Racetrackmasters

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.

The sudden exit of former Renault/Alpine team principal Cyril Abiteboul has left Formula One fans and pundits with many questions.It seems that, for Alpine F1, presenting a new name and livery was not enough of an overhaul, a restructuring at the top of the organisation was also necessary. Although it is still unclear how and by whom Abiteboul’s duties as team principal will be carried out in 2021, speculation about the reason for his departure is already intense, especially as the decision seemed to have fallen from the sky without warning. The main reason is the failure of Renault’s long-term plans; a podium in 2018 and a role as a serious contender for the constructors’ title in 2020. However, the team could not fulfil these ambitions, Barretto knows: “The team, led by Abiteboul, missed out on both those by quite some way. Their first podiums didn’t come until 2020 – albeit they managed three of them – and they are quite some way from becoming title challengers.” Nevertheless, it is still a shock that the man who had been with the team since 2001 now seems to have been shown the door without mercy. The appointment of Luca de Meo as CEO of Renault Group and the subsequent overhaul of the company’s racing division will most likely be the second reason. Abiteboul is not the only senior figure to announce his departure, Jerome Stoll, who was in charge of Renault Sport Racing, also tendered his resignation late in 2020.

McLaren has already given a small hint on Monday afternoon about what the new livery will be. In the photo the Woking-based team shared on social media, the recognizable Papaya orange color that the team has been driving with for a few years is clearly visible. The MCL35M will also probably feature the colors black and blue again. Last year Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris drove with the same colors. That Daniel Ricciardo will start his 2021 season at McLaren with different colors thus seems out of the question. Although, the blue that can be seen in the photo is just tape and does not necessarily have to become the paint color. How the proportions of the color palette will look is not shown in the photo. It’s just a little hint. Check out the photo below.