The 2021 Formula One season begins this weekend in Bahrain. Photo / Getty
The 2021 Formula One season begins this weekend in Bahrain. Photo / Getty
The 2021 Formula One circus has pitched its tent in Bahrain for the opening stanza of the championship this weekend.
The off-track machinations of the sport have been way more interesting than the actual racing over the last half-dozen seasons.
A particular favourite has been the return of two-time worldchampion Fernando Alonso. Not so much his return to F1 with the former Renault team now rebranded as Alpine, but rather his comment that he's "better" than the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastien Vettel and Max Verstappen.
A big call from a bloke who hasn't won a Grand Prix since 2013, and you've got to admire his positivity especially considering he's carrying a broken jaw after a biking accident in February.
Another little nub of interest is Haas pilot Russian Nikita Mazepin can't enter as a Russian and is listed instead as a RAF — Russian Automobile Federation driver. This has come about due to Russian athletes being banned from competing under, or using, the Russian flag due to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on a ruling of the World Anti-Doping Agency on state sponsored doping in Russia.
Mazepin cannot be officially described as a Russian athlete until the ban is lifted at the end of 2022, though, the colour scheme of the Haas car, as it incorporates blue, red and white stripes, is similar to that of the Russian flag.
And finally, Hamilton has come out and had a pop at stops on the race calendar — Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia — about their human rights record.
"I don't think that we should be going to these countries and ignoring what is happening in those places, arriving, having a great time and then leave," he said at a press conference.
Fernando Alonso has returned to Formula One, racing for Alpine-Renault. Photo / Getty
Hamilton has been in discussion with Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa on the subject of his country's human rights record, and when questioned about progress he replied, "At the moment I think the steps that I've taken really have been in private, and I think that's the right way to go about it. So I don't really want to say too much that may jeopardise any progress."
So, not a lot happening then. Maybe if Hamilton had the conviction of his words and withdrew from those three races something might be achieved.
Getting back to the racing, seven of the 10 teams have had driver changes and two have been rebranded.
Red Bull has replaced Alex Albon with Sergio Perez, whose old seat at Aston Martin (rebranded from Racing Point) will now be warmed by Vettel. Ferrari will have Carlos Sainz alongside Charles Leclerc and Daniel Riccardo has jumped at the chance to sign up for the vacant McLaren seat.
Alonso comes in to Alpine. Daniil Kvyat is canned for the second time opening the door for rookie Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri, while Haas has swapped out both their existing drivers for Mazepin and Mick Schumacher.
The season calendar has had a few changes with Australia missing out on hosting the opening round again and a November date slotted in. The Chinese Grand Prix has been cancelled for the second year replaced with Portugal, and Vietnam has been substituted with Imola.
Interlagos has signed a further five-year deal and two new races have been added; a street race in Jedda, Saudi Arabia and the return of an oldie but a goodie at Zandvoort.
If the preseason is anything to go by, racing this year hopefully will be just as interesting. Testing indicated there are a few teams appearing to challenge Mercedes, but it's testing - more foxing and feinting goes there than at a pre-match boxing conference.
Hamilton and Mercedes will dominate with his nearest challenger Verstappen pushing him on occasion. We might also see cameos from Valtteri Bottas, Ricciardo, Leclerc and possibly Perez. For the rest the song will remain the same.
