Jordan's Track Talk

Author: jordanlhaynes

  • Women in F1

    As the whole world is big on diversity recently it made me question even more why is there no female F1 drivers currently? The last time a women raced in Formula One was back in the 1970’s which was over 40 years ago…

    I know there is the W series which got launched back in 2018… however in over the 70 years Formula One has been running there has been over 1000 grand prix’s, about 900 drivers who have raced in them. All but two were female (there was a few more female drivers but they did not complete the full grand prix weekend)

    In 2014 Susie Wolff (Toto Wolff’s wife) took part in the 2014 British Grand Prix for Williams in FP1 she made history that year to be the first women to take part in F1 in over 20 years. In 2015 she retired from driving. Following this Susie went on to set up ‘ Dare to be different’ which launched in 2016. It is aimed specifically at female talent hoping to inspire the next generation and also to increase female participation throughout motorsport. In late 2018 ‘Dare to be different’ united with the FIA’s initiative ‘Girls on track’ this is to globally ensure that girls and also women of all ages are aware what opportunities are out there for them.

    Ferrari Drivers Academy has recently signed up Maya Weug, this is a new turn for the Italian based team by signing their first ever female member. The 16 year old beat four other finalists to land the FDA spot.

    She won the FIA Girls on Track in 2020, and is now going on to Formula Four this is the first step to the road to Formula One and hopefully there will be many girls who follow her and get inspired.

    Here is a link for the girls on track to find out more about it: https://www.fia.com/thegirlsontrack

    Personally I think this is such good news to hear, obviously this is a step in the right direction, as the world is forever adapting and sports are changing to be more diverse. Hopefully one day in the near future we will see more women in the sport.

  • Jenson Returns

    Button returns to Williams as a senior advisor, he started his Formula One career with the team 21 years ago but has decided to make a return as the team continues their reorganistation under new ownership.

    The team were brought by US investment firm Dorilton Capital last year, which led to Sir Frank Williams and his daughter Claire step down from their leadership roles. They have then since announced a new team principal and also a new CEO, Button has joined on a multi year deal. The team said ” He will be able to call upon his over 30 years of motosport experience to provide advice and guidance to the team at Grove with helping support and develop both race and academy drivers.”

    Throughout the 2021 season Jenson will attend a number of grand prixs with Williams, he will also take part in team events back in the UK and support Williams social media and marketing activities. Button will also combine this role with his media duties with broadcaster Sky Sports F1 which he has been doing that since the 2019 season.

    Button annoucing the news on Williams social media.

    Personally I think this is such a good move from Williams who else to have join the team than no one other than a world champion and also who use used to drive for the team too, hopefully sometime soon we will be able to see the team back where they used to be.

  • Formula Two drivers

    Since my last post regarding Formula Two drivers for the 2021 season there has been three more drivers which have been announced since:

    Teams:Drivers:
    Prema RacingRobert Schwartzman and Oscar Piastri
    Uni-Virtuosi Racing*TBA* and Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin*TBA* and Jehan Daruvala
    Hitech Grand PrixLiam Lawson and Jüri Vips
    Art Grand Prix*TBA*
    MP Motorsport*TBA* and Lirim Zendel
    Charouz Racing System*TBA*
    Dams*TBA* and Marcus Armstrong
    Campos RacingRalph Boschung and *TBA*
    HWA RacelabMatteo Nannini and Alessio Deledda
    Trident*TBA*

    HWA Racelab has announced there 2021 Italian duo they have signed Alessio and Matteo, Matteo is doing F2 aswell as F3 with forty five races in total, meaning he is going to be very busy… Matteo has already driven for HWA in Bahrain at post season testing getting his first taste of Formula Two, however it is his second season for Formula Three.

    Deledda has spent the past two seasons at Campos Racing in Formula Three. He first started his carreer on two wheels then decided to go to four which he then took part in the Italian F4, aswell he has experience from in both Formula Renault Eurocup and Macau Grand Prix.

    Also Marcus Armstrong joins DAMS for his second season of Formula Two, he has switched from ART Grand Prix. He had an on and off season last year with taking two podiums within the first four races. Marcus drove for DAMS at Bahrain for the post season testing and he convinced them to sign for him in 2021.

  • Alfa Romeo car launch

    So the first team of F1 has set a date to launch their car for 2021, and that is Alfa Romeo. The Switzerland based team have announced that they will be launching their car on Monday 22nd February in Warsaw, Poland.

    The new Alfa Romeo, is set to be called C41 even though last years car was C39, it will be launched in Polands capital as the title partner ORLEN who has some of their key operations based in the city.

    It will be driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, the duo have been paired up with each other for a third consecutive season.

    The C41 is set to be a challenger this year as they will be aiming to be more at the top of the grid, last year they only scored 8 points throughout the season, meaning they finished 8th overall in the constructors title, finishing before Haas and Williams.

    The C41 will hit the track for pre-season testing in Bahrain on the 12th-14th March, it was scheduled to be held in Barcelona from the 2nd to the 4th of March but it changed as the FIA figured it would be better for logistical reasons to be held at Bahrain where the first race is held two weeks after testing. One positive to take from this is that in Bahrain the weather is more reliable than what it would be in Barcelona.

    To save costs, testing has been lowered to 3 days, so only one and a half day for each driver, this will inconvenience some drivers who have moved to new teams including the rookies.

    Below is the link for what Alfa Romeo put on their Instagram this morning https://www.instagram.com/p/CKQtR6OIy7P/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    One car launch date revealed, and only 9 more to go!!

  • F2 drivers and more…

    So far not all the drivers for Formula 2 has been announced yet, but so far the drivers are:

    Teams Drivers
    Prema RacingRobert Schwartzman and Oscar Piastri
    Uni-Virtuosi Racing*TBA* and Felipe Drugovich
    Carlin*TBA* and Jehan Daruvala
    Hitech GrandPrixLiam Lawson and Jüri Vips
    Art GrandPrix*TBA*
    MP Motorsport*TBA* and Lirim Zendeli
    Charouz Racing System*TBA*
    Dams*TBA*
    Campos RacingRalph Boschung and *TBA*
    HWA RaceLab*TBA*
    Trident*TBA*

    So we have 14 spaces left for F2 2021 season… it will be interesting to see who gets announced next, especially after the fact that Mick Schumacher, Yuki Tsunoda and Nikita Mazepin all got promoted to F1 for this year.

    The FIA Formula 2 championship promoters announced in December that these eleven teams above have been selected for 2021-2023 seasons, the same teams which competed in the 2020 season.

    Formula 2 have eight races for this year, it will have three races per weekend the weekend format is the following: Friday sessions, you have one free practice session of 45 minutes and then a qualifying session of 30 minutes. Saturday will have two sprint races. The feature race will now take place on a Sunday morning before Formula One.

    Some may think well what about starting grids? That is all sorted… The results from Fridays qualifying will be the starting grid for the feature race on a Sunday. The starting grid of Saturdays sprint race 1 will be determined by reversing the top 10 finishers of Fridays qualifying session results. Finally, Saturdays sprint race 2 will be determined by reversing the top 10 finishers of sprint race 1.

    Personally I think this is such a good idea, it makes the championship more exciting by reversing the top 10 round, i am looking forward to the F2 season this year and seeing who else gets announced. The first race for the Formula Two Championship is the 26th-28th March at Sakhir, Bahrain.

  • Cyril leaves Renault

    With immediate affect Cyril Abiteboul has left Renault, he was a long time Renault employee, he had been in sole charge of the French team since 2017 but is now leaving the company all together.

    Cyril has departed completely, whilst Laurent Rossi has now been confirmed as the new CEO of Alpine. Although the team principal has not yet been announced. Rossi is the director of strategy and business development of Groupe Renault.

    Renault hasn’t been able to reproduce the title winning success which they had enjoyed in in the mid 2000’s. Since returning to F1 they had made it back onto the podium in 2020 with top three finishes.

    Alonso is rejoining the team this year who has replaced Ricciardo. As Renault swap out there name they are also swapping there yellow colours to blue, red and white.

    To be honest, I was so shocked when I heard the news! I was not expecting that… it does make me wonder Abiteboul done so much for the Renault team as he was pushing them to be the best they can be! There’s so many unanswered questions and I will wonder will we ever find out?

  • Williams To Increase Partnership with Mercedes

    Williams have been in F1 since 1978, it was first founded by Frank Williams and a British engineer called Patrick Head in 1977. Throughout the years they have gone on to win races and championships. Through 1980- 1997 they won nine constructors championship. Claire (Frank Williams daughter) took over from Frank in 2013. In September 2020, Frank and Claire Williams decided to step away from Williams and the sport but leaving their name.

    It had been sold to a New York based private investment company called Dorilton Capital in August. It has then since been announced that Jost Capito is now the chief Executive Officer and Simon Roberts is now the team principal.

    In 2014 Williams announced they was partnering with Mercedes for a power unit. The deal was originally a seven year agreement but then in 2019 they announced that from 2021 they would be working with Mercedes for a further 5 years. Claire said ” Mercedes has been one of the sports most successful engine suppliers and we believe that they will continue to have an extremely competitive package going forwards.”

    With new rules coming in 2022, Williams will now use Mercedes gearboxes and other related hydraulic components from 2022 onwards. Williams say that the increased partnership with Mercedes who have won 7 straight constructors, will enable them to implement a more efficient design and manufacturing process in the long term, which allows the team to focus it resources more effectively in other performance areas.

    Toto Wolff, the CEO and Team Principal of Mercedes said ” We are pleased to expand our technical cooperation with Williams through this new agreement. For Williams it makes sense to acquire the integrated powertrain after running our power units since 2014.” ” This is a project we’ve been discussing with Williams for some time and i’m glad we have been able to bring this extension to fruition”

    Some may ask why? But in reality it’s a good move form both Williams and Mercedes, with Formula One constantly changing with new rules coming into play including the budget caps. Its a big decision from Williams but it could well be a game changer…

  • The Schumacher name is back in F1

    So Michael Schumacher’s son Mick signed for the HAAS F1 team on a multi deal in early December partnering alongside Nikita Mazepin.

    Mick began his career in karting in 2008 he used his mother maiden name back then as he wanted to try and limit his exposure to the press, he now believes his name is an advantage.

    In 2015 he moved to formula classes for the first time racing for Van Amersfoot Racing in Formula 4 he ended the season 10th with 1 win and 2 podiums. In 2016 he switched to Prema Powerteam in another year of Formula Four, Schumacher was competing in both German and Italian championships finishing both series 2nd in the overall standings.

    2017, Mick was racing in the FIA Formula 3 with Prema, with 8 victories Mick became the Formula 3 world champion in 2018. With then moving on to Formula Two. Mick done two seasons in Formula Two with Prema. He then went on to be Formula Two world champion this year.

    Mick is with the Ferrari driver academy and has been with them for 2 years now, no doubt the 21 year old is going to drive for Ferrari just like his dad did. The Ferrari team boss Binotto says that Schumacher has to do at least two years at the American F1 team to settle in as his best season is always the second year after looking at the stats of his career, Binotto is also not ruling out a future in red for 21-year-old Schumacher.

    Haas and Ferrari are moving closer together with their collaboration with the Ferrari designer Simone Resta to work for the small American team.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Mick race, I love watching people grow within the formula’s and obviously with him being the son of Michael it’ll be interesting to see how he performs under pressure in Formula One.

  • Alonso returns 2021

    So everyone knows that Alonso is returning to F1 next season at Renault which will be called Alpine. Alonso said his returning to F1 because he loves the sport… He had completed his check list of other things to do in his two years away.

    The Spaniard will become the first driver to have three separate stints with a single formula one team, he raced for Renault between 2003-2006, 2008-2009 and now 2021 onwards. He has signed a two year contract with the team.

    Alonso has spent two full seasons away from Formula One after leaving McLaren at the end of 2018, but he is back for one last crack with the team he won two world championships in 2005 and also 2006.

    He started his build up to come back into Formula One this year by going to the factory, and also trying to get more mileage on him, he stepped into the 2018 Renault car and also the 2020 model in the ‘Young drivers test’ following the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

    There was lots of discussion about Alonso doing the young drivers test as he is not young anymore unlike all the other drivers who took part, Lando Norris said ” It’s fairly obvious Fernando is not a young driver. It’s not like he has done one or two races… and he’s been doing countless tests already during the year in Formula One cars. I don’t get why they’ve changed rules just for him. i think its quite silly and it should not be allowed.”

    Alonso finished top off the charts for the young drivers test, he was followed by Nyck De Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne in both of the Mercedes.

    I’m looking forward to seeing Alonso back on the grid, but I do wonder if he will be like anything he use to be? He will have a lot of pressure on him as he has lots of fans and he has the experience, another world champion on track…Only 88 days to go till the first race.

  • Sergio Perez signs for RedBull 2021

    Well i think we all saw that one coming… I’m not shocked really! Perez has done an absolute brilliant season at racing point for 2020, showing he deserves a seat where ever that may be and RedBull clearly thought he is the right fit for them.

    It’s not like RedBull to look outside their own driving program when it comes to filling seats of drivers who have under performed. Perez has signed a one year deal with the team. Making Albon be the reserve and test driver with a focus on 2022 development, simulator work and tyre testing.

    Will Perez be able to match up to Verstappen… If anything I think they may not get along, I feel like Perez could take away podiums from Verstappen or potentially wins. Which is not a bad thing for the RedBull team but it makes it difficult for the team mates. At least they will both be consistent hopefully and bring the fight to the Mercedes.

    Perez finished this season fourth in the championship behind his new team mate with 125 points, it’s definitely going to be an interesting year with the new team mates. Perez said that ”The chance to race for a championship contending team is somEthing i’ve been hoping for since i joined F1 and it will be a proud moment to step onto the grid in the red bull colours” Well it looks like the Mexican has some winning mentality and so does the team his stepping into.

  • Yuki Tsunoda confirmed for AlphaTauri 2021

    Well thats another seat filled for the 2021 season, only two more left after Yuki Tsunoda got confirmed this morning to be driving for AlphaTauri in 2021. The 20 year old F2 rookie drove for AlphaTauri this week in the young drivers test in Abu Dhabi. He has now took Formula one’s Daniil Kvyat seat meaning he has not got a seat for the 2021 season after not having his contract renewed.

    Tsunoda is the the first Japanese driver to be on the grid since 2014, making him the 18th Japenese driver to be in Formula One. He came third overall in the Formula two championship with 200 points. In Formula three he shocked everyone and came out of no where half way through the season, then going into Formula two and only being there for a year, before moving onto Formula one in March.

    There was speculation that Tsunoda would be with AlphaTauri a little while back because he is in the Red Bull junior team. Making Kvyat wanting to drive harder towards the end of the season to try and save his seat but it just didnt work.

    What does this mean for Albon? He wouldnt want to accept an Alpha Tauri demotion after being in the Redbull so that explains why they have gone for the F2 rookie. Christian Horner confirmed at the beginning of December that it’s either Redbull or the bench for Albon.

    Daniil Kvyat has said that he will try and focus and come back to F1 in 2022 depending on which seats are available if there is any, his taking the year off from racing unless something extremely good comes up. He finished this season 14th and only 32 points whereas his team mate Gasly finished p10 with 75 points.

    Definitely looking forward to seeing Tsunoda drive next year and see how he does in the AlphaTauri and it’ll be interesting to see how Gasly reacts to a new younger driver come into the team and being his team mate.

  • Abu Dhabi Race

    So that’s it, last race done with until 96 days, not like in counting👀. Big well done to Max for winning and leading the whole race😁

    The McLaren boys were on fire 🔥 managed to finish 5th and 6th which made them finish 3rd in the constructors🙌🏻. Gutted to see them two going there separate ways but everyone knows the battle will still be on the track in March

    Albon at the end of the race putting the pressure on Hamilton, has Albon done enough to keep his seat? He had a good weekend… but it shouldn’t just be based on one weekend, won’t be too long till we found out 👀

    Poor Perez another race which he didn’t get finish, he definitely would of been in the points for sure if he didn’t have problems in lap 10

    Riccardo, done so well keeping his tires so good for so long… finishing 7th was a good result.. looking forward to seeing him in a McLaren next year and see what he can do with it.

    So many changes within f1 for next year including drivers changing or not got a drive for next year, two teams change names! Alonso coming back… and the Schumacher name back in f1 it’s definitely going to be an exciting year with 23 races 🙌🏻

  • Abu Dhabi Quali

    So, Max Verstappen starting on pole tomorrow for the 3rd time of his career , with Bottas and Lewis behind him making top 3. Not bad for car #44 after having some time off.

    Norris starting p4 with a very good lap 🔥, making the fight for 3rd place in the constructors championship all that better, especially with Perez having a grid penalty for extra engine parts… making him start at the back of the grid. Let’s hope the McLaren boys have got it in them tomorrow to get a good result.

    The two Renaults starting p10 and p11 which I think is surprising to a lot of people as they had the pace in fp3…

    Both Ferrari’s starting 12th and 13th, after Leclerc got a 3 grid penalty from last week with his collision with Verstappen on lap 1. Can either of them finish in the points tomorrow, it’ll be a close call for definite.

    Will Perez be able to finish on the podium again this week from the back? He managed to do it last week, so there’s nothing stopping him this week either!

    My predictions for top 3 tomorrow is… Hamilton p1, Verstappen p2, and personally I think if Norris has a good start he could finish p3… if it all goes well and they have a good strategy in place.

    I’d love to see Russell finish in the points tomorrow👀but it’s all just a waiting game until lights out at 13:10😁

    Tomorrow should be an exciting race! Let’s hope it is, I’m for sure looking forward to it ☺️

  • Last Race Weekend of 2020

    Well well well….

    It’s just been confirmed Lewis is racing this weekend after testing negative this afternoon of arrival in Abu Dhabi! Happy to have #44 back on track this weekend!!

    Absolutely gutted for Russell that his not in a Mercedes this weekend but I’m sure he will fully send it in the Williams for the final race!👊🏻

    Will Albon be able to keep his seat at red bull? Or will Perez be the one to take it all away👀

    After the events of this week with Nikita Mazepin could possibly not be in formula one for the 2021 season, so there could be a potential seat at haas for someone too, depending on what the Haas team decide to do😬

    Now what everyone is talking about is Russell potentially taking Bottas seat for 2021 in the Mercedes🤔, personally I think it should happen! Bottas has underperformed so much this year, and it really showed when Russell jumped in the seat last weekend to be his team mate, it’s all just a waiting game, but a very exciting one👀

  • Sakhir race

    Wow…. I don’t even know what to say, I’m so shocked… what a race😳

    First of all the first lap George got away beautifully! And was flying whilst behind him Perez, Verstappen and Leclerc had a squabble which left Verstappen and Leclerc out…

    George was amazing leading the race for so long, he knew how to keep his tyres good until, Mercedes put the wrong tires on his car, but he brought it back!! Then he got a slow puncture which means he had to pit again but he brought it back and came 9th with fastest lap🤩

    In my eyes, George still won that race, he deserved the win so much! But I’m looking forward to seeing how he does in his career! This will give him so much confidence!!

    Perez! Finishing p1 after being 18th on the first lap👀don’t think anyone saw that coming! Safe to say he was speechless at the end of that race… and on the podium. He does deserve a drive next year but will it happen?👀

    The battle for 3rd place in constructors championship is heating up between Racing Point, McLaren and Renault. Abu Dhabi will be an eventful race next week, and I’m looking forward to it! Especially with Leclerc having a 3 grid Penalty already for next week😬

  • Sakhir Quali 👀

    So… With free practices and qualifying done, do we think everyone has done enough? Here’s what I think…

    Personally I think George smashed it in the Mercedes 🙌🏻and I’m looking forward to see how he does tomorrow, could this potentially be his first podium or even his first win? We will find out tomorrow 👀but I’m rooting for him!

    Now onto Charles where did that lap come from?!! Starting P4 tomorrow, I don’t think many people expected that to happen, including himself😳.

    Albon…. I don’t know where to start, I was expecting him to be in top 5 but starting P12 is just shocking. Let’s hope he can prove to Red Bull that he wants to keep his seat😬, I hope he can.

    Norris, starting p15! He hasn’t had a very good weekend at all and it shows, is he over thinking the mid field fight for championship too much? Hopefully not but time will tell with only 2 races left…

    My predictions for the podium tomorrow is… 1- Russell, 2- Bottas, 3- Verstappen, let’s see what happens tomorrow!👀

  • First Post!

    Hi, I’m Jordan and this is my first ever blog post! Heres a little about me and what I do… I’m a big family person and they are kind of the reason I set up this blog, they push me to go and do the unknown because they can see I’m passionate about it, I’m forever grateful for them doing that. I also love going out with my friends and making memories, and also I love spending time with my family.

    This blog is about Formula One, some may ask why… well I have grown up watching it since I was little, I got introduced to it through my family and they are all big fan’s of it too.

    So from my blog you can expect to see all the latest news including: Annoucenemnts on teams/ drivers, qualifying results the race including a debrief which includes my opinions on how they did throughout the weekend. Also up and comers from Formula Two which I then hope to eventually move to updating you all on the results.

    If you do have any questions then please go to the contact section and you can write me an email, I’m happy to help in anyway I possibly can!