Category: Formula One

So after two weeks off from racing we have been blessed with a double header… first up we are in Portugal!

What to expect this weekend… the most obvious is Verstappen vs Hamilton duel which I think gives everyone some excitement during the race 👀. Next up is Perez, he will be wanting to recover from a Imola after he managed to get a 10 second time penalty and a spin too which made him finish P11 overall…

Russell as well will want to do some redemption after his crash with Bottas at Imola, at least now the dust has settled and apologies has been said and now George can focus on getting them all important points👏🏻 . Ricciardo will want to push himself even more now that his teammate has landed on the podium so early on, so it will be interesting to see how Ricciardo does over the weekend…

There is some track limits this weekend and they are at Turn 1, 4 and the exit of Turn 15, once again lap time will be deleted throughout the weekend. There has been a second DRS zone added and that is between Turn 4 and Turn 5 with the detection point 35 metres before the left-gander and the activation point 180 metres after…

My predictions for tomorrow’s qualifying is… P1-Hamilton, P2- Bottas, P3- Verstappen, P4-Leclerc and P5 to Perez. I’d like to see Russel make it into Q3 I think his got it in the bag this weekend👏🏻 Also I would like to see Vettel make his mark tomorrow and show his still got it! Would like to see the McLaren boys up there in top 10 too🙌🏻

Time for tomorrows Qualifying is: BST- 15:00 and CEST- 16:00, it’s definitely one to watch👀

Formula 1 has confirmed a change to round 7 of the 2021 calendar, the Turkish Grand Prix replacing the Canadian Grand Prix. Due to the ongoing international travel restrictions in place in Canada it became impossible for F1 to enter the country without a mandatory 14-day quarantine…

It becomes the third race of the year to be officially cancelled after the Vietnam and Chinese Grand Prix suffered the same fate earlier this year…

Last year we saw Turkey return for the first time in 9 years in F1, which we saw Lewis Hamilton was crowned world champion for a record-equalling seventh time.

I remember watching last years Turkish Grand Prix and I absolutely loved it! I feel like it will be a very good race there this year with everything being so close so i’m happy to have it back on the calendar for this year😁 Roll on June 11th-13th!!

The Canadian Grand Prix will be returning to the F1 calendar in 2022, they have just signed a 2 year contract extension to remain on the calendar!

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So over the weekend it got announced that F1 will be racing in Miami from next year on a 10 year deal! However the exact date for next year has not been confirmed just yet but its to be expected in the second quarter of the season👀

The race which is set to be the first since 1959 in the US state, will be held on a new and exciting layout at the Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, its home to the NFL’s famous Miami Dolphins franchise.

The circuit itself will be 5.41 km, it will feature 19 corners, three straights as well as three possible DRS zones… The Hard Rock Stadium which is a sports and entertainment hub which has hosted events from the Super Bowl to rock concerts will sit at the heart of the track.

Miami will be the 11th different location Formula One has raced at in the United States since it began in 1950, the following are Indianapolis, Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Dallas, Phoneix and Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

I feel like this is a good move from F1, as its bringing in a new track which makes it more of an exciting race and calendar. It also seems like there is a lot of potential for overtakes/ battles on this track which is what we like! I for one am looking forward to this🙌🏻

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Wow that felt like the longest three week break ever! But i’m happy F1 is back this weekend and we are in Imola🇮🇹the home grand prix of Alpha Tauri! Let’s talk predictions and more…

I feel like so much went on today in the two free practice sessions! There was a couple of yellow flags and red flags, also quite a few track times got deleted as well as some spins… Is there more to come of this over the weekend?

It is only day one of the weekend and I feel like we are in for a very exciting and close qualifying and race😁.

Some drivers/ teams who shocked me today was Williams, both drivers were giving it there all and it was nice to see them both up in the top 10 during the session👏🏻 Ferrari also shocked me as well today, both drivers again was giving it their all and stayed consistent being near the top.

At this track there is some track limits put in place, they are the exits of turn 9 and 15 (also beyond the red, white and green kerb), and the apex of turn 13.

My top 5 qualifying predictions is P1 for Hamilton, P2 for Gasly, P3 Bottas, P4 Verstappen and P5 Leclerc. I’d like to see Tsunoda start in top 10, and both Williams drivers nearer to the middle of the grid…

Times for tomorrow are… FP3 is at 10:00 am (BST), 11:00am (CEST). Qualifying is 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST).

It recently got announced that Hülkenberg is Aston Martin’s reserve and development driver for the 2021 season… However does this put more pressure on Vettel to perform well?

Nico Hülkenberg is very well known with the Silverstone based team, he raced with them between 2012 to 2016. He also stood in for them three times last year when both drivers was off at separate times due to positive Covid tests and then had to quarantine. He can now expect the call to stand in for either of the drivers should either of them miss a race over the course of the season.

It’s well known that Sebastian Vettel hasn’t had the easiest of year in his career, but with him moving to AM you would think things would start looking up as he is at a new team… Unfortunately not he didn’t have very good luck at pre-season testing and in the first race weekend of the season. I do get moving to a new team things are different and it will be tough etc, but if you look at other drivers it hasn’t been that difficult for them to settle into their teams. Has Vettel lost his mojo? Can he get it back if he has?

At the moment Hülkenberg’s role is strictly a reserve one, however that hasn’t stopped people from thinking will he be first in line to replace Vettel or even Stroll?

Everyone knows that Hülkenberg can deliver on a race weekend and he proved that last year when he stood in for the team… I do think Vettel needs to watch himself otherwise he could be out of a seat! Which none of us want but if he doesn’t start performing throughout the weekend then it just may become true and I don’t see him going to another team after this…

Personally, I would like to see Hülkenberg back in F1 permanently whether that be with Aston Martin or with a different team, his got the talent and I think some teams are crazy to not have him as there driver!

So ever since the Rosberg vs Hamilton days back in 2016, F1 has done a 360 since then and became very predictable, however after the Bahrain race it made me think how things could change and become interesting throughout the season…

The most obvious one is Hamilton & Verstappen. There is no doubt Red Bull have up’d there game this year and how Mercedes are having a little bit of trouble… The race was exciting from start to finish which I think is so good and also more people would want to start watching it because there is now someone bringing the heat to Hamilton.

McLaren are on fire, they finished 3rd last year in the constructors and with the first race done the results were Lando 4th and Daniel 7th. They had a strong pre-season test and they showed in the first race they have a strong team, while some may see that Ricciardo finished 7th however we all know that he gets better as the season goes on and it was only his first drive with the team and it does take some time to settle in…

Ferrari are obviously back! Or at least trying to get back 🤞🏻. I believe they will not finish in top 3 of the constructors at the end of the season, but I do think they will finish 4th or 5th which isn’t bad compared to last years result! The competition for them this year I think will be Alpha Tauri.

Tsunoda is the dark horse this year! We all saw how good and consistent he was in pre-season testing, and over the race weekend… I do think as his experience grows we will see him grow and see him get more confident and get more points in the races!

So there’s been lots of changes recently in F1 with changes to the weekend layout and so on but the FIA have got tougher on the teams this year…

The F1 teams are trusted to come to races with fully legal cars and as well the F1 sporting regulations. These note that “competitors must ensure that their cars comply with the conditions of eligibility and safety throughout each practice session and the race,” and that “the presentation of a car for initial scrutinising will be deemed an implicit statement of conformity.”

Cars are not examined thoroughly every weekend, for example at the Bahrain after the race, the cars get weighed, and all underwent a series of tests related to their power units were operated during the race.

At the Bahrain Grand Prix the FIA announced that after every race this season they will check a car at random and do deeper level of checks and analysis.

Why has this been introduced? Well, there is always rumours and suspicion throughout F1, but relying on either pre-existing or protests by rival teams to flag potential problems is not rigorous enough. Hence why a random check, which could hit any team after the race is the best way to do it.

In my opinion I can see why the FIA has introduced it, but in the back of my mind it makes me think why didn’t they sort it sooner sort of thing… I do however thinks it’s a good idea and it makes the sport seem more fair in that way, as they wont be picking the same team every single race weekend.

So with the 2021 season now underway and currently waiting for the next race weekend! Lets talk about available seats and drivers, I always think this is a good subject to talk about as you can make up some good scenarios!

Mercedes- They have both seats available at the end of this season, as the reigning champions will they keep both drivers for the 2022 season or will they possibly think about putting George Russell in one of the seats and retain one driver? I personally think Bottas may be out of a seat and Russell in one of them and joined by Hamilton…

Red Bull- So Verstappen’s contract ends in 2023, however Perez is only signed for the 2021 season. Potential candidates I think are Perez (depending on how he does), Tsunoda (the same again) and possibly bringing Albon back in? But then again Albon has to prove that he wants the seat…

Ferrari- I don’t think there will be any change in the Ferrari line up, Leclerc has a contract till 2024 and Sainz has one till 2022.

McLaren- Ricciardo’s contract finishes 2023 and Norris 2022, I don’t see either of them leaving the team any time soon!

Aston Martin- There is some uncertainty of how long both drivers contracts are at Aston Martin however I can’t see either them leaving until after the 2022 season.

Alpine- The returning Alonso, has signed up for 2 years so his contract is set to end in 2022. However Ocon’s ends this year, I think it depends massively on how Ocon performs this year… Saying that if he doesn’t then I think a potential candidate could be Pierre Gasly…

Alpha Tauri- Both drivers are up for grabs at the end of this season, could they retain Tsunoda for another year if he gets no other offers? If both drivers leave I could see Albon returning (depending on RB) and maybe somebody from Formula Two just not sure who yet…

Alfa Romeo- Once again, both drivers only have a years contract ending this year. To be honest I think Alfa Romeo may go with rookies, possibly Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman? Or the team could go down the route of retaining one driver and have one new driver.

Haas- The team have a line up for the 21′ and 22′ season, so no change there.

Williams- Both drivers contracts are ending this year, I believe that only one current driver will stay and I think that will be Latifi, and he could be joined by either Jack Aitken or Dan Ticktum possibly…

Since 2014, Formula One has had a penalty point system in place, where any breaches of the rules mean a drivers’ super licence is given endorsements. If any of the drivers rack up 12 points over a 12 month period they well then be banned for one race.

Last year there was lots of penalty points given out for a number of different reasons which included failing to respect yellow flags, practice start violations.

So, going into the new race year the rookies start off with zero, as well as Alonso, Bottas, Verstappen, Latifi, Gasly and Vettel. However in the first race weekend Vettel managed to get 5 over a weekend which has brought him up the table very quickly…

On the other end of the scale we have defending 7 time world champion Lewis Hamilton and he is joined by Mr Saturday (George Russell) and Lando Norris.

It will be very interesting to see how many points everyone will finish on at the end of a 23 race year… Below is how many each driver currently has :)

Driver:	Points:
Lewis Hamilton	6
George Russell	6
Lando Norris	5
Sebastian Vettel	5
Kimi Raikkonen	4
Charles Leclrec	3
Antonio Giovinazzi	3
Lance Stroll	3
Sergio Perez	2
Carlos Sainz	1
Esteban Ocon	1
Daniel Ricciardo	1
Pierre Gasly	0
Valtteri Bottas	0
Max Verstappen	0
Nicholas Latifi	0
Fernando Alonso	0
Yuki Tsunoda	0
Mick Schumacher	0
Nikita Mazepin	0