Grand Prix 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

So its thats time again, the offseason is almost over as this time next week, we will be a few hours from Bahrain qualifying where all the guessing stops & we know the pecking order. although we have had some rescheduling before we had even started because Australia has been moved to the end of the season instead of the start & test got moved 2 weeks later. but i believe this years season opener unlike 2020 will go ahead as scheduled, not have a dramatic press conference 3 hours before FP1 was due to take place & austria will go back to being 9th round not the season opener

but hopefully we have got a great season to look forward to firstly we have the longest F1 season in its history, 23 races which is massive. jackie stewart on winning world championship in 1969 & 1971 were collectively only 22 races. shows how far F1 has expanded. in those 23 race we will be going to imola & portimao getting a 2nd chance after stepping in so well during the pandemic last season. finally get to have our 1st look at zandvoort albeit 16 months later than we thought, but vietnam is the casualty of the pandemic, because that has been binned & weirdly the only evidence of the it will be in F1 2020 video game & go to saudi arabia for the 1st new race not designed by herman tilke since 1995 argentine GP . also after an enforced sabbatical in 2020 we will finally get back to Monaco, Baku, Canada, unfortunately france, Singapore, Japan, USA, Brazil, Mexico & Australia in 2021

maybe just maybe. we could have our 1st interteam title battle since 2012, which is ridiclous to think that F1 has gone 9yrs, you cant imagine hypothetically going into jerez 1997. as the 1st title battle since prost senna 1989. it seems massive gap but that what we have currently have & as great as lewis hamilton as been, just like Schumacher or Vettel domination its not great for the sport as a whole. but maybe we have got season long fight between red bull & mercedes, likely the young pretender v the old expert. that we have been hoping for ever since max won the spanish gp in 2016. (but young pretender might be stretching it as Max would be 6 weeks older than vettel was next sunday, when he won his 1st world title in 2010 & in abu dhabi if he won, would be only 3 weeks younger than alonso in 2005) but besides that we have best teammate to verstappen on paper since riccardio & Bottas who if he could string a season together instead of just individual races could have a chance.

down the rest of the grid it doesnt look like there is much change , mclaren still look the best of the rest, Alpha Tauri could have jumped ahead of ferrari looking very good with great pairing of gasly & tsunoda who is highly rated, Aston Martin mayve dropped abit after struggle in testing. Williams look like they are on the way back & Haas the signs dont look good as they had stop developing the 2021 car before testing. as nice as it is to have a schumacher back on the grid, so could be a hard year for Mick Schumacher but it didnt do George Russell any harm. could help him to make his mistakes & learn out of the limelight. which if he was in the midfield with that surname could do more harm than good

on Bahrain, well we all hope that it wont be as eventful as our last trips to circuit 4 months with grosjean accident then heartbreaking bad luck from russell after stunning debut drive then perez rollercoaster ride from retiring from 3rd on the penultimate lap to 7 days later getting taken out then getting back to the pits coming through the field to win his maiden victory & that all 20 drivers are safe come the end of the race. the trends bode well because 7 of the 9 winners since 2012 have won the world title after winning in Sakhir & also bar 2008 (crash & 13th) & 2010 (4th). world champion has stood on every sakhir podium. but in aload of pre season uncertainity, i guarantee 1 thing 2021 season opener cant be any worse than 2010 the last time Bahrain started the season. it was such a dull affair that there was talk about a mandatory 2 stop to bring some entertainment:sleeping::sleeping:

but welcome to 2021, hope that you enjoy another year of F1 & the last before the biggest overhaul of F1 regulations since 1998
 
we talk about the vettel glory days, but it hard to remember that was nearly 8 years ago

i was trying to look at the drivers of the modernish era 75 onwards. to see how any world champions have done, if theyve still be racing 7 - 10 years after the 1st world title. i struggled to find a bad driver everyone has had success lauda, schumacher, prost, Hamilton all won world titles, Piquet, Kimi, Alonso, Mansell (if 86 is included) winning multiple races & getting podiums. Button was still very completive & near top of his game when he retired after a 17yr career. i think he got it into Q3 in monaco on his final race

the only 1 i can find is Jaques Villenueve, from world champion & fierce rival of micheal schumacher to also ran
 
A lot of it was car related but Graham Hill, Phill Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi and John Surtees all clung on in ever poorer cars and seasons. Emmo did almost nothing between 1976 and 1980 apart from a "still running when others weren't" podium in 1980.

We tend to forget that drivers didn't reach F1 until they were a lot older back in the day which is why Fittipaldi held so many "youngest ever...." Records for about 30 or more years.

Several drivers including Alan Jones, Jody Sheckter, James Hunt and Mario Andretti went from World Champion to back marker within 2 years.
 
Graham Hill had more of an excuse as his degrading was due to his near fatal accident, and serious damage to his legs, also starting his own team with a Shadow and then his own car. I emember him saying that when he could get a driver that was faster than him in the car he would retire, when he did it all went wrong and most of the team died.
 
we talk about the vettel glory days, but it hard to remember that was nearly 8 years ago

i was trying to look at the drivers of the modernish era 75 onwards. to see how any world champions have done, if theyve still be racing 7 - 10 years after the 1st world title. i struggled to find a bad driver everyone has had success lauda, schumacher, prost, Hamilton all won world titles, Piquet, Kimi, Alonso, Mansell (if 86 is included) winning multiple races & getting podiums. Button was still very completive & near top of his game when he retired after a 17yr career. i think he got it into Q3 in monaco on his final race

the only 1 i can find is Jaques Villenueve, from world champion & fierce rival of micheal schumacher to also ran
Rosberg had none after his first title
Kimi only won 4 more races in 15 years!
 
Rosberg had none after his first title
Kimi only won 4 more races in 15 years!
nico Rosberg retired, dont know at moment much about keke, but from classic races he seemed to always be competive

but kimi when you look at the stats. had or still has a very impressive 2nd career in F1. might only won 4 but 40 podiums (15th 4th places) finished 3rd in 2012, 4th in 2015, 4th in 2017 & 3rd in 2018 beating Cerstappen & Bottas driving world championship winning car
 
dont know at moment much about keke, but from classic races he seemed to always be competive
He finished 6th for McLaren in 1986 when his teammate won the title. He was even beaten by Steffen Johansen that year in Ferrari that never finished higher than 2nd. He promptly retired.
 
nico Rosberg retired, dont know at moment much about keke, but from classic races he seemed to always be competive

but kimi when you look at the stats. had or still has a very impressive 2nd career in F1. might only won 4 but 40 podiums (15th 4th places) finished 3rd in 2012, 4th in 2015, 4th in 2017 & 3rd in 2018 beating Cerstappen & Bottas driving world championship winning car
The comment about Rosberg was suppose to be tongue in cheek about drivers winning the title and maintain success or a high level of performance

Kimi was good in 2012 -2013 up until he realised he was not going to get paid.. you have to say despite having the Ferrari for 5 years - he was not delivering at the same level he could and should be
 
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