ADVERTISEMENT
  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
Straight to the grid
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Red Bull

    Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

    Perez

    Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

    Perez

    Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

    Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

    FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    Toto Wolff, Bahrain

    Big changes confirmed at Mercedes after “one of the worst days in racing”

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen, FP2, Saudi

    FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

    Verstappen

    FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

    saudi arabia

    Everything you need to know ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    verstappen

    2022 Saudi Arabian GP: Throwback to Max Verstappen securing the win after epic battle with Leclerc

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
Straight to the grid
No Result
View All Result

4 early signs that show the 2021 Championship will be closer than ever

2023

The 2021 season got off to a flying start in Bahrain, with a gripping battle between Mercedes and Red Bull from lights out to chequered flag – giving fans a taste of the fierce competition ahead.

There were a number of things to take away from the Bahrain GP weekend, showing how close this season could truly be.

Let’s take a look at a few:

1. Red Bull and Mercedes are closer than ever

Mercedes’ Toto Wolff admitted earlier in the week that the four-tenths between the world champions and Red Bull Racing during Qualifying will be hard to recover, after a miracle win for Hamilton at the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 28.

Speaking after the first race of the season, Wolff admitted that Mercedes “was four-tenths off in qualifying and that’s quite a gap and very difficult to recover.

“We knew that they have a good race car, whether it is enough to reduce that gap wasn’t very clear.

sky

“And we need to understand why – why our car was in a happy place today set-up wise, tyre wise and not in the previous days.”

“Bahrain was always not the strongest race for Red Bull, and also they haven’t been particularly good out of the blocks, and this weekend shows that all that is not the case anymore in 2021.”

2. Sergio Perez is set to give Max Verstappen a run for his money

Over the last few years, Max Verstappen has excelled well ahead of his teammates weekend after weekend.

However, with the arrival of an experienced teammate in Sergio Perez, spectators are intrigued to see the Mexican make Verstappen work a little harder to retain his #1 status within the team.

Although finishing in P5 in Bahrain, three places behind his 23-year-old teammate, Helmut Marko has said the team is impressed with Perez so far, and that they are “convinced that he will be very close to Max” as the season goes on.

3. The gap between midfield teams and front-runners is tightening up

The 2021 season is already showing signs of yet another packed midfield fight.

With Red Bull, and Mercedes proving the fastest of the pack so far, it seems as though a lot of the action will remain outside of the podium places this season.

However, in saying that, the gap between our 2021 front-runners and the midfield contenders is closing up, with improvements seen on a large scale across a number of teams.

Speaking about these improvements recently, Lando Norris said; “We’re hoping to be that little bit closer.

“But I don’t think it’s a front field and a midfield anymore, it’s just two teams that are very quick, we’re chasing, trying to catch up, and then it’s basically everyone else.

“We’ll see on Sunday what the result is.”

4. Ferrari are back fighting fit

After a painful 2020 season, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto has expressed his relief at the team’s progress – thanks to a new power unit this season.

Last year marked the historic F1 team’s worst result for 40 years, but it seems as though the SF21 has put a spring back in Binotto’s step.

“The car behaved as expected,” he said.

“From winter testing, we knew we had a better car than last year, no doubt, relative to the competitors.

“The aero is certainly better in terms of behaviour and correlations. But the power unit, the car overall, where it was possible to make improvements we tried to do them.

“And I think it’s an entire package. So I will not really speak in areas, it’s the entire package which now is better, and that’s enough.”

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Tags: 2021 seasonAlphaTauriFeatureFerrariMercedesRed Bull
Previous Post

Lando Norris admits MCL35M more suited to Aussie teammate Daniel Ricciardo

Next Post

Filming for season 4 of ‘Drive to Survive’ has begun

Related Posts

Red Bull
Latest

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez
Latest

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez
Latest

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
Latest

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Verstappen, FP2, Saudi
Catch up

FP2 Saudi Arabia: Verstappen remains out front while Hamilton’s struggles magnified

Verstappen
Catch up

FP1 Saudi Arabia: Max Verstappen fastest but Aston Martin showing pace at Jeddah

Next Post
Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Jordan

INTERVIEW: Eddie Jordan is an ‘irrepressible character’ who ‘ducked and dived’ to make it in F1

standings

Championship Standings: Max Verstappen leads as we head to Texas

Red Bull, Max Verstappen in Bahrain

Verstappen gives major RB19 update in Bahrain which may raise concern among other teams in the paddock

Aston Martin, FP2, Bahrain

Fernando Alonso shocks spectators as he places his Aston Martin at the top of the FP2 timesheet in Bahrain

Mercedes, George Russell, Bahrain

Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

Aston Martin, FP2

Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Recent News

Red Bull

Championship Standings: Red Bull running away with early points as Formula 1 heads to Australia for Round Three

Perez

Sergio Perez wins Saudi Arabian GP to lead second Red Bull one-two of the season making team history

Perez

Qualifying: Perez in pole position after Verstappen’s shock departure

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez

FP3 Saudi Arabia: Red Bull domination continues with one-two to finish practice

Popular Stories

  • Aston Martin, FP2

    Friday, Bahrain: Here are the full results from FP1 and FP2 as Aston Martin impress

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Fernando Alonso hints at when he plans to leave Formula 1

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Issues persist for Mercedes as George Russell complains about floor and a ‘disturbance aerodynamically’

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid is Ireland's first exclusive Formula One news source, bringing fans all of the latest
news, results, interviews, features and much more!

Navigation

  • Catch up
  • Competitions
  • Driver News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Irish F1
  • Latest
  • News
  • Quiz
  • Race Reports 2020
  • Race Reports 2021
  • Race Reports 2022
  • Team News
  • Uncategorized

Instagram

  • Who are you backing this weekend? #saudiarabia #formula1 #straighttothegrid
  • Highlights from the opening race of the season 🥳 #bahrain #2023 

📸: F1 live feed
  • Just hours away from the first race of the season!! #bahraingp #straighttothegrid #formula1
  • Follow us on TikTok ahead of the 2023 season #straighttothegrid #linkinbio
  • Verstappen has won the final race of 2022 - marking his 15th win of the season #abudhabi
  • George Russell wins the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo 🏆
  • Max Verstappen has been crowned 2022 world champion after winning the Japanese GP 🏆🏁
  • 🏁 Highlights from Monza 🏁
  • Max Verstappen has won the Dutch GP 🏁
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    • Race Reports 2022
  • Races
    • Championship standings
    • Race Calendar
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.