F1 hot topics
By Jamie Richards
Sergio Perez and his move to Red Bull (and the downfall of Bottas)
Sergio Perez has been constantly carrying Racing Point this season when Lance Stroll has been underperforming. Even though Sergio missed a race due to COVID-19 and an unfortunate engine failure caused him to loose his 2nd place in Bahrain, he still finished 4th in the drivers championship. He has been pulling his weight for years and yet he has managed to slip under every bodies radar. I feel very sorry for him because he got given the boot at the start of the season without fair warning yet he still had an amazing attitude and pulled Racing Point to third in the constructors championship. Thankfully for him Red Bull saved him from the drop and gave him the chance at a seat in 2021. I believe that this is the break through that he has needed for years. I think this will bring good fortune for him and with Max by his side, the Red Bull team will seriously bring the fight to Lewis Hamilton next year. I say Lewis Hamilton and not Mercedes because Valtteri Bottas has not been pulling his weight this year. A prime example of this would be in Sakhir GP when George Russell’s chance at greatness arrived. Bottas grabbed pole by 2 10ths of a second over George which was astonishing to see and that set up what should have been an exhilarating race. Five red lights and off the start we saw George dive into the first corner in the lead. He then continued the race all the way up to the first pit stop in the lead (with an 8 second gap btw) whilst Bottas fell from 2nd to 6th and struggled on the second stint with the hard compound tyres on. Disaster struck when Bottas and George double stacked and the pit crew messed up the tyres. George had to pit for a second time to switch on to a different set but now determined to make up for the lost time and the 2 places he floored it. Victory was certain until…… “George, we have a puncture!” I couldn’t believe it and neither could anyone else. We were devastated. Although he got his first points of F1, it was a hollow victory because he missed out on an achievement that everyone that participates or watches the sport dreams of. AN F1 PODIUM!! This result softened the blow for Bottas but its didn’t get him out of cold water in my eyes. I’m not denying that Valtteri is a good driver, he is but that is what separates the good from the great. Consistency. That race was his chance to show that he was a worthy successor the Lewis if he leaves the sport after next season.
The top drivers of the season and why.
This season has been a real eye opener for the sport. Over the past two years we have seen a rise in new up and coming drivers. We are at the stage where some of the older drivers are leaving and the new ones are shining through meaning the next few seasons will be better than ever. However a few of the top men really impressed me this year. On of these drivers being Lando Norris. Lando and Carlos has transformed that McLaren team in the last two seasons. This season more than last but they have clearly had an impact on the team in the time in which they were there. Unfortunately Carlos is leaving the team and hopefully Daniel can continue the path back to the top for McLaren. I seriously believe that with Daniel’s experience and Lando’s talent I think that McLaren could seriously bring the fight to Aston Martin Racing Point. Ferrari were very poor this season and after seeing the progress in pre-season testing I don’t think they are going to be back to the top for next year. This leaves the fight for third in the constructors championship open to McLaren, Racing Point and Renault. Also this year has seen the rise of Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman has had a stella season with a magical win in Monza. Unfortunately his win was the only time he saw the podium in the 17 races but he has still had success in securing his seat for 2021 and impressing by getting himself points in more races than not. He proved to red bull that they made the wrong choice by replacing him with Alex Albon in 2019. Albon had a pretty average year with red bull despite having the second best car on the grid. He was sometimes fighting for 10th or 11th and that’s just not acceptable given the car that he has.
Ferrari and their problems
This season has seen multiple problems for Ferrari. These range from the engine problems to the underperforming Sebastian Vettel. The engine of the Ferrari got changed at the start of the season which consequently caused a lack of power and performance with the aerodynamics being altered also. The paddock was the closest that either of the Ferrari drivers got to the Mercedes this year. However this was not the only problem in this sad turn of events. Unfortunately Sebastian has had one of the worst cars on the grip and a poor run of form. In 2019 we saw a real fight brewing between him and Charles Leclerc. With this heated battle we thought that this season would see a typical teammate battle but that wasn’t the case. He failed to bring the fight to Charles this season and even though they have had a poor car this season, Charles managed to get a few podiums and a few top 5’s in qualifying whilst Vettel was a frequent member of the back pack of the field. I believe that Vettel’s run of form will end when he joins Aston Martin next season. This will be the first time Vettel has had a Mercedes powered engine and its exciting to think that we could see Vettel vs Hamilton next season which is something we have missed this season. I really hope we get to see them go head to head again on track because they are icons of the sport and it wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t get one last hurrah.
The Driver Changes for next Year …
First of all, Yuki Tsunoda. Who is he? Well I’m sure that some of you are wondering where this wonderful man has come from and how he inherited the Alpha Tauri seat from Kvyat. He is currently 20 years old and has moved to F1 from F2. Where in his first and only season in the F2 championship, he finished 3th overall with 200 points. He was just 15 points behind the champion Mick Schumacher. Both of these drivers will be stepping into F1 with Mick going to Haas and Yuki going to Alpha Tauri. They are both very talented but they will have to adapt to live in F1 very quickly if they are to stay in the sport. Mick will have a tougher job than Yuki because the Haas team needs a few tweaks. Plus they are getting two new drivers who are young and inexperienced. However this allows for development and progress in the team. All with can hope is the drivers come into the team and hit the ground running. Now as I have just mentioned, Mick is going to have a new teammate next year. Another driver from F2 will be stepping into the shoes of Kevin and Romain. But this driver has ruined his career before it has even started. If you don’t know him, his name is Nakita Mazepin. He has been in some serious trouble lately due to an inappropriate Instagram video that was posted from his account. In the video, Nikita appeared to inappropriately doing things. This caused quite an uproar on social media with some people even stating that he should be removed from the sport altogether. The #WeSayNoToMazepin has been trending over twitter ever since the incident.
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