A few more days and the wait will be over. The weekend of 26-27-28 March will mark the return to the track of the Formula 1 racing cars, the roar, albeit dull, of the Power Unit will echo in the desert of Bahrain reopening the hunt for that world title now the prerogative of Lewis Hamilton for four consecutive seasons.
Once the most extravagant championship in history has been archived, the 2021 season can only present itself as a transitional season, and towards the epochal change of regulations that will come into force in 2022, and towards, let's all hope, the end of 'health emergency from Covid-19 which has influenced so much and is also affecting the world of F1.
The very little space dedicated to the canonical winter tests is indicative: a three-day hit and run in Bahrain that left more than a few question marks about the championship to come, perhaps fueling even more curiosity about the new "Circus": historical teams in search of redemption, young and talented "rookies", many drivers who have changed teams, champions in search of consecration or eternal glory are just some of the ideas that "free practice " at the beginning of the season they left us and that the world championship will deepen curve after curve, kilometer after kilometer.
Never as in this winter have we seen so many seat changes, especially in the top teams. The ugly end of the most romantic love story of the last decade of F1 between Hag , Ferrari triggered a domino effect that involved three other important pilots on the grid, Perez, Ricciardo e Sainz. Let's start with the latter, a young but experienced, reliable and constant driver, it was Ferrari's choice to work alongside the "predestined" Charles Leclerc.
The Spaniard left the seat free in Mclaren, allowed the transfer of the good Ricciardo, a little burnt by the disappointing two years in Renault and in search of what is perhaps the last good chance of his career. The four-time world champion Vettel, after a long courtship, finally succumbed to flattery Mercedes, however, marrying the satellite team Aston Martin, where he will support the scion of the patron of the Stroll stable taking the place that belonged to Perez.
The Mexican, one of the first talents of the FDA school, seriously risked being on foot despite the fact that in 2020 he had obtained his first career victory before the call, much acclaimed by the public, of the Red Bull which, probably, will have the strongest pair of drivers of the lot in the field.
THE ROOKIES
YUKI TSUNODA
The Japanese driver from Alpha Tauri will be the first "millennials" to race in F1. Having put himself on display in the last F2 championship, last autumn he made more than someone turn their noses up on his eventual leap into the higher category due to his small physique. For now Yuki has responded with immediately convincing performances in the winter tests and he also has the tradition in the choices, very often prudent, that the parent company Red Bull has made on its young drivers.
NEKITA MAZEPIN
Already in the limelight for his maneuvers to the limits of the regulations in F2 and for his "gaffe" on social networks, the young and fast Mazepin, Ferrari Driver Academy school, will certainly be remembered for having brought an American team, the Haas, to run with the colors of the Russian flag on the livery. The Russian must therefore not lack broad shoulders both to revive the fortunes of a team in a dive, and to show off for his speed performances in the shadow of a teammate at least bulky in the media.
MICK SCHUMACHER
You say Schumacher and think of F1. You say F1 and think of Schumacher. What Michael left in the history of this sport is truly something rare. And now, after a lot of ranks and a few titles in the minor leagues, it's up to his son Mick to collect and continue his father's legacy. Raised in the FDA, endowed with great constancy, Schumi jr appears on the stage of the greats with a Haas to be discovered following in the footsteps of his father who at the time wet his debut on a limping Jordan. Meanwhile, the young German immediately wanted to rekindle the many and perhaps even dormant minds of old F1 fans, starting to recall his father on the scoreboard of the times with the abbreviation MSC.
FERNANDO ALONSO
Special mention for the old Asturian lion, who returned to F1 after a couple of seasons spent wandering around the world. The two world champion has returned home, in that Renault that consecrated him to give impetus to the new Alpine project: that under that fascinating livery there is something else just as spectacular?
F1 THE STABLES
WILLIAMS
The recent handover of the historic Williams family to the new ownership is for now the most important novelty involving the team from which a change of pace is expected, especially in terms of budget, compared to the last disappointing years that have not done honor. to its glorious past. At the wheel there is always that thoroughbred that responds to the name of George Russell who, together with Leclerc and Verstappen, represents the most promising future of this F1.
ALFA ROMEO
It probably looks like the most beautiful car on the line-up. Too bad that you count the speed aspect on which steps forward compared to a disastrous 2020 seem to have been made: it was the team that totaled the highest number of laps in the winter tests, with a world champion like Kimi Raikkonen appearing quite fit and he will be able to count on a Ferrari PU that is certainly improved.
HAAS
Completely renewed team, from the driver line-up to the investors linked above all to Mazepin. As a Ferrari satellite team, as for the mother team, it will be difficult to do worse than last season and this already seems to be averted by the indications of the winter tests but much will depend, as for Alfa, on the real progress of the PU.
ALPHA TAURI
The winter tests and the experience gained in the past season make it a potential surprise for the center of the group. The Faenza team can count on a solid Gasly and a very fast Tsunoda at the wheel of a car that becomes more consistent every year in the wake of Red Bull Honda. The Monza 2020 exploit may not remain an isolated case.
FERRARI
There is so much to say about the Red from Maranello, there are so many conjectures and hypotheses that have hovered too much around the bad performances of the past season that never like this year more than the usual proclamations the fans are waiting for answers on the track. The SF21 appears significantly modified from the aerodynamic point of view, with more extreme concepts of the bellies and the rear that, together with an updated PU, seem to have given the boost that was missing at least on top speed. The hold on the race pace remains an unknown where the redhead did not shine in the winter tests showing the same problem that emerged last year in bringing the tires in the right temperature range. Recovering the huge gap with the top teams in a year without regulatory changes and with the revolution of 2022 at the gates seems utopian, but fighting to save face with a third-fourth constructors place is a must.
ALPINE
New project, new livery and new ambitions for the Renault team, which has focused strongly on the return of Fernando Alonso to relaunch itself after two years of high hopes and few concrete results in proportion to the available budget.
ASTON MARTIN
New team, an iconic brand for Lawrence Stroll's dollars, which set aside the Racing Point project, restarts from a consolidated base, that of Mercedes in 2020 (...) and from a driver of undisputed experience like Vettel. However, this season, given the competition in the middle of the group from historic teams such as Alpine and Ferrari, that something extra will be needed in terms of team growth, which, for example, has already been a bit lacking in winter tests, to confirm fourth place. of the past season.
MCLAREN
The Woking team is on the rise and will most likely confirm the good things already done in 2020. The transition to the Mercedes Power Unit, with a return to that combination that had made us dream so much a couple of decades ago, and the pair of pure talents behind the wheel, Ricciardo-Norris, officially nominate Mclaren as the main outsider of the season.
RED BULL
Verstappen-Perez is an increasingly mature machine-power unit combination. These are the premises with which the Anglo-Austrian Honda-powered team presents itself at the starting line of the 2021 season. If it is true that winter tests count relatively, it is equally clear that the latter have said that never before has the fight with Mercedes might be on.
MERCEDES
Little to say, however, she remains the big favorite. After seven consecutive driver-constructor double wins, the Anglo-German team can benefit from a consolidated advantage over the years and frozen by the non-change of the technical regulations as well as Lewis Hamilton's desire to become the driver to have won the most world titles in absolute. Having reached Schumacher in 2020 with the seventh title, Lewis, as many predict, will have the golden opportunity to end his career by boasting the eighth world champion. However, it must be said that the team has suffered more than it should in recent tests, resulting in the team with fewer laps completed due to a gearbox problem and not yet excellent handling.
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