Lack of practice led to “slow adaptation” for Perez
Sergio Perez believes that the reduction in practice and testing last season contributed to his “slow adaptation” to Red Bull’s car, which was a “very different philosophy” to what he previously drove. The Mexican joined Red Bull to partner Max Verstappen from what is now called Aston Martin.
However, he initially struggled to get to grips with the car, with Adrian Newey is known for designing cars that require a very aggressive driving style, but he scored his second F1 win in Azerbaijan.
Perez finished the season strongly with podiums in Turkey, the United States and Mexico, and played a critical role in holding up Verstappen’s title rival, Lewis Hamilton, in the Abu Dhabi championship decider. Reflecting on his season with Motorsport.com, Perez explained how the vastly different car philosophy and lack of pre-season test running – cut to just three days in total for all teams last year – made it hard to adjust quickly.
He said, “We have to take it into account, the fact I came to a very different philosophy of car that I’ve been driving all my career. So I think in that aspect, it has been a slow adaptation. But yeah, just a very different car, very different engine, so a lot of things to learn with a new team and no testing basically.”
“Before the first race, I did a day-and-a-half. But the full day was just to do aero stuff. So I’d done nothing before the first race. So [there are] many aspects that have to be considered, but all in all, I think it’s been a promising season. Obviously, I would have hoped for more, but yeah, it is what it is.”
Perez says he has to keep pushing, saying they will only get stronger. His performances for Red Bull last year earned him a new contract for 2022, giving the team continuity going into the regulation change.
last year compared to previous seasons due to the reduction of Friday sessions from 90 to 60 minutes. Adding, “It will sound weird, but I lack time. I think the limited amount of testing, the limited amount of practice in the car [had an impact] because every circuit is different.”
Russell expecting “the most intense year” of his life
George Russell says he is expecting 2022 to be “the most intense year of my life” as he gets the opportunity to join Mercedes. The Englishman who made his debut for the team in December 2020, will join the team on a long term deal alongside Sir Lewis Hamilton this year.
His promotion for Russell comes after five years with Mercedes’ young driver programme that saw him win titles in GP3 and F2 before graduating to F1. Speaking in his end of season interview to Motorsport.com, published on Friday, Russell said, “I believe that is important, because I think next year will be the most intense year of my life in terms of the racing schedule, but also from an off-track and marketing side of things.
“Going from Williams, where I have been pretty fortunate in a way, not having to do so many marketing activities just because of the nature of the position we’ve been in, to Mercedes, where we’ve got tons of sponsors and lots of commitments that drivers need to tend to.”
Russell says that he is expecting that both on and off-track the season to be intense, as the world starts to return to a normal as we start to live with coronavirus. The Englishman joins Mercedes as they seek to regain the driver’s championship and an ninth consecutive constructors, despite the new technical regulations.
The move also marks Russell’s first real opportunity to compete towards the front of the grid in F1, having spent much of his three-year stint at Williams battling lower down the order.
Russell has proved himself, when he made his debut for Mercedes after his new teammate tested positive for Covid in December 2020 in Bahrain, he qualified second and led most of the race before a late tyre mix-up and puncture denied him a likely victory.
Russell was relishing the opportunity to play a role in the development of the new car, as well as to work alongside Hamilton, a driver he has long looked up to. The GPDA director says that he believes that it won’t necessarily be who is quickest at race one will win.
Adding “It is whoever develops the fastest, whoever develops the best and to build those foundations for the coming years. That is a side I am really excited for from an engineering perspective.”
People realising what Sainz is capable of – Norris
Lando Norris believes more people are realising what former McLaren teammate Carlos Sainz Jr is capable of since his move to Ferrari. The Englishman and Sainz spent two years as teammates before the Spaniard left to join Ferrari at the end of 2020.
Last year, both Sainz and Norris had their most successful seasons in the sport. Sainz scored four podiums allowing him to finish fifth in the drivers’ championship ahead of Norris and Leclerc in sixth and seventh respectively. Sainz’s performances have prompted Ferrari to already seek talks to extend his contract beyond its current period at the end of 2022.
Norris had what you could describe as a breakthrough season last year, almost winning in Sochi before a late rain shower throw the race open and finished second behind teammate as well as three other podiums. While talking about his own progression through his third F1 season in 2021, McLaren driver Norris said that the step he made in his second year in 2020 was perhaps less obvious because of how well Sainz was performing.
Norris told Autosport, “Carlos, I believe, is one of the best drivers in Formula 1. It also didn’t make me look as good, because he’s an extremely good driver, and he did a very good job – like, fair play to him.”
“I think I got shadowed a bit by him, because he was doing an exceptional job. I think this year I’ve taken that next step which would have been the same or maybe a bit better than him.”
Speaking about his own progression, he says it was a combination of understanding everything from the last few years, as well as the motivation from Ricciardo joining the team. He also thought that Sainz was enjoying a similar motivation to beat Leclerc.
He added, “with Daniel, I didn’t feel nervous in any way when he came. A lot of people thought maybe I did, or asked the question, because he’s a multiple race winner he’s got podiums.”
Brown hopes of a “three or four” team title fight
McLaren CEO Zak Brown is hoping that “three or four” teams can compete until the final race. 2021 saw the most intense season with the first inter-team battle at the final race as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went into Abu Dhabi tied on points, with the Dutchman in dramatic and controversially claiming the title.
The season-long battle between Verstappen-Hamilton duel reinvigorated the series after years of Mercedes dominance. However, the big unknown is whether the top two teams can stay in front, whether another team could join them or even a new team leading.
The last two major regulation changes in 2009 and 2014 saw Mercedes, previously Brawn GP, leap ahead and dominate the season. However Brown says he would be “very surprised” if 2022 was a season dominated by one team. He told Motorsport.com “I’d be very surprised if next year was a boring campaign with the new cars.”
“I think you’ll get some winners and losers and some surprises. I’d be surprised if there was dominance. You could get a team who is maybe dominant for a small period like Brawn was when they figured out something in 2009.”
“But I think with the cost cap now in place, you can feel the tension that is put on the teams who stopped developing this car inexpensive of next year, etc. I’d be surprised if the field didn’t continue to get closer.”
While Red Bull and Mercedes fought hard on and off-track for the championship, McLaren’s victory over Ferrari for third was more enjoyable and less bitter although their historically close rivals took third by forty-eight points. McLaren also took its first win in nine years with Daniel Ricciardo’s win at Monza.
2021 saw four different teams take wins for the first time since 2013, thanks to Alpine taking the first win for the Enstone team since Melbourne 2013 When Esteban Ocon took his first win in Budapest.
Looking to 2022, Brown is hoping this year’s championship will be between “three or four cars” who can compete for the world title until the end of the season. He thinks that the regulations which are designed to create closer racing, will have a positive effect on the sport.
Steiner found Haas closing gap in final races “very odd”
Haas team principal Gunther Steiner says he found it “very odd” that the team was able to close the gap to the midfield at the end of last season. The American owned team opted not to develop its car last season so it could use this year’s technical regulations to make a step forward and gain performance.
2021 was seen as a transitional year, with it failing to score points and opted to go with two rookies Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. However, in Doha and Abu Dhabi, Schumacher managed to out-qualify Alfa Romeo and in Jeddah was less than a tenth off Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in qualifying
Steiner stressed the importance of keeping the team motivated despite its competitive position but admitted he was surprised by the late-season gains on the rest of the midfield.
Steiner told Motorsport.com, “What you have to watch is that people don’t get complacent, get used to it and don’t do their best anymore. [You have to] tell them that ‘you guys have not gone stupid or bad, it will get better, it’s just our car is not developed’.”
“It’s too simple the answer: if there is one year you don’t do anything, this is where you end up. Then again, in the last two races, I could not believe we were only a tenth or two away from the end of the midfield. I don’t get it with a car that’s almost two years old.”
Asked if the gains were down to the team’s drivers growing experience, he still believes that the other teams should have created a bigger gap because the team weren’t developing. Saying that it was surprising in Jeddah given the long lap that Haas were only one and a half tenths behind.
Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi Schumacher was able to fight with Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, keeping him behind for twenty-two laps before Latifi crashed and sparked a late safety car. The crash indirectly caused controversy as it decided the title.
Schumacher believed his late-season progress “possibly” a result of his growing experience, but also thought the team had found new ways to set up the VF-21 car.
Adding, “I think we’ve really just found what we want from the car. Is it entry stability, is it oversteer, that was just something that showed over the last few weeks. I think we perfected that a bit.”
