Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel is not drawing too many parallels between starting life with Aston Martin and the time when he joined Red Bull in 2009 – because he is now much older. On the face of it, there are some similarities to the two jobs the German began 12 years apart. Not least is the geography, with the respective factories being only half an hour or so from each other. Also, on both occasions he left an Italy-based team, Toro Rosso to Red Bull and now Ferrari to Aston Martin. In addition, each of those times he was joining a relatively fresh team looking to work their way up to launch a challenge for the World Championship. However, the most obvious difference is the stage of his career Vettel is now at. Instead of being a fresh-faced 21-year-old youngster, he is now a more grizzled 33 with four World Championship titles for Red Bull followed by a less successful six years with Ferrari. “On paper there are certainly some things that seem similar, but I think the situation is different. Mainly because I’m at a different point myself today,” said Vettel, quoted by F1 Insider. “At a better point, with far more experience, with a clearer view. Therefore you cannot really compare the two starting points with each other. At that time I did not have the knowledge I have today, so the approach is completely different.” That knowledge is being brought to bear at Aston Martin, who have undergone a transformation from Racing Point with a darkish green livery anticipated instead of the previous pink as Vettel joins team owner’s son Lance Stroll in the driver line-up. Although he will have to wait to try his new car on track at pre-season testing in Bahrain from March 12-14, Vettel has begun to integrate himself by way of visiting the factory and having a seat fit. “Everyone is different, but nevertheless everyone probably likes to have an environment where they stand up for one another and work for one another,” he added. “So far, there are of course a lot of new faces for me at Aston Martin, but I am confident it will work. “You always have to be open to new things. I will meet a lot of new people, new ways of working, new approaches – and I would not be well advised to believe that only my way is the right one.”

Antonio Giovinazzi admits he did not take the decision by Scuderia Ferrari to overlook him for a drive in the 2021 Formula 1 season very well, although he has not given up on his dream to race for the Maranello-based outfit in the future. Giovinazzi has been racing for Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN for the past two campaigns and has been a long-time junior member of Ferrari, even acting as their test driver through the 2018 season. However, when Sebastian Vettel was informed that his services with Ferrari were surplus to requirements after 2020, the team opted to sign Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr. from the McLaren F1 Team instead, leaving Giovinazzi with Alfa Romeo for a third consecutive season. The Italian knows he will have to continue working hard in order to fulfil his dream of racing for Ferrari in the future, with Sainz’s arrival not likely to be the final time he could be considered. “Of course, I did not receive Ferrari’s decision very well,” said Giovinazzi to Autosprint. “That seems clear to me. “I am still employed by Ferrari and I thought there would be a chance for me to race for the Scuderia. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time for me. “Choosing Sainz does not mean that I will not be able to get that seat in the future. A seat at Ferrari will always be my dream. I have never received anything for free in my career. I have always had to work hard to earn a place.” Giovinazzi says his aim in 2021 is to continue his improvement with Alfa Romeo and fight for more regular points’ finishes. He picked up only four points throughout 2020, the same as team-mate Kimi Räikkönen, as the team struggled for performance, but he wants to use 2021 to keep improving as a Formula 1 race driver. “Right now I am focused on Alfa Romeo,” said Giovinazzi. “I want to help my team move forward as much as possible and that is why I would like to secure a place on the podium. “To do that, I have to keep improving and seize my opportunities. Let’s see if that works in 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.

Sergio Perez has completed his first full day as a Red Bull driver, touring the Milton Keynes facility and getting acquainted with his new home. Perez replaced Alex Albon at Red Bull for the coming season, with the Thai-British driver relegated into a reserve role. The Mexican joins Red Bull as a race winner after finally securing his breakthrough victory in last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix at the 190th attempt. That allowed Perez, driving for Racing Point at the time, to finish the year fourth in the drivers’ standings behind only Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen. A series of posts on social media teased the Mexican’s arrival at the factory as he met with team principal Christian Horner and underwent a seat fitting. At the end of his visit, the team finally showed the driver’s face, in case any doubts remained surrounding the less than cryptic posts, simply captioned “Hola Checo”. Retweeting the tweet, Perez said: “Hello! Ready to start this great adventure.”

Roy Nissany was appointed official test driver at Williams in early 2020 and via press release, the team announced on Tuesday that they have extended the contract. Nissany continues his role as test driver at Williams in 2021 and with an unchanged composition in the lineup, it remains identical at the team in terms of drivers. Indeed, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi together form the driver duo in 2021, just as they did last year. Nissany appeared in action three times in 2020 and that was during free practice. This was prior to the Spanish, Italian and Bahrain Grands Prix. He also stepped into the car at the post-season test while competing in the Formula 2 championship during the year. In 2021, Nissany will once again get behind the wheel three times in the first free practice sessions, although it is not yet known at which Grands Prix. Nissany will also be in action on one of the days during the winter test and will take on a more extensive simulation program, which he will carry out at Williams’ home base in Grove. Nissany: “I am truly honoured to continue being part of Williams. Since we started, we have made huge progress across many areas – on top of the great FP1’s, we had a lot of productive work behind the scenes.” “While dedicating as much as I can to the team, I enhanced my skills and my capabilities as a driver. I am very keen to continue this form in 2021,” said the test driver

This year’s Monaco Grand Prix will go ahead as planned this May, organisers have declared. Last year, Formula 1’s most iconic race on the streets of Monte Carlo was cancelled for the first time since 1954 due to Covid-19. As a result, the Automobile Club de Monaco vowed a bumper year of racing in 2021, with the e-Prix, Historic and F1 GP all taking place within a month. However, after the Australian GP was recently rescheduled and Imola confirmed as replacing the Chinese GP, reports claimed Monaco would be among three more races set to be cancelled along with Azerbaijan and Canada. “Despite the latest rumours circulating on certain websites and social media, the ACM can confirm that the Monaco GP will take place from May 20th to 23rd, 2021,” a tweet read on Monday.

Scuderia Ferrari ended its long-term sponsorship and strategic partnership with the Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot which will be replaced by another Swiss watchmaker Richard Mille. Hublot and Ferrari announced during the 2011 Ferrari World Finals at Mugello a long-term strategic partnership which officially started at the beginning of 2012, making Hublot Ferrari’s “Official Watch” and “Official Timekeeper”. Asked by F1technical’s Balázs Szabó, a Ferrari’s spokesperson confirmed that the team’s sponsorship with the Geneva-based luxury watchmaker Hublot came to an end on the 31th December 2020 and the two parties decided not to extend the contract. The company which was founded in 1980 will be replaced by Richard Mille. The company was founded by Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat in 1999 and based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland. The Swiss company, which has 148 employees, ’combines the best in technical innovation, in architecture and in fine watchmaking heritage”. The company is not unknown in autosport. One of the founders, Richard Mille is also Chairman of the Endurance Commission of FIA. The brand became the partner of the Le Mans Classic in 2002. Over the last years, the Richard Mille brand has teamed up with a number of drivers from Formula 1 teams, such as Alfa Romeo Racing, Haas F1 Team and McLaren Racing, and from Formula E. In 2017, Richard Mille and McLaren Automotive signed a 10-year partnership agreement. In the same year, the Swiss company became an official partner of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and of the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet in 2018.