F1 is the biggest Team Sport On The Planet, there are over 900 people in a team that are focused on designing, manufacturing and operating 2 cars, Which is nuts. The bottom line is F1 teams require those 20+ departments all working in perfect harmony in order to achieve the goal of winning races and championships. But Everything doesn't end there, those car's are required to be driven at the absolute limit to get maximum performance out of it, drivers and their talent is a vital part of the sport.
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| Courtesy : Ferrari |
It takes a lot to be an Formula 1 driver, Talent alone isn't enough, luck and money plays a important role in some cases. Pinnacle Of Motorsport, greatest minds around the globe and best in class engineering goes into making of a team & just 20 seats to claim. Not easy, is it?
Well Now that Formula 1 Circus is coming to the end of 2020 season with 5 races left, things have become more lunatic with the Driver Transfers for 2021. So, let's have a quick look at that.
Teams That Have Decided Their 2021 Line-up.
Scuderia Ferrari : Ferrari signed Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz even before the season got underway. Scuderia aren't the frontrunners this season but were definately Numero Uno when it came to 2021 Driver lineup, Technically speaking it's a Domino Effect that we are currently getting a glimpse of, Not renewing Sebastian Vettel opting for Carlos Sainz, which leads McLaren to Sign Daniel Riccardo, Which again leads Renualt To Sign Fernando Alonso. To top it of later on Sebastian Vettel signs for Racing Point (Aston Martin in 2021) which leaves Sergio Perez without a drive, that potentially might hinder one of the Williams Boys (More on Williams in a Minute).
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| Courtesy : F1 |
McLaren : Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris were teammates for 2 seasons now that Carlos has signed for Ferrari, McLaren ended up signing their primary choice Daniel Riccardo (Danny Ric was persued by McLaren after he choose to leave Redbull in 2018 but he instead signed for Renault). So for 2021, McLaren has Lando Norris & Daniel Riccardo.
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Renault : Renault was shocked by the news of Daniel Riccardo moving to McLaren for 2021, mainly because Renault had a plan they were trying to rebuild the team around Riccardo, to bring Renault back to the top. After the news broke, it took Renault some time to look for other options and finally decided to sign Fernando Alonso alongside Estaban Ocon .
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Racing Point : Racing Point formally Known as Force India has been through a tough time to be honest with Vijay Mallya and all the complications around him. The money problems and Indian Banks trying to get a hold on Vijay, team went into administration and was Rebadged as Racing Point but their was a man with a big heart behind the scenes who saved jobs of 400-500 people working at Force India knows as Sergio Perez. Perez with the help of his sponsors and the current team owner Lawrance Stroll saved the day. Later announcing that Lance Stroll (Lawrances' son) and Sergio Perez will have a contract until 2021 and beyond. But After Sebastian was kicked out of Ferrari, Pappa Stroll played the reverse card bam! Sergio Perez was out of Racing Point to make space for 4 TIME WORLD CHAMPION SEBASTIAN VETTEL. So now Racing Point will have Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll as their drivers for 2021.
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Teams Yet To Decide Their Driver 2021 Line-up
Williams : Williams the team with great successful history and heritage in F1, The only Family Run Teams on the grid was recently sold to US based Investment Firm Dorilton Capital. But before selling, Williams confirmed that George Russell & Nicholas Latifi will driver for them in 2021. You might say Williams has already decided their line-up why am I talking about them? Because there have been talks around the paddock about Sergio Perez to potentially replace one of the Williams boys. Let's break it down George Russell is a Mercedes Junior he is driving that Williams just for experience and probably will leave after 2021, which is short-term on the other hand Nicolas Latifi (son of Iranian-Canadian Businessman Micheal Latifi) is a PAY DRIVER has huge financial backing from Pappa Latifi, Williams was sold for 1 reason Money, the family run business was struck too hard by the pandemic and given the performance in last 4-5 season it was impossible to survive. Remember how I said Perez with the help of his sponsors saved Force India? That's some big amount of money Perez brings in F1, Williams need this type of Money and bear mind Perez is a top notch driver he is fast he is consistent plus he has money. Perez still has alot to offer in F1, which suggests he can replace George Russell because he is in F1 as a Mercedes Junior, will stay short-term. Latifi bring Money as well and potentially will stay longer then Russel. So Perez And Latifi at Williams for 2021, that can happen
Redbull Racing : I have talked alot about Redbull recently So let's quickly finish this one. Max Verstappen star driver the second driver has bugged RB for 2 seasons (After Riccardo left them at the end of 2018).In 2019 Pierre Gasly was promoted however he was underperforming and got replaced by Alexander Albon mid season. 2020 Alexander Albon is underperforming massively and is potentially getting dropped, but the replacement driver is a big question.Redbull Team Principal has openly said that if they are considering to replace Albon they might as well considering someone out of Redbull Pool Driver's which points fingers at Cameo Master NICO HULKENBERG and SERGIO PEREZ. No doubt RB needs a experienced and consistent driver like them, and given the fact that both are available for grabs post 2020. The smart choice is to sign one of those alongside Max Verstappen
The Elephant in the room is Alexander Albon, He might not have a drive for 2021 as a RB Driver.
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Scuderia Alpha Tauri : The Sister Redbull team also finds its self in a pickle, current drivers Pierre Gasly & Daniil Kvyat are performing at a contrast if compared to each other. Gasly is driving that car so far ahead of it limits, consistently scoring points has won a race on other hand Daniil has had a difficult season. Alpha Tauri just confirmed that Pierre Gasly will be staying with them for 1 more season, The second driver at Alpha Tauri will be decided at Bahrain, which means they are waiting to see where Redbull's Junior Yuki Tsunado will be in the championship if he has enough super-licences points to race in F1. Helmut also said Tsunado has a great chance of promotion to Alpha Tauri, so if they are dropping Daniil Kvyat and replacing him with Yuki Tsunado what about Alexander Albon? The only answer to that will be not signing Tsunado. Keeping Tsunado in F2 for one more season will be sensible, as he can wait for some time but dropping Albon all out of Redbull and potentially out of F1 will be too harsh. Redbull is well known for sabotaging young driver careers, if anything either Albon or Tsunado will be their lastest victims.
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Haas : Haas F1 just a week ago at Portugal decided they will not renew contracts of their current long term drivers Romain Grosjean & Kevin Magnussen, reason behind not renewing was affordability. That's what one can say to media, but the performance was a crucial part I believe. Long term drivers are expected help, improve and develop the next year's car but the duo was just unable to do that and neither were able to turn tables on the track, so one could have seen this one coming. Haas is a Ferrari customer team in return Ferrari wants one of 2 seats for their Junior drivers. So it's clear that it will either be Robert Schwartzman, Callum Illot or Mick Schumacher. But interestingly there's a twister for the second seat, Russian Businessman Dmitry Mazepin is rumoured to invest some money in Haas F1. Which means we can see his son Nikita Mazepin (currently racing in F2) can end up being in that seat. Haas would have 2 rookies filling in for to 2 experienced drivers? Yeah, given the situation Haas is in that's possible, it will be a little difficult but the potential these drivers bring to the table is huge. They can rebuild themselves for 2022 with major regulations and give a new start to Haas, Obviously a experienced driver would make a huge difference compared to young drivers but in long-term this can be very effective.
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| Courtesy : F1 |
Alfa Romeo : The set of circumstances at Alfa Romeo are no different. Even they are Ferrari customer teams and eventually will have to sign one of the Ferrari juniors, currently Kimi Raikkonen & Antonio Giovinazzi are driving for Alfa Romeo, Kimi is 41 this year and will be 42 in 2021. Is he willing to stay in F1? As he would say " it's more like a hobby for me so obviously I don't need to do it if I don't want to". Kimi has Raced in F1 for 20 years on n off, he currently is the most experienced driver on the grid with more than 324 race starts under his belt. Rumours have suggested that Kimi is signing one year extension with Alfa Romeo to partner with Michael's son (Mick Schumacher). This sounds more like a deal that will help Schumacher over his career. Given the Name Schumacher that Mick will be carrying ahead, there's lot of expectations and alot to deliver and a guiding role that Kimi as a Ferrari World Champion can play would be perfect for Mick's upbringing. But the recent Sauber deal signed this weekend at Imola would change everything and I feel Alfa would retain both of it's current drivers for 2021
Mercedes : Last but definitely not the least, THE REIGNING WORLD CHAMPIONS MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS FORMULA 1 TEAM. They are in a pretty straightforward situation to be honest but not REALLY. They have already signed Valtteri Bottas for 2021 they are yet to comment on the REIGNING WORLD CHAMPION LEWIS HAMILTON, Obviously the talks are happening and they will eventually end up signing Lewis. But they've a problem remember how we talked about George Russell rumoured to be replaced by Sergio Perez. Mercedes Junior not having a seat will be a headache for them. They can keep him on sidelines as a Reserve driver or Simulator driver but that is not what they want to do. Mercedes already had this problem with ocon, He was out for a full season he was amazing fast and consistent but that outing kinda broke his flow. In sports if someone takes a year off, the flow breaks, there's a dip in performance because you aren't use to it and getting back to the prime again takes long time and we can see this with ocon he is struggling so much in 2020. Would Mercedes want that? Russell is tipped as Future Mercedes Star and will be joining Mercedes after Lewis or Valtteri retires which means he needs to be in a good mindset and has to perform at the very best as Mercedes are the Team to beat in F1, a significantly slower driver is not what they want. Will Mercedes drop Valtteri or Lewis for George? I don't see that happening.
MY PREDICTIONS FOR 2021 DRIVER LINE-UP
MERCEDES : Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri BottasREDBULL : Max Verstappen & Nico Hulkenberg
MCLAREN : Lando Norris & Daniel Riccardo
RACING POINT : Lance Stroll & Sebastian Vettel
RENAULT : Fernando Alonso & Estaban Ocon
FERRARI : Carlos Sainz & Charles Leclerc
ALPHA TAURI : Pierre Gasly & Yuki Tsunado
HAAS : Nikita Mazepin & Mick Schumacher
WILLIAMS : Sergio Perez & Nicholas Latifi
ALFA ROMEO : Kimi Raikkonen & Antonio Giovinazzi
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