2021 - What story lines are you most interested in?

[F1nKS]

Just as the title says - what are the story lines that interest or excite you for 2021 season?

[F1nKS]

I am really excited for the season because there seems to be so much potential race drama. Here is what I'm most interested in:


1. Redbull, Max and Perez. How will Max and Perez play together? How will Perez actually perform with the pressure of expectations now? Will it even make a difference between Red Bull vs. Mercedes for the title?

2. Will McClaren take a step forward this year? Will the addition of Ricciardo elevate this team even further?

3. Seb - is this the end, or did Ferrari suck all the life out of him and he will be back with a vengeance (with Mercedes engine).

4. How will Bottas approach this season? He has to know if he ever want to be a world champion this could be his last chance. Can he challenge Hamilton or not. Or is he satisfied running cover for Hamilton.

5. Alonso vs Ocon. I don't like Ocon. I hope Alonso shows him up every week.

6. Tsunoda vs Gasly. You would think that Gasly would dominate, but if Tsunoda is really that talented and starts beating Gasly week in or week out what happens to Gasly mentally.

7. Season 3 - Drive to Survive. I enjoy seeing the deeper view of formula 1 beyond just the racing and getting a glimpse of the paddocks personalities. I do think season 1 was better than 2, and hope 3 bounces back to be on par with 1 or better.

8. Hamilton had such a great run in 2020. Was he extremely lucky or is he just that good?

9. In how many races will it take for Mazapin to be suspended?

[airshifter]

It could be a year to shake things up more than we suspect. With the downforce changes the entire deck could shuffle quite a bit. There is no guarantee that Merc will be the ones to get it right this time, and some of the underdogs could become stronger. I think the entire season has potential to shake things up.


As for your list.....

1. Should be interesting. I see them as drivers with differing approaches, Max the "go for it" and Sergio more looking at the long game. I hope Perez can hold his ground with Max.

2. Hard to say. Ricciardo was great in a couple cars, and I don't see him hurting Mclaren unless they play games.

3. Even harder to predict. Ferrari has sucked the life out of many drivers, but I think Seb is in his own head. That said, the car should overall be an improvement over the Ferrari, and I think he will stand a chance at being better than Lance. At least I hope so.

4. I think he has accepted his position as the #2, but I hope I'm wrong and he keeps pushing for better.

5. With the break, it might take Alonso some time to come to grips with the car. But Ocon is no slouch, so if his mental game is strong he might at least challenge. I predict Fred will crush him though.

6. I'm flipping a coin on that one!

7. I enjoyed the series as well.

8. Both. He is quite talented and has been in the best car. I think there are drivers that could challenge him in the right car, but Bottas isn't doing it. So he is in a safe spot if Merc get it right with the changes. If Merc doesn't have one of the stronger cars, there are enough good drivers in the field to make things tough for him.

9. Hopefully zero, and he screws up before the first race start.

[N4D13]

1. I'd expect Pérez to be closer to Verstappen than Albon and Gasly ever were, but naturally I think it'd be a huge surprise to everyone if he could put up a sustained fight for top dog (well, bull) honors. It's also going to depend on whether Red Bull's car is easier to drive, since something that's given his predecessors an extremely hard time is the fact that the Red Bulls have had a very narrow sweet spot, so only Max got the car to work.

2. Definitely not expecting McLaren to repeat their feat of getting P3. 2021 shouldn't really mix things up much as development has been very limited and what's more, McLaren needed to use their development tokens to fit the Mercedes engine. The fact that they've had a hard time finding cash can't have been a positive either.

3. I don't think Vettel was as good as we saw in Red Bull (remember how people complained that he couldn't overtake?), but not as bad as we saw in Ferrari either. Ferrari is easily one of the worst teams when it comes to managing their drivers - the Italian pride quickly becomes hubris, and that is damaging. They went out of their way to humiliate Vettel and that can't have gone down well. I'm rooting for him to do well at Aston, but I'm not expecting any miracles.

4. Bottas is never going to be satisfied playing second fiddle to Hamilton, but neither does he have the ability to do anything else, unless something takes Hamilton out of action (and with Lewis having gone down with covid-19 already, that isn't happening again).

5. Considering how Ricciardo destroyed Ocon this year, it'd be a big surprise if Alonso couldn't beat him comfortably. The margin will depend on whether he's lost any speed, although the early signs look positive for the Spaniard.

6. Tsunoda is a bit of an unknown quantity, so it's hard to measure him. He seems to have buckets of talent, but it's going to be an interesting fight. Gasly is comfortable at Alpha Tauri, but if Tsunoda is quick enough, I'd expect him to be rattled.

7. I watched season 1, couldn't be bothered to watch the second.

8. Hamilton is insanely talented and one of the best drivers among all eras, but at the same time, F1 is about being in the right place at the right time. Verstappen is also crazy good, yet he's left to pick up the scraps because the Mercs are just that fast.

9. I'm not expecting to see Mazepin suspended. As much as our Humpty Dumpty (deservedly) attracts people's wrath, I'd have expected Haas to be super stern with him by now and explained in no uncertain terms that if he fucks up or repeats any of his antics such as crashing into a driver, he'll be out of the sport. I'm sure Mazepin is now aware that Daddy's money can only get him so far.

10. Adding one for Leclerc-Sainz here. As much as I'm expecting Leclerc to be ahead of Sainz, I'm curious about what the margin will be, and if it's going to be close. I get the impression that Leclerc is a bit overrated, although I'd be happy to be proven wrong - and meanwhile, I think that Sainz is slightly underrated as he's often lost out on better results for circumstances outside of his control.

[F1nKS]

5. Considering how Ricciardo destroyed Ocon this year, it'd be a big surprise if Alonso couldn't beat him comfortably. The margin will depend on whether he's lost any speed, although the early signs look positive for the Spaniard.

I heard a rumor that Gasly had been putting "feelers" out to Renault. I would not be suprised if Ocon doesn't have a better year, that Gasly might replace him.






10. Adding one for Leclerc-Sainz here. As much as I'm expecting Leclerc to be ahead of Sainz, I'm curious about what the margin will be, and if it's going to be close. I get the impression that Leclerc is a bit overrated, although I'd be happy to be proven wrong - and meanwhile, I think that Sainz is slightly underrated as he's often lost out on better results for circumstances outside of his control.

Yes, I agree this will be another interesting story to watch.

[Zico]

1. I think Perez will get closer to Max but can't help feeling the problem at RB runs far deeper than driver choice... and unless they fix that it can only continue.

2. Hard to say, I think they finished above where they actually were in performance terms. RP had some bad luck in terms of reliability but I felt they also let themselves down a few times in not maximising the performance of the car.

3. I'm not expecting miracles from Seb, but if the car suits him I suppose its possible he could do ok. Whatever happens he has to comfortably beat Stroll though.

4. The new Bottas mk6? I think I've seen enough to not expect anything different... However, I guess there is the possibility that he might improve with the pressure off.. believing that this is his last seasin at Merc due to Russells Merc performance?

5. Alonso might be rusty from being away for two seasons.. He's relatively old now too... but I'm still expecting him to beat Ocon. If he doesn't he should probably realise that father time has caught up with him and move on for good.

6. I'm expecting Gasly to win this duel come season end even if just from experience... but other than hearing Tsunoda is very highly rated by RB, I really dont know very much about him.

7. Haven't really watched much of it tbh.

8. Both. He has had it a far too easy for my liking. When the car is so dominant and his team mate no threat its hard to know if he is quite as formidable as he used to be. Not expecting any change though.. I reckon if he wins the WDC in 2021 it could be his last season.

9. Is Mazapin really that bad a driver?

[F1nKS]

Another thing I'm interested in watching is how does Ferrari bounce back. It almost like that Ferrari and FIA had some kind of agreement we won't punish you in 2019 (strip all their points) but made an agreement that they will be compromised for 2020.

If they come back in 2021 and are fighting for 2 or 3 then I think this may be right. If they are fighting in the mid-field then maybe things were on the up and up.