2021 Discussion Thread

Post by **Frogfoot9013** » 05 Feb 2021, 22:37

This is proving to be a very, um, silly, silly season as it turns out that the ban on use of the Russian flag in international competition for the doping programmes extends to F1 as it is a world championship.
Place yeer bets on what flag Nikita Mazepin will compete under here!

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 05 Feb 2021, 22:45

Frogfoot9013 wrote:Place yeer bets on what flag Nikita Mazepin will compete under here!

I'd suggest the blue flag. He'll probably be associated with that one anyway.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 06 Feb 2021, 09:43

tBone wrote:
Frogfoot9013 wrote:Place yeer bets on what flag Nikita Mazepin will compete under here!

I'd suggest the blue flag. He'll probably be associated with that one anyway.

Rainbow flag would be unlikely...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 06 Feb 2021, 16:05

dr-baker wrote:
tBone wrote:
Frogfoot9013 wrote:Place yeer bets on what flag Nikita Mazepin will compete under here!

I'd suggest the blue flag. He'll probably be associated with that one anyway.

Rainbow flag would be unlikely...

What about the flag of Moscow?

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 07 Feb 2021, 17:54

I'm personally in favour of him using a different flag from the Flag Mashup Bot on Twitter for each round.

Post by **Miguel98** » 08 Feb 2021, 11:28

Lewis Hamilton has been announced... to stay in Mercedes. One year extension for Lewis, ending at the end of this season. Kinda puts out more questions than it answers, so next silly season we might have "Will Lewis renew 2, eletric bogaloo"!

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 08 Feb 2021, 15:18

I agree, there's almost as many questions as there were before he signed!

Well oh well, it at least dials down the rumours for six months at the very least. It's obvious that both sides are trying to get the best terms out of each other, so it's very business and not much love, in spite of seven thousand championships each. Somebody somewhere is being greedy - otherwise a contract would probably have been signed half a year ago.

But what do I know? :roll:

tBone · Post by **tBone** » 08 Feb 2021, 16:44

https://www.racefans.net/2021/02/08/new ... formula-1/

More important news!

Pinkd56 · Post by **Pinkd56** » 08 Feb 2021, 16:46

This follows Domenicali saying that the $200m new entry fee could be waived in certain situations.

Interesting

girry · Post by **girry** » 08 Feb 2021, 20:17

Glad to see these tribute acts to some of the most rejectful entrants in the history of the sport!

Écurie Monaco was a short-lived F3000 team whose "Montecarlo 001" chassis Fulvio Ballabio tried to qualify for the 1986 F3000 race in Imola. He managed to complete one lap that was twice as slow as the best effort of his opposition.

It was hardly a surprise though, because the "Montecarlo 001" was based on Dywa's 010 design from 1984.

Yes, you read that right. Dywa's. The same guys who built those extremely rejectful looking square boxy cars that would never race anywhere apart from that one entry in Aurora F1.

As to why Ballabio was impressed by their design enough to actually select them as his chassis supplier of choice, we'll probably never ever find out.

But anyway, this team photo is absolute gold. :deletraz:

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 10 Feb 2021, 08:12

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/monaco-based-start-up-team-still-interested-in-f1-entry/5367357/?ic_source=home-page-widget&ic_medium=widget&ic_campaign=widget-1

Jean Todt is being so kind as to say he would MAYBE waiver the $200 million fee for any new team entering the grid, to help this Monaco F1 team idea get off the ground. How nice of him!

Apparently one of the drivers they had in mind for 2019 when their original entry date had been was Pascal Wehrlein, which would have been lovely. As has been mentioned a million times, the biggest problem of having ten teams is the ability for drivers to wait in the wings at lower teams. Nowadays it's a case of "they're either in F1 or they're out", with little in the way of gestation or waiting periods for anybody. F1 is sadder without a driver like Wehrlein on the circuit, and a project like this would have been cool if both parties had been interested

(Don't read the comments section on that article by the way - I've never heard such rampant anti-HRT sentiment before in my life)

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 17 Feb 2021, 08:45

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/albert-park-layout-2021-australian-gp/5416110/?ic_source=home-page-widget&ic_medium=widget&ic_campaign=widget-1

Changes to Albert Park - the hard right-hander in sector 2 which then turns left going by the lake, that's all been smoothed out a bit so it's a much faster corner. Less slowdown, so the laptimes will be much faster from this year whatever year the race happens onward.

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 17 Feb 2021, 16:54

Rob Dylan wrote:https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/albert-park-layout-2021-australian-gp/5416110/?ic_source=home-page-widget&ic_medium=widget&ic_campaign=widget-1

Changes to Albert Park - the hard right-hander in sector 2 which then turns left going by the lake, that's all been smoothed out a bit so it's a much faster corner. Less slowdown, so the laptimes will be much faster from this year whatever year the race happens onward.

Remember when we allowed tracks to have character? I sure remember. Those were some good days.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 22 Feb 2021, 10:11

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/australian-gp-open-to-f1-motogp-date-swap/5458538/?ic_source=home-page-widget&ic_medium=widget&ic_campaign=widget-1

Australia planning on swapping BACK to the end of the year spot after 25 years! (But still at Albert Park)

Yes my headline was misleading, what of it? It's actually already in November this year because of COVID and stuff, but they're saying they might keep it in November for good and swap with the MotoGP round date instead.

I guess it gives that distant opportunity for Ricciardo to win a championship at his home grand prix, a feat not possible since the time Massa almost did it way back when. I think nobody has done that since Farina in 1950. But that's just my imagination running away with me!

Bleu · Post by **Bleu** » 22 Feb 2021, 17:23

Moving Australia to the end would mean some late races to be moved to the front.

Remember the driver intros at 2017 USA Grand Prix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS2zyTZ ... rylParsons

I could see some kind of special introduction being cool at the first race of the season so moving USGP as the first race wouldn't be bad. I could see Liberty liking that as well.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 22 Feb 2021, 22:24

Bleu wrote:I could see some kind of special introduction being cool at the first race of the season so moving USGP as the first race wouldn't be bad. I could see Liberty liking that as well.

Just like it was in 1990 and 1991!

Two races I missed at the time, mind...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 23 Feb 2021, 08:18

dinizintheoven wrote:
Bleu wrote:I could see some kind of special introduction being cool at the first race of the season so moving USGP as the first race wouldn't be bad. I could see Liberty liking that as well.

Just like it was in 1990 and 1991!

Two races I missed at the time, mind...

As long as they're not at Phoenix! Goodness that was a dull track for F1 racing

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 01 Mar 2021, 16:44

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-risk-development-2021-car-steiner/5530487/

Haas have already announced that they've given up on development for 2021 before it's even started yet.

So many open goals for jokes

But yes, it will be something of a baptism of fire for Mick and Nikita. It would be very unfair for either driver to get shafted for 2022 if they don't stand a chance this year regardless. Especially as we already know Mick takes a while to get up to speed in whatever series he's in.

It gives Williams some hope though !

Post by **Miguel98** » 02 Mar 2021, 10:32

What the hell have Mercedes done to their livery? :facepalm:

Spooder918 · Post by **Spooder918** » 02 Mar 2021, 11:38

//AMG //AMG //AMG
//AMG //AMG //AMG
//AMG //AMG //AMG

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 02 Mar 2021, 14:05

no no no no no no no no no run away

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 02 Mar 2021, 19:34

Rob Dylan wrote:no no no no no no no no no run away

Sadly I fear that it will indeed be running away from the rest of the field this year...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 03 Mar 2021, 20:12

dr-baker wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:no no no no no no no no no run away

Sadly I fear that it will indeed be running away from the rest of the field this year...

If it means it gets less screentime during the races, that's fine by me

The Aston Martin livery's quite cool though

Post by **Miguel98** » 04 Mar 2021, 09:16

This whole ordeal with the Haas livery would be hilarious, if it wasn't for Mazepin. Livery is cool tho.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 04 Mar 2021, 09:43

Miguel98 wrote:

This whole ordeal with the Haas livery would be hilarious, if it wasn't for Mazepin. Livery is cool tho.

Yeah, that's one of the funkier liveries I've seen recently. Not a huge Haas fan but that's definitely in the top 1 of cats for me so far this season.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 04 Mar 2021, 09:52

I..... like it!

It does remind me distinctly of a certain national flag........ :roll:

probably just a coincidence.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 04 Mar 2021, 13:17

Rob Dylan wrote:It does remind me distinctly of a certain national flag........ probably just a coincidence.

It's quite surprising (in a not-very-surprising way) that such an All-American team would want to look so Russian.

It's like Rocky beating Drago was a waste of time. Creed Sr died for nothing....

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 04 Mar 2021, 14:06

takagi_for_the_win wrote:that's definitely in the top 1 of cats for me so far this season.

Didn't take you for a Purrgeot fan there takagi...

rachel1990 · Post by **rachel1990** » 04 Mar 2021, 14:25

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
Miguel98 wrote:

This whole ordeal with the Haas livery would be hilarious, if it wasn't for Mazepin. Livery is cool tho.

Yeah, that's one of the funkier liveries I've seen recently. Not a huge Haas fan but that's definitely in the top 1 of cats for me so far this season.

I strangely hate it but love it at the same time. Not a Haas fan but I do get the irony of an American team with possibly the most unsubtle sponsorship ever.

Only a couple of sponsors though. Financial or due to a certain driver not called Mick?

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 04 Mar 2021, 14:38

I'm just happy that we'll have at least two pretty liveries this year, especially after looking at what Mercedes came up with. I hope the casual complainers on some big forum kick up enough of a stink to get Mercedes to change the colour scheme and make it look better

what wonderful times we live in!

BabyG · Post by **BabyG** » 04 Mar 2021, 19:29

Anyone else feeling a sense of deja vu seeing happy-go-lucky midfield team who won their first race only the season before being renamed after a famous British sports car marque and launching their new car in a green livery?

Post by **mario** » 04 Mar 2021, 19:42

CoopsII wrote:
Rob Dylan wrote:It does remind me distinctly of a certain national flag........ probably just a coincidence.

It's quite surprising (in a not-very-surprising way) that such an All-American team would want to look so Russian.

It's like Rocky beating Drago was a waste of time. Creed Sr died for nothing....

Well, over at the RaceFans site, they did report that Haas seem to have made sure to send the livery to the FIA in advance to check whether they thought it complied with the CAS restrictions on Russian insignia. Whilst Steiner is suggesting that it has nothing to do with the CAS restrictions, there may certainly be cause to wonder whether the resemblance to a certain flag might be more than just purely coincidental...

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 05 Mar 2021, 08:27

Yeah, I guess this was the compromise all sides agree upon. Mazepin's sponsors need something if they don't get a flag, and it's technically just "toothpaste" colours so it's enough of a subliminal Russian flag to get away with it

Post by **Miguel98** » 05 Mar 2021, 09:19

Portgal is back on the calendar, replacing the Vietnam Grand Prix!

madmark1974 · Post by **madmark1974** » 05 Mar 2021, 15:39

Williams making an early bid for Reject of the Pre-Season?

Williams were forced to abandon an augmented reality launch of their new Formula 1 car when the app they had designed was hacked.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56291716

Post by **mario** » 05 Mar 2021, 17:16

madmark1974 wrote:Williams making an early bid for Reject of the Pre-Season?

Williams were forced to abandon an augmented reality launch of their new Formula 1 car when the app they had designed was hacked.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/56291716

There was also the news from Pirelli that Williams is the only team that has declined to send a mule car to test the incoming 2022 18 inch spec tyres - so, not only perhaps making an early bid for ROTY for 2021, they've maybe also got a head start on 2022 as well.

Miguel98 wrote:Portgal is back on the calendar, replacing the Vietnam Grand Prix!

I'm assuming that those involved in the race will be given the exemption for those involved in sports events since - at the moment at least - Portugal is still one of those countries on the list where a quarantine period is required afterwards.

Jan Magnussen · Post by **Rob Dylan** » 05 Mar 2021, 19:09

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will ... n/5592395/

I'm not even sure that it is above the threshold Mercedes set for worst 2021 livery so far. I'm quite impressed in just how crazy this one is. There doesn't seem to be any centre to it - that it's four different liveries stuck together. My eyes hurt just looking at it :facepalm:

CarloSpace · Post by **CarloSpace** » 06 Mar 2021, 08:40

I really like the WIlliams livery and don't get the hate for it. Okay, I get why it is controversial but I like it nevertheless. Certainly a top-3 livery of 2021!

Nessafox · Post by **Nessafox** » 06 Mar 2021, 10:25

I absolutely love the front part. (partially because of the big Coloni C2 vibes)

But the rear part is an absolute mess.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 06 Mar 2021, 21:17

Rob Dylan wrote:https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/williams-reveals-fw43b-with-heavily-revised-livery-for-2021-season/5592395/

I'm not even sure that it is above the threshold Mercedes set for worst 2021 livery so far. I'm quite impressed in just how crazy this one is. There doesn't seem to be any centre to it - that it's four different liveries stuck together. My eyes hurt just looking at it

Christ, that's bad. It's like they've seen the love of blocky 90's graphics and bathplug a load of blocky graphics on the rear three quarters without giving any consideration to what actually works. Not a fan.