2021

Last season, all teams should have been testing individually for the new 18-inch 2021 tyres. However, due to the coronavirus, many of those tests were cancelled and so they are now scheduled for 2021. However, the regulations stated that you could only test with a 2018, 2019, or 2020 car, but that creates problems. McLaren will be driving a Mercedes power unit in 2021 and all the older cars have Renault’s power unit, which they cannot use. Next season Pirelli gets 25 test days from the FIA to test the 18-inch tyres. At the moment they are still using 13-inch tyres in Formula 1, but that is to change next year with the arrival of the 18-inch tyres. For Pirelli, it is a huge amount of adjustment work and that is why the Italian tyre manufacturer also gets the test days to test the tyres. They divide the 25 days across all the teams so that everyone gets a chance to test with the new tyres and give feedback. This year, they get to do that in a modified version of the 2021 car, reports Motorsport.com. All F1 teams will be allowed to use a modified 2021 car after the start of the F1 season in Bahrain and this will not only benefit McLaren, as every team will test with a modified car from the 2021 season. For Pirelli, this will also provide more representative data, as they get to test with the latest cars.

Former Formula One champion Jenson Button has returned to the Williams team as a senior advisor on a multi-year deal. Button made his F1 debut with Williams in 2000, aged 20. The English driver went on to win the championship with Brawn in 2009 and retired in 2016 with 15 grand prix race wins to his name. Williams announced the appointment on Friday, saying Button will provide guidance and advice to the team at its Grove headquarters. He will also aid the development of drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi as well as those currently part of the Williams driver academy. Button will attend a number of races throughout the season as part of the role. “I am so delighted to once again be able to say that I’ve signed for Williams,” Button said. “Back when I was 19 it was a moment that changed my life and, despite the fact it was over 20 years ago, I already feel like I never really left. “Sir Frank Williams showed faith in me which I will be eternally grateful for and I am incredibly excited to have the chance to come back and help the team as it strives once more for success. “There’s a lot of hard work to be done but I have no doubt the future is incredibly bright for this fantastic team and I can’t wait to get started.” The Williams family no longer controls the team, having sold it to investment firm Dorilton Capital in August last year.

The fate of Monaco’s fabled grand prix this year is about more than just a press release. That is the news from Red Bull’s highly-influential Dr Helmut Marko, who was speaking with the German media after the Automobile Club de Monaco earlier this week scotched rumours the street race may once again be cancelled. “I heard that they are currently working on a concept to allow the race to take place with half of the spectators,” Marko said. The Austrian said he has faith that new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali can navigate the sport through a second consecutive covid-affected season. “The new Liberty CEO Stefano Domenicali is doing an extremely good job,” said Marko. “You can tell that he’s a racer.”

Kevin Magnussen can now “move on” after winning a court battle against his former manager, the Danish ex-Haas driver’s father says. On Thursday, in a Copenhagen court, a judge ruled in favour of Magnussen after his ex-manager Dorte Riis Madsen alleged the 28-year-old owed her 20 percent of his career earnings. Madsen was also ordered to pay about $90,000 in court costs. Magnussen, currently testing with the Chip Ganassi sports car team in the US, did not comment, and neither did his former manager. But Magnussen’s father Jan told BT newspaper: “I am happy for him. Now he can move on and concentrate on what he needs to concentrate on. “The case affected him, not so much in his everyday life, but when there is a lot of talk about something it’s hard not to think about it. “So I’m glad that he can now concentrate on creating a new life. I’m just glad it’s over,” said Jan, also a former F1 driver.

Rumours have linked Sir Lewis Hamilton with a move to Ferrari for several years – and now he has been invited to drive one of their Formula 1 cars. But Mercedes need not worry, nor Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz for that matter. The car in question is from 1970 – just the 15 years before the World Champion was born! It’s the Ferrari 312B that was raced that season by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni and the one in which he won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. These days, it is owned by Paolo Barilla, himself a former F1 racer who drove in the first 14 races of the 1990 season for Minardi with a best result of 11th position at San Marino. Now a highly successful businessman, the 59-year-old from Milan is deputy chairman of the Barilla Group, the world’s largest pasta producer. Speaking about his classic Ferrari which is now more than half a century old, Barilla told the Italian version of Motorsport.com in a video interview: “I drove it in Monte Carlo and it really touched me. But the car is difficult to drive, so I won’t do it again. “It would have to be a driver who can appreciate the emotions when you are behind the wheel of this car. I think Lewis Hamilton is such a driver. “When I hear him talking about driving, I can feel he is a driver who can appreciate the special features of a car.”

Helmut Marko has confirmed that Red Bull have reached an agreement with Honda to use its engines beyond 2021. The Japanese engine supplier will leave the sport after 2021, so Red Bull have been looking for a new engine supplier. The only thing left to do is wait for the FIA, because a development stop is required to finalise the deal. Red Bull have an agreement with Honda to continue using their engines from 2022 onwards, but the Austrian formation itself does not have the knowledge and resources to continue developing the engine until 2025 or 2026. A development stop on the engines is required, but this has been under discussion for months. Helmut Marko told Auto, Motor und Sport that the FIA will probably provide clarity next week. The other manufacturers (Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault) all have to agree to the plan as well and that is quite a task. Marko appealed to his colleagues: “It is a very clear common sense decision for Formula 1.” At least with Honda, the final details have been agreed. “Everything is settled between us. The moment is there. Everyone is on the starting blocks. But there is no agreement until we have written proof from the FIA that the development stop on the engine side will be there,” continued Marko.

AlphaTauri will be testing at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola next week, as will Ferrari. Five days are scheduled and the new car for 2021 will also be in action. The Formula One season starts in mid-March with the winter test in Bahrain, followed by the first race in Sakhir. With three days of testing in Bahrain, however, many teams and drivers are looking for other ways to get the necessary testing days. On Thursday it became clear that Ferrari will test with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc next week. With ‘Rookie’ Yuki Tsunoda in its ranks, AlphaTauri has also decided to set up a full test programme. According to Italian Motorsport.it AlphaTauri will be in action for five days at Imola. On Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 January AlphaTauri will test with the 2018 car and again on 23 and 25 February. These days will be mainly dedicated to Tsunoda, but Pierre Gasly is also expected to make his metres. In between these two tests, AlphaTauri will also hold a filming day with the new 2021 car, where we can probably get a first glimpse of Franz Tost’s new car.

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will test for Ferrari next week. With Formula 1’s limited number of test days and a new driver joining the ranks, it is time to get back to the home test track. Formula 1 has become stricter and stricter when it comes to testing over the years. Where teams were allowed to test as much as they wanted in the past, this is no longer the case. There are now only three test days in Bahrain before the start of the season and only a few filming days during the year where only a limited number of metres can be driven. This is a tricky situation for Carlos Sainz, who made the switch to Ferrari this winter and is entering a new team. However, with a test track in Fiorano and a garage full of old cars Ferrari has the opportunity to test the drivers and this will happen next week. Sainz and Leclerc will be in action next week at the Fiorano test track with the 2018 Ferrari. The 2019 car would also have been possible because the car has to be at least two years old, but the chassis of the 2018 car is still in place due to a test in 2020. Sainz and Leclerc are expected to each account for one day of the test.

Alpine Formula 1 driver Esteban Ocon will demo the Alpine A110S sports car on the first two stages of this year’s Monte Carlo Rally. Ocon will kick off the 2021 World Rally Championship season opener with a series of special stage runs in what will mark his first attempt of a rally event. The Frenchman will begin with a private test run on Thursday to get to grips with the A110S which will have his #31 on it and feature its traditional blue livery, before taking on a high-speed run of the SS1 route from Saint-Disdier to Corps and SS2 between Saint-Maurice and Saint-Bonnet. “This is a fantastic opportunity and I certainly cannot wait to experience Rallye Monte-Carlo for the first time,” Ocon said. “It’s a legendary event, a jewel in the calendar of motorsport and I know how special being part of it will be. “I’m looking forward to driving the beautiful Alpine A110S. I had my first taste of the A110 in October with three laps of the Nordschleife.” “It was great that day; very comfortable and agile to drive. It’s born for this kind of challenge with the tight hairpins and mountain passes. “Rallying has actually always been a dream for me, so driving the A110S in Monte-Carlo is a brilliant way to begin the year.” Alpine will run A110 rally cars for Cédric Robert, Emmanuel Guigou, Philippe Baffoun, Pierre Ragues and Raphaël Astier in the RGT class across the four-day event.

The 2021 Australian Grand Prix has been postponed again. This time the race in Melbourne seems to return on the calendar and that is a good thing. The organisation and the state suffered huge losses in 2020. The Australian Grand Prix has been the starting point of the Formula One season for many years and it would be the same in 2020. However, the coronavirus was around the corner and that jeopardised the race. Formula 1 was going anyway, so everything had to be prepared for the start of the race weekend. The fact that the race was cancelled after all cost the government a whopping €25 million, according to Racefans.net. The costs are only a third of those incurred in 2019, but now there was hardly any income from marketing and spectator tickets were also reimbursed. A heavy blow for the organisation, which had just managed to attract a record number of visitors to the race. Because the circuit already had to be made ready, the organisation paid 31 million euro just to make the circuit ready. The organisation was hit even harder by the cancellation of the MotoGP race.