As Formula One gears up for the 2021 season opener in Bahrain, we take a look at six drivers which you must watch out for across the campaign.
From potential history writing to F1 graduates to driver switches, several drivers enter the new season with questions lingering over the story arcs of their campaign in what promises to be a year of intrigue throughout the grid.
Now, here are six drivers who are worth watching out for across this season for various reasons throughout the grid.
Lewis Hamilton
With a record-equalling seventh F1 title under his belt, Lewis Hamilton enters this round looking for an historic eighth crown but this might be his toughest season yet.
Speaking at Mercedes’ W12 launch, Hamilton’s focus looks to lie elsewhere as he spoke of 2020 as being about “… pushing for the diversity…” rather than challenging for titles which indicates that his priority lies in promoting better diversity across F1 than an eighth title.
Hamilton after pre-season testing however looked more concerned about ‘on-track performance as he finished only fifth quickest overall, which suggests a serious change in priorities, commenting: “I can’t pick out any one area, it just feels globally through the lap that we need to improve.”
It is therefore hard to predict what we can expect from Hamilton this season with the Brit looking stretched across various priorities and signed a new one-year contract, yet Mercedes normally sandbags in pre-season so expect 2021 to either see history made or a changing of the guard.
Sergio Perez
After a stunning 2021 season in which he finished fourth and clinched his maiden F1 victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix in December for Racing Point, Sergio Perez will be a driver to watch out for as he replaces Alex Albon at Red Bull.
Perez’s average qualifying pace in 2020 was quite close to Verstappen with both around a second clear of their teammates, so it will be interesting to see how the qualifying head-to-head unfolds at Red Bull given Verstappen’s dominance in last two seasons over his teammates.
One huge difference in race results though is that Perez has been hugely consistent since late August 2019 with just three retirements in his last 24 races of which all were reliability related, whereas Verstappen has seven retirements across his last 26 races with five caused by collisions.
Now if throw those factors into the mix plus Perez’s superior experience compared to Verstappen’s youth, I am therefore tipping Perez to be one of big talking points of this season if he can take the fight to Verstappen.
Yuki Tsunoda
Graduating into F1 after only one season in Formula Two, Yuki Tsunoda will certainly be the rookie to watch this season because he has the raw talent needed to do well if AlphaTauri nail their setup at various tracks this season.
Tsunoda however is still only 20 years-old and in his third season racing outside of Japan, so I do expect some bumps throughout the season but if he can apply himself like he did in F2 and take his chances then he certainly will be pushing for points at several races.
Tyre management however can be Tsunoda’s biggest threat this season because he did at times struggle with managing his tyres in F2, most notably in Sochi Feature Race which cost him the win to this season’s fellow F1 graduate – Mick Schumacher.
Carlos Sainz
Having enjoyed two breakthrough seasons at McLaren in which he finished sixth overall in 2019 & 20 seasons with two podiums, Carlos Sainz faces his biggest challenge yet as he switches to Ferrari who experienced a difficult 2020.
Ferrari however are lacking power and with regulations largely staying the same, Sainz is certainly set for more midfield battles with Ferrari’s focus likely to be on preparing for 2022 when new regulations come in.
I however can’t wait to see how Leclerc and Sainz fare as teammates as they look to improve on their sixth-placed constructor finish last season, in which they finished 71 points off Sainz’s former team – McLaren who ended the season third in standings.
Sebastian Vettel
After enduring a painful 2020 season at Ferrari in which he struggled to 13th overall with just one podium and 10 non points finishes, Sebastian Vettel is looking to bounce back as he switches to the returning Aston Martin brand which replaces the Racing Point name on the grid.
Pre-season however masked his potential with reliability issues affecting running for both drivers, yet questions will likely be asked of Vettel’s ability if reliability proves to be a season-long issue and he fails to take advantage of good weekends here and there like he often failed to do at Ferrari last season.
2021 therefore feels like the acid test for Vettel in determining his future because there were moments last year where he felt like he was just driving through the motions in a weak Ferrari hit by a huge loss of power compared to 2019.
If he can put those issues behind him and show that 2020 was down to the car rather than driver and Aston Martin sort out their own pre-season woes, I reckon we will see Vettel back on form otherwise this could well be the beginning of a F1 icon fading as he hits the twilight years of his F1 career.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso returns to F1 after a two-season sabbatical but with the Spaniard now 39 years-old, questions will surround his future in the sport given that he is now the oldest driver on the grid and up against top young talent like Verstappen, Lando Norris and Tsunoda.
Doubters meanwhile feel that Guanyu Zhou or Christian Lundgaard deserved a promotion from F2 to replace Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the returning Spaniard, meaning that this season is crucial for Alonso to prove doubters wrong given Alpine’s poor F1 record of promoting within their academy into F1.
Esteban Ocon meanwhile enjoyed a strong end to 2020 and will be looking to push on and utilise his youthful experience in order to outperform the two-time champion which will be another question on the list of many doubters of Alonso’s return – as this is his third stint at the Enstone based team.
2021 therefore promises to be a huge year for Alonso as he adapts back to life in F1 whilst battling questions surrounding the merits of his return in terms of speed and performance compared to a youngster who could of arguably been handed a F1 chance in his seat.
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