Racetrackmasters

Kevin Magnussen expected to fight for the Formula 1 world championship after his debut podium with McLaren, but feels no regret over how his career played out. Magnussen finished second in his very first F1 race at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix after being handed a McLaren drive following his title victory in Formula Renault 3.5 the previous year. But the Dane was unable to better that result during spells with Renault and Haas through the remainder of his F1 career, only recording a next-best finish of fifth Magnussen made what he expects to be his final F1 appearance in Abu Dhabi last month, and has since moved into the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2021 after losing his Haas seat. The Dane revealed that he had high expectations about what he would achieve in F1 after his debut podium, believing he might even battle for the world championship in his rookie season. “It’s hard to know how things are going to go,” Magnussen told Motorsport.com when reflecting on his time in F1. “I have to say, when I started my F1 career in Melbourne 2014, I had pretty high expectations. I thought I was going to be fighting for the championship in my first year after that first race. “You can’t ever predict how things are going to go in Formula 1. You’ve just got to do the best, and enjoy it while it lasts.” Magnussen went on to finish the season 11th in the standings, 329 points behind world champion Lewis Hamilton as McLaren scraped past Force India to finish fifth in the constructors’ championship. Magnussen ended the season uncertain if he would continue racing for McLaren the following year as the team weighed up whether to drop him or Jenson Button to make room for the incoming Fernando Alonso. Although Magnussen said it was “a big task” to face such uncertainty as a rookie, he did not hold any grudges over the situation. “I can’t complain, I’m thankful for the opportunity McLaren gave me as a rookie,” Magnussen said. “I can’t really say that I regret anything. I thought I was going to get into Formula 1 with Force India back then. That was almost a done deal, that was my expectation, and what McLaren was telling me, that they would place me in Force India. “At the last minute, it changed, and they put me in McLaren. It was also a very hectic time around my debut, but at the end of the day, I’m happy with how things turned out. “You can always look back and find things that I would have done differently if I could do it again, and decisions I would have done differently if I could do it again. “But at the end of the day, I got a career in Formula 1. Not many people get to do that. As a young kid dreaming of Formula 1, it’s a pretty difficult dream to realise. “I did that, and I’m thankful for that, and pleased that I got the opportunity.” Asked if there was one big decision he would make differently if he had another opportunity, Magnussen replied: “Yes, but I’m not going to dwell on it. “It is what it is, and I’m pleased with how things turned out.”

The story of Rich Energy is still not over. Williams Storey, the CEO of the brand that previously sponsored Haas in Formula 1, now announces a return to the royal class of motorsport. In early 2019, Haas presented a new sponsor in the form of Rich Energy. The energy drink was their new title sponsor of the American team and the cars were shrouded in the black and gold of that brand. However, Haas was swindled and never saw a penny of the promised mountain of money that Storey would come up with. In recent months, Williams Storey has been making himself heard on his Twitter account. For example, he has already announced that there will be a large announcement on 11 February, which seems to hint at Formula 1. He confirms this step in a video on 10 January, in which he says he is looking forward to a return to Formula 1. It is not yet known which team is involved and if this team knows it itself. More will be announced today, but the unique story will have a sequel.

Jos Verstappen admits that his son Max will probably never share a team with Lewis Hamilton, but he wouldn’t mind if it does happen. “I would only applaud that. Then it will be clear, wouldn’t it?” said the former F1 driver. Indeed, Verstappen senior says his 23-year-old son is more than ready to win a title. “He was three years ago already,” he told the Dutch magazine Formule 1. “You know, Max always drives at 110 percent. As a result, we don’t really know how good or bad the car is. Maybe our car was worse than Ferrari’s. It’s possible no one knows,” said Jos. For 2021, Verstappen will be paired with yet another Red Bull teammate, after Alex Albon struggled to keep up in 2020. “The only thing you can do is compare Max to his teammate,” said Jos. “And Albon really wasn’t that bad in karting and the lower classes – he did well there. “But this year he had quite a problem compared to Max.” Jos Verstappen admits that he sees his son in the same league as seven time world champion Hamilton. “It’s the same as what I say about Max – he’s incredibly strong,” he said. “Even in the way he goes against his teammate.” “But it really worked out for Hamilton at Mercedes. We saw at McLaren that there were a few years where it really didn’t work for him. You don’t become a world champion if you don’t have a champion team and a champion car. “Let me put it this way – I wouldn’t mind if Max was next to him,” said Verstappen. “I think it would be a very good thing and I think the whole world is waiting for that.”

Organisers of the Chinese Grand Prix say they have asked Formula One management to move the Shanghai race from April to later in the 2021 calendar, Motorsport.com has reported. “We have been in contact (with F1) via conference call almost every week,” Yibin Yang, the general manager of race promoter Juss Event, was quoted as saying by the website. “Despite the calendar being in place as usual, I think it’s hugely uncertain the F1 race would take place in the first half of the year, in April. “We aim to swap it to the second half of the year, and we have formally submitted the request that we hope to move it to the second half of the year.” Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll said this week that agreement had already been reached to postpone the Australian Grand Prix to the back end of the season with Bahrain replacing it as the opening race in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The sport saw many races cancelled last year due to the pandemic with the race calendar eventually reduced from 22 rounds to 17 across Europe and the Middle East and some circuits including Bahrain hosting two Grands Prix. Formula One announced a 2021 calendar in November featuring a record 23 rounds with 21 races the highest in a single season till date. China, which is the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics, has either cancelled or rescheduled all global sporting events since the start of the pandemic. “To move it to the second half of the year, it depends on the plan of the city government,” Yang added in Shanghai. “If we put all international events to the second half of the year, it will be over the capacity for the city.”

For the upcoming Formula 1 season many drivers will change employers, where it is especially important to get acquainted with the car and the team as soon as possible. Sainz seems to get an extra test, unlike a number of colleagues. It is no secret that teams can vary a lot in Formula 1. From the setup of the car to how the team works during a race weekend. Therefore, when changing teams, spending time with your new colleagues and driving the car before the season is extremely important. Reducing the number of test days from six to three, as it looks at the moment, does not help. The regulations only allow teams to organize an extra test to drive a car that has been used in one of the three calendar years before 2020. “Of course we plan to organize something for Carlos Sainz to make sure he is integrated into the team as soon as possible and is familiar with the car, the engineers, our way of working and our procedures. The simulator is important for this, but we are also trying to arrange something for him in January to drive an old car,” explains Mattia Binotto to Formula1.com. So while Sainz is likely to get an important extra day of testing, Daniel Ricciardo doesn’t have that luxury. “The rules are pretty clear about what we are allowed to do. We don’t currently have the opportunity at McLaren to drive an old car and we are of course working as hard as we can to integrate him into the team as soon as possible,” team boss Andreas Seidl said of his new employee. Sebastian Vettel also doesn’t get the luxury of driving an old car at Aston Martin. “We don’t have the opportunity to drive a two year old car. So we will do a lot of sim work with Seb and make the best use of the three days of testing to get him ready for the first race,” concludes Otmar Szafnauer.

Bahrain will be hosting the 2021 season-opener as the Australian Grand Prix, which has been the first race of the season in modern Formula One in recent years is likely to take place in the Autumn, according to Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll who is among the owners of the Aston Martin F1 Team which was formerly Racing Point before rebranding. Lawrence Stroll made the comments on Thursday. “Melbourne has been…it’s not officially announced but it will be not cancelled but postponed,” Stroll told Reuters, “We will go there sometime in the fall [autumn] and the first race will be Bahrain.” The billionaire, who is also the father to Lance Stroll who will be driving for the newly rebranded Aston Martin F1 team also commented on the upcoming 2021 F1 season and the Covid-19 pandemic in general and said there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. He also praised Formula 1 for successfully putting together the 2020 F1 Championship amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “I do believe we’re in for a difficult two or three months. There is a light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine. I think the first few races will be slightly challenging,” Stroll added. “But Formula One management and the FIA, I really take my hat off to them to deliver 17 races as we did last year in 23 weeks, without really any major hiccups, in a very impressive manner.” “I think the worst is behind us and we’ve learnt through last year how to proceed with this year.” Earlier, it was reported that the Chinese Grand Prix could be cancelled and Formula One is likely to return to Imola and Algarve towards the start of the season.

Mercedes has hit out at what it calls the “pure fiction” of rumours swirling around the future of Lewis Hamilton. The seven time world champion has kicked off 2021 without a contract, amid speculation Mercedes is balking at his demands for a EUR 40 million salary, a $3m AMG-One hypercar, and a 10 percent share in the team’s title bonuses. A Mercedes source calls those reports “pure fiction”, while a spokesman said there are “no reasons to be concerned” about the team’s 2021 lineup. Indeed, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claims that new team co-owner Ineos, headed by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is prepared to make up the difference between Hamilton’s demands and what Mercedes is willing to pay. In turn, Hamilton would be expected to appear in some of the forthcoming marketing campaigns of Ineos, a British multinational chemicals company which now owns a third of the title-winning team.

The days of seeing Sebastian Vettel in Ferrari red are officially over, with Aston Martin releasing the first image of him in British racing green. The team formerly known as Racing Point have made the first big steps in their official rebrand after announcing US IT firm Cognizant as their new title sponsor. Alongside the news came some pretty big hints that the traditional Aston Martin green is on its way back, replacing the striking pink livery which came as a result of Racing Point’s sponsorship with Austrian water treatment manufacturer BWT. The green colour scheme can be seen on as Aston Martin F1’s official website, while the team also uploaded images of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll in dark green racing overalls. “I can’t wait to start working with Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team,” Vettel said upon confirmation of Aston Martin’s new title sponsor. “There’s so much for me to discover over the next few months and I’m incredibly determined to help make this team even more successful. “Before we know it, we will be at the first race, seeing this famous name back where it belongs. I’m proud to be part of this journey.” Lance Stroll added: “Seeing Aston Martin back in Formula One is a huge deal – especially with a new title partner, Cognizant. “Whenever I’m at the factory, you can feel the buzz and energy. We’re ready for this. There’s so much hunger in the team and I just can’t wait to get the season started.” The official Aston Martin press release also stated ‘in March, we’ll be unveiling our car livery to the world at Aston Martin’s global HQ in Gaydon, including the introduction to our driver line-up, featuring four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel and multiple Grand Prix podium finisher Lance Stroll.’

Nikita Mazepin has hit out at Mick Schumacher despite the pair being new team-mates for Formula One team Haas. Both drivers from Formula 2 were signed as Haas’ drivers for the 2021 F1 season with the pair knowing each other from their go-karting days. When Mick Schumacher was asked about his relationship with Russian driver Mazepin, he claimed that they both have a good relationship but they have been distant for while. The German said recently, “He was very nice and there was a healthy respect between us as teammates…then we lost touch with each other a bit and of course we have both changed since then.” But Mazepin has hinted at a colder friendship with Schumacher, who is the son of Formula One legend Michael, telling Russian channel Match TV this week, “We are not friends. At most we are old acquaintances as we raced together in karts…I honestly don’t care about his name. Because of the name he will have more power, but also more pressure.” “But when I lower the visor, I don’t think about these things anyway.”

Images have been leaked of the 2021 Formula 1 Alpine livery (formerly the Renault F1 Team), of which Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon will contest the coming F1 season. Sourced from someone close to the Renault CEO Luca de Meo, the teaser images will no doubt be published officially in the near future. If they are to be proven correct, then the livery appears to be very similar to the European Regional Formula Championship by Alpine livery revealed back in Imola last year. It is understood that the livery below could be a testing special livery as it incorporates more black in the design than was expected. It was confirmed back in September that the car would be blue, white and red.

With the budget cap introduced in 2021, the FIA has taken the first step towards a fairer championship. During the 2020 season, a season did eventually get underway, but without fans and with little income for Liberty Media. As a result, the teams will also receive less money from F1 next season. The money the teams receive will even be halved. That is what Auto, Motor und Sport says. This means that a team such as Racing Point only gets USD 30 million, whereas it should have been USD 59 million. For the big teams, there is even less money coming in. Mercedes now receives USD 126 million in prize money instead of 177 million, a reduction of USD 51 million. The German medium has made a comparison with 2019, the last year that F1 could organise a season without major problems. The biggest loser is Ferrari, which gets more than fifty million dollars less. Mercedes sees a decrease of 32 million dollars, because the Bernie Ecclestone arrangement also gives the German team a history bonus of 21 million dollars. Teams that receive more in 2021 are mainly those in midfield, because they will have scored much more points in 2020 than in 2019. The entire field was a lot closer together, so midfield also managed to take the podium more often. In the end Racing Point got the most points. They will receive 41 million dollars more in 2021 than in 2019.