As a Pandemic has stopped the world from functioning in its normal manner, fans of the ultimate form of motor racing, Formula1, have indeed missed action-packed race weekends. While there is a long time to go till we hear the words ‘Its lights out and away we go’, the silly season has kept the excitement levels of us fans high. If you have been living under a rock all this while, here is what you need to know about how the racers and teams would carry on from the 2021 season.
Beginning with Carlos Sainz Junior, who looks to be the winner amongst other racers. The Spanish racer and son of rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr, made his F1 debut with Torro Rosso, along with Max Verstappen. Seeing that there is still some time for him to get a seat in the more competitive red bull team, he joined the Renault works team where he showcased how good of a racer he can be. However, with Renault signing Daniel Ricciardo for the 2019 season, Carlos had no seat left at Renault. Fortunately for him, his idol, Fernando Alonso decided to retire from Formula1 leaving his seat at McLaren up for grabs. In the 2019 season, he showcased his consistency, gathering the most amount of points and achieving the best of the rest title by the end of the season along with his first-ever podium at Brazil. Maybe it was this stellar performance and consistency of the Spaniard, with McLaren, which gave him a seat at Ferrari, where he shall be joining Charles LeClerc from the 2021 season.
With Sainz going to one of the coveted teams in the sport, McLaren was left with a need for a driver to join Lando Norris from 2021. With some major changes in the management, in the 2019 season, the team showcased that they are back to the path of reaching their former glory days, creating Championship winning cars for the likes of Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen. Moreover, from 2021, the company would be teaming up with Mercedes for its power unit, which would make one assume that the team will very soon be going back to their race-winning days. Proving that they are in the right direction, it comes across as no surprise that Daniel Ricciardo elected to take a side step and will move to the Woking based team from 2021. The Honeybadger finally gets a team that would perhaps take him back to the podium and McLaren gets the experience of a Grand Prix winner to guide the team and young Lando Norris. The hilarious banter of these two would be a lovely add on for the audience.
Sebastian Vettel, a four-time World Champion, had reportedly turned down a one year contract, along with a salary cut with his existing team, Ferrari. However, as discussions moved ahead, the German announced that he and the Italian team have decided to part ways from the 2021 season of racing, leaving the seat open for Carlos to take. While the German has not made any announcements for the next team he would race for, there are three probable routes he would be likely to take. The first option would be to go with Mercedes and the second being the Renault works team, both of which are fueled by numerous rumours. His last option would be to retire from the sport to perhaps take a break or put an end to his glorious career. The pairing of him and Hamilton would appear to be the dream combination for fans, however, the management at Mercedes may be a bit apprehensive of pitting two multiple championship winners against each other. Being a works team, Renault also may appeal to the German driver, however, we still have some time to wait and see where the German ends up at the start of the 2021 season.
Talking about the Renault works team, multiple rumours have also linked two times World Champion, Fernando Alonso with the team. With plans to rebuild the team around Daniel Ricciardo, a man of experience, his exit to McLaren has left the French team in desperate need of a driver with the same, if not more experience. Being the team Alonso won both his world championships with, if offered a salary good enough, it does not seem impossible for him to join the team again, lending his skill and experience to rebuild the team. Let us wait and watch what the future holds for this particular team which have held on to Estaban Ocon for beyond the 2020 season.
Mercedes, currently the team to beat, would also be having two empty seats by the end of the 2020 season. While Lewis Hamilton being given a new contract seems more of a formality at this stage, it would be interesting to see if Valteri Bottas is also given another extension. While Vettel may be a contender for the Finnish driver’s seat, team Williams racing driver, George Russel may also stand a chance to join the big team. However, Toto Wolff has made it clear that he would currently focus on the 2020 racing season before starting to decide which driver pair to go for beyond.
Emerging talents, Max Verstappen and Charles LeClerc have already committed to their seats at Redbull Racing and Ferrari, respectively, for beyond the 2020 season. Racers Estaban Ocon, Lando Norris and Sergio Perez too have secure their seats at Renault, McLaren and Racing Point respectively for beyond 2020. What about the others? Well, it seems that we shall have to wait for more time for the teams to make announcements, which perhaps would be done once the racing starts. Talking about racing, this season is scheduled to start in the month of July at the Rebull Ring circuit in Austria with a lot of back to back weekend racing which could probably make the 2020 season quite a banger and a season that gets written down in the history books.
Author: Videh Vora
