Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread (Read 1st post rules)

Cork Trucker

This is the official Formula 1 2021 - General Discussion Thread

Any posts that should be in the race weekend threads that are posted in here will get deleted without warning

Harika

https://mobile.twitter.com/yukitsunoda07/status/1339119181099307009

Tsunoda confirmed at Alpha Tauri

kopite386

So is the only seat we are now waiting on confirmation for, the Albon seat and whether he keeps it or Perez gets it?

Mercedes - Hamilton & Bottas
Red Bull - Verstappen & Albon/Perez
McLaren - Norris & Ricciardo
Aston Martin - Stroll & Vettel
Renault - Alonso & Ocon
Ferrari - Leclerc & Sainz
Alpha Tauri - Gasly & Tsunoda
Haas - Schumacher & Mazepin
Alfa Romeo - Raikkonen & Giovinazzi
Williams - Russel & Latifi

klose

Yup, although Hamilton still isn't officially signed but we know he will be there. Kvyat and Gasly atleast got their seats back at toro rosso/alpha tauri when they got demoted which means albon could be cut completely loose if perez takes his seat.

Cork Trucker

Harika wrote: »

https://mobile.twitter.com/yukitsunoda07/status/1339119181099307009

Tsunoda confirmed at Alpha Tauri

Possibly the worst kept secret since Mansell to McLaren

Dont be at yourself

Talk is that Albon will be kept on as reserve and test driver. Given the limited evolution in regs for 2021, Perez comparisons should be handy enough for them to decide for 2022.

AMKC

Nice to see a Japanese driver on the grid again but you have to feel sorry for Alex Albon. I think in any other car on the grid even the William's and he would still be there but because the Red Bull is such a handful that only Max can master he will be reduced to a Reserve driver. I suppose that's better than been gone totally but still hard for him

El_Duderino 09

I think Schumacher and Mazepin are in for a tough test. Nobody is likely to look good in that Haas. And I don’t expect the Haas to improve much over the winter. Ferrari have said they’re building a new engine so hopefully that will be competitive with the Mercedes.

I’d imagine Ferrari started building the new engine when the writing was on the wall for the old engine during last season. They probably knew they wouldn’t get away with the old engine trickery once it came under close scrutiny so hopefully they started work on a new engine early.

But the Haas car rarely develops much over the season and has been going backwards since it’s introduction to the sport. Watching drive to survive the other day and it was amazing to see Haas and Renault fighting with each other for points at lots of races. Haas finished clear 5th in constructors that year. It’s been a horror show since then when you look at the likes of Mclaren, Renault, racing point, Alpha Tauri who all finished well behind Haas that year and have really developed since then.

PopePalpatine

Mick's situation looks a lot like Russell at Williams. Even if he demolishes Mazepin, so what, sure he's only the second coming of Lavaggi/Deletraz/Rosset/[insert scrub here].

El_Duderino 09

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Mick's situation looks a lot like Russell at Williams. Even if he demolishes Mazepin, so what, sure he's only the second coming of Lavaggi/Deletraz/Rosset/[insert scrub here].

Ah no. Russell’s has been regarded as a talent as a result of demolishing his teammates. I know his legend has grown since two weeks ago, but the only way to be recognised in the Williams is to demolish the teammate. The car is crap so if they’re competitive with each other then neither will stand out at all (like KMag and RoGro). Two average drivers in a good car, look good (like Stroll and Perez).

I think the only way for Schumacher to stand out is to soundly beat his teammate.

Jordan 199

I just hope Mick trashes Marzipan.

Harika

In F2 Mick didn't outshine mazepin.
My surprise 2019 was Tsunoda whom I expect to perform well 2020. Happy to see him promoted so quickly and he stormed through the ranks like Max.

Jordan 199

F1 to remain at Interlagos until 2025.

Cork Trucker

Jordan 199 wrote: »

F1 to remain at Interlagos until 2025.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.sao-paulos-interlagos-circuit-to-host-brazilian-grand-prix-until-2025.7d5nbQbkoQy7QxL4TEojO.html

flazio

The F1 2020 game is on "PS now" so I gave the Vietnam track a spin. Basically it's just a long Formula E track. Looks worse then the Putin drome.

artanevilla

flazio wrote: »

The F1 2020 game is on "PS now" so I gave the Vietnam track a spin. Basically it's just a long Formula E track. Looks worse then the Putin drome.

It's been canned anyway.

weisses

So Toto is staying on as team principal ... Lewis will sign as well I guess

El_Duderino 09

weisses wrote: »

So Toto is staying on as team principal ... Lewis will sign as well I guess

That’s great for Mercedes but we need Mercedes to lose some of its top staff to stop them out performing everyone again.

El_Duderino 09

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

That’s great for Mercedes but we need Mercedes to lose some of its top staff to stop them out performing everyone again.

It's not the top staff who have them at the top, it's the ones that hardly any of us have heard of. Aside from the political side but they can get their way and **** off and leave the advantage baked in for 5/6 years.

AMKC

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport-news/fia-develops-100-sustainable-biofuel-formula-1#comment-342111

Aim is to be using 100 per cent sustainable fuel in F1 by 2026. From next year it is 10 per cent to be used by each team.

weisses

Perez to be confirmed Friday ?!?

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/75222/sergio-perez-to-join-verstappen-at-red-bull-racing-in-2021.html

Cool_CM

weisses wrote: »

Perez to be confirmed Friday ?!?

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/75222/sergio-perez-to-join-verstappen-at-red-bull-racing-in-2021.html

Autosport reporting the same. Huge call for Red Bull and a bit of a f*ck you to their young driver programme, but absolutely the right choice if true.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154273/perez-poised-to-replace-albon-at-red-bull-for-2021

Wonder how Max will take it

ro_chez

People saying Red Bull are ruthless for releasing Albon of the seat, but c'mon

You have a number 2 driver in the Red Bull, who has had literally a handful of top four finishes in the last year and a half, and in a lot of other races should have had a result but didn't.

And on the other side, you have 16 top fours and 3 wins for Max, against the GOAT car the sport has ever seen.

I think going forward at least to have any chance of beating Mercedes next year, Red Bull need to be ruthless with their driver selection. And certainly Perez is a better option than Albon.

flazio

Now imagine it was Pierre Gasly in this situation with no Alpha Tauri Rosso seat to fall back to.

weisses

flazio wrote: »

Now imagine it was Pierre Gasly in this situation with no Alpha Tauri Rosso seat to fall back to.

Tough luck ...

ELM327

Albon has shown he is not competitive in the car. Perez is a better consistent option in terms of points scoring and tire management.

I can't wait to see Alonso back in a car again. Himself and Kimi are my two favorite drivers so it will be good to see at least one of them in a competitive car again.

El_Duderino 09

ro_chez wrote: »

People saying Red Bull are ruthless for releasing Albon of the seat, but c'mon

You have a number 2 driver in the Red Bull, who has had literally a handful of top four finishes in the last year and a half, and in a lot of other races should have had a result but didn't.

And on the other side, you have 16 top fours and 3 wins for Max, against the GOAT car the sport has ever seen.

I think going forward at least to have any chance of beating Mercedes next year, Red Bull need to be ruthless with their driver selection. And certainly Perez is a better option than Albon.

I think they’re ruthless but they are also confused about that they want. If the unwanted very good drivers, the they had a very good driver as a teammate to max in Ric, but they made it clear to him he was no.2. So they seem to want an above average no2 driver but not a top driver who might upset Max and that’s why Perez makes sense but it’s probably been the best argument for Albon too.

Perez is grand and around average. He will be better then Albon, but not that much better than Albon.

This is it

Perez confirmed

Cork Trucker

https://twitter.com/redbullracing/status/1339933414615642112?s=21

jammiedodgers

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1339933551802855429

Inquitus

Gonna be really interesting to see how Checo stacks up against Max next year, will really be a chance to gauge them both, also if Checo performs better than Albon and consistently inserts himself into the battle for the top 4 in the race as well as qualifying it will really open lots of tactical doors for RB which have all been firmly closed with a poorly performing Albon at the helm of the 2nd RB.

Inquitus

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Perez is grand and around average. He will be better then Albon, but not that much better than Albon.

I think Checo had a really good season and he seems demonstrably better than Albon, though the proof of the pudding will be in the eating!

AMKC

Delighted for Sergio Perez. I think him and Max will be a good team should keep each other on edge and competitive too.

AMKC

https://mobile.twitter.com/INEOS/status/1339873678637625344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1339873678637625344%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boards.ie%2Fvbulletin%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D2058035251page%3D399

And so it begins. The slow decline of Mercedes out of the sport.

PopePalpatine

I'm interested in seeing what insights Perez can bring to car development.

TCP/IP

Red Bull now have the strongest driver pairing in FY 21.

At least RedBull have the balls to have two really strong drivers unlike Merc.

Really hope the strategy options it will give RedBull will make for an exciting championship as this year was a disaster.

BrentMused

Inquitus wrote: »

Gonna be really interesting to see how Checo stacks up against Max next year, will really be a chance to gauge them both, also if Checo performs better than Albon and consistently inserts himself into the battle for the top 4 in the race as well as qualifying it will really open lots of tactical doors for RB which have all been firmly closed with a poorly performing Albon at the helm of the 2nd RB.

That's an excellent point.

It has been very difficult for Red Bull to get a shot at covering off the Mercedes' with undercuts etc when the opportunity arises, because Albon has always been so far out of contention.

It seems like almost every week now Horner is saying to the media that he hopes Albon can get himself up to around that 3rd/4th spot to give them some options, but it rarely, if ever materialises.

If Perez can consistently be in contention for that 3rd/4th place allowing Red Bull to try something different in terms of tactics from time to time, I think they will be extremely pleased.

Top Dog

If Sergio doesn't bring the fight to Max will people eat humble pie for being so scathing of Albon?

And if he does bring the fight and they're more consistently challenging Mercedes, will it force Mercedes to reconsider having a more competitive second driver?

skipper_G

Been a crazy year for Perez fans, first he gets dumped by Aston then he wins a Grand Prix and now he's driving a Red Bull. Absolutely delighted

SureYWouldntYa

Top Dog wrote: »

If Sergio doesn't bring the fight to Max will people eat humble pie for being so scathing of Albon?

And if he does bring the fight and they're more consistently challenging Mercedes, will it force Mercedes to reconsider having a more competitive second driver?

If Perez struggles as well, then blame will have to go to the Red Bull car itself and how difficult it must be to drive, and also how amazing Max must be to be able to push it

I hope Perez isn't just a slight improvement on Albon, would make the move so pointless then, want to see either a proper improvement on Albon or proof that Albon and Gasly weren't the problem but instead the car is

ELM327

I'm not a perez fan at all, but what he brings is consistent performances.
If he finishes the majority of the races in the top 4 and within a few seconds of Verstappen, that's a success and much better than albon.

Albon wouldnt have the driving ability to be a pizza delivery driver, let alone the RB. Perez has arguably a better car next year than this year, and he still managed a win this year.

ELM327

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

If Perez struggles as well, then blame will have to go to the Red Bull car itself and how difficult it must be to drive, and also how amazing Max must be to be able to push it

I hope Perez isn't just a slight improvement on Albon, would make the move so pointless then, want to see either a proper improvement on Albon or proof that Albon and Gasly weren't the problem but instead the car is

Agree, I'd be the same on both counts

quokula

Some nice driver line ups for next year now.

We've got Alonso, Vettel and Ricciardo potentially battling for best of the rest after the top two teams. We've got the Schumacher name back on the grid, which will be special even if it will be at the back. And now we've got one of the best drivers on the grid partnering Max at Red Bull.

It's a shame Bottas is still taking up the only seat on the grid that could make the championship interesting, but there will hopefully be a lot to watch going on behind that at least.

chicorytip

Scott Dixon should have got the job.

rianmcn

ELM327 wrote: »

I'm not a perez fan at all, but what he brings is consistent performances.
If he finishes the majority of the races in the top 4 and within a few seconds of Verstappen, that's a success and much better than albon.

Albon wouldnt have the driving ability to be a pizza delivery driver, let alone the RB. Perez has arguably a better car next year than this year, and he still managed a win this year.

Totally agree. Essentially, RB want Perez to be Max's Bottas. Will qualify 4th and be in Merc's pit stop window so they cannot split strategies on Verstappen. And also when Max is off form or DNF's, Perez will be there to take home the podium or even more depending on the day.

rianmcn

Also, what happens if Perez is the same gap away from Verstappen as Albon and Gasly were? Maybe the RB car has been a lot worse than Max has made it seem for the past 2 years. Maybe he's even better than we thought? Interesting season ahead, can't wait!!

Adamocovic

Anyone know what’s next for Albon? Surely won’t drop to a test or reserve driver.

Does he go to a different Motorsport? I honestly have no idea what he will do.

Mad to think nearly 200 points won over two years and potentially we may not see him anytime soon racing in F1 again.

Inquitus

Adamocovic wrote: »

Anyone know what’s next for Albon? Surely won’t drop to a test or reserve driver.

Does he go to a different Motorsport? I honestly have no idea what he will do.

Mad to think nearly 200 points won over two years and potentially we may not see him anytime soon racing in F1 again.

Albon sadly is shafted at this point, he is never going to get the RB seat back, so serving as their test / reserve driver is a pathway to nowhere. Perhaps he can do that for a year and hope that Kimi retires, or Alonso flops and perhaps get a chance with Alfa Romeo or less likely Renault.

If he gives it a year and no drive is forthcoming then he's going to have to go drive in a different formula and hope he gets a chance at some point in the future, he is only 24 so he does have some time on his side. It wouldn't really surprise me if we never see him on the F1 grid again, it's a ruthless sport at the end of the day!

Adamocovic

Inquitus wrote: »

Albon sadly is shafted at this point, he is never going to get the RB seat back, so serving as their test / reserve driver is a pathway to nowhere. Perhaps he can do that for a year and hope that Kimi retires, or Alonso flops and perhaps get a chance with Alfa Romeo or less likely Renault.

If he gives it a year and no drive is forthcoming then he's going to have to go drive in a different formula and hope he gets a chance at some point in the future, he is only 24 so he does have some time on his side. It wouldn't really surprise me if we never see him on the F1 grid again, it's a ruthless sport at the end of the day!

I saw Russell posting support for him online and within the comments Martin Brundle was talking about him and the fact he’s still young.

Tagged Damon Hill mentioning that some former greats weren’t even in F1 until they were older. It’s mad how it’s changed. Hill in his 30s joining F1 would be crazy these days.

Anyone thinking Gasly getting demoted has somewhat saved his career? If Red Bull didn’t make that call we’d probably be seeing Gasly gone.

Harika

Way back to Albon is:
tsunoda failing
The unofficial Tsunoda/Honda/Red bull contract breaking (if there would have been no linkage the logical step would have been to bring Albon back there)
Gasly moving to Renault
Perez failing
Hamilton retiring and Verstappen being lured to Mercedes

Bad for him would be Daruvala shining in F2 next year

klose

It's the right decision from red bull on the constructors side aswell as pit stratagies, albon was completely unreliable and to take a gamble on him this year could have and probably would have backfired, not nice to see him lose a seat completely but it's a cut throat business.