

March 28 Bahrain Grand Prix

April 18 Emilia Romagna/San Marino Grand Prix, Imola

May 2 Portuguese Grand Prix, Portimao

May 9 Spanish Grand Prix

May 23 Monaco Grand Prix

June 6 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

June 13 Canadian Grand Prix

June 27 French Grand Prix

July 4 Austrian Grand Prix

July 18 British Grand Prix

August 1 Hungarian Grand Prix

August 29 Belgian Grand Prix

September 5 Dutch Grand Prix

September 12 Italian Grand Prix

September 26 Singapore Grand Prix

October 3 Russian Grand Prix

October 10 Japanese Grand Prix

October 24 United States Grand Prix

October 31 Mexican Grand Prix

November 7 Sao Paulo Grand Prix

November 21 Australian Grand Prix

December 5 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

December 12 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

 

 

 

Australia delayed, China cancelled, Hanoi missing, Imola and Portimao back in.

[camelspyyder]

Management changes already at Renault. I think we discussed this before and thought it would be friction between Alonso and Cyrill/Prost that would cause this, but the board have brought in Davide Brivio, and Mr Abiteboul is out on his velo, so to speak.

 

 

Edited 11 January, 2021 by camelspyyder

[camelspyyder]

McLaren sign option to join Formula E from 2022. 😮

 

Just as Audi BMW and Mercedes are thought to be leaving.

 

What's that about?

[Redboy]

1 hour ago, camelspyyder said:

McLaren sign option to join Formula E from 2022. 😮

 

Just as Audi BMW and Mercedes are thought to be leaving.

 

What's that about?

They’ll have a better chance of winning? 

[camelspyyder]

They haven't learned have they? 

 

Diversifying from the F1 core business in 2010 just happens to coincide with a decade long slump in Grand Prix does it?

 

Road cars, GT racing, more recently Indycar, and now the possibility of FE. All of these things distract from Mclaren Racing.

 

Years ago Ferrari raced works teams in Sports cars, Prototypes, F2, Hill climbing even, and went 11 years without a WDC (only regaining competitiveness when they dumped all the other stuff). Unbelievably they never used to do any F1 development until after the 24 hours in June!

 

Obviously MCL aren't that bad, but when Chapman's Lotus tried to become a serious road car builder in the late 70's it started the rot that put the race team out of business 16 years after their last WDC.

 

[camelspyyder]

2020 V2 coming along as expected, I see. 

 

Reports that Monaco, Baku and Montreal races are already looking like possible cancellations, joining China, and the delayed Autralian GP.

 

Still no confirmation yet of Portimao for May 2nd.

 

 

Edited 18 January, 2021 by camelspyyder

[camelspyyder]

Hamilton and Mercedes still not publicly agreed a contract. 

 

The Daily Express and others insisting that Russell will replace him but most of the reporters online are failed F1 drivers like Jolyon Palmer and Christian Albers so they may be somewhat bitter?

 

I honestly don't care if Hamilton retires or not, but can Mercedes afford to trust Bottas to outscore Verstappen for the WDC?

However fast George is, its unlikely that he would beat Max in his first season at a top team.

[camelspyyder]

New Rio track formally scrapped.

 

So another of Chase Carey's pet projects finally bites the dust.

 

Hoping Saudi Arabia goes ahead, or the sum progress towards new GPs during his tenure will be absolutely zero.

 

 

[camelspyyder]

Could the competitive order get shaken up this year? As usual teams are driving a coach and horses through the rule book. 

 

Originally for cost cutting reasons the 2020 cars were to carry over to 2021. 

 

Then Pirelli couldn't cope with the cars development so a downforce cut was mandated.

 

Then Mclaren have a new engine needing major modifications which suspicious rivals think will end up being a new car.

 

Now FI/RP/Aston Martin have built a completely new chassis (and are allowed to upgrade bought in 2019 parts to 2020 ones). Does this mean AM are going to pretty much run the 2020 Mercedes?

 

Waiting for the RedBull protests already 🙄

[camelspyyder]

Last vacant F1 seat has gone

 

Mercedes AMG have signed some guy called Hamilton I think. Quite a surprise that.

[camelspyyder]

 

Only a one year deal. They obviously want to try him out before committing.

[camelspyyder]

Alonso hospitalised after cycle crash in Switzerland. No more news yet.

[DiscoStoo]

What do people think of the potential Saturday sprint race for grid positions to be trialled in 3(?) race weekends this year? 
A no from me. 

[moley]

27 minutes ago, DiscoStoo said:

What do people think of the potential Saturday sprint race for grid positions to be trialled in 3(?) race weekends this year? 
A no from me. 

Not a fan either. How do arrange the grid for the sprint race? 

[DiscoStoo]

17 minutes ago, moley said:

Not a fan either. How do arrange the grid for the sprint race? 

Traditional quali on a Friday. Yep, I know. 

[moley]

26 minutes ago, DiscoStoo said:

Traditional quali on a Friday. Yep, I know. 

Would that be 1 practice session in the morning and a qualifying session in the afternoon? The phases 'gimmick' and 'Mickey Mouse' come to mind. 

[DiscoStoo]

Yes, I think so. It’s theoretically better than a reverse grid but I can’t see what outcome it would have. 

[moley]

From the BBC. 

Also Red Bull looking more likely to take on the Honda engine manufacturing as their own.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56030222

[DiscoStoo]

It’s basically a “shake-up” of the format to show F1 cares for its fans. Bluntly put, it’s still a speed contest. So the fastest will start P1. So no difference. 

The reverse grid would be cool, as the Mercedes cars have trouble passing traffic, but it would take away the ethos and purity of F1 racing which is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport. 

[camelspyyder]

11 hours ago, DiscoStoo said:

It’s basically a “shake-up” of the format to show F1 cares for its fans. Bluntly put, it’s still a speed contest. So the fastest will start P1. So no difference. 

The reverse grid would be cool, as the Mercedes cars have trouble passing traffic, but it would take away the ethos and purity of F1 racing which is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport. 

 

Nothing pure about freezing all teams engine development due to blackmail - in order to stop the 2 Red Bull teams leaving. :(

 

Honda better make sure the contact with RBR is watertight.

 

They wouldn't really want their engines being re-branded Audi or Peugeot when RBR decide to rent the cam covers for more cash like they did with the Renault motor and TAG.

Edited 12 February, 2021 by camelspyyder

[moley]

Alonso has a fractured upper jaw after his cycling accident. 

[DiscoStoo]

11 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

 

Nothing pure about freezing all teams engine development due to blackmail - in order to stop the 2 Red Bull teams leaving. :(

 

Honda better make sure the contact with RBR is watertight.

 

They wouldn't really want their engines being re-branded Audi or Peugeot when RBR decide to rent the cam covers for more cash like they did with the Renault motor and TAG.

That’s a very interesting angle that didn’t get my attention. There’s a very big F1 forum on the net that’s very opinionated and negative, but I absolutely love Formula One. The sprint race thing I suppose they have to trial. It’s about evolving, not taking away from the sport IMO 

8 hours ago, moley said:

Alonso has a fractured upper jaw after his cycling accident. 

That’ll sting in the morning. Ouch!

[camelspyyder]

There are a couple of forums filled with rumour and fake news from failed Dutch racers that make me laugh a lot. F1 never has beens, Lammers Doornbos Albers etc etc speculating about Mercedes replacing Hamilton for 2021, exclusively spilling the beans on what's gone wrong with the deal, and obviously their mantra of "anyone could be champion in the Mercedes".

Well boys, only if they're driving one.😉 I think the Dutch F1 clique are starting to worry that if Russel is the future for Mercedes, Max might just never get his foot in the door there.

It is pretty unthinkable that Max won't be champion at some point, but many talents of the past didn't get into the right team at the right time so who knows?