The Turkish Grand Prix, which was to replace the cancelled Canadian GP, has also been postponed and will possibly be cancelled altogether. Most of the F1 teams are based in the UK and stricter travel restrictions (imposed recently by the UK) relating to Turkey make it difficult for the teams to travel there.
The race promoters hoped that the situation will change later on and a new date on the 2021 calendar can be scheduled. This development means that there will again be two races in Austria, like last year. The first will be the Styrian Grand Prix on June 27, and the second will be the Austrian Grand Prix on July 4. Both races will be run at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Last year’s Turkish Grand Prix was a wet one,This weekend, F1 will be back on the streets of twisty Monaco street circuit after not being able to run in 2020.
This weekend will see the fifth round run in Monaco, which was forced to cancel last year due to worsening COVID-19 pandemic conditions. It was one of 7 races on the 22-round calendar which had to be cancelled.
The National Vaccination Program in Malaysia is free of charge.
♦ No incidents on the opening lap for a change but Lewis Hamilton lost his lead at the first corner to Max Verstappen, while Charles Leclerc slipped past Valtteri Bottas to take third place. Not a great start for the two Mercedes-AMG drivers.
♦ There was some puzzlement as Pierre Gasly seemed to have started in the wrong position, which the Stewards looked into. They later found that he had moved too soon at the start and gave him a 5-second penalty.
♦ Although Leclerc had gotten in front of Bottas, he could not run away and the Mercedes-AMG driver was cautious too. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez ere getting closer to the front.
♦ On lap 9, Scuderia Alphatauri’s Yuki Tsunoda had to pull to the side of the track as his car seemed to lose power (it was later reported to be a fuel pressure issue). His parked position being hazardous brought the Safety Car out. The day before, the Japanese driver had made critical remarks about what he felt was difference in performance between his car and team mate Gasly’s – but later apologised to his team, saying he was frustrated by the way the car behaved.
♦ The Safety Car was only required for one lap and by lap 10, the race resumed, with Verstappen still ahead and trying to extend the gap from Hamilton again.
♦ While the Safety Car was on the track, Antonio Giovinazzi raced into the Alfa Romeo pits to get the tyres changed… but a delay saw him fuming for longer than necessary and when he rejoined, he had dropped all the way to the back.
♦ Lance Stroll was waiting to pounce on Fernando Alonso the moment the Safety Car moved off, and when he did so, he timed it perfectly and powered past the Spaniard on the outside of Turn 4 to take 10th position.
♦ Going to lap 20, Hamilton was still behind Verstappen but the gap was not changing much. However, the British driver had concerns about his tyres although he is well known at being able to manage them when things get tough.
♦ At the one-third mark – 22 laps – the watching began as the leaders waited to see who would head to the pits first. The Safety Car had made a one-stop strategy a realistic possibility but for Verstappen, the gap was still too small. Further back in the field, though, the rush to the pits started as one driver after another came in.
♦ Bottas came in on lap 24 and on the next lap, Verstappen decided to also come in and spent just 4.2 seconds getting the tyres changed. When he rejoined, he slotted into fifth, just behind team mate Perez. But it was only momentarily as Perez dutifully moved aside to let him start the chase. Hamilton, in spite of tyre concerns, decided to stay out a bit longer and see if he could get a good gap in the lead.
♦ Toto Wolff was unhappy seeing that Haas driver Nikita Mazepin making it difficult for Hamilton to get by. He informed the officials and asked for action to be taken to make sure the Russian driver did not cause unnecessary problems. When other drivers have complained about him, Mazepin has used his rookie ‘inexperience’ as an excuse.
♦ Hamilton was finally called in on lap 29 and a hard-charging Verstappen quickly took over the lead. The chase was on again for Hamilton, now with fresh tyres and a gap of 2 seconds to close. As an indication of his determination, he set the fastest lap as the race crossed the halfway point.
♦ At the other end of the field, Nicholas Latifi pushed Giovinazzi to make a mistake on lap 37 and swept by to take 16th position, just behind his Williams team mate Georg Russell. Sebastian Vettel and Alonso, both past world champions, were also engaged in a battle for 11th place.
♦ Ricciardo was trying whatever he could to prevent Perez from passing him and eventually, his weaving was noticeable and he received an official warning (via his team) to stop such driving tactics.
♦ On lap 43, Hamilton was asked to come in for a set of mediums which would be advantageous when the race entered its final stages. His position was taken by Bottas who kept the Red Bull in sight and when Hamilton got back, he was 22 seconds behind Verstappen. He was about a second quicker per lap than the Red Bull driver, and if he kept that pace, he would catch up by the last lap as 22 laps remained.
♦ By lap 48, Perez finally out-manoeuvered Ricciardo on the outside and grabbed fifth place, with Leclerc next on his list.
♦ On lap 53, Hamilton was trailing his team mate and ready to pass, but Bottas didn’t seem to want to give up his position readily. But he got called in for another set of tyres so Hamilton was able to see Verstappen right in his sights. The gap was around 10 seconds and the number of laps remaining in the race was 12.
♦ With 9 laps remaining, Bottas was in fourth but with fresh tyres, he would be able to displace Lerclerc (who had done only one tyre change) and get up on the podium. There was even the possibility of second place if the Red Bull tyres couldn’t last till the end.
♦ As the 60th lap started, Hamilton was slipstreaming Verstappen’s car and going into Turn 1, the Mercedes-AMG surged past on the outside and took the lead. Having dropped a place, the Red Bull team decided to bring him their car in for a new set of tyres, by which time the gap to Hamilton had stretched to 23 seconds. He therefore had to just keep ahead of Bottas who was about 11 seconds behind. The new tyres gave Verstappen to set a very fast lap so he could get that 1 extra point.
♦ Once again, it was Hamilton who took the chequered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix, the victory being his 98th in his 14 years of racing in F1. The top four finishers ended the race as they had started it, and Tsunoda was the only non-finisher.
Although last weekend’s race was held in Portugal, which is just next door to Spain, the journey from the circuit in Portimao to the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix still covered 1,300 kms. While the event in Spain was revised to August last year (due to cancellations and postponements in the early part of the year), the Spanish Grand Prix is back in its usual period on the calendar for the third round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship.
No information on track conditions
For the first time since 2014, the F1 teams did not have a pre-season test session at this circuit so the teams don’t have as much information as in previous years. According to Pirelli, the tyre-suppliers for F1, weather conditions are likely to be considerably cooler than last year, but the high-energy demands of the track remain. This is especially so for the very long Turn 3 right-hander, which puts considerable forces through the front-left tyre in particular. Turn 9 is also challenging for the tyres and as a result, the hardest compounds are still considered the most appropriate choice.
Track layout modified
The track layout has changed this year, with a modified profile to Turn 10 to improve safety. The result is a left-hander that is slightly wider than the previous version, which has allowed for a bigger run-off area and will shorten the braking zone, with a higher entry speed to the corner. The lap is also now 20 metres longer.
“Car balance in Spain can often be influenced by the wind, as it sometimes changes direction during the day. There is usually a tailwind on the main straight in the morning, producing a headwind into the high-speed corners. This provides good car stability. But the wind tends to rotate to the opposite direction later in the day, which gives drivers a tailwind into the fast corners and makes the balance trickier,” said Toto Wolff, the Mercedes-AMG team boss.
The well-known demands of the track make a one-stopper very challenging – although the likelihood of cooler weather should help this year. In 2020, the race was won by Mercedes-AMG driver Lewis Hamilton with a soft-medium-medium two-stopper, although Sergio Perez finished fifth after stopping only once from soft to medium, while Valtteri Bottas was on the podium using a three-stop strategy.
The Catalunya circuit is a track where it’s quite difficult to overtake for most of the lap, although the long downhill straight can give a power and DRS advantage to help line up a passing move. All this makes qualifying position and race strategy particularly important to gain track position. With a number of support races as well, the surface should evolve reasonably quickly with more rubber laid down, compared to some other F1 rounds this year where Formula 1 has been the only track action.
“It’s always tricky in Barcelona with the grip and tyre usage, so there’s lots for us to learn and understand. I think the new Turn 10 was interesting and, on our side, we have room for improvement there,” said Alpine F1 Team’s Esteban Ocon.
Championship is wide open
After three rounds, the championship remains wide open although Lewis Hamilton managed to increase the gap from Max Verstappen after winning last weekend. The pair have alternated first and second places since the championship started, with Verstappen fiercely determined to beat reigning champion Hamilton this year.
In the Constructors Championship, the two Mercedes-AMG drivers have been picking up lot of points to pass the 100 mark. This puts the team 18 points ahead of Red Bull Racing, with McLaren 30 points further back. So far, Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, Haas F1 and Williams Racing have yet to score a single point.
Romain Grojean’s escape from the burning wreck of his Haas F1 car at the Bahrain Grand Prix last November captured worldwide attention. It was amazing that he came out of the inferno, suffering only severe burns to his hands. The safety measures to protect drivers had worked even though the way the car broke up shocked everyone.
Despite his valiant efforts to recover, Romain was not allowed to drive in the final two races of the season – a season that would be his last in F1, which he entered in 2009. During his career, the 35-year old drive had 179 starts and stood on the podium 10 times.
He was inside and inferno when his car caught fire but miraculously, Romain escaped with only severe burns on his hands.
The F1 world shared his sadness at not having a chance to have a last drive that was not remembered as the one of the dramatic accident. But Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes-AMG team, made a commitment to Romain that his crash would not be the closing story of his time in F1. He offered the driver a chance to drive one last time – and it would be in Lewis Hamilton’s World-Championship-winning racing car.
Preparing for drive at Paul Ricard
Romain has already been to the Mercedes-AMG F1 team’s base in England to undergo a seat fit and has spent time in the simulator in preparation for a specially-organised drive at the Frenchman’s home track, the Paul Ricard Circuit, on June 29. He will also take part in a series of demo laps ahead of the French Grand Prix which will be on June 27.
“I am so excited to jump back in an F1 car! It will be a special opportunity for me and to drive a World Championship-winning Mercedes will be a unique experience. I’m very grateful to Mercedes F1 and to Toto for the opportunity. The first I heard about the chance to drive a Mercedes was in my hospital bed in Bahrain when Toto was speaking to the media and made the invitation. Reading that news cheered me up a lot!” said Romain.
Last December, Toto Wolff made a commitment to Romain to let him have a drive in a F1 car so that his memory of his last drive would be a good one, and not of the accident.
A commitment from Toto
Toto said that the idea first came when it looked like Romain would be ending his active career in Formula 1. “We didn’t want his accident to be his last moment in an F1 car, and we are very happy to support Romain with this special opportunity,” he said.
“I have known Romain since his days in Formula 3 when he won the Championship. He enjoyed a long and successful F1 career and we wanted to make sure that his final memories would be at the wheel of a championship-winning car,” Toto said. “Romain’s accident reminds us of the dangers these guys face each time they climb into the cockpit but it’s also a testament to the incredible steps this sport has taken to improve safety over the years. I know the F1 community will celebrate seeing Romain back on track.”
While he leaves F1, Romain is not stopping racing altogether. He will compete in the IndyCar series for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR.
♦ It seemed like a good, incident-free start to the race… at least for the first lap. Then, as the second lap was beginning, Kimi Raikkonen ran into the back of Antonio Giovinazzi (his team mate). The front wing came off and he tried to drive on but could not and had to turn off into the gravel. An early start as usual for the Safety Car which was deployed to allow the Alfa Romeo to be removed and debris cleared. Giovinazzi, however, was still in the race and Daniel Ricciardo was waiting to pounce on the ‘wounded’ Alfa Romeo.
♦ Although Valtterri Bottas was in the lead, his engineers saw the brakes overheating (smoke was coming out too) and this was a concern for the restart when the Safety Car moved off on lap 6. Max Verstappen was ready for the moment and got around Lewis Hamilton to slot into second place and aim for the race leader.
♦ But the World Champion was not going to settle for third place, and within a lap, he slipped part Verstappen to regain second position less than a second behind his team mate.
♦ Lando Norris had used his tyre advantage to overtake Sergio Perez for 4th place, but then the Mexican driver who is with Red Bull Racing this year out-maneuvered the McLaren driver going through Turn 1 with the help of DRS.
♦ Ricciardo had started from 16th position and steadily worked his way up the field. By lap 18, he was able to pass Sebastian Vettel to grab 10th position and start thinking of some points to take home at the end of the race.
♦ Bottas didn’t make things easy for Hamilton, who was showing a lot of determination to take the lead. On lap 20, as the cars raced around Turn 1, Hamilton surged around his team mate and into the lead. It was like a replay of the 2020 race when Hamilton did the same thing.
♦ With a third of the race done, most cars were changing their soft tyres for harder ones. The two Mercedes-AMG cars were ahead of two Red Bulls, with one Ferrari (Charles Leclerc) about 12 seconds further back. Verstappen was within striking distance of Bottas but never had a clear chance to overtaken, allowing Hamilton to concentrate on building up his buffer with a succession of fastest laps.
♦ At the halfway mark, it was still both Mercedes-AMGs ahead, and then two Red Bulls. Fernando Alonso was the better-placed Alpine in 6th, watching Ricciardo’s progress and waiting for a chance to attack the McLaren driver, Both Ferraris were still in the points, but in 9th and 19th positions, they could easily drop out too. In fact, Leclerc was under threat from the second Alpine driven by Esteban Ocon, just a couple of seconds away.
♦ On lap 36, Verstappen started the chain of pit stops to get onto harder tyres to sustain an offensive. While Bottas shot in after the Dutchman, Hamilton was willing to stay out a bit longer, telling team that he thought the tyres were still okay, but he was ordered in. At that point, he had a 4-second lead and Perez inherited the lead of 12 seconds. But if he came into the pits, he would immediately fall to 4th.
♦ 22 laps remained as Hamilton sped after Perez, setting a fastest lap again. Verstappen had no answer to the speed of the Mercedes-AMG. He also had to watch his mirrors for Bottas who had been given encouragement personally by the team boss to go after the Red Bull.
♦ On lap 47, Nikita Mazepin, the ‘bad boy’ of the F1 world with his controversial behaviour, caught the attention of the Stewards who investigated him ignoring blue flags, which required him to allow the race leader to pass. The Russian drver has made some mistakes before, and explained that he was new and ‘unaware’. This time, he got a 5-second penalty although that was of no great consequence since he was at the back of the field anyway.
♦ By lap 51, Perez was probably finding it difficult with the old tyres, and Hamilton got by to regain the lead. The Red Bull driver then came in for the long-overrdue tyre change and as expected, slotted into 4th place when the rejoined.
♦ With the softer tyres, Perez pushed hard and got a fastest lap. He was making steady progress up the field in the final 10 laps but had still to get past some cars. As 5 laps remained, Hamilton was in a reasonably comfortable and safe lead, 5 seconds ahead. Bottas was not trying any harder and would settle for third, with Perez not within striking distance.
♦ 2 laps before the end, with a 30-second gap, Bottas rushed into the pits to get soft tyres and he was planning to go for the fastest lap and snatch that 1 bonus point from Perez. Veerstappen did the same thing since he had a 32-second lead ahead of Bottas, and he too was eyeing that 1 precious point.
♦ As Hamilton took the chequered flag, Verstappen and Bottas were both trying hard to be quickest driver of the day – and Bottas was the one because Verstappen’s time was deleted due to track limits infringement.
For the third round of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship, the teams return to Portimao in Portugal and the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, a circuit which is being used for a F2 race for only the second time. Unlike last October, when the drivers raced around a track totally new to them and the engineers had no previous data to refer to, there is now experience and knowledge that will help them optimize the car better and more quickly for the 4.65-km circuit.
Located on a hillside, the circuit has many elevation changes and the gradient changes are far steeper than they appear on TV. Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Team, does not consider these ups and down a technical challenge to the cars themselves but feels they have a much bigger impact for the driver.
“The simple answer is that elevation change does not impact the performance of the car as much as you might expect. It does put a little more strain through the cars, but they are built to handle heavy kerb strikes and large forces anyway, so a bit of extra compression in the suspension is no bother for modern-day F1 machines,” he explained.
“But different types of elevation change impact the cars in different ways, depending on the circuit and the topography. Some will require tweaks to be made to the car set-up, to really dial the car into the track characteristics and maximize them, while others will require the right compromise to be found,” he said.
The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, better known as Portimao Circuit, is located half an hour outside the city of Portimao at the Algarve in Portugal. It was opened in 2008, with construction completed in just 7 months at a cost of €195 million (about RM960 million).
Better grip this year?
Last year, the track had also been just resurfaced before the race and this reduced grip. It is presumed that 6 months of weathering will improve matters and Pirelli is sticking to the more durable end of its tyre range with the C1-C3 nominated as the hardest to softest tyres the teams can use.
“The track surface is still smooth, making it sometimes challenging for the drivers to find the right level of grip. With a big pit-stop time penalty, it should be a one-stop race on Sunday for the majority of drivers and we can already see that all 3 compounds could play an important role in this – which is why all the compounds were run extensively throughout the practice sessions,” said Mario Isola – Head of F1 And Car Racing at Pirelli.
The championship so far
The third round will start with the championships finely balanced. In the Drivers Championship, reigning champion Lewis Hamilton is just one point ahead of arch-rival Max Verstappen and that lead only came about because Hamilton drove very hard to set the fastest lap, thereby collecting the 1-point bonus for the achievement. The first podium finish for Lando Norris puts the McLaren driver in overall third.
The Mercedes-AMG team has accumulated 60 points after two rounds, 7 points ahead of Red Bull. This is still early in the championship, so the gaps will change over the season. Certainly, the reigning champions will want to widen the gap as quickly as possible but this year, Red Bull may present a stronger challenge to them and slow them from pulling away.
While this is only the second time that the circuit in Portimao is being used for a F1 round, Portugal has been host to the championship since 1958, with the Estoril Circuit being used between 1984 and 1996. However, the Portuguese GP was not included after 1996 and only resumed last year.
The successful drivers and team are therefore of the previous generation, with Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell having won three times each. Williams, a shadow of its glory days, was the most successful team and won 6 times.
The US state of Florida, which has had the famous Daytona 500 race since 1959, will also have a round of the Formula 1 World Championship in 2022. Miami will be the 11th location in the USA since the modern F1 championship began in 1950. The other circuits have been at Riverside, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoenix, Indianapolis and the Circuit of the Americas (Texas).
“We are looking forward to bringing the greatest racing spectacle on the planet to Miami for the first time in our sport’s history. The Hard Rock stadium entertainment campus in Miami Gardens exists to host the biggest global events to benefit the entire greater Miami region and Formula 1 racing is as big as it gets. We have worked with specialist designers to create a racetrack that we, Formula 1 and the FIA believe will provide great racing and we hope to create best-in- class unique fan experiences that are reflective of the diverse and dynamic nature of Miami,” said Tom Garfinkel, Managing Partner of Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Brand new track
Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, will sit at the heart of the circuit. The Formula 1 organisation and the FIA will be liaising closely with the promoter who will build a brand new track that will provide high-speed straights, multiple overtaking opportunities and exciting racing while meeting the highest safety standards.
The circuit will be 5.41 kms long, have 19 corners, 3 straights and potential for 3 DRS zones with an estimated top speed of 320 km/h. It’s not known if Hermann Tilke, the engineer who has designed many of the modern F1 circuits (including the Sepang International Circuit), will be involved.
The new circuit will be built on the grounds around the Hard Rock Stadium.
The race will provide an additional tourist boost and economic impact to local businesses in the greater Miami region. Additionally, there will be a programme to support local businesses and the community to ensure they get the full benefits of the race being in Miami Gardens, including a STEM education programme through F1 in Schools as well as the opportunity for local businesses to be part of the race weekend.
“We are thrilled to announce that Formula 1 will be racing in Miami beginning in 2022. The US is a key growth market for us, and we are greatly encouraged by our growing reach in the US which will be further supported by this exciting second race. We will be working closely with the team from Hard Rock Stadium and the FIA to ensure the circuit delivers sensational racing but also leaves a positive and lasting contribution for the people in the local community,” said Stefano Domenicali, President & CEO of Formula 1.
A Formula 1 race in California in 1976.
Spectator presence still uncertain
Meanwhile the FIA and Formula 1 said that during the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Italy, 4,523 tests for COVID-19 were performed on drivers, teams and personnel between April 12 and April 18. Of these, 2 people tested positive. The aggregated information from each Grand Prix is being provided for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency.
As in 2020, the races this year will be run under stringent Standard Operating Procedures with participants required not only to undergo COVID-19 tests but also operate in a ‘team bubble’ which prevents interaction with others during the event. Spectators have not been allowed so far, although in 2020, two events (in Portugal and Russia) allowed spectators with social distancing measures applied. The organisers are hopeful that the situation will ease further as the season proceeds and limited numbers of spectators could be allowed into the circuits.
Most of the races in 2020 were run without spectators present, while the teams had to operate in a strict ‘bubble’.
♦ The day started with rain that continued to the start of the race, and some drivers had incidents even while preparing to get to the starting grid. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin had brakes on fire while Sebastian Vettel had brake issues without a fire, and Carlos Sainz slid off and damaged part of the front wing which needed to be quickly replaced. Charles Leclerc also spun during the formation lap, showing how slippery conditions were.
♦ Not surprisingly, the start of the race saw a mess in the first corner. Verstappen was quick off the line and then got in contact with Lewis Hamilton. with the latter heading into the grass. Nicholas Latifi was less lucky though, colliding with Nikita Mazepin and ending up heading into a barrier, triggering deployment of the Safety Car.
♦ Yuki Tsunoda, who had broken his gearbox in an accident during qualifying, had to start from the back of the grid but was able to speed through the pack to 15th place in the first lap. The wet conditions also saw Mick Schumacher crashing at the pit lane exit, and he had to go with a damaged front end for a couple of laps. Fortunately the Safety Car was still out but it didn’t help that he could not get into the pit lane again due to the debris – from his own car earlier.
♦ Racing resumed when the Safety Car pulled in on the 6th lap, and Max Verstappen shot off again, pursued by Hamilton. The wet conditions were slowing tyre-warm-up so the drivers had to adjust accordingly. Only Pierre Gasly and Mazepin had chosen to start off with wet tyres.
♦ By lap 13, Sergio Perez was in fourth but was informed that he was given a 10-second penalty (stop/go) for overtaking while the Safety Car was leading the convoy earlier. He would have to work hard to stay well ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who was tailing him.
♦ The track was slowly drying by lap 15 but still slick in some parts, and Carlos Sainz was caught on wet patches twice. While Latifi’s race ended early, his Williams team mate George Russell was up in tenth place and holding on well.
♦ With one-third of the 63-lap race completed and the track conditions slowly drying, the teams were watching each other to see who would come in to change from the intermediates. It was Vettel who would be the first but he was also hit with a 10-second penalty (stop/go) for not having wheels fitted at the 5 minutes signal (before the race started). He came back in on lap 24, while in 17th place, to serve his penalty.
♦ Verstappen came in on lap, and Hamilton slipped into the lead, still with the damaged front wing. When the Red Bull driver rejoined, he was in third place but quickly got Hamilton in his sights and started the chase. He didn’t have to work hard as the Mercedes-AMG driver also came in to change tyres. By lap 28, every car had come into the pits at least once.
♦ On lap 31, Hamilton slid off into the gravel and touched the barrier, coming to a stop for a short while. But he managed to reverse out and rejoined the race, though down in seventh.
♦ His team mate, Valtteri Bottas was not so lucky – he had a collision with Russell which got debris all over and the Safety Car was called into action. Hamilton took the opportunity to get back and have the damaged wing changed. There was some much debris that the Stewards decided to stop the race on lap 34 for clean-up work. All cars were required to return to the pits and wait. For Hamilton, it may have been a small blessing as his team could work on the repairs with less pressure.
♦ At the time the race was stopped. Leclerc was 15 seconds behind race leader Verstappen but things would be different when racing resumed. 17 cars were still in the running and there would be 29 laps left to run.
♦ The race was restarted after 23 minutes with a rolling start after the cars circulated for one lap with the Safety Car at the front. And though track conditions were drier, Kimi Raikkonen slid off into the gravel! Verstappen shot off (and almost crashed), while Leclerc was quickly passed by a determined Lando Norris. Tsunoda was in tenth but a spin dropped him all the way to the back.
♦ Hamilton was ninth when the race restarted and within 2 laps, he had passed Stroll and Raikkonen to move into 6th, and was working hard to get to the front. In the process, he set the fastest lap which would get him one extra point if no one else was quicker in the race.
♦ With 10 laps remaining, Verstappen was still in the lead and 17 seconds ahead of Hamilton who was in 4th and trying to get past Leclerc. Norris was closest to the leader and even he was about 16 seconds away.
♦ Hamilton got past Leclerc on lap 55 but Verstappen had been pushing harder and the gap to third place (Hamilton) had extended to 18 seconds – and would extend to more than 20 seconds with 4 laps remaining.
♦ With 3 laps remaining, Hamilton pushed past Norris but the gap was just too big to reach Verstappen, and unless the Dutchman had very bad luck, he would take the chequered flag. He had beat Hamilton’s fastest time but in the effort to pass Norris, Hamilton had set an even faster time so he would still claim that 1 extra point even though he would not win the race.
♦ Further back, while Vettel had to pull out with gearbox issues Alpine and Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen could celebrate with the first points of the season as their cars finished in the top ten.
Formula 1 returns to Europe this weekend after the opening round in Bahrain last month, a departure from the usual season-opening venue in Australia. Tightened entry procedures forced the organisers to switch to the Middle East and the Australian round will be run towards the end of the year when, hopefully, the pandemic will have eased.
For the second round of the 2021 Formula 1 championship, the race is at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, more popularly referred to as the Imola Circuit as it is near the city of Imola in Italy. It was used for Round 13 last year, the first time in 14 years. The event is again called the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Last year, when the race was run at Imola, the teams had no recent data since the last race was run in 2006 when the cars and tyres were different and so were the conditions at the 68-year old track. The Imola circuit is a highly technical one, with a wide range of corners and it’s narrow and bumpy, as the older tracks tend to be. But at least there is now data from the race last year, which will help in setting up the cars.
“We all enjoyed returning to Imola in 2020, after a 14-year gap, and it was made more special by the fact we secured our seventh Constructors’ championship on that weekend. It’s quite a narrow track, which makes overtaking more difficult, but this puts more focus on strategy and makes qualifying even more crucial,” said Toto Wolff, the head of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Team.
As for the tyres, Pirelli is bringing the same C2-C3-C4 compounds from the middle of their range as last year. However, the warmer temperatures [compared to last year] and changes in tyre construction and downforce levels also create new conditions this weekend.
The performance gaps between all three compounds are different to initial estimates. The gap between hard and medium is smaller than expected because the hard, although requiring a longer warm-up time, is then able to work well and provide a good level of grip. Between the soft and the medium, the gap is instead bigger.
The drivers therefore face a different challenge from Bahrain, and securing good positions as far in front on the grid as possible have been vital. While the results of the first round have Mercedes-AMG at the top, it’s still early in the championship and how the season will run will be clearer after this weekend’s race.
In past years, the season-closing rounds of the Formula 1 World Championship have been held at venues in the Middle East but this year, due to the Australian GP – the traditional opening round – having to be postponed till later in 2021, the Bahrain Grand Prix has been selected to be the first round of the 2021 championship. It is not, however, the first time that Bahrain has had the opening round as it had the honour in 2006 and 2010.
The first round comes just 16 weeks after the 2020 race and 2 weeks after a 3-day pre-season test session at the same track in the desert. Memories of the last race would still be strong in the minds of everyone, especially the shocking fiery crash that Romain Grosjean survived. The Frenchman had already planned to retire from the sport in October, before the accident, and had hoped to participate in the final round but the doctors advised him not to do so and he sadly did not have a chance to close his F1 career with one last race.
The Schumacher name appears in F1 again, with the legendary driver’s son, Mick, driving for the Haas F1 team.
Newcomers to F1
Grosjean’s place in the American Haas F1 team is taken by Mick Schumacher – yes, the son of the legendary F1 driver – and Nikita Mazepin. Both the 22-year old drivers are newcomers to F1, having moved up from F2 with Schumacher being the reigning F2 champion.
Yuki Tsunodo, 20, drives for the Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda team this year, the first Japanese driver in F1 since Kamui Kobayashi drove for the Caterham team in the 2014 season.
Yuki Tsunoda is another newcomer, the first Japanese driver in 6 years of the F1 Championship. A member of the Honda’s Junior Driver program and Red Bull Junior Team, the 20-year old has been given a drive with Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda.
The last time Fernando Alonso was in a F1 race was at the 2018 Abu Dhabi GP. The 2-time world champion has been brought back by the newly formed Alpine F1 Team (which is the Renault F1 Team rebranded). He is no stranger to the French team, having raced for them for 6 seasons, besides having been with Minardi, Ferrari and McLaren. The Spaniard began racing in F1 in 2001 and is among the popular older drivers.
Many fans will remember Fernando Alonso’s time with the Mild Seven Renault team and now he’s back again with the French team.
The performance of the cars remains intriguing after the test session. Defending Constructors Champions Mercedes-AMG have suffered a difficult test spell, posting a lower lap count than other teams. Last year’s challengers to the champions’ dominance was Red Bull Racing and set the pace on two of the 3 days. McLaren, AlphaTauri and Alpine also look to be in good form.
Aston Martin is back in Formula 1 after some 60 years with Sebastian Vettel as one of its drivers. The company is also supplying the Vantage (below) for use as the official F1 Safety Car in some of the rounds.
“From the moment the third day of testing finished, we got our heads down and started to figure out how we can return to Bahrain in stronger form for the race,” said Mercedes-AMG boss, Toto Wolff. “While these cars share some parts from their predecessors, there have also been significant rule changes to interpret and overcome. We have also had to change the way we work in response to the cost cap. But as we have found before, it’s from the difficult moments that we learn the most.”
Past winners
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have the most wins at Bahrain – four each. Vettel’s wins were with Red Bull Racing and Ferrari while Hamilton collected all his victories as a Mercedes-AMG driver. Ferrari has had the most wins at this event with a total of six since Michael Schumacher won in 2004.
Pirelli’s 400th GP
Pirelli, the official F1 tyre supplier, will celebrate its 400th Formula 1 Grand Prix at this weekend’s race. The brand’s first GP was the inaugural F1 race at Silverstone in 1950, won by an Alfa Romeo. Since then, there have been 240 wins, 243 pole positions, 247 fastest laps, and 727 podium places in Formula 1 for the Italian tyre firm.
Giuseppe Farina in an Alfa Romeo with Pirelli tyres at the 1950 British Grand Prix.
