2021 Season Review

Us F1 fans have been spoiled this season with a thrilling title battle keeping us on the edge of our seats for much of the year. However, now that all is said and done, it's time to look back on the season that passed, as I attempt to review the performances of the drivers and teams from this, season ranking them on a scale of 1-10.

Reviews:

Mercedes: 5/10, After a crushing 2020 season in which the W11 won 13/17 races, this season was a rude awakening for the team, as they lost their 7-year stranglehold over the world drivers title. Be it through the regulation changes or complacency, the new W12 was nowhere near as dominant as its predecessor, as Mercedes allowed their rivals Red Bull to swoop in and challenge them for both titles. Whilst the silver arrows did still win the constructors championship, they will definitely be disappointed to miss out on the driver's title, blemishing their record in an otherwise flawless era.

Lewis Hamilton:8/10, Best Race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Lewis entered the season with the prospect of becoming the most decorated driver in the sports history, sitting on the verge of an 8th world title, and few would've betted against him doing so given his dominant 2020 campaign. However, from the outset it was clear that Lewis had a fight on his hands as Max Verstappen threw down the gauntlet and threatened to disrupt Hamilton's title charge. In the end he narrowly lost out to Max in controversial circumstances, however despite not claiming the title he rose to a high level of performance consistently throughout the year, far ahead of what his teammate was able to achieve, hence why I have opted for the 8/10 rating.

Valtteri Bottas: 4/10, Best Race: Turkish Grand Prix, His fifth and last season for Mercedes proved to be his most disappointing, as he once again failed to turn into the title challenging driver fans and pundits have been wishing for since he first joined the Brackley based team. There were few positives to take from this year, with too many occasions where he just looked out of his depth, an average driver in a great car. Toto Wolff clearly shared this sentiment as he opted to replace Bottas with Williams' George Russell and it's easy to understand why, Valtteri himself moves to Alfa Romeo where he can hopefully prove himself as one of the sports best drivers once again.

Red Bull: 9/10, The Turbo-Hybrid era has not been kind to Red Bull, troubles with engine suppliers and a failure to produce winning machinery has left them in no man’s land, far ahead of the midfield but too far behind the lead cars to challenge for titles. All that was to change this season, favourable regulations and a stable engine supplier in Honda gave Red Bull a platform to take the fight to Mercedes throughout the whole season. The combination of the RB16B and Max Verstappen proved unstoppable at times, as they claimed their first drivers title since 2013, some 8 years previous. Whilst they weren't able to capture the constructor’s championship, Red Bull will hope to carry their newly found momentum into a new era of Formula 1 in 2022.

Max Verstappen: 10/10, Best Race: Austrian Grand Prix, it’s been known for a while up and down the F1 paddock what a talent Max is, but this season we were able to see it on full display as he finally had a car to compete for a title. Lewis Hamilton gave him a tough battle, however Max ended up victor, taking the championship trophy away from Hamilton and perhaps the status of Formula 1's best driver with it.

Sergio Perez: 4/10, Best Race: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after looking as though he'd leave the sport at the end of last year, Sergio was handed a lifeline by Red Bull as a number 2 for Max Verstappen in 2021. Much had been made of Red Bull's second driver struggles and it was hoped that bringing in the experienced Mexican would help put pay to this issue, but that wasn't to be the case. For much of the year Perez found himself far off what his teammate was capable of doing, costing them valuable points in their tight fight for the constructor’s trophy. Luckily for Sergio, form began to pick up towards the end of the year enticing Red Bull into offering him a new deal for 2022; where he'll hope to give Max Verstappen a much closer fight.

McLaren: 7/10, McLaren ended this era of Formula 1 as they began, choosing to move back to Mercedes engines after a turbulent time with Honda and Renault. McLaren have seemed lost at times, stagnating in the midfield far below where they are expected to be. However, 2021 marked a clear step in the right direction for the team, with their first win and pole position since 2012. McLaren are a team on the rise, and they can be very proud of the effort they’ve put in to turning around a once hopeless organization. With any luck 2022 could mark a return to the summit of F1, somewhere they haven’t been for far too long.

Lando Norris: 8/10, Best Race: Russian Grand Prix, in 2020 Lando was once again beaten by his teammate Carlos Sainz, nothing to be ashamed of, but still, there were questions over whether he was truly ‘world champion material’. This myth was dispelled early on in the season as Lando extracted the maximum from his MCL35M weekend after weekend, making his far more experienced teammate Ricciardo look foolish at times. His season peaked at the Russian Grand Prix where he was on for a spectacular win, until a late rain shower ruined his afternoon, a performance which still lives long in the memory, regardless of the result. This year was a huge step-up performance wise for Lando and a timely reminder to those up and down the grid as to what a special young talent he is.

Daniel Ricciardo: 4/10, Best Race: Italian Grand Prix, after a tricky couple of seasons at Renault, Daniel decided to make the bold switch to the resurgent McLaren for 2021, a move which on paper made plenty of sense. However, as the season drew on it became clear Ricciardo and McLaren was not a good fit, as Daniel struggled to get the most out of the car, regularly being outpaced by teammate Lando Norris. By no means was it a bad season, with Ricciardo taking his first win since 2018 at Monza, but by large he did not live up to what we’ve all come to expect from the loveable Aussie. With new regulations next year and a clean slate, he’ll hope to overcome his 2021 woes and firmly establish himself as the number 1 at McLaren.

Aston Martin: 4/10, Best Race: Monaco Grand Prix, A new look for 2021 as Racing Point transformed into Aston Martin, with the famous British brand re-joining the sport after a 61-year absence. Aston’s first year however was by no means plain sailing, as the new regulations hit them much harder than the teams around them, moving them away from the front of the midfield battle towards the back end of the grid. Despite a tough season there was still some good moments, with consistent points finishes and multiple podiums for new driver Sebastian Vettel, Aston can certainly hold their heads high and be hopeful moving into the new era of Formula One.

Sebastian Vettel: 5/10, Best Race: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after a miserable end to his Ferrari tenure, many questioned whether the 4-time world champion still had what it takes to compete at the pinnacle of motorsport. There were some very good moments for Seb throughout the year, like his podium in Baku or his 5th place in Monaco, however these good moments were few and far between, with bad luck or mistakes meaning he didn’t accumulate as many points as he should have. Whilst on the whole he was the quicker driver Aston Martin driver, he’ll need to become more consistent in his driving to truly prove that he can still compete with the very best in the sport.

Lance Stroll: 5/10, Best Race: Styrian Grand Prix, Lance would’ve been hoping to build upon his breakthrough 2020 season and irradicate the ‘pay driver’ name he’s been brandished with ever since entering the sport in 2017. However, the car was much worse than it was in 2020, and consistent points finishes, and podiums were no longer the norm. In a tough season Lance wasn’t always the quickest but he showed consistency, very much the opposite of the season his teammate had. He amassed a respectable points total and has some very good moments throughout the year, showing everyone why he deserves a place on the grid for 2022.

Alpine: 5/10, Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, another new look team for this year as Renault rebranded themselves as niche sports car company Alpine for the upcoming year. The season started slowly as the car appeared to lack pace, often finishing and qualifying towards the back end of the field. However, everything seemed to come together in the second half of the season, with Alonso finding form just as the car began to show some more speed. Their highlight of the season came at Hungary where Ocon took advantage of a chaotic start to take his maiden win, and the first win for Enstone since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix. Despite the positives, Alpine would’ve been disappointed with the lack of improvement from 2020-2021, especially considering the initial 5-year plan laid out by Renault when they re-entered the sport in 2016.

Fernando Alonso: 6/10, Best Race: Qatar Grand Prix, much was made of Alonso return to the team where he won two championships back in 2005 and 2006, however after being out of the sport for 2 years would the 39-year-old be the same old Fernando we were used to? The early rounds suggested perhaps not as he was thoroughly outperformed by his teammate Ocon, but as the season drew on, Alonso’s confidence and pace grew and grew. By the late season Fernando’s performances had squashed any doubts over his ability, best proved by his third place at the Qatar grand prix, his first podium in over 7 years.

Esteban Ocon: 6/10, Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, after a miserable return to F1 in 2020, being dominated by his teammate Ricciardo, Ocon hoped for a much better showing in 2021. It wouldn’t be easy though, as he was paired up with one of F1’s most fearsome competitors in Fernando Alonso for the season ahead. Despite this, Ocon performed admirably, either matching or outperforming Alonso’s pace for much of the season. Esteban also gained a breakthrough first victory at the Hungarian grand prix, keeping a cool head in an otherwise hectic race and showing experience much beyond his years. Esteban has become somewhat of a forgotten man over the past few seasons; however this campaign has reminded everyone of just how good the young Frenchman is.

Ferrari: 7/10, Best Race: British Grand Prix, in the wake of their worst season since 1980, the only way was up for the Italian outfit in 2021 and whilst this season was nowhere near their glory days, it was certainly a big step forward. Ferrari moved into the post Vettel era well, making huge strides in the engine department, leap frogging them to the front of the midfield once more, in which they were locked in a tight battle with McLaren for third in the constructors. Despite this, there were times where the Ferrari looked like they could compete with the front runners, take Silverstone for example where Leclerc was just 3 laps from a miraculous win. Or Monaco, where Ferrari looked like the quickest car all weekend long. However, there is still much work to be done at Maranello before they can begin to consider fighting for a championship.

Charles Leclerc: 7/10, Best Race: British Grand Prix, after being defeated by a teammate for the first time in his career, one may assume Charles’ season was underwhelming, however when looking beyond the standings it’s clear to see this wasn’t the case. Whilst his performances perhaps weren’t as consistent as Charles may’ve hoped, there were numerous occasions in which he displayed why he is such a brilliant young talent. I think the perfect way to summarise his season would be his weekend at Monaco, where he claimed a brilliant pole position but crashed on his final run, meaning he was unable to start the race on Sunday. Whilst still a fantastic driver, Charles will need to cut out his error prone nature next year if he wants to remain top dog at Ferrari over his teammate Carlos Sainz.

Carlos Sainz: 7/10, Best Race: Austrian Grand Prix, many were critical of Sainz’s switch from McLaren to Ferrari dubbing it a backwards step for the Spaniard, however after a terrific campaign, sceptics are now few and far between. Matching up to Charles Leclerc is no mean feat, but whilst in the early rounds Carlos struggled slightly, he grew more and more comfortable as the season went on, often matching or even beating Leclerc’s pace. His performances this season have certainly given the higher ups at Ferrari something to think about, as Carlos has shown himself to be much more than just a ‘number 2’ driver.

Alpha Tauri: 6/10, Best Race: Azerbaijan Grand Prix, in the early season it became clear Alpha Tauri had a good car, and for the first time in their history, looked like a team which could challenge those at the top end of the midfield. Despite this, the team failed to make the most of their package, owing in part due to inconsistency, bad strategy and poor form from rookie Tsunoda. Still, the team can be proud that they built a very good car from such limited resources and will hope to build on this ground-breaking season as they head into a new era of Formula 1 in 2022.

Pierre Gasly: 8/10, Best Race: Mexican Grand Prix, this year marks another successful season in Pierre’s redemption story post Red Bull, once again maximising everything his Alpha Tauri Honda had to give him. Throughout the year he was consistently battling towards the top end of the midfield, even claiming a podium at the chaotic Azerbaijan grand prix. His performances impressed everyone up and down the paddock, regularly receiving praise from commentators and pundits alike. However, the issue for Pierre is now that in a closed of driver market, where does he go to take the next step in his career.

Yuki Tsunoda: 2/10, Best Race: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in spite of much hype during the pre-season and the opening grand prix, Yuki’s year can only be described as a disappointment. For much of the campaign he looked out of place, well off his teammates pace and consistently making silly errors you wouldn’t expect from a driver of his supposed talent. Whilst his lack of pace was mystifying, it must be said that there was a marked improvement in Tsunoda’s performances as the season went on, with a few signs that maybe he will be able to deliver on his potential. This all culminated at the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi, where he finally managed to put a full weekend together, beating his teammate in both qualifying and the race to claim 4th. There’s certainly more to come from the young Japanese, however only time will tell whether he’ll be able to consistently perform at the level we know he’s capable of.

Alfa Romeo: 4/10, Best Race: Mexican Grand Prix, Alfa Romeo found themselves in somewhat of a no-man's land this season, where they showed pace beyond the backmarkers, yet couldn’t seem to establish themselves as a true midfield team. Overall, they showed promise with some events like Zandvoort and Saudi Arabia where the car looked very competitive, however they were unable to capitalise on these opportunities and as such, perhaps didn’t get the results their car deserved. Regardless, an improvement no matter how small is still something to cheer about and Alfa will hope to continue this upward trajectory and put themselves back into the midfield pack next year.

Kimi Raikkonen: 3/10, Best Race: Mexican Grand Prix, after making his debut 20 years prior in 2001, Formula 1 finally said goodbye to the much beloved Kimi Raikkonen, in a farewell tour that he won’t remember too fondly. For much of the season he was a forgotten man, spending his time fighting at the back of the field and quite often finding himself behind his teammate Giovinazzi too. However, at 41 years of age it’s no surprise that his best days are behind him, and with many race wins and a championship to boast, it’s no doubt that he’ll be satisfied to hang up his hat and call it a day.

Antonio Giovinazzi: 5/10, Best Race: Monaco Grand Prix, this season certainly felt like a step up for Antonio as there were many times throughout the year where people began to stand up and take notice of his performances. However, these performances came mostly in qualifying, with the Italian being unable to convert them into any meaningful points for the team, in part due to his own error prone nature. It feels a shame to say goodbye to Antonio at the end of this season, as it feels like we haven’t seen he’s truly capable of. However, after three underwhelming years in Formula 1 Alfa Romeo cannot justify keeping him in a race seat any longer.

Haas: 2/10, Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Haas’ clear intention on focusing resources towards their 2022 car were very much apparent this season, as they consistently rounded up the back two places of the field race after race, with very few exceptions. Whilst this season may have been dreadful for the American team, they will take refuge in the fact that they have made it through the season unscathed and will be able to take advantage of the new cost cap introduced for 2022, to give them a chance of fighting back where they belong in the midfield pack.

Mick Schumacher: 6/10, Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, after a fantastic season in F2 for Mick where he was crowned champion, he made the step up for 2021 to Formula 1. However, based on his car he may have felt he hadn’t made much of a step up at all. His machinery was uncompetitive, but Mick still did the best job he could to push his car to the limits, whilst this did mean he was in the barriers quite frequently, it also meant he could find pace that his Russian counterpart Mazepin was unable to, demonstrated clearly in the teammate battle as Mick dominated Nikita in that regard. Whilst it’s tricky to read into how good Mick truly is, many including myself estimate that he will at the very least be a capable pair of hands in his career to come.

Nikita Mazepin: 1/10, Best Race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Nikita didn’t get off to the best start at Haas with a pre-season controversy hanging over his head for much of the year, turning many fans against him. His performances didn’t do much in the way of helping his public perception, regularly blocking faster cars and generally just being the slowest car on track, often finding himself far off what Mick could do in the same car. The term ‘Pay-Driver’ seems appropriate here, however given the challenging and uncompetitive nature of his car it’s understandable as to why he wasn’t able to perform. Should Haas give him a more capable car next season, he will certainly be under heavy surveillance by fans and pundits to truly gage whether he is just a ‘Pay-Driver’.

Williams: 6/10, Best Race: Belgian Grand Prix, 2021 marked Williams’ first season under the supervision of Dorilton Capital, and with it came an upturn in fortunes for the Grove based team, getting their first points finish since Germany 2019. This season was a turning point for a Williams team which has lacked direction since the new regulations introduced in 2017, as throughout the year the car showed it had the speed to compete with midfield runners. The team worked well on weekends where they had pace, with their drivers being able to make the most of points scoring opportunities when they came around, guiding Williams to a hard-fought 8th in the constructor's championship.

George Russell: 8/10, Best Race: Belgian Grand Prix, at long last George finally managed to break his pointless streak for Williams, a streak which seemed much too long for someone of his immense talent. The car was a small step up from the 2020 machine and George fully took advantage regularly dragging his FW43B to Q3 appearances, far above where it belonged. His immense qualifying talents were on showcase for all to see at the Belgian grand prix this year, where he miraculously nearly took pole position, making the most of the tricky wet conditions. Whilst his performances did slightly dip towards the end of the year, he still did enough to convince Mercedes to take a punt on him for 2022, and when looking across this season it’s easy to understand why.

Nicholas Latifi: 3/10, Best Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, following a less than impressive rookie year for the Canadian, Nicholas failed to make much of step up in terms of performance. At times you’d be forgiven for assuming him and Russell were driving different cars given the gulf in their performances, with George making him look foolish at times. Whilst on the whole his performances were lacklustre, there was a marked improvement for Latifi as the season drew on. Races like Monza and Interlagos come to mind, where for the first time in their tenure together Latifi looked capable of competing with and beating Russell on pure pace. Whilst his financial backing does give Nicholas some security, he will want to prove to his employers at Williams that he can bring more than just sponsorship money.