The 2021 Season

[Penfold]

Alpine has employed Kvyat for reserve driver duties this year: https://www.racefans.net/2021/03/02/kvyat-joins-alpine-as-reserve-driver-for-2021-f1-season/

Not a bad choice.

[Chrill]

Definitely a stronger reserve driver than most other teams can field, and we saw them used several times last season. Not impossible he'll have to step in sometime this season.

[Chrill]

We're two thirds through the pre-season testing, and it's about time I rank the teams.


1. Mercedes (they struggle a lot more with reliability, and if this season is close that could end up being a deciding factor. I'll still put them here though
2. Red Bull
3. Ferrari (Their long runs are not great but their one lap pace seems acceptable)
4. McLaren
5. Aston Martin
6. Alpine
7. AlphaTauri
8. Alfa Romeo
9. Haas
10. Williams

Judging from absurdly limited running, all three of the backmarkers from 2020 are joining the midfield fight. Haas and Alfa seem to do so courtesy of a reasonably acceptable engine, whilst Williams seem to have a fairly grippy car in slower sections.


The McLaren-Mercedes team are running fast, and with little to no reliability issues popping up so far. Could definitely pip 3rd from Ferrari, but probably not battle it out with the top two.

[Chrill]

This does not tell us much at all. 1:28.960 is admittedly only 1.3 seconds slower than his Q3 lap from last year, but Verstappen ran the softest of tyres in this test.

Aston Martin did not bother with qualifying simulations, it seems. Or they are hopelessly distanced, over 3 seconds behind Haas who seem to be this years actual backmarkers. Williams and Alfa Romeo definitely appear to have moved up a bit and perhaps are joining the midfield for this year.

Are AlphaTauri the surprise of 2021? Can Ferrari score a victory this season? Will Kimi remain for yet another season? All this and more on the next season of Formula One!

[Penfold]

Possibly. Think they'll need some good fortune. Of course he will!

Now on to my wild stab at ranking the teams:

1. Red Bull - Car looks fast and stable, Honda pumping out the horses
2. Mercedes - I'd put them equal first if I could because, you know, it's Mercedes... but Max could really bring the fight to Ham this year
3. McLaren - The competition behind the top two is bound to be insanely tight, but I'm giving the papaya orange car the nod over the rest
4. Ferrari
5. Alpine - Put ahead of the next team partly due to drivers
6. Aston Martin
7. Alpha Tory - Sorely tempted to place them ahead of Aston...
8. Alfauber - Basically, positions 3 to 8 are likely to jump around depending on track characteristics, and how well they get tyres to work in various conditions
9. Haas
10. Williams

By all accounts, the Alfa was impressive on its long runs, which makes me feel kind of mean putting them in 8th... but I just don't know who to drop down instead!

[Chrill]

I'm keen to put Red Bull first too, and move Ferrari to 4th. My 3rd is Alpha Tauri for now though, Tsunoda especially drove that car with low effort. It simply looked planted.

P4 Ferrari, P5 McLaren, P6 Alpine. P7 Aston, P8 Alfa, P9 Williams, P10 Haas.

[Cabanacat]

Haven't been here in a while. How is everyone? Been watching the Netflix series as I did not do a very good job watching the 2020 season.

[Penfold]

Hello stranger! Really has been quite a while. Hope you're doing well during these interesting times...

Can't say you missed that much last season, but hoping for a fight up front this time. Bound to happen eventually, right?

[Chrill]

Nice to hear from you Cabanacat!

Penfold is getting more disillusioned with F1 every day, I think last season was good! I'm half expecting Mercedes to struggle in 2021 but we'll see. The Ferrari engine is better than 2020, but we'll see how much that helps Ferrari fight for podiums and Alfa Romeo for points.

AlphaTauri looked impressive too!

[Penfold]

I am hoping to enjoy this season more, the last one really wasn't helped by not having the old man around to watch races with.  I'm sure that coloured my perception somewhat, but there was also the tedium of Hamilton going unchallenged and the continued nightmare of DRS.

[Chrill]

I'm sorry to hear that, mate! Company definitely helps the show.

I've finally got my wife hooked on Drive to Survive, and she's excited about the season premiere. Only took me 9 years!

2022 is where it's at for me, the new regulations.

[Penfold]

Must've watched 500+ races with my dad, so can't help but think of him when I sit down to watch one now.  Oh well, fond memories at least.

Drive to Survive... you using it as a gateway drug into F1 for your wife?  How sneaky lol

With you on '22, waited a long, long, time for F1 to tackle the dirty air issue.  Please don't let them ruin it by keeping DRS next year....

[Chrill]

Drive to Survive... you using it as a gateway drug into F1 for your wife?  How sneaky lol

She's a fan of Ricciardo, Norris, and Leclerc. So I think the show has done wonders, I like those boys too!

She used to be a fan of the very handsome Nico Rosberg, courtesy of his looks. Also of Pastor Maldonado, but you may be surprised to hear that had nothing to do with his looks. Rather, his name was funny.

[Matt]

I'm sure Penfold is anxiously awaiting the first Super Formula race this weekend.

People on Reddit seem to love The Race's coverage, which I don't get at all. I thought it was quite bad, the announcers rarely seemed to know what was going on and seemed to rely on cliches like "Kobayashi is so aggressive" even when he was just driving around.

[Penfold]

Watched it on Red Bull TV, commentary far superior to that provided by those 'The Race' muppets.... more professional broadcast all round in fact.  Racing still on the underwhelming side though, I really want to like Super Formula but just struggling to get into it.  I shall stick with it for this season in the hope that the action picks up.