#F1Newsbites – January 2021 Edition featuring @AlpineF1Team and more. #F1
Alpine F1 Team's "winter livery" scheme revealed. Image credit to Renault Sport. F1 Newsbites. Alpine F1 Team.
We’re back from our holiday break with F1 Newsbites – January 2021 Edition! We look at the interim Alpine F1 Team livery and more. Let’s dive into the latest news.
F1 Newsbites – Alpine F1 Team reveal “winter livery”
We start off F1 Newsbites with Renault’s rebranding as Alpine F1 Team becoming more clearer as last Thursday they unveiled an interim black livery on their R.S.20 racer.
The Renault Group, which announced on Monday January 11 that it parted ways with F1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul, decided last year to drop the Renault marque from their F1 operation, and opted for promoting their sportscar brand Alpine from 2021 onwards.
They hinted a change of livery to red, white and blue, the colours of the French flag and posted a teaser ahead of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship season by releasing an image of a temporary livery to express it’s new identity.
This livery will not be racing on track this season but is a hint of what we could be seeing at their pre-season launch, with a date to be confirmed.
“The livery presented today is the first evocation of the Alpine F1 team’s new identity,” explained Alpine Design Director Antony Villain. “Some of the structural graphic elements will remain on the racing livery while others will change.”
“The ‘oversized’ Alpine emblem in a tricolour graphics system is the first clear-cut symbol of the brand’s identity in motorsport.”
“The blue, white and red refer to the colours of the French and British flags, which is very important to us. Numerous variations on all the motorsport assets are still to come.” Villain concluded.
Alpine’s first new contender will be named the A5211. The A500 element refers to it’s F1 project (in-line with Alpine’s previous cars the A110 and A310 etc.) with the number 21 referring to the year it will compete in the sport.
Esteban Ocon will continue the Anglo-French out-fit, and team with returning two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso.
F1 Newsbites – Leclerc tests positive for COVID-19, self-isolating in Monaco
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is self-isolating in his home of Monaco after testing positive for coronavirus, with the Monegasque youngster confirming he’s ok and experiencing only mild symptoms.
Leclerc posted on Twitter:
— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) January 14, 2021
Leclerc will be partnering new team-mate Carlos Sainz this coming season, in what will be his third season with the Scuderia.
He becomes the fifth driver in Formula 1 to contract COVID-19. Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll, Lewis Hamilton all missed races in the 2020 campaign after receiving a positive test, meanwhile McLaren’s Lando Norris is currently self-isolating in Dubai after his positive test.
Renault announce Abiteboul leaving the company
Renault announced on Monday that Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul is leaving the company ahead of it’s re-branding as Alpine F1 Team.
Abiteboul was in charge of the F1 team since 2017, but is now leaving the marque altogether, following a shuffle-up from CEO Luca De Meo, who came in from SEAT last year.
Groupe Renault’s Director of Strategy and Business Development Laurent Rossi, is taking over as CEO of Alpine, which will also see him take control of the F1 operation, and report to De Meo.
“I would like to thank the Groupe Renault for having trusted me for many years, particularly with the relaunch and reconstruction of the team since 2016,” explained Abiteboul. “The solid foundations of the racing team and the entities in France and England built over these years, the strategic evolution of the sport towards a more economically sustainable model, and more recently the Alpine project which provides a renewed sense of meaning and dynamism, all point to a very fine trajectory.”
“I would like to thank Luca de Meo for involving me in the construction of the Alpine Business Unit and I wish the new structure every success.” Abiteboul concluded.
Renault have not been able to replicate it’s title-winning success they achieved in 2005 and 06 since re-joining the sport in 2016 as a full-fledged constructor, though they did make a return to the podium last season with top-three finishes between Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon.
Double World Champion Fernando Alonso returns to the Anglo-French alliance, replacing Ricciardo (off to McLaren), as Renault switches from yellow to Alpine’s blue, red and white colours of the French flag.
F1 2021 Calendar: Bahrain to host season-opener
Formula 1 revealed it’s revised schedule for the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship season, but the campaign will start a week later with the Bahrain Grand Prix from March 26-28, with the Australian Grand Prix moving to later in the year.
Due to ongoing travel restrictions the Chinese Grand Prix will not go ahead on it’s planned date, with Imola taking it’s place in that spot.
Talks are ongoing between the promoters and authorities in China, with the potential to reschedule the race later in the season if possible.
The TBC round in the calendar will be announced in due course and will take place on May 2 with the event most likely to be a return to the Autodromo Do Algarve in Portimao for the Portuguese Grand Prix.
You can see the race calendar here at the link: Formula 1 2021 Championship Calendar.
Last year, Formula 1 became the first international sport to restart it’s season following the coronavirus pandemic outbreak. Although F1 had to take strict safety measures to keep it in a good place for 2021, the ongoing situation of COVID-19 meant it’s not doable to begin the campaign in Melbourne.
However, the good news is, the Australian Grand Prix will now be held from November 18-21 following an agreement between Formula 1 and Australian authorities that shows the importance of the Grand Prix in Australia to the sport and their partners in Melbourne.
As Formula 1 have stated previously, they expect the fans to return to the grandstands and the exclusive Paddock Club for the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
CEO of Formula 1, Stefano Domenicali said:
“It has been a busy start to the year at Formula 1 and we are pleased to confirm that the number of races planned for the season remains unchanged. The global pandemic has not yet allowed life to return to normal, but we showed in 2020 that we can race safely as the first international sport to return and we have the experience and plans in place to deliver on our season. It is great news that we have already been able to agree a rescheduled date for the Australian Grand Prix in November and are continuing to work with our Chinese colleagues to find a solution to race there in 2021 if something changes. We are very excited to announce that Imola will return for the 2021 season and know our fans will be looking forward to the return of Formula 1 after the winter break and our revised season opener in Bahrain. Obviously, the virus situation remains fluid, but we have the experience from last season with all our partners and promoters to adapt accordingly and safely in 2021.”
Seidl: “We’re on target”
An iconic alliance will be re-established in 2021, when McLaren returns to Mercedes power for the first time since the 2014 season when the 1.6L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid power-trains were introduced, and McLaren Racing Team Principal Andreas Seidl said he was already impressed by the level of cooperation between the two powerhouses.
Between 1995 and 2014, the famous partnership scored 78 victories, one constructors championship and three driver’s title crowns – with McLaren confirming halfway through the 2019 campaign that it would be returning to Mercedes engines in 2021 through to 2024.
With the season just a few months away, Seidl said the two outfits were working well together.
“It’s obviously a big task switching to the Mercedes power unit for next year,” explained Seidl. “But I have to say I’m very happy with the progress we’re seeing there. I would say the car build is going along very well. The relationship, together with the guys from Brixworth, from Mercedes, has started also on a very good basis. There’s a very good dialogue and technical exchange, so I’m very happy with that.”
McLaren’s original plan was to enter Formula 1’s new set of rules and regulations for 2021 with Mercedes power, before the coronavirus plague forced those rules to be delayed – meaning all ten teams will be running the 2021 season with updated specs of their 2020 chassis with cost-cutting measures.
As this makes the Woking-based squad’s life more difficult, forcing them to use it’s development tokens to make changes to accommodate the Mercedes power-train, Seidl said McLaren’s experience of swapping engine suppliers in recent years – from Mercedes to Honda in 2015, and then Honda for Renault in 2018 – had helped the team when it came to working on it’s 2021 challenger, the MCL35M.
“[The power unit switch] is obviously happening in parallel with aero development we have to do next year with the changes we have to do, especially to the rear of the car, to help Pirelli,” Seidl continued. “I would say we’re on target, no red lights there at the moment but thanks to a lot of power unit changes also recently at McLaren, we have quite some experience also within the team to do that. How good we manage to do that, we will only see next year once we go testing.” Seidl concluded.
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