Racetrackmasters

Max Verstappen is not yet as good as seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton. That is the view of Mark Webber, a former Red Bull driver who admitted to admiring Dutch 23-year-old Verstappen’s talent. “He is in the final phase of fine-tuning his craft, if I can put it that way,” the Australian told the Dutch publication Formule 1. “Is he already Lewis on a Saturday? Yes,” Webber said. “Is he already Lewis on a Sunday? No, he is not. But that’s normal. “You don’t win five world titles in your first five years in Formula 1. Nobody ever has,” the 44-year-old, who won 9 races until his retirement in 2013, added.

The arrival of Sergio Perez at Red Bull “will make Max nervous”. That is the view of former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde, who was commenting on the news that Perez will replace Alex Albon for 2021. Albon will remain reserve driver. “I can’t lie, guys. It hurts,” the British-born Thai driver said. The wider F1 community, however, thinks Red Bull has made the right decision. “Red Bull is getting a driver with a lot of experience and speed,” said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. “I see this as a strengthening of the team. “They will become an even bigger rival.” World champion Lewis Hamilton added: “Sergio Perez will make Red Bull stronger, especially if he continues to drive at the level of last season. “With all due respect to Alex, most of the races this year were between me, Valtteri and Max. So I know how Max must have felt this year, because I was in the same situation a few years ago at McLaren.” Indeed, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said while dropping Albon was a “very difficult” decision, it was “just impossible to ignore Sergio’s performance at Racing Point”. “He was particularly strong in the second half of the season.” As for Max Verstappen, while it was believed that he and his management preferred Nico Hulkenberg, the Dutchman admits he needs a faster teammate. “Sergio had an amazing season and he brings a lot of experience to the team,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll get along fine. “And thanks to him, we should have two cars for the whole season to make life a little more difficult for Mercedes. It also opens up completely different strategic options and I believe he will be fast enough to push me,” Verstappen added. “Having a teammate who can pressure you is exciting,” he said. However, according to fellow Dutchman van der Garde, Perez’s arrival may also make Verstappen “nervous”. “In general, I think it’s only the correct decision by Red Bull,” he told the Dutch publication Formule 1. “But I think Perez will make Max nervous, at least in the races. In qualifying, I don’t think he is as fast as Max, but the difference between them will be minimal.”

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2020, BBC reports. One of F1’s all-time great drivers, he equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of seven world titles with his fourth consecutive championship in 2020. The 35-year-old, from Stevenage, also surpassed Schumacher’s total of 91 grand prix wins. In a public vote, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson finished second while jockey Hollie Doyle was third. It is the second time Hamilton has been crowned Sports Personality of the Year, having first won the award in 2014. He is also a four-time runner-up, most recently in 2019. In a crowded field that featured representatives from five other sports, Hamilton’s achievements in a year brought to its knees by the Covid-19 pandemic had him as the standout winner. Among the seventh world title, equalling Michael Schumacher’s tally while overtaking the German’s record of 91 Grand Prix wins, was his advocacy for racial equality. This was a second victory for Hamilton after winning his second Formula One title win in 2014. Since then there have been near misses, and there was an outside chance that 2020 could be another. The 35-year old had been the favourite, and by the time the show got on the road at Salford he had crept above a 72 percent likelihood to take home the gong. When voting opened at 9:12pm, things started to fluctuate. That wasn’t a surprise. F1 has always struggled for relevance with the general public. Only those immersed in it truly appreciate what it takes to achieve transcendence beyond getting into the fastest car time after time. And even they spend most of their time rallying against that line of argument against others within the sport. There’s also a framing of Hamilton as a peripheral figure, not just by making his name in a peripheral sport, but by doing so off these shores. The most dangerous of all that is the assumption that he does not care. Yet his dragging of F1 to a better place by being one of Britain’s most prominent advocates of the Black Lives Matter movement, by being a visible presence for equality on the grid, online and in the avenues that matter with the Hamilton Foundation shot that down. At the same time, in a country where 24,500 people complained about a Black Lives Matter-inspired performance by a dance troupe over on ITV, such a stance was always going to be a stumbling block for some who copy-and-paste their excuses.

Carlos Sainz Jr spent his first day at Ferrari’s legendary Maranello base on Friday as a preliminary step in his preparations for his first season in its Formula 1 team in 2021. The former McLaren driver took the chance to take a look around the factory and meet some of the Ferrari personnel he will work with in 2021 prior to his Christmas break. He also had a seat fitting in preparation for a planned run in a 2018-specification Ferrari at Fiorano next month. “It’s my first time in red, which as you can imagine is pretty special,” said Sainz. “It’s a special day for me in general and probably a day I will never forget. “I’m fully ready, fully motivated, totally refreshed for this new challenge. [Then there will be] Christmas, some holidays to disconnect and to make sure we will recharge the batteries as quick as possible. “But you can be sure I’m going to be here pretty early in January to keep pushing, to keep helping this team to move forward and as quick as possible in the best direction. “I cannot wait, to be honest. “Today, I had my first meetings, my first look around the factory and it is something that I will never forget and I cannot wait to do more often next year.” Sainz plans to spend significant time at Maranello in January and February in preparation for his first season for the team, having found a similar process valuable when he moved to McLaren ahead of the 2019 season. This visit was the first step in that process and should help him hit the ground running when he returns next month. He also had lunch with Binotto and new team-mate Charles Leclerc during his trip. “It was a very light programme,” said Binotto. “Simply to have a factory tour as a tourist may do, to at least now where is Maranello, where are the offices, where are the departments. “It will be important in January, when he will start, to know the locations and to be capable of going around the factory. [He was able to] have a deep dive in Ferrari values, the Ferrari story. “He’s doing a seat fitting just to prepare for the test we’ll have in January. “He’s not really in technical meetings today, but it’s more knowing the people. So meeting with the people, the engineers, to know the organisation and to know that some of the technicians and engineers he will work with in the future. “So it’s a very simple Christmas time visit – factory tour, lunch and meeting engineers.” A date for Sainz’s test in the 2018 Ferrari SF71H has yet to be set, but it will be used to allow him to familiarise himself with the way the team operates and control systems. It will also allow him to get used to working with his crew, who ran Sebastian Vettel during 2020. “He will have one day and a half in winter testing in Barcelona,” said Binotto. “But we are organising a day or slightly more in January here in Fiorano. “It will be with an ‘18 car, because that’s what’s possible and permitted by regulation. “The January test will be for him the first touch with a Ferrari car on track. “It is an old car, but we feel it is important one to get used to our procedures, the way we communicate with engineers, to get the feeling with his engineers and the team itself. “His team essentially is the one of Sebastian, which will be simply passed to him. So Riccardo Adami is becoming the race engineer of Carlos. “There are no new engineers coming from outside to join his track team.”

Sergio Perez’s performances in the 2020 Formula 1 season made him simply “impossible to ignore” for a 2021 race seat, says Red Bull boss Christian Horner.Announced on Friday as a Red Bull driver for next season, Perez will be replacing Alexander Albon as Max Verstappen’s teammate after a campaign that saw his reputation skyrocket. Equipped with Racing Point’s ‘Pink Mercedes’, the Mexican finished fourth in the championship with 125 points, and secured his maiden Formula 1 victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Albon, in his first full season at the energy drinks outfit, could only manage seventh with 105 points, and while Horner indicated his team still has faith in the Thai, the numbers made the decision for them. “The decision has been an incredibly hard one,” he said after the announcement. “I think all of us wanted to see Alex succeed. What we said was that we would give Alex the season, and not make any decisions before, to have a complete set of data. And that’s obviously what we did. “But when you look at the data, and you look at the ratio between the two drivers, it was a decision that was obviously very much driven by that. “It was just impossible to ignore Sergio’s performance in the Racing Point over the course of the year, and particularly, in the second half the season. “So a very, very difficult decision, made even harder by the fact that Alex is a such a lovely guy. “But he remains an important part of the team, and very much part of the team for 2021, focusing primarily on 2022 development. “And, of course, he’ll be very focused in terms of making himself a contender to be back in 2022.” Perez, 30, is a ten-year veteran of F1, and Horner praised his ability to extract results, despite regularly having less-than-optimal cars under him. “He’s a very rounded driver now and I think he has an uncanny ability to over deliver in machinery he has had available to him,” he said of the Mexican. “If you look at the amount of podiums and success that he’s had over the over the years, I think he’ll be a good addition to the team. I think it shows again, our determination to field a competitive team against Mercedes next year.” As to the question of how Perez would gel with Verstappen, Horner said he had faith the Mexican wouldn’t ruffle any feathers. “I think both parties are very realistic,” he suggested. “I think he [Perez] knows the quality of Max. “He’s a seasoned racer now. He has a huge amount of experience and I think he knows what he’s going up against in the quality of Max. “He’s been in immense form in the last couple of years, so I don’t think he underestimates that challenge in any shape or form. But I think he’s absolutely delighted to get the opportunity to prove himself. “I think we want our drivers racing close to each other, but up the sharp end. It’s clear our objective isn’t between the two drivers, it’s trying to close the gap to Mercedes. “I think Sergio raced for several seasons with Nico Hulkenberg and I don’t remember there being any issues between those two.”

Just days after the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull Racing has announced that Sergio Perez will join the Milton Keynes-based squad in 2021, replacing the team’s Thai driver Alexander Albon. It has long been mooted, and it has now been confirmed: Sergio Perez will partner Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing in 2021. The Mexican parted ways with Racing Point at the end of the 2020 season after the Silverstone-based outfit decided to sign four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel for next season. Although there were some doubts about the Mexican’s future, Red Bull Racing decided to sign Perez for 2021. The team’s Thai driver Alexander Albon had a difficult year with the team despite the promising performances that he showed during the second half of last season. The London-born driver will remain with Red Bull Racing, taking on the role of the reserve and test driver. “Alex is a valued member of the Team and we thought long and hard about this decision,” said Christian Horner. “Having taken our time to evaluate all the relevant data and performances we have decided that Sergio is the right driver to partner Max for 2021 and look forward to welcoming him to Red Bull Racing. “Alex remains an important part of our Team as Test and Reserve Driver with a key focus on 2022 development, and we would like to thank him for his hard work and contribution.” Commenting on the announcement, Perez said: “I am incredibly grateful to Red Bull for giving me the opportunity to race for Red Bull Racing in 2021. The chance to race for a championship contending team is something I have been hoping for since I joined Formula One and it will be a proud moment to step onto the grid in Red Bull colours alongside Max. “You can be sure that I will give next season my full focus. The Team has the same winning mentality as me and I know I am here to perform and help the Team fight for another title.”

Frederic Vasseur says he isn’t sure why Ferrari has placed Mick Schumacher at rival Ferrari-powered team Haas for 2021 and beyond. “Beats me,” the Alfa Romeo boss told Blick newspaper. “Maybe it made more sense for Ferrari to take Mick to Haas and keep Giovanazzi with us for the stability of the team. But I don’t know,” he added. What the situation does indicate is that Ferrari and Alfa Romeo may be moving further apart – just as Haas becomes obviously closer to the Maranello team. For instance, Ferrari designer Simone Resta was at Alfa Romeo as recently as last year – but now he is following Schumacher to Haas. “Sorry, that’s another very difficult question,” said Vasseur. “Sometimes there are strange things in life.” Vasseur even admitted that it is possible Alfa Romeo will split with Ferrari completely in the near future. “We are tied to Ferrari until the end of 2021,” he clarified. “Then we have to go over the books because the next contract should be from 2022 to 2026 with the new cars.” When asked if that next deal will be with Ferrari, Vasseur answered: “You can never say that. It’s like a marriage – there is not a guarantee that you will stay with the same woman forever. “In a partnership, you always have to consider that there are ups and downs, so we have to ask ourselves – what is the best deal? “Until now, Ferrari has mainly been a solid partner.” However, Ferrari struggled massively for engine performance in 2020, and Vasseur said: “That’s your interpretation, but I cannot disagree with you very much. “Apart from reliability, we cannot be satisfied with our results, but this year must have been a total disaster for Ferrari,” he added. Finally, Vasseur revealed that reserve driver Robert Kubica and title sponsor Orlen are staying put for 2021. “They were satisfied with all of our activities in the most difficult year, which is great news,” he said. “We know that we have to improve in all areas, and if something comes from Ferrari, we can set our goals even higher.”

Formula One team Mercedes has all but confirmed that world champion Lewis Hamilton would continue to drive for them next season. A post on the team’s official Twitter page carried the hashtag “announce” accompanied by the “coming soon” and “pen” emojis along with a quote from Hamilton expressing his desire to stay with Mercedes.

Mexican Sergio Perez is set to replace Alexander Albon at the Red Bull Formula One team next season, according to media reports on Thursday. The Speedweek website, owned by Red Bull’s Media House, reported Perez had signed to replace the Thai youngster alongside Max Verstappen and the announcement would be made on Friday. It said Albon would drop to the role of reserve driver and work in the simulator. The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, which has close ties with Verstappen, reported the same. There was no immediate comment from Red Bull. Perez, a race winner in Bahrain this month, has lost his seat at Racing Point (Aston Martin) to four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel. Albon has failed to match Verstappen’s performances this season, with the Dutch driver winning two races and finishing third overall. The 30-year-old Perez, the first Mexican to win a grand prix in 50 years, finished fourth. He had indicated he would take a sabbatical next year if he failed to find another F1 seat.

Williams has announced the arrival of Jost Capito as its new chief executive officer, while Simon Roberts will stay on his role as team principal. The Williams team underwent a changing of the guard during the 2020 season as the family-owned business was sold to Dorilton Capital to help safeguard the team’s future throughout difficult financial times. With Sir Frank Williams and daughter, Claire, moving away from the Formula 1 operation completely, Simon Roberts was installed as the acting team principal as part of the takeover by the US private investment firm. But now Roberts has the job on a full-time basis and he also has a new boss to report to in the form of Jost Capito, who was an integral figure in Volkswagen’s successful World Rally Championship programme between 2013 and 2016. Capito did have a brief spell with McLaren before returning to Volkswagen, but is now back in Formula 1 as Williams’ new CEO. “It’s a great honour for me to join Williams Racing during these exciting and demanding times for both the team and for Formula One,” Jost Capito said. “It is an honour to be a part of the future of this storied team, and one that carries such a poignant name in the sport, so I approach this challenge with great respect and with a huge amount of relish.” Matthew Savage, chairman of Dorilton Capital, added: :We are excited to welcome Jost Capito as the new CEO of Williams Racing. “He is an experienced and competitive individual, who has built winning teams and is a winner in his own right. “He understands the Williams heritage and will work well with the team in pursuit of our objective to return to the front of the grid.” Williams will be hoping that they can continue to claw back some performance as they attempt to end what is now a three-year spell at the bottom of the Formula 1 pecking order.

Former Force India chief Fernley is set to replace new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali as the FIA’s Single-Seater Commission president

Red Bull has no plans to replace Aston Martin as its title sponsor next year, with the British sportscar manufacturer focusing efforts on its newly re-branded Formula 1 team. The two companies tied up at the start of 2018 with both a title sponsorship partnership and a technical collaboration on the Valkyrie hypercar project. As well as being part of the official team name, Aston Martin’s logos appeared in prominent positions on Red Bull’s F1 cars – including the rear wing – and on the drivers’ overalls. But following Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of the Aston Martin road car company and subsequent rebranding of Racing Point under the British company’s moniker, it was agreed that the Red Bull sponsorship would come to an end. However, while Red Bull is hoping to add fresh sponsors to its portfolio in 2021, team boss Christian Horner has made it clear that it is not expected to land a fresh title sponsor just yet. “We don’t have a title sponsor replacing Aston Martin for next year,” he said. “We will have new sponsors that we introduce into next year. “Aston Martin obviously won’t be on our car. “We’ve enjoyed four years [in total], three years as title and four years with them on the car. We’ve helped to push the brand, and we’ve obviously enjoyed a great relationship with Valkyrie. “Obviously our deals were constructed under the former CEO Andy Palmer, who was always been tremendously supportive of the team. “And with Lawrence buying the business, it obviously was natural for them to exit. We’ll look forward to seeing the Aston Martin name live on in F1 next year.” Although the sponsorship deal is ending, Red Bull will continue work on the Valkyrie project, with deliveries of the car expected in 2021. Horner added: “The car is running, and we are doing all the testing. Of course the relationship goes until all the cars are completed through Red Bull Advanced Technologies.” Red Bull has a history of linking up with major car brands for its title sponsorship. It previously had a deal with the Infiniti car company from 2013 to 2015, but that deal ended as a legacy of the Milton Keynes-based team’s split with Renault.

Formula 1’s 2021 calendar featuring a record 23 grands prix has been ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council. The world championship has added a new race in Saudi Arabia subject to circuit homologation and the returning Dutch Grand Prix, which had to be cancelled this year, to create what should be the longest season in its history. A planned 22-race season in 2020 was set to be the new record but the calendar ended up being heavily revised to 17-race schedule with strict protocols because of the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement regarding next year’s calendar from the World Motor Sport Council congratulated “the entire Formula 1 community for the remarkable achievement of completing 17 events in the wake of the global pandemic”. Despite ongoing struggles around the world to contain the virus, F1 is pressing on with plans to return to a full season next year. Its proposed 23-race schedule has been rubber-stamped by the FIA, although it is still not actually completely set. Vietnam’s intended April 25 slot is still presented as a ‘to be confirmed’ race. It will not take place in Hanoi following the arrest and subsequent imprisonment of a senior figure connected to the grand prix. Ex-Hanoi mayor Nguyen Duc Chung was sentenced to five years imprisonment last week. Two unexpected 2020 venues have been linked with taking that vacant place on the schedule: Portugal and Turkey. The Portuguese Algarve circuit held its first grand prix this year (above), while Turkey’s Istanbul track returned to the calendar for the first time since 2011 (below). Brazil’s F1 race will remain at Interlagos on a new long-term deal following formal confirmation of the initial five-year contract previously reported by The Race in lieu of the planned new circuit in Rio de Janeiro failing to gain the necessary environmental licence to begin construction. The Brazilian GP will officially be called the Sao Paulo Grand Prix to reflect the city funding the race rather than it being a federal project. Meanwhile, a contract for the reprieved-for-2020 Spanish Grand Prix, which will benefit from the return of Fernando Alonso, and Carlos Sainz Jr’s move to Ferrari, is yet to be signed but is expected early in the new year. Confirmed 2021 F1 calendarMarch 21: AustraliaMarch 28: BahrainApril 11: ChinaApril 25: TBC (Portugal/Turkey linked)May 9: Spain (subject to contract)May 23: MonacoJune 6: AzerbaijanJune 13: CanadaJune 27: FranceJuly 4: AustriaJuly 18: BritainAugust 1: HungaryAugust 29: BelgiumSeptember 5: NetherlandsSeptember 12: ItalySeptember 26: RussiaOctober 3: SingaporeOctober 10: JapanOctober 24: USAOctober 31: MexicoNovember 14: BrazilNovember 28: Saudi ArabiaDecember 5: Abu Dhabi The WMSC council also approved sweeping changes to Formula 2 and Formula 3, which will now race on separate weekends with three races per event.