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Formula One 2021


Lineker

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35px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (Mercedes)
35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png #44 Sir Lewis Hamilton
35px-Flag_of_Finland.svg.png #77 Valtteri Bottas


35px-Flag_of_Austria.svg.png Red Bull Racing Honda (Honda)
35px-Flag_of_Mexico.svg.png #11 Sergio Pérez
35px-Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg.png #33 Max Verstappen


35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png McLaren F1 Team (Mercedes)
35px-Flag_of_Australia.svg.png #3 Daniel Ricciardo
35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png #4 Lando Norris


35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team (Mercedes)
35px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png #5 Sebastian Vettel
35px-Flag_of_Canada.svg.png #18 Lance Stroll


35px-Flag_of_France.svg.png Alpine F1 Team (Renault)
35px-Flag_of_Spain.svg.png #14 Fernando Alonso
35px-Flag_of_France.svg.png #31 Esteban Ocon


35px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow (Ferrari)
35px-Flag_of_Monaco.svg.png #16 Charles Leclerc
35px-Flag_of_Spain.svg.png #55 Carlos Sainz Jr.


35px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda (Honda)
35px-Flag_of_France.svg.png #10 Pierre Gasly
35px-Flag_of_Japan.svg.png #22 Yuki Tsunoda


35px-Flag_of_Switzerland.svg.png Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN (Ferrari)
35px-Flag_of_Finland.svg.png #7 Kimi Räikkönen (Rounds 1-12, 15-) / 35px-Flag_of_Poland.svg.png #88 Robert Kubica (Rounds 13-14)
35px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png #99 Antonio Giovinazzi


35px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png Uralkali Haas F1 Team (Ferrari)
35px-Russian_Automobile_Federation_flag. #9 Nikita Mazepin
35px-Flag_of_Germany.svg.png #47 Mick Schumacher


35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png Williams Racing (Mercedes)
35px-Flag_of_Canada.svg.png #6 Nicholas Latifi
35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png #63 George Russell


CURRENT SCHEDULED CALENDAR

12th March-14th March
35px-Flag_of_Bahrain.svg.png Pre-Season Testing (Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir)

28th March
35px-Flag_of_Bahrain.svg.png Round 1 - Bahrain Grand Prix (Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir)

18th April
35px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png Round 2 - Emilia Romagna Grand Prix (Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola)

2nd May
35px-Flag_of_Portugal.svg.png Round 3 - Portuguese Grand Prix (Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão)

9th May
35px-Flag_of_Spain.svg.png Round 4 - Spanish Grand Prix (Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló)

23rd May
29px-Flag_of_Monaco.svg.png Round 5 - Monaco Grand Prix (Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo)

6th June
35px-Flag_of_Azerbaijan.svg.png Round 6 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Baku City Circuit, Baku)

20th June
35px-Flag_of_France.svg.png Round 7 - French Grand Prix (Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet) 

27th June
35px-Flag_of_Styria.svg.png Round 8 - Styrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring, Spielberg)

4th July
35px-Flag_of_Austria.svg.png Round 9 - Austrian Grand Prix (Red Bull Ring, Spielberg)

18th July
35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png Round 10 - British Grand Prix (Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone)

1st August
35px-Flag_of_Hungary.svg.png Round 11 - Hungarian Grand Prix (Hungaroring, Mogyoród)

29th August
35px-Flag_of_Belgium_%28civil%29.svg.png Round 12 - Belgian Grand Prix (Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot)

5th September
35px-Flag_of_the_Netherlands.svg.png Round 13 - Dutch Grand Prix (Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort)

12th September
35px-Flag_of_Italy.svg.png Round 14 - Italian Grand Prix (Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza)

26th September
35px-Flag_of_Russia.svg.png Round 15 - Russian Grand Prix (Sochi Autodrom, Sochi)

10th October
35px-Flag_of_Turkey.svg.png Round 16 - Turkish Grand Prix (Istanbul Park, Tuzla)

24th October
35px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png Round 17 - United States Grand Prix (Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas)

7th November
35px-Flag_of_Mexico.svg.png Round 18 - Mexico City Grand Prix (Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City)

14th November
33px-Flag_of_Brazil.svg.png Round 19 - São Paulo Grand Prix (Interlagos Circuit, São Paulo)

21st November
35px-Flag_of_Qatar.svg.png Round 20 - Qatar Grand Prix (Losail International Circuit, Lusail)

5th December
35px-Flag_of_Saudi_Arabia.svg.png Round 21 - Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah)

12th December
35px-Flag_of_the_United_Arab_Emirates.sv Round 22 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi)
 

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The 2021 championship was due to introduce significant changes to the regulations, including the sport's governance and the sporting rules but these were delayed in March 2020 in response to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These rule changes will instead be introduced in 2022.

FINANCIAL REGULATIONS:

  • The championship is due to introduce a budget cap, with teams limited to spending a maximum of $145 million per year. Teams will be required to use more commercially available materials and to submit their annual expenditure. Some teams argued to further reduce the budget cap to $100 million, citing concerns that the long-term financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the future of as many as four teams. Formula One managing director Ross Brawn stated that the sport's intention is to reduce the budget cap further in the coming years.
  • The value of the budget cap is set for 21 races; each additional race increases the budget cap by $1 million, and vice versa: each race removed from the scheduled twenty-one race calendar deducts the budget cap by $1 million. However, the budget cap does not include marketing budget, drivers' salaries and the salaries of the team's top three executives. In addition, under a later agreement among the teams regarding the introduction of sprint qualifying races, each team will receive an additional $500,000 for the three sprint qualifying races on top of the current budget cap, and further flexibility on budget cap in case the cars got damaged during the sprint qualifying races. There are also additional restrictions dictating how prize money can be spent. The cap only applies to expenditure related to car performance, which will remain in place until 2026. In the event that a team breaks the financial regulations, the team can be penalised. It was originally planned a range of punishments for exceeding their annual budget which include being deducted championship points, having reduced testing time, a race ban, or—for the most severe cases—disqualification from the championship. However, Toto Wolff later revealed that the intended sporting penalties such as points deductions and reduced testing for budget cap breaches will not be handed out having been voted down by three teams including Red Bull and Ferrari.

TECHNICAL REGULATIONS:

  • Teams will be limited in what components can be modified for the 2021 season, with this requirement introduced to ease financial pressures on teams brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, some changes will be mandated by the FIA, including adjustments to outer floor that are designed to reduce downforce levels. Teams can also apply for special dispensation to make changes, most notably in the case of McLaren who were given permission to modify their car to accommodate the switch from Renault to Mercedes engines. This prompted the FIA to introduce a token system whereby teams will be given a series of tokens which can be exchanged for the introduction of specific component upgrades.
  • However, some aerodynamic rule changes were enacted by the FIA. The floor of the cars will be 'clipped' in order to reduce downforce for 2021. In 2020 the floor was permitted to run in a straight line from an area adjacent to the cockpit back to a point ahead of the rear tyre. However, from 2021 that point ahead of the tyre will be moved 100 millimetres (3.9 in) inboard, making the floor edge a diagonal line when viewed from above. This change is expected to reduce downforce levels by 5%. Further, some slots on the edge of the floor will be removed, brake duct winglets will be narrowed by 40 millimetres (1.6 in) and diffuser fences will be narrowed by 50 millimetres (2.0 in). These three changes are expected to reduce downforce levels by a further 5%, meaning the 2021 regulations will see a total 10% reduction in downforce. However, it is expected that teams will increase downforce by 4–5% over the winter, so the anticipated overall downforce reduction is approximately 5%.
  • The "dual-axis steering" system developed by Mercedes in 2020 is banned starting from 2021. The dual-axis steering system allows the driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel.
  • The FIA will introduce newly revised wing load tests mid-season at the French Grand Prix to clamp down on potentially excessively flexing rear wings. This comes after Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team had claimed, at the Spanish Grand Prix, that the rear wing of the Red Bull RB16B flexed significantly at high speed and load, allowing greater top speeds. Under Formula One regulations wings must be immobile and rigidly attached to the bodywork.
  • From the Belgian Grand Prix onwards a new technical directive will be enforced surrounding pit stop equipment after concerns teams were flouting the article 12.8.4 of Formula One technical regulations that state that pit equipment may only be filled with compressed air or nitrogen and that sensors on this equipment must 'act passively' to achieve quicker pit stop times and potentially meaning cars could be released in an unsafe condition. To help enforce this new tolerance parameters will be introduced of 0.15 seconds from when the tyres have been fitted and tightened to the dropping of the jack and 0.2 seconds from the dropping of the jack to a car being released by the pit crew. The change was originally supposed to come in for the Hungarian Grand Prix, but was postponed. In a further clarification the FIA will have the means of ensuring the new tolerance limits are adhered to by using an intelligent wheel gun.

SPORTING REGULATIONS:

  • Teams will be required to allow a driver who has competed in fewer than two Grands Prix to replace one of their race drivers in a Friday practice session over the course of the season. Whilst these rules are intended to give a chance to more non-Formula One drivers to test a Formula One car, the wording of this rule means that teams satisfy the requirement if one of their regular drivers is in their rookie season.
  • Following Mercedes' tyre error during the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, where George Russell was given front tyres allocated to Valtteri Bottas during a pit stop, the FIA has adjusted the rules on tyre usage; drivers using mixed compound sets or using sets allocated to another driver on their cars will be permitted to complete two laps before the driver must pit to correct the error before facing a penalty. Under the previous rules, drivers could be disqualified as soon as such error had occurred.
  • The race time limit for red flagged races will also be reduced from four hours to three hours.

RACE WEEKEND STRUCTURE:

  • For the 2021 season, the schedule of a race weekend has been revised. Under the pre-existing regulations a race weekend spanned four days with the Thursday before the race being reserved for media and promotional events and scrutineering; however, under the new regulations all of Thursday's events were moved to the Friday morning, with the times between activities on that day being reduced. Cars are now under parc fermé conditions following the end of free practice three instead of qualifying, further restricting teams and drivers making major changes to setups ahead of the race. The length of the two Friday practice sessions has been cut from 90 minutes (as had been the case since the 2007 season) to 60 minutes.
  • The 2021 W Series for female drivers has been added to the list of support racing series alongside Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup. The 2021 W series season will start at Circuit Paul Ricard where it will be a support event for the French Grand Prix in late June and will end in Mexico City in late October, supporting the Mexico City Grand Prix. Formula 2 and Formula 3 will support Formula One on alternate weekends, rather than the same ones as a cost saving measure.
  • There will be a trial of sprint races at the British and Italian Grands Prix, along with another Grand Prix yet to be selected. Qualifying for these sprint races would take place on Friday afternoon in place of the normal second practice session and the races will be run over the least number of laps to exceed 100 km (62 mi), approximately one third of a normal race distance. The result of the sprint race will determine the starting grid for the main race. Three points will be awarded to the winner of the sprint race, two points to the runner-up and one point to the third-placed finisher. If the trial is successful it is proposed that sprint races will be introduced across a wider number of events for the 2022 season. The British Grand Prix timetable for 16–18 July revealed that there would be no running for Formula One cars until 14:30 local time on Friday with the normal Qualifying starting at 18:00. Normally, the second Practice Session would have been at around 14:00, with no running in the evening. A second practice session is due to start at 12:00 on Saturday, before the Sprint Qualifying at 16:30. The main race is due to start at 15:00 on Sunday. At events with Sprint Qualifying the parc ferme will be brought forward to Friday after normal Qualifying which will see drivers only allowed to use the softest avaliable tyre with the usual requirement for the top 10 to start on the tyres they used for their best lap in Q2 removed for events including Sprint Qualifying in their schedule. There is also no requirement to make a pit stop during Sprint Qualifying. All 20 drivers at events where Sprint Qualifying takes place will be given free tyre choice ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix. Teams will be given a $500,000 overall grant by the FIA to cover the cost of the scheduled three sprint races.
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Personally I'm definitely interested in the Red Bull dynamic now that they have finally decided to let go of the 'two kids in the crucible' notion they've went with since Mark Webber left.

I think Perez will be just what Red Bull needs. A consistently fast driver who has the experience to deal with the pressures that come with the expectations. It wasn't fair to Albon/Kvyat/Gasly to throw them to the wolves in the past year, and Kvyat/Albon were direct victims and Gasly only managed to rebuild himself because he got back to the sister team.

It's make or break though, if Perez is 'average', that just shows that the car is not as hot as they believe it is, and it's all Max Verstappen simply pulling more out of it than it deserves to get.

Also excited for Tsunoda, I always have a soft spot for Japanese drivers in my racing classes. Hope he hits the ground running.
Also hope Mazepin doesn't even get to pre-season testing before getting launched into the sun, piece of shit doesn't deserve to be in F1 and I hope the bad PR is enough to piss off some sponsors enough. I wouldn't mind a Liberty Media veto either, if Haas doesn't want to willingly give up the money.

Lastly, i'm excited for the spending cap. It'll be a slow process and 2021 probably won't have many effects with the teams spending less on the 2021 car to focus on the 2022 revolution. But still, I hope this will level the playing field and bring some excitement and volatility across the grid.

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No more pink panther in any way, shape or form :( 

 

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Formula One is in “active” talks with US internet giant Amazon over streaming deals to screen its Grand Prix races, as the world’s most valuable motorsports series seeks a digital future beyond television broadcasting.

Chase Carey, F1’s outgoing chief executive, told the Financial Times that he had held “substantive discussions . . . [with] Amazon and all the global digital platforms” over conducting new screening deals, adding: “They’re [an] incredibly important potential partner and an opportunity for us to expand and grow our business.”

The discussions come as F1 seeks to expand its audience, targeting younger fans who are increasingly switching to watching sport online rather than on traditional TV networks.

Amazon declined to comment on Mr Carey’s remarks, but has been among the most aggressive of the internet giants in bidding for live sports rights around the world.

The company has secured rights to stream National Football League matches in the US, is among the broadcasters of the English Premier League in the UK, and earlier this month said it wanted to secure deals to screen big cricket matches in India. These moves are designed to tie sports viewers to its Prime subscription services. 

F1 is also under pressure to unlock new revenues after coronavirus-induced losses in 2020. The group incurred operating losses of $363m in the first nine months of the year, because of lower fees from race promoters and a hit to corporate hospitality without fans in attendance.

Liberty Media, the US group that acquired the sport for $8bn four years ago, was forced to inject $1.4bn of cash into F1 in April, furloughed half its workforce and agreed salary cuts with executives to weather the pandemic.

However, Amazon and other big internet companies have been reluctant to offer the sort of money that broadcasters have previously paid for the rights to show F1. The racing series’ biggest broadcast deal with Comcast-owned Sky in the UK is worth $250m a year in an arrangement that runs until 2024. 

This year, F1 has negotiated or renewed TV rights deals in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Nordics, while it is also in the process of finalising a deal in Brazil. Broadcast deals represent about a third of overall F1 revenues.

Mr Carey, who will remain as F1’s chairman while handing over the CEO role in January to Stefano Domenicali, head of luxury carmaker Lamborghini, said switching to screening deals with online groups will be an “incremental” process. F1, he said, was concerned about alienating fans “who probably are not quite accustomed to watching their major favourite sporting events on a digital platform”.

Mr Carey, 67, a confidant to media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and a Fox Corporation board member, also pointed out that F1’s traditional broadcast partners were investing heavily in so-called over-the-top streaming services. This includes Sky in the UK, and Disney, owner of ESPN sports channels, which screens F1 in the US.

Expanding F1’s digital footprint has been one of Mr Carey’s priorities, which include launching an online subscription channel of its own, growth in “esports” or competitive video gaming, and Netflix’s Drive to Survive documentary series about the sport. 

Mehul Kapadia, chief operating officer of the Motorsport Network, said these online efforts had already helped to attract younger audiences by allowing fans to go behind the scenes in the sport.

“Now people want a 24/7 experience,” he said. “[The question is] how can you make your fans feel like they’re in the driver’s seat? That’s how the potential of the sport can be unlocked more.”

 

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The Haas Formula 1 team has reiterated its intention to run Nikita Mazepin for 2021 and has concluded its internal investigation into his recent conduct in an online video.

The team released a statement on Wednesday that confirmed the Russian driver would join Mick Schumacher as an all-rookie line-up for 2021 as previously announced.

The team had been conducting an investigation into the incident where Mazepin appeared to inappropriately touch a woman in the back of a car which took place ahead of the 2020 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi and was briefly uploaded to his Instagram account.

The statement read: "Haas F1 Team would like to reaffirm that Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher will form its driver line-up for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 world championship.

"As per the team's previous statement regarding the actions of Nikita Mazepin (9 December) - this matter has now been dealt with internally and no further comment shall be made."

Haas previously released a statement to announce it did not condone the "abhorrent" actions that could be seen in the video, while Mazepin moved to "apologise for my recent actions".

Guenther Steiner, the Haas team boss, told Autosport that: "We take it very seriously, as you saw with what we sent out [in the statement].

"I just want to reinforce that, that we will deal with it.

"I'm not going into detail on what we'll do and how we'll do it, but we take it seriously, and we will work to sort this out, what happened."

Speaking over the Abu Dhabi weekend, Steiner suggested to the media that the outcome of the internal Haas investigation was likely to be kept private.

"We had a race weekend going on, so I didn't focus on that one," he said. "That will be job for the coming week, when I'm back in the office at home. So I'm travelling, and then we will deal with that.

"But we spoke up until the race weekend started, and I said there's no point that we do anything now because there is a focus, which needs to be kept."

He added: "I can make an objective assessment, obviously.

"But as I said, I will deal with that the coming week. Maybe you guys will never know what was dealt with, and what are the circumstances, because I will keep them private."

 

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What's with all the shit talking going on between Red Bull and Ricciardo?

Also Red Bull confirmed that both Hulkenberg and Perez approached them for the 2021 drive, with mixed reports about the progress of Hulkenberg for the spot, but they only let him know 10 minutes before announcing Perez that he wasn't getting the drive.

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The opening round of the 2021 Formula 1 season in Australia is set to be postponed, Autosport has learned.

After seeing its 2020 calendar undergo significant changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, F1 aimed to return to a more regular season in 2021 by announcing a 23-race schedule in November.

The season was due to begin with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 21 March, marking the first running of the race since 2019 after it was cancelled just hours before Friday practice was due to begin last year.

But with Australia still enforcing strict travel restrictions, and amid global fears over the emergence of a new strain of COVID-19, doubts have been growing about the viability of the race.

Autosport understands that the Australian Grand Prix now looks set to be postponed until later in the 2021 season, forcing a possible re-shuffle of the races later in the year.

It means that the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for 28 March now looks poised to become the 2021 season-opener.

A spokesperson for F1 told Autosport that the series "proved that we could return to racing safely and delivered what many thought was impossible in March".

"We have set out our 2021 calendar and look forward to the return of F1 in March this year," he added.

Construction work on the temporary street circuit at Albert Park in Melbourne typically begins towards the end of January, but ticket sales are yet to begin for the race.

It is thought that an announcement postponing the grand prix is set to be made later this month.

Australia has taken a strict approach towards limiting the spread of COVID-19 since the outbreak, closing its borders to non-residents shortly after the F1 race was cancelled in March.

Strict quarantine rules have been in place since March, forcing all arrivals in Australia and those moving between states to spend two weeks in designated quarantine hotels.

There are currently 279 active cases estimated in Australia, while there have been 909 total deaths reported resulting from COVID-19.

Melbourne is currently preparing to host its first major international event almost a year, staging the Australian Open tennis grand slam tournament from 8-21 February.

The Victorian State Government has already confirmed that all players taking part in the tournament must adhere to the two-week quarantine upon arrival in Australia to "ensure the safety of all parties".

F1 has conducted rigorous testing for COVID-19 since the delayed start to the 2020 season, ensuring all paddock personnel attending events test negative before being allowed on site.

Those attending the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were required to remain within a biosphere on Yas Island for the entirety of the event, ensuring they did not travel to anywhere else in the city state.

 

Meanwhile, Aston Martin is set to launch its new Formula 1 livery and car at an event in February ahead of its works return to the grid for 2021.

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