Lando Norris has got Covid. Ideal time to get it I suppose. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154449/norris-tests-positive-for-covid19-in-dubai
While the 2021 season regs are not a million miles from last year there will be lots of changes. I think Horner said something like 60% of car is new. So the 3 day testing will be a challenge, especially to new drivers and those who have changed teams. If they do the testing and first race in Bahrain there will only be a week between them!!! Not much time to test new cars and get drivers up to speed especially with new tyres! A bit sad that Williams are going to be using Merc gearbox in 2022 but it was expected. It's just too expensive to develop your own gearbox when the PU supplier has one that works well. Looks like Williams will be Merc C team which I think is a good thing for Merc. For too long Red Bull and Ferrari have had B teams and that has given them an advantage - although not enough to beat Merc. So now with budget caps coming in Merc needed a way to redistribute costs!! I'm not sure how long Renault will be in F1 as changing their name to Alpine is the start of the stepping back process, plus they don't have anyone to 'share' costs with. So their budget will be at absolute max at the cap - no offsetting some costs to a B or C team for them!!
In regards to Renault, as Alpine is their premium brand and they've changed the name so they can promote it, I think they may take it seriously for a few more years.
I thought Infinity was their premium brand? Have they released any new Alpine models recently? It seems like a dead brand to me.
Pretty certain AM are going to be fully green. They have a new title sponsor so I guess the pink BWT theme won't be dominant or if at all. When was the last time a green car became successful? Original lotus?
Yep, the cars will be green, and their title sponsor will be Cognizant. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154482/aston-ditches-pink-livery-with-new-title-sponsor Also, here's Vettel in green... https://www.planetf1.com/news/sebastian-vettel-aston-martin-green/
I mean, define successful. Jaguar had a couple of podiums in 01/02, but didn't finish higher than 7th in the WCC.
Good answer! yeah the green and blue or green and yellow Bennettons did win races. Maybe there is hope for green cars after all.
Just reading that Max has taken his Fathers advice on 'destroying' his team mates!! While you need to beat your team mate you also need support from your team mate to win!! I wonder if this attitude is what is costing him team mates and Red Bull potential championships?
Still waiting for Max to grow up a bit. Lewis rubbed some people up the wrong way with some of his comments when he was first in F1 but not in the same league as this guy.
Cyril Abiteboul is leaving Renault/Alpine with immediate effect! I wonder if he ever had his tattoo inked? Strangely I quite liked him. Davide Brivio, the former boss of Moto GP team Suzuki, is expected to join the team, probably as team principal!
I was just warming to Cyril! A surprise in some ways but the move to Alpine seemed to signal a fresh injection of ideas and a separate project from the Renault group. I am interested to see what they do with Martin Budkowski and whether he gets promoted up the chain.
I am really surprised at this . I knew he was stepping back from the f1 team , but I thought he was being promoted to a higher post within Renault motor sports section ?
Needs a contract first. I wonder what the deadline is before Mercedes need to look at getting Russell in? I presume he is on standby and Williams have a standby too?
It does seem to be getting a bit late. I wonder what the hold up is? Early on Lewis was suggesting that he wanted to know what Toto was doing, well now that's resolved I wonder what the issue is? Surely they can have a video chat to sort it? There must be more too it. I think I read the other day that Williams do have a backup plan.
I am 99.9% certain Lewis will sign , saw a clip earlier on that one person ( People ) who owns 25% don't want to meet his personal demands , Inneos will and Toto is currently on he fence .