#F1 2021 TEAMS DRIVERS#
#F1 2021 TEAMS DRIVER#

World Drivers' Champions like Alain Prost and Jackie Stewart also became team principals for their own teams after retiring from racing. They are also usually responsible for giving out team orders.įamous examples include Ron Dennis ( McLaren), Jean Todt ( Ferrari), Frank Williams ( Williams), Christian Horner ( Red Bull) and Colin Chapman ( Lotus). You just add to it, add to it, add to it-better simulation facilities, better dynos, better wind tunnels, upgrading the wind tunnels, all of that accumulates.In Formula One, the team principal is the person who owns and is in charge of a certain constructor during each race weekend. 'They've spent a lot of money in the past putting the infrastructure in place,' said Szafnauer. Despite the cutbacks, those teams will long be reaping the benefits of years of outspending by more than double the budgets of the second- and third-tier teams. All three are believed to have been running with budgets close to, if not in excess of $400 million (actual figures have long been a closely guarded secret). The current team budget cap of $145 million (a cap that has several loopholes and exemptions) has meant the sport's big three of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari have had to tighten their belts. I do believe that come 2022 the field will be much closer.' Let's see what happens next year, it's not that far off. So, I think that in itself should bring competition closer together. 'Next year's car (has) totally different technical (regulations) and is being developed under a cost cap, as well as under a cap where we reduce the dyno times and aerodynamic runs. So, the cars that are racing now really the remnants of 'spend as much as you want.' 'Then we froze (the regs) for this season, apart from some aerodynamic changes made by the FIA, because of COVID. 'These cars were originally designed without a cost cap, the ones that you see racing now,' said Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer.

And there's some obvious reasons, say team principals at Aston Martin and Alpine. It's going to take time before the mid-packers in F1 close the gap on Mercedes and Red Bull, admit a pair of team bosses who have gotten used to looking up at the megateams in the standings.

#F1 2021 TEAMS DRIVERS#

Don't hold your breath waiting for a season where five or six drivers are still in the thick of a championship with legitimate chances at a title going into the final two or three races of the season. Sorry, F1 isn't going to turn into NASCAR or Ind圜ar anytime soon. In one of those four losses, Verstappen and Hamilton crashed each other out. Wasn't this the year that a team budget cap was supposed to bring the field closer together? Wasn't this the year we were supposed to see more teams fighting for wins?Instead, it's been more of the same, as Verstappen and Hamilton have combined for 13 wins in the first 17 races. The gap is on pace to easily exceed the average gap of the past decade. This year, the gap from first to third is already 102.5 points with five races remaining. A race win is worth 25 points (1 bonus point awarded to fastest lap of the race).

#F1 2021 TEAMS DRIVER#

The average gap between the first- and third-place driver in the final standings over the past 10 years is 127 points. Since then, however, it's been a one- or two-driver race with everyone else battling for 'best of the rest' honors. In 2010, Red Bull (Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber), Ferrari (Fernando Alonso) and Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton) all finished within 16 points of the championship. It's been more than a decade since the third place team in the final standings was within even 50 points of the champion in the F1 standings at season's end. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will likely battle it out for the top spot the rest of the season, but only third-place Valtteri Bottas is still mathematically alive in the drivers' championship-and even Bottas could be mathematically eliminated by time the checkered flag flies in the next race at Mexico City on November 7. Mercedes and Red Bull have figuratively, OK literally, once again lapped the rest of the field this season. With five races remaining in the 2021 Formula 1 season, it's a two-team and two-driver race for the championship.Īnd, unfortunately for fans of the other eight teams and other 18 drivers, that's nothing new. Two teams representing the second- and third-tier teams in the standings say that it will take a while to catch the big teams because of huge gaps in infrastructure acquired by the big teams over the past two decades.The 2021 season is the first Formula 1 campaign with a $145 budget cap for the teams.For the 11th consecutive F1 season, the championship is a runaway for the top two drivers and top two teams in the standings.

F1 2021 teams