Take Two Predicts: Driver Line-up at Aston Martin and Red Bull F1 teams in 2021...
|By Prasham Pratap|
Formula 1 has always been a sport not followed by many, especially in India. Despite this niche fan following, it is a sport with a lot of money. Formula 1 was supposed to celebrate 70 years on track in 2020. But as it was destined to be, the sport celebrates its milestone off the track, thanks to this COVID crisis.
But it has not at all been a silent sport all this while. In a very eventful April end, F1 saw a couple of transfers happen and gave a lot of fodder to the avid followers of the sport. Actually, 2020 was supposed to be the last season for many drivers with their respective teams.
But due to no activities on the track, teams have already started their hunt for the perfect driver's combination for the next season, that is 2021. Many races have already been cancelled in this calendar year.
With this in mind, the new regulations which were supposed to kick in from the 2021 season are pushed further to 2022.
To bring you up to speed, Vettel left Ferrari and is now conducting talks with various teams on his future. With one of the most coveted seats of the sport going empty, Ferrari signed McLaren driver Carlos Sainz for the same. This left an empty seat in the McLaren garage which will now be occupied by former Red Bull racer, Daniel Ricciardo.
Now coming to the teams to talk about in this article, let's start with Aston Martin Formula 1:
Aston Martin Formula 1:
For those who don't know, the former Force India team, renamed to Racing Point F1 in the middle of 2019 is set to be renamed once again, as Aston Martin Formula 1. This team will retain Sergio Perez who is now a driver for them since 2014. His contract is in place until the end of 2023.
The other driver, Lance Stroll, is a son of Lawrence Stroll, who is an investor in this very racing team. Hence, it was expected and now it is confirmed that Lance Stroll will continue driving for Aston Martin in 2021.
With both places locked and sealed, the speculations end for the Aston Martin Formula 1 team for the 2021 season.
Red Bull Racing:
The only team that has been consistently fighting with the top two teams (Mercedes and Ferrari) is this one, the Honda-powered Red Bulls. With an excellent driver in Max Verstappen set to continue further with this team, there is only one seat vacant at the moment.
In 2019, this team promoted Pierre Gasly from the Alpha Tauri (Toro Rosso) to the senior team of Red Bull. However, it turned out to be a premature promotion, which eventually led to his demotion, back to the Toro Rosso. What followed next was the promotion of Alexander Albon to this team in his rookie season and a string of good performances.
The way Albon drove in those few races for Red Bull got him the seat for the 2020 season. But the contract ends in 2020. So, Red Bull will have one seat empty alongside Verstappen. There is a big chance that Albon will be the guy in that seat for the next season.
But just in case they do not want him there, then they might be looking at someone like a Bottas to come in. There has been news coming out stating that both these parties are actually conducting talks for their probable partnership. This will give them a string of consistent performances from both cars and an eventual shot at the constructor's championship.
With 8 teams out of the way and all predictions done, only 2 teams remain. The stalwarts and the top 2 teams on the grid, the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, the world champions and the former world champions and strong contenders, Ferrari. We will be discussing those two teams in the coming days. Stay Tuned!
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