Category: Autosport

Schumacher and Haas team-mate Nikita Mazepin propped up the timesheets during qualifying for the Bahrain season-opener two weeks ago, finishing 19th and 20th respectively.
Haas opted against significant development for the VF-21 car, treating 2021 as a transition year in order to place focus on the new regulations coming in 2022.
Schumacher finished eight-tenths of a second adrift of a place in Q2 in Bahrain, and was almost four-tenths of a second slower than 18th-placed Sebastian Vettel.

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Although Leclerc and Vettel had some famous clashes on the track, the pair did actually work well together during their two seasons as team-mates at Ferrari.
Reflecting on their partnership and what he would miss about Vettel, Leclerc has said that it was the German’s intelligent approach to the job that stood out for him.
Speaking exclusively to Autosport’s sister site Motorsport.com’s Italian edition, Leclerc was full of praise for Vettel’s attitude.

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After a difficult 2020 campaign where Ferrari finished sixth overall, the team appeared to make some good progress in the season-opening Bahrain GP, with both Sainz and Leclerc finishing in the points.
Leclerc has already made reference to Ferrari shaking off the “strange” atmosphere that dogged it at the start of last year and in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com’s Italian site, has revealed how new arrival Sainz has helped change things too with his determination to make a success of his switch from McLaren.

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Alpine failed to score any points in its first grand prix since the rebrand of Renault’s works operation as it failed to take the fight to its upper-midfield rivals from 2020.
Esteban Ocon spent the majority of the race outside of the points after dropping out in Q1 and was hit by Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages. Team-mate Fernando Alonso qualified ninth, and was on the fringes of the points before a brake issue forced him to retire after 32 laps.

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In its push to create more downforce and reduce the drag on its FW43B car for 2021, Williams opted for an aggressive design approach that causes its performance to dip in windy conditions.
Williams driver Russell struggled with the gusty conditions during both pre-season testing and the opening grand prix of the year in Bahrain, meaning he could only finish the race in 14th place.
Russell felt the result was the “maximum we have expected” given the conditions, which he felt made for a “worst-case scenario” for Williams in Bahrain.

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McLaren finished third in last year’s constructors’ championship and the Woking outfit is tipped to confirm its status as best of the rest behind Red Bull and Mercedes in 2021.
While McLaren drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Norris qualified sixth and seventh respectively in Bahrain, behind a Ferrari and an AlphaTauri, Norris worked his way up to fourth as the highest finisher not driving for one of the two top teams.

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If successful, it would lead to a memorandum of understanding between the city, the Miami Dophins organisation and F1 to hold the race on a purpose-built circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Dolphins NFL team.
Miami Gardens is a city 16 miles north of Miami, and its council will vote next Wednesday on the new resolution, which is being put forward by the Mayor with the backing of real estate billionaire Stephen Ross, who signed a deal in 2019 with F1 to promote the race.

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As part of a push by the FIA to slow cars down for this year, a number of changes were made to the regulations to cut downforce.
A section of floor has been removed ahead of the rear wheels, plus new restrictions have been imposed on brake ducts and diffuser dimensions.
With downforce cut by up to 10 percent, the cars have been slowed – and Leclerc has noticed a change in approach even if the 2021 challengers do not require an all-new style.
“In terms of driving [style] there were no changes, but there is something different,” he said in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.

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Allison, who joined the team at the start of 2017, is to become Mercedes’ chief technical officer from 1 July, and will take charge of longer term strategic planning.
His change of position has opened the door for current technology director Mike Elliott to step up into the technical director role.
Elliott, who has previously worked at Renault and McLaren, originally joined Mercedes in 2012 as head of aerodynamics before moving into his current position in 2017.

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