2021 Formula 1 Season Thread

2021 begins...

They've posted an online survey for fans: Not sure if that link will work...

I’ll be sure to fill that out if they fix the link lol.

pachyderm said:

2021 begins...

They've posted an online survey for fans:

F1 Fan Voice

F1’s Official online community for fans all over the world to contribute to the sport they love via surveys, polls and forums, with exclusive prizes to be won.

www.f1fanvoice.com

Not sure if that link will work...

Click to expand...

Kept thinking we needed a new thread but hadn’t got round to it!

So I’m looking forward to seeing Perez vs Max at RBR. Could be fun.
Hard to see anything other than Lewis and Mercedes for the win though. But last I read he still hadn’t signed his contract.
I suppose though anyone could miss 2-3 races through Covid, so it could be less predictable.

Apple fanboy said:

Kept thinking we needed a new thread but hadn’t got round to it!

So I’m looking forward to seeing Perez vs Max at RBR. Could be fun.
Hard to see anything other than Lewis and Mercedes for the win though. But last I read he still hadn’t signed his contract.
I suppose though anyone could miss 2-3 races through Covid, so it could be less predictable.

Thanks for starting the 2021 thread!

I hope it's not another Merc dominant season but probably will be. Hoping that RBR are faster and Max/Sergio can split the Mercs all year.

Long shots.. Ferrari back in form, McLaren a top contender with Merc power, Alonso or Vettel can win a race.

I don’t mind if Hamilton gets his eighth title just so long as we get a decent level of racing with plenty of winners. I’d like to see Alonso and Vettel win one too. Alonso for the successful return and Vettel as a two fingers up at Ferrari who dumped him. I want to see Perez outperform Verstappen at Red Bull as I think it would be entertaining to see Max under pressure to see how he copes. This is the year to grow up from him and a tough team mate is what he needs.

The-Real-Deal82 said:

I don’t mind if Hamilton gets his eighth title just so long as we get a decent level of racing with plenty of winners. I’d like to see Alonso and Vettel win one too. Alonso for the successful return and Vettel as a two fingers up at Ferrari who dumped him. I want to see Perez outperform Verstappen at Red Bull as I think it would be entertaining to see Max under pressure to see how he copes. This is the year to grow up from him and a tough team mate is what he needs.

Can disagree with any of that. Maybe though Vettel not winning anything though. Not sure I can see that. Just him putting it in the wall, blaming the car and being shown up by his team mate!
I’d like to see Ricardo get some podiums as well.

Now that Vettel is back in a competitive car, I think he could score solid results and perhaps the occasional race win (especially in mixed conditions).

I hope Perez does well at RBR. He's going to be "the outsider" and the pessimist in me feels he was added just because RBR did not want to promote from Alpha Tauri while they wait to see how Vips performs in F2 in 2021 (they also might have Jehan Daruvala who will be in F2 again in 2021, but does not yet have his FIA Super License like Vips).

Apple fanboy said:

Can disagree with any of that. Maybe though Vettel not winning anything though. Not sure I can see that. Just him putting it in the wall, blaming the car and being shown up by his team mate!
I’d like to see Ricardo get some podiums as well.

I suppose we don’t know the true effect of the atmosphere he experienced at Ferrari. It can’t be easy to perform at your best when the top brass in the team are all behind your younger and less successful teammate. He may now understand what Webber felt like at Red Bull however. We do need a Vettel in F1 at the moment I think. The racing is dull and the personalities are lacking apart from Ricciardo and Norris.

CWallace said:

Now that Vettel is back in a competitive car, I think he could score solid results and perhaps the occasional race win (especially in mixed conditions).

I hope Perez does well at RBR. He's going to be "the outsider" and the pessimist in me feels he was added just because RBR did not want to promote from Alpha Tauri while they wait to see how Vips performs in F2 in 2021 (they also might have Jehan Daruvala who will be in F2 again in 2021, but does not yet have his FIA Super License like Vips).

I'm not convinced he is... fingers crossed.

The-Real-Deal82 said:

I suppose we don’t know the true effect of the atmosphere he experienced at Ferrari. It can’t be easy to perform at your best when the top brass in the team are all behind your younger and less successful teammate. He may now understand what Webber felt like at Red Bull however. We do need a Vettel in F1 at the moment I think. The racing is dull and the personalities are lacking apart from Ricciardo and Norris.

Don't worry about that. Alonso isn't lacking any personality!

After years of trying to get my wife interested in F1, we were bored and scrolling through Netflix and I asked if she wanted to watch Drive to Survive. Midway through the first season, she had the F1 app on her phone and is HOOKED on the sport. We went to the Austin MotoGP race in 2019, and when she found out that F1 runs in Austin, she now wants to see a race there. WE are definitely looking forward to the 2021 season

diggy33 said:

After years of trying to get my wife interested in F1, we were bored and scrolling through Netflix and I asked if she wanted to watch Drive to Survive. Midway through the first season, she had the F1 app on her phone and is HOOKED on the sport. We went to the Austin MotoGP race in 2019, and when she found out that F1 runs in Austin, she now wants to see a race there. WE are definitely looking forward to the 2021 season

I'm not sure if my wife hates F1 or Football the most. Probably F1 as the races are longer!

pachyderm said:

I'm not convinced he is... fingers crossed.

I agree that Racing Point did not look quite as strong as they did when Force India, but I wonder how much of that was Lance vs. Hulk or if the development money is not as much now as it was under FI.

That being said, leveraging the design of the all-conquering AMG Mercedes chassis clearly improved the competitiveness of the 2020 car vis-a-vis the 2019 car, so presuming that continues with the 2021 car...

The-Real-Deal82 said:

I’ll be sure to fill that out if they fix the link lol.

I completed this yesterday morning US EST. It was very glitchy, took FOREVER to complete. My gut feeling was they are looking hard at future broadcasts. How do you watch the races, how many do you watch over the air, local provider, pay service......

There were other general questions, but I certainly felt it was geared toward how to gain the largest viewership and still stay in the black.

Glideslope said:

I completed this yesterday morning US EST. It was very glitchy, took FOREVER to complete. My gut feeling was they are looking hard at future broadcasts. How do you watch the races, how many do you watch over the air, local provider, pay service......

There were other general questions, but I certainly felt it was geared toward how to gain the largest viewership and still stay in the black.

I’d definitely give my feedback on that seeing as I haven’t watched a live race in about 4 years. I rarely even catch the highlights and get most of my updates from YouTube roundups and written articles. It’s quite similar to most of the F1 fans I know and used to hang around with. I’m sure they’d want to hear from me how they’ve messed up the availability of the sport with pure greed lol.

The-Real-Deal82 said:

I’d definitely give my feedback on that seeing as I haven’t watched a live race in about 4 years. I rarely even catch the highlights and get most of my updates from YouTube roundups and written articles. It’s quite similar to most of the F1 fans I know and used to hang around with. I’m sure they’d want to hear from me how they’ve messed up the availability of the sport with pure greed lol.

The British Grand Prix is always on free to air channels. Don’t you even watch that one live?

Apple fanboy said:

The British Grand Prix is always on free to air channels. Don’t you even watch that one live?

I recorded that one last year but never got around to watching it. I’m out of practise now as I used to record every race and watch it the same day. If they were back on FTA I might make more of an effort throughout the season I think.

I think F1 is going to have trouble in the long run tempting people back as they’ve worked really hard on reducing the amount of people watching since they went to shared coverage, then down to highlights only.

The-Real-Deal82 said:

I recorded that one last year but never got around to watching it. I’m out of practise now as I used to record every race and watch it the same day. If they were back on FTA I might make more of an effort throughout the season I think.

I think F1 is going to have trouble in the long run tempting people back as they’ve worked really hard on reducing the amount of people watching since they went to shared coverage, then down to highlights only.

2 hour highlights usually does me to be honest.

Should get some debuts soon...

Which won't be too shocking or new ...?

F1 2021 - Confirmed Launch Dates

• 15 February - McLaren.
• 19 February - AlphaTauri.
• 22 February - Alfa Romeo.
• 2 March - Mercedes.
• 5 March - Williams.

pachyderm said:

Unlucky for some – 13 of F1’s most unfortunate records | Formula 1®

Nearly 800 drivers, and over 160 teams, have raced in the Formula 1 World Championship since it was inaugurated in 1950 – and as the saying goes, they can’t all be winners. So, with that in mind, let us navigate through 13 of the least desirable records in Formula 1 history, and the stories of...

www.formula1.com

Should get some debuts soon...

Which won't be too shocking or new ...?

F1 2021 - Confirmed Launch Dates

• 15 February - McLaren.
• 19 February - AlphaTauri.
• 22 February - Alfa Romeo.
• 2 March - Mercedes.
• 5 March - Williams.

Click to expand...

Interesting read.

Apple fanboy said:

Not long to go now.

I'm at a loss for who the engine supplier is though? Renault..?

pachyderm said:

I'm at a loss for who the engine supplier is though? Renault..?

Mercedes McLaren this year.