Formula 1 Drivers And Teams 2021

Verstappen took the pole position in Abu Dhabi ahead of Hamilton and Norris. During the race, Hamilton had a better start and took the lead into the first turn. At turn six Verstappen attempted to pass, forcing Hamilton to evade by going off the track. Emerging from the corner still in the lead, Hamilton was instructed to give up the advantage he had gained. The pair settled in their positions until the first round of pit stops, with Hamilton gradually extending his lead. He later lost much of his advantage when Pérez, Verstappen's teammate with Red Bull, and who had yet to make a pit stop, made it difficult for Hamilton to pass him, though Verstappen was unable to capitalise.

Later, a virtual safety car period allowed Verstappen to change his tyres without losing track position; however, despite the tyre advantage Verstappen was unable to challenge Hamilton. With seven laps remaining, the safety car was brought out for a crash involving Latifi. Red Bull used the opportunity to give Verstappen a fresh set of soft tyres, while Hamilton, still on his now-quite-old hard compound tyres, was not pitted. Race director Michael Masi took the decision to allow the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to un-lap themselves before restarting the race with only one lap remaining.

Upon the restart, Verstappen quickly passed Hamilton and held him off for the remainder of the lap to win the race and the championship. Cars were now under parc fermé conditions following the end of free practice three instead of qualifying, further restricting teams and drivers from making major changes to setups ahead of the race. The length of the two Friday practice sessions were cut from 90 minutes to 60 minutes.

In France, Verstappen got his second pole of the season, only to go wide at the first turn and lose the lead to Hamilton in the first lap. After regaining first with an undercut in his first pit stop, Verstappen found himself under heavy pressure from both Mercedes drivers. Verstappen relinquished his lead to pit a second time, one of two drivers to do so, returning to the track 18 seconds behind Hamilton. The speed advantage allowed him to make up the lost time, overtaking Bottas on lap 44 and Hamilton on the penultimate lap, for his third win of the year and his thirteenth win overall.

Hamilton, now 12 points behind in the Drivers' Championship, did secure second, and with an overtake on lap 49, Pérez managed to take third place, pushing Bottas to fourth. It was the first race of the season where the race winner also took pole position and the fastest lap, and the first race of the season with no retirements. Red Bull extended their lead over Mercedes in the Constructors' championship to 37 points after the race. Racing Point, which used to be Force India, which used to be Spyker, which used to be Midland, which used to be Jordan, becomes an Aston Martin works team in 2021, marking the company's return to F1 for the first time in 60 years. Naturally both shall be retained to drive the Mercedes-clone RP20 for a second season?

Stroll – a talented driver no doubt but also the son of the team's owner and Aston Martin shareholder Lawrence – will remain, but Perez finds himself out of a drive just a week after finally taking his first F1 win. On the face of it making a step forward , Vettel arrives as a refugee from a relationship that went sour and will be looking to reclaim some of his former lustre – the 53-time race winner only stood on the podium once in 2020. Hamilton was fastest in qualifying in Brazil, but was disqualified the following day for a technical infringement. Bottas won the qualifying sprint, giving him pole position for the Grand Prix. By finishing second in the sprint, Verstappen increased his championship lead over Hamilton by two points, and Carlos Sainz Jr., who finished third, increased Ferrari's championship lead over McLaren. Hamilton finished fifth in the sprint from last on the grid, but a five-place grid drop due to taking a new engine relegated him to tenth on the grid for the Grand Prix.

On race day, both Verstappen was able to overtake Bottas on the first lap. Meanwhile, Lando Norris and Sainz were involved in a separate incident, with Norris getting a puncture. On lap 48, Hamilton caught up to Verstappen and attempted an overtake, but failed and resulted in both of them going off track. He won the race from Verstappen, decreasing Verstappen's championship lead from 21 points to 14 points.

Renault's young driver programme has several promising members, but none of them are likely to get an F1 seat until at least 2022. Renault doesn't currently supply any other teams with its power plant and next year's lineup of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso is already confirmed. Zhou is bidding to become the first full-time F1 driver from China; an enticing prospect for the sport in such a huge automotive market. Another young Renault driver to watch for the future is Oscar Piastri from Australia, who took out this year's Formula 3 championship at his first attempt.

Given the close working relationship that Alfa Romeo and Haas enjoy with Ferrari, it's not surprising that all three drivers are being linked to at least one of the vacant seats at both teams. Who goes where may ultimately be decided by which driver takes the Formula 2 title in 2020, especially considering regulations that state the winning driver is not permitted to continue racing the following year. The smart money seems to be on the son of 7-time World Champion Michael Schumacher being the most likely young driver to secure a seat next year, probably with Alfa Romeo. Unlike Ilott and Schumacher, Shwartzman is only competing in his first season of Formula 2 this year and may benefit from another year of honing his racecraft. But the Russian is also highly rated and not far off emulating Charles Leclerc and George Russell, both of whom won Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in succession before graduating to Formula 1 the following year.

In a season packed with close racing, controversy, and tight championship battles, it is easy to pay attention to just the winners and losers. But the season has so much more than just the championship battle between an all-time great and a future great driver. There were break-out performances, stunning qualifying laps, talented rookies looking to make their mark, and the return of a two-time world champion who still has unfinished business in the sport. Bottas won sprint qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix, but was forced to start from the back of the grid after exceeding the quota of one on his power units' components. A slow stop for Verstappen meant that he ended up alongside Hamilton after the latter made his pitstop.

Ricciardo led to the end to take his first victory since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix and McLaren's first victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. His teammate, Norris, finished behind him to secure the team's first 1–2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix and the first 1–2 finish of the season. And Bottas, after a penalty applied to Pérez, came third from the back of the grid. After the race, Verstappen was judged by the stewards to have been predominantly at fault for the collision with Hamilton. As a result, he was given a 3-place grid-penalty for the next race and two penalty points on his super licence. It's all the ones on Red Bull's cars this season, as 2021 drivers' title winner Max Verstappen sports the champion's #1 (instead of his usual #33) and Sergio Perez partners him.

The pair continue their successful partnership, Mexican racer Perez having been confirmed to stay back in August 2021. With the F1 season now underway, questions have arisen about who teams have on standby if one of their full-time drivers becomes unwell. 'Reserve Drivers', to give them their official titles, are kept on speed dial or often at the circuit during a race weekend.

They are specially trained to jump into the car at short notice and participate in the race if needed. Most notably, Nico Hulkenberg drove for Racing Point thrice during the season. He replaced Sergio Perez in two races at Silverstone and Lance Stroll at the Eifel Grand Prix. Mercedes reserve driver George Russell also stepped into Hamilton's seat for the Sakhir Grand Prix, after the seven-time world champion tested positive for the virus.

With Verstappen only off the podium six times in 2020 and Albon only on it twice Red Bull took the decision to pounce on Perez, who had an extraordinary second half of the 2020 season. We won't go into recent event surrounding one of Haas's new signings for 2020 for many reasons, but it's safe to say that all eyes will be on the only American team in F1 in 2021. Long-standing drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean both depart the team – Magnussen to IMSA and Grosjean to an uncertain future. It will be an interesting transition for the team, as Grosjean had been a Haas F1 driver for its entire history, leaving a slightly insecure Renault seat to join in 2016.

Jumping into their shoes are new F2 champion Mick Schumacher (son of a certain seven-time champion whose name isn't Hamilton) and Russian Nikita Mazepin. Again we won't go into Mazepin's recent actions off the track, but if he does race for Haas he will be on his best behaviour. It will be interesting to see how he copes in F1, and the atmosphere at Haas has hardly seemed like the calmest to step into over the last few years. Hamilton took pole position in Qatar, while a penalty for failing to respect double waived yellow flags during qualifying forced Verstappen to start from seventh. Verstappen quickly recovered to second place but was unable to threaten Hamilton's race lead despite setting the fastest lap on the last lap of the race.

Fernando Alonso used a one-stop strategy to finish third, less than three seconds ahead Peréz in fourth, it was Alonso's first podium since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix. Bottas and Nicholas Latifi retired from the race after they and multiple others suffered punctures on track. The result reduced Verstappen's lead in the Driver's Championship to eight points while Mercedes' lead in the Constructor's Championship was reduced to five points. Leclerc took pole at the Monaco Grand Prix despite crashing in the final minutes. The crash caused a driveshaft failure, meaning he was unable to start the race. Verstappen started at the front and led from Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jr.

On lap 30, Bottas was forced into retirement after his front-right tyre would not come off during a routine pitstop. Verstappen took the victory, as well as the championship lead for the first time in his career; Red Bull came away from this race with a one-point lead in the constructors' championship. Behind Verstappen, Sainz took his first podium for Ferrari, and Norris took his second podium of the season in third place. Currently competing in Formula E with Mercedes, Vandoorne has been an official reserve driver for the constructors' champions since 2020.

Having previously worked as a simulator driver for the team, Stoff was promoted to reserve after Esteban Ocon made the move to Renault for a full-time race seat in 2020. Several young drivers with realistic Formula 1 aspirations can also be found outside the driver development programmes of the top teams, including Nikita Mazepin. The 21-year-old Russian has won twice in Formula 2 this year and enjoys significant financial backing from his billionaire father Dmitry, who has even been rumoured to be interested in purchasing a Formula 1 team for his son. There hasn't been a Brazilian driver on the Formula 1 grid since Felipe Massa left in 2017, but Felipe Drugovich and Pietro Fittipaldi (grandson of two-time World Champion Emerson) are aiming to change that. The former won on his debut weekend in Formula 2 this year, while the latter is the current test and reserve driver with the Haas F1 Team.

Formula 1 Racers And Teams Several teams, including Haas, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri, have yet to decide on their 2021 driver lineups and don't seem to be in any hurry to do so. Whilst experienced racers such as Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg are rumoured to be in the frame for these remaining seats, there's also room for at least one young driver to join the grid in 2021. Verstappen took pole from Russell and Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix in a wet qualifying session.

The race was heavily affected by rain, which initially saw the start delayed by 25 minutes. After two formation laps behind the safety car, the race start was suspended and red-flagged due to poor conditions and lack of visibility. It was not restarted, becoming the shortest race in Formula 1 history and the sixth to award half-points as less than 75% of the race was completed.

Verstappen won by default, with Russell in second and Hamilton in third place. As a result, Hamilton's lead in the championship was cut to three points from Verstappen. Max Verstappen took his third season pole at the Styrian Grand Prix, the first of two back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring. On the first lap, three cars collided at the third turn, forcing Pierre Gasly out of the race. Verstappen won from Lewis Hamilton, meaning Verstappen extended his title lead to 18 points.

Leclerc took pole again in Azerbaijan, this time he was able to start the race. Hamilton was held up in his pitstop to allow Gasly to pass him in the pitlane, handing Verstappen the net race lead. On lap 30, Lance Stroll crashed out due to a tyre failure and brought out the safety car. With Verstappen comfortably leading with six laps to go, he suffered a tyre failure, causing him to crash on the pit straight, bringing out the safety car and then the red flag on lap 46 and 48, respectively. Hamilton went up the inside of Pérez at the restart, but forgot to adjust his brake bias and missed the corner.

Pérez won for the second time in his career and took his first win for Red Bull. Sebastian Vettel took Aston Martin's first podium in Formula One, while Gasly took his third career podium. At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Hamilton took pole from Pérez and Verstappen. Verstappen went into the lead at turn 1 on lap 1, after it started raining on race day.

Mazepin and Nicholas Latifi crashed at the exit of turn 13, bringing out the safety car. Under the safety car, Schumacher lost control of his car and spun into the pit exit, losing his front wing. On lap 31, at turn 7, Hamilton made a mistake, hitting the wall and damaging his front wing. The moment he did, his teammate Bottas and George Russell had a crash at over 320 km/h on the start-finish straight, bringing out the red flag.

After the race restarted, Norris overtook Charles Leclerc for second, but the former was overtaken by Hamilton, resulting in a podium of Verstappen, Hamilton and Norris. Charles Leclerc is undoubtedly one of the most talented drivers in the field, as he re-proved with pole laps in Monaco and Azerbaijan this season. He's on a long-term contract that takes him through to the end of 2024 and is a key piece to Ferrari's ambitions of returning to a championship contender. Robert Kubica is a well known and respected figure around the F1 paddock.

With 97 F1 starts to his name, he looked to have a long and successful career ahead of him before his 2011 Rallying accident. He made a remarkable comeback, racing with Williams for the 2019 season before joining the Alfa Romeo team as a reserve driver. The Mercedes' reserve driver pairing are also available to McLaren, as part of an agreement between the two teams. Vandoorne has experience with McLaren, having raced with the team full-time for two seasons in 2017 and 2018. Partnering Vandoorne as the other reserve driver at Mercedes is Nyck de Vries. The Dutch racing knows Stoffel well, as the two are currently teammates representing Mercedes in the all-electric Formula E championship.

At least one seat at AlphaTauri is potentially available in 2021 and the young Red Bull-backed Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda is a leading candidate. The 21-year-old has won twice this season in Formula 2 and currently lies third in the championship, though his chances may have been hurt by Honda's recent decision to leave the sport at the end of 2021. Ferrari's young driver programme is the most likely to deliver at least one new driver to the Formula 1 grid in 2021. Five of Ferrari's proteges are competing in Formula 2 this year and three of them – Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman – are still in title contention with two race weekends remaining. The trio of 21-year olds have been at the front of the Formula 2 grid all season.

Consistent points scorer Mick Schumacher currently leads the championship by 22 points from Ilott, while Shwartzman lies in fifth after leading the championship earlier in the season. We've had a great run with its predecessor, F1 2020, which hosted the most competitive F1 Esports Pro Series to date last year, as well as our qualifying rounds for 2021, including the Challengers. Our Challengers winners will be up for selection at the Pro Exhibition, which is now just days away! There, they'll be pitted against our top two China Championship racers, Time Trial winners, Women's Wildcard victor and all released 2020 Pro Series drivers, for the ultimate showcase of the best racing talent in 2021. The 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the most closely fought, dramatic, and chaotic in recent years.

20 drivers lined up to start 23 races across four continents for flat-out wheel-to-wheel racing that pushed their skill and the teams' technical ability to the absolute limit. While Lando Norris will be sad to see his good friend Carlos Sainz Jr. depart, he will be delighted to see a man who has seemed like his big brother at times join. When not on track Daniel Ricciardo and Norris have gained reputations as light-hearted kids looking to have some fun.

Ricciardo famously caused Norris to cry laughing in a press conference last year, so it seems hopeful that the good atmosphere that McLaren boss Andreas Siedl (mastermind of Porsche's mighty 919 programme) has fostered will remain. Whether McLaren can build on two seasons of progress will be seen, but in signing Ricciardo they have a race-winner in the team with a proven track record at pushing teams up the grid. Ricciardo's switch to Renault may not have yielded the returns he hoped, but he has no doubt managed to push the team forward up the grid. Albon will drop down to be the team's reserve driver for 2021, with no places left at junior team AlphaTauri following the team's signing of Honda protégé Yuki Tsunoda.