The Formula 1 Season Ahead

There are so many exciting things to come this season; from new team dynamics and rule changes, to the battle of the midfield and a fight between Mercedes and Red Bull for the podium, it is shaping up to grip and entertain F1 fans everywhere. This year’s winter break was the shortest since 1985. The teams and drivers had 105 days to rest and prepare for the 2021 season, getting the cars ready for testing and planning for the 23 races in the 37 weeks ahead.

Here is a quick overview of the 2021 season, including the schedule, drivers, team principals, team names and driver changes as well as a rundown of the rules and regulation changes.

Season Schedule

12-14 March: Testing

26-28 March: Bahrain

16-18 April: Italy (Imola)

30-02 April-May: Portugal

07-09 May: Spain

20-23 May: Monaco

04-06 June: Azerbaijan

11-13 June: Canada

25-27 June: France

02-04 July: Austria

16-18 July: Great Britain

30-01 July-August: Hungary

27-29 August: Belgium

03-05 September: Netherlands

10-12 September: Italy (Monza)

24-26 September: Russia

01-03 October: Singapore

08-10 October: Japan

22-24 October: USA

29-31 October: Mexico

05-07 November: Brazil

19-21 November: Australia

03-05 December: Saudi Arabia

10-12 December: Abu Dhabi

This schedule comes after a few revisions, as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The initial schedule released had the season kicking off in Australia, however this has been rescheduled to November. The Chinese GP has been cancelled and replaced by Imola.

2021 Driver Line-Up

Mercedes AMG Petronas: Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas

Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen & Sergio Perez

McLaren Mercedes: Lando Norris & Daniel Ricciardo

Aston Martin Cognizant: Lance Stroll & Sebastian Vettel

Alpine Renault: Esteban Ocon & Fernando Alonso

Scuderia Ferrari: Charles Leclerc & Carlos Sainz

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda: Pierre Gasly & Yuki Tsunoda

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen: Antonio Giovanazzi & Kimi Räikkönen

Haas Ferrari: Mick Schumacher & Nikita Mazepin

Williams Mercedes: George Russell & Nicholas Latifi

2021 Team Principals

Mercedes AMG Petronas: Toto Wolff

Red Bull Racing: Christian Horner

McLaren Mercedes: Andreas Seidl

Aston Martin Cognizant: Otmar Szafnauer

Alpine Renault: Marcin Budkowski (Executive Director) and David Brivio (Racing Director)*

Scuderia Ferrari: Mattia Binotto

Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda: Franz Tost

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen: Frédéric Vasseru

Haas Ferrari: Guenther Steiner

Williams Mercedes: Simon Roberts

*Alpine Renault chose to remove the team principal role and share the responsibility between Buskoski and Brivio. This decision was made after a management overhaul which removed Cyril Abiteboul from the role.

Notable Changes Team Changes

Name Changes:

• BWT Racing Point is now Aston Martin Mercedes

• Renault is now Alpine Renault

Driver Changes:

• Riccardo moved from Renault (now Alpine Renault) to McLaren

• Perez moved from Racing Point (now Aston Martin Mercedes) to Red Bull Racing, replacing Alex Albon

• Sainz moved from McLaren to Ferrari

• Vettel moved from Ferrari to Aston Martin Mercedes

• Alpine contracted Fernando Alonso, who came out of retirement

• Haas contracted Schumacher and Mazepin, both rookies

• AlphaTauri contracted Yuki Tsonoda, also a rookie, replacing Daniel Kvyat

Main Rules and Regulation Changes From 2020 Season

• Changes To The Car’s Floor: the whole floor must now be solid which means they will no longer look rectangular from above.

• Rear Brake Duct Winglets Shortened: the winglets on the lower half of the brake ducts need to be reduced by 40-80mm which will have an impact on the downforce which is fed to the wheels.

• Diffuser Fences Cut Down: these are the vertical stakes which you can see hanging down on the back of the diffuser which will also reduce downforce levels as they make the floor seal less effective.

• Cost Caps Introduced: these are the first ever cap costs to be introduced in F1. The baseline is $145 million (which will actually be $147.4 million), with an extra $1.2 million per race in the regulations. Teams are also being allowed an extra $45 million to purchase things such as machinery (known as capital expenditure) between and the end of 2024.

• Sliding Scale For Aerodynamic Testing: the teams who finished lower down the constructors championships are allowed more time to sort the aerodynamic of their 2022 car than those who have finished higher up. This affects things such as times in the wind tunnel and Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations.

• Minimum Weights Of Cars and Power Units: this unfuelled weight has increased from 746kg in 2020 to 752kg in 2021.

• Copying of Parts: after the Racing Point Mercedes w10 RP20 fiasco of 2020, there has been a rule change to prevent any use of similar tactics, as well as the banning of 3D technology to scan other team’s cars.

• New Compounds From Pirelli: the introduction of more robust compounds in response to many factors, such as bigger cornering forces.

• DAS Banned: Mercedes’ Dual Axis Steering system has been banned from the sport which allowed their driver to push and pull their steering wheels to adapt the camber levels of the front tyres, which gave numerous advantaged such as warming up tyres more quickly.

• Automatic Tyre Allocations: Each driver is now to receive two set soft hard tyres, three sets of medium tyres and eight sets of softs per race weekend, unless the FIA or Pirelli determine otherwise.

• 60 Minute Practice Sessions : FP1 and FP2 have been shortened from their usual 90 minutes to 60 minutes, with FP3 remaining unchanged (also at 60 minutes). Alongside this, maximum racing time is reduced from four to three hours, this includes any race suspensions.

• Limits On Exhaust Systems Usage: exhaust systems are now on the limited-use component list, allowing up to eight per season. Consequences for using more results in grid penalties.

• New Materials Permitted: this allows new green technologies to play a part in the sport, such as cotton, bamboo, linen, hemp and flax.

Stay tuned for race reviews, driver spotlights, fun facts and so much more over this season. Enjoy!