Who Are The New F1 Drivers For 2020

The pandemic required changes to the format of a race weekend, which included abandoning the drivers' parade and pre-race assembly for the host venue's national anthem. The FIA introduced limits to the number of team personnel who could be on the starting grid to prepare cars and changed the cut-off times for cars to leave pit lane to minimise the amount of time team personnel spent on the grid. Tyre supplier Pirelli was also required to provide an identical allocation of tyre compounds to all teams and drivers. Where Pirelli were previously required to announce compounds for a race several weeks in advance, this window was reduced to two weeks, allowing them to respond to anticipated changes to the calendar.

The dominant team in Formula One since 2014, Mercedes have extended their record to seven straight drivers' and constructors' championships. Despite mechanical trouble during testing, Hamilton will start as favourite to deliver a record-setting world title success. The Briton, who signed a new one-year contract extension in February, shows no signs of taking his foot off the gas after surpassing Michael Schumacher's number of victories – with a century of wins now very much on the horizon. Last year's runner-up Valtteri Bottas will again be Hamilton's team-mate for a fifth straight campaign.

The Briton, who signed a new one-year contract extension in February, shows no signs of taking his foot off the gas after surpassing Michael Schumacher's number of victories - with a century of wins now very much on the horizon. Racing Point, which used to be Force India, which used to be Spyker, which used to be Midland, which used to be Jordan, becomes an Aston Martin works team in 2021, marking the company's return to F1 for the first time in 60 years. Naturally both shall be retained to drive the Mercedes-clone RP20 for a second season?

Stroll – a talented driver no doubt but also the son of the team's owner and Aston Martin shareholder Lawrence – will remain, but Perez finds himself out of a drive just a week after finally taking his first F1 win. On the face of it making a step forward , Vettel arrives as a refugee from a relationship that went sour and will be looking to reclaim some of his former lustre – the 53-time race winner only stood on the podium once in 2020. Pre-season testing, which starts in Barcelona on Wednesday, will be the first time the 20 race drivers have the chance to build some real mileage in these cars.

While they have all completed plenty of laps in the digital realm using driver-in-loop simulators, this is using models of cars created without real-world data. This is why checking the correlation, not just with the driver-in-loop simulator but also other simulation tools such as the windtunnel, CFD and dynamic rigs, is a priority for testing. We won't go into recent event surrounding one of Haas's new signings for 2020 for many reasons, but it's safe to say that all eyes will be on the only American team in F1 in 2021. Long-standing drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean both depart the team – Magnussen to IMSA and Grosjean to an uncertain future.

It will be an interesting transition for the team, as Grosjean had been a Haas F1 driver for its entire history, leaving a slightly insecure Renault seat to join in 2016. Jumping into their shoes are new F2 champion Mick Schumacher (son of a certain seven-time champion whose name isn't Hamilton) and Russian Nikita Mazepin. Again we won't go into Mazepin's recent actions off the track, but if he does race for Haas he will be on his best behaviour. It will be interesting to see how he copes in F1, and the atmosphere at Haas has hardly seemed like the calmest to step into over the last few years. This promoted Verstappen to second, McLaren driver Lando Norris to third, and Alexander Albon to fourth.

In an eventful race, featuring three safety car periods and the retirements of nine drivers, Bottas won, ahead of the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and Norris. Ricciardo also points out the value of pre-season testing being extended from three to six days this year, which he describes as a "night and day difference". Although some teams lobbied for more running given these are all-new cars, it's at least enough mileage for the drivers to rack up some serious seat time. The new AlphaTauri car ran with no problems; the team completing the most laps over the three days of testing.

Tsunoda impressed, setting the second-fastest time on the final day – albeit on a qualifying simulation run. Save for a spin on Day 3, Tsunoda looked unphased by the step up to F1 machinery, perhaps helped by extensive running in older-spec cars over the winter. All eyes will be on the return of two-time world champion Alonso, who will link-up with the former Renault team. After his two-season hiatus from the sport, the 39-year-old – who underwent corrective surgery on his jaw during February following a collision with a car while on a bike ride – brings the experience of victory at Le Mans and the Indy 500. Much is also expected of French talent Ocon, who claimed a first podium when finishing second in the Sakhir Grand Prix.

After his two-season hiatus from the sport, the 39-year-old - who underwent corrective surgery on his jaw during February following a collision with a car while on a bike ride - brings the experience of victory at Le Mans and the Indy 500. With few Formula 1 driver salaries publicly available, Forbes relied on financial documents, legal filings and press leaks as well as conversations with industry insiders and consultants to compile this list. Drivers typically receive a base salary plus bonuses for points scored or for race or championship wins, with the amount depending on the size of the team and the experience of the driver. The inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix, Ferrari's 1000th Grand Prix start, resulted in Hamilton's sixth race win of the season, and Mercedes's third 1–2 finish. Bottas overtook Hamilton into turn one before a major collision at turn two caused the retirement of both Verstappen and Gasly. This brought out the safety car for 8 laps to allow for the debris to be cleared.

At the end of the safety car period, a major misunderstanding in the upper midfield led to a large collision down the pit straight, causing the retirement of Nicholas Latifi, Kevin Magnussen, Giovinazzi and Sainz Jr., and a red flag period. At the first restart, Hamilton overtook Bottas and led the race from there onwards. On lap 42, Ricciardo looked poised for his first podium since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix when Stroll's Racing Point spun off the track due to a puncture, causing the second red flag of the race. This was the first time since the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix that there were two red flag periods in one race.

Red Bull's Alexander Albon overtook Ricciardo in the closing laps, earning his first ever podium and the first podium for a Thai driver in Formula One. The Belgian Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton, who led every lap and won by 8 seconds over teammate Valtteri Bottas who finished second ahead of Max Verstappen. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, setting the fastest lap on the last lap. On lap 11, Antonio Giovinazzi crashed at Campus corner; one of the wheels of his car came loose and hit the front right suspension of George Russell's car, causing both drivers to retire from the race. Renault achieved a finish of P4 and P5, equalling their best result since their return to the sport in 2016.

Charles Leclerc is undoubtedly one of the most talented drivers in the field, as he re-proved with pole laps in Monaco and Azerbaijan this season. He's on a long-term contract that takes him through to the end of 2024 and is a key piece to Ferrari's ambitions of returning to a championship contender. Hamilton has had an immensely successful 2020 campaign and duly impressed en route to a seventh championship. Despite missing the Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for Covid-19, Hamilton led the most number of laps last year. On 613 laps, he has been at the front of the grid three times more than his Mercedes-AMG team mate, Bottas; who 'only' managed 188 laps.

Not taking anything away from the Finnish driver, but he should have been far closer to Hamilton's number than a measly 188. Throughout the season, the 17 races raced counted for a total of 1037 laps. That's a decent amount, but it could have been far more had the season not been affected by Covid-19.

Leading the pack is Mercedes superstar Lewis Hamilton, who is on pace to earn $62 million on the track in 2021. That figure includes a $55 million base salary—more than double what his closest competitor is guaranteed—as well as a projected $7 million in bonuses for race wins. Hamilton was ruled out of the Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for the coronavirus and was replaced by Williams' George Russell.

Russell impressed by taking the lead from new teammate and pole-sitter Bottas and led for 59 laps, before being taken out of contention by first a tyre mix-up by Mercedes and then a late-race puncture, eventually finishing 9th. Despite being dropped to last position through a lap 1 collision with Leclerc and Verstappen, Pérez took his first race victory, followed by Esteban Ocon taking his first podium finish in 2nd and Stroll finishing 3rd. With his win, Pérez took the record for the most race starts before a first victory, with 190 race starts, beating Mark Webber's record of 130 starts before his win at the 2009 German Grand Prix.

At the inaugural Eifel Grand Prix, five cars retired in the forms of Russell, Esteban Ocon, Albon, Lando Norris and Bottas, who had started from pole. Hamilton took first place after Bottas locked up into turn 1 on lap 13. Ricciardo claimed his first podium for Renault, finishing the race in third. The season-opening Australian Grand Prix was expected to go ahead and all teams and drivers arrived at the venue as planned. Three days before the race was due to take place, McLaren announced their withdrawal from the event after a team member tested positive for the virus.

This led to the Grand Prix being cancelled altogether the following morning. Later that day, it was announced that the Bahrain Grand Prix would be postponed rather than closed to spectators, as would the inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix. What separates those rare all-time greats from the very good and the also-rans is how consistently they produce such speed and across how wide a range of conditions. Think of the true legends not just of grand prix racing, but motorsport as a whole, and a facet they all share is adaptability. This characteristic will come to the fore in the coming months as the drivers dial themselves into a new generation of F1 cars.

A long-awaited podium in Turkey was nice to see but only finishing in the top six twice when his team-mate has done it seven times says it all. It would have been a humbling season for anyone, let alone a four-time world champion with 57 race wins. Former world champion Vettel had a last season to forget at Ferrari as he finished down in 13th place, making the podium just once when third in Turkey. Fronting up at the rebranded former Racing Point team will be a fresh start for the German as he aims to roll back the clock – with Aston Martin on the grid for the first time since 1960. Canadian Stroll – son of the team's part owner Lawrence Stroll – is in his fifth F1 campaign and will look to build on a year in which he claimed his first pole position and finished on the podium twice.

Who Are The F1 Drivers For 2020 Fronting up at the rebranded former Racing Point team will be a fresh start for the German as he aims to roll back the clock - with Aston Martin on the grid for the first time since 1960. Canadian Stroll - son of the team's part owner Lawrence Stroll - is in his fifth F1 campaign and will look to build on a year in which he claimed his first pole position and finished on the podium twice. Sebastian Vettel won four straight championships with Red Bull from 2010 to 2013 before jumping to Ferrari, a stint that ended with a disappointing 2020 for both the driver and the team.

After two years away from the F1 track, Fernando Alonso is back with Alpine. The 39-year-old, once at the center of the series' Spygate and Crashgate scandals, has rebuilt himself into a tremendously popular driver, in part by broadening his auto-racing horizons. In recent years, he has competed in the ​​Indianapolis 500, entered the Dakar Rally and won the endurance races 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona.

The Spaniard won the drivers' championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault—an earlier incarnation of his current team. "Looking ahead to next season, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't absolutely buzzing. But I'm under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge; it's going to be a steep learning curve.

Valtteri has set a high bar, consistently delivering week in and week out, scoring wins, pole positions and helping win multiple championship titles." Pre-season testing is expected to take place at two venues, with the first three days being run at the Barcelona circuit from the February, with Bahrain hosting the second block of running from the March ahead of the grand prix. This will be the first opportunity to see the 2022 cars in action, although teams will naturally keep their cards close to their chest. With Verstappen only off the podium six times in 2020 and Albon only on it twice Red Bull took the decision to pounce on Perez, who had an extraordinary second half of the 2020 season. While Lando Norris will be sad to see his good friend Carlos Sainz Jr. depart, he will be delighted to see a man who has seemed like his big brother at times join.

When not on track Daniel Ricciardo and Norris have gained reputations as light-hearted kids looking to have some fun. Ricciardo famously caused Norris to cry laughing in a press conference last year, so it seems hopeful that the good atmosphere that McLaren boss Andreas Siedl (mastermind of Porsche's mighty 919 programme) has fostered will remain. Whether McLaren can build on two seasons of progress will be seen, but in signing Ricciardo they have a race-winner in the team with a proven track record at pushing teams up the grid. Ricciardo's switch to Renault may not have yielded the returns he hoped, but he has no doubt managed to push the team forward up the grid.

Frenchman Pierre Gasly is confirmed for the Italian/Austrian team for 2021, after clinching the former Minardi outfit's second ever win at Monza after issues for Lewis Hamilton and a brilliant drive from Gasly. Current driver, Russian Daniil Kvyatt, looks unlikely to retain his place in F1 after six years, despite a decent season, highlighted by a fourth-place finish at Imola. Instead it would seem that Honda youngster, and one of the rookie stars of F2 in 2020, Yuki Tsunoda will step up into F1. Tsunoda finished third in Formula 2 in 2020 after an impressive first season which saw him clinch three victories. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton returned for the last race of the season after testing negative for the coronavirus. Verstappen took the pole position and his 10th win in Formula One ahead of Bottas and Hamilton, who finished second and third, respectively.

This race was the last for Vettel at Ferrari, after six years, and Pérez at Racing Point, after two years at Racing Point and five at their indirect predecessor, Force India. It was also the last race at Haas for Kevin Magnussen after seven years in Formula One. Ferrari finished sixth in the World Constructors' Championship, their worst championship result since 1980 when they finished tenth. Italian-based teams Ferrari and AlphaTauri expressed concern about the spread of the disease and its effect on the championship.

As Italy suffered one of the worst outbreaks of the virus, both teams were concerned about the ability of their staff to leave the quarantine zone established in northern Italy and to enter host nations. Pre-season testing in Barcelona proceeded as planned, with all teams and drivers completing the six days of testing. Twenty-two Grands Prix were originally scheduled for the 2020 World Championship. However, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in numerous race cancellations and postponements. A rescheduled calendar consisted of seventeen Grands Prix, nine from the original 2020 calendar and eight other Grands Prix, while the other thirteen original 2020 races were cancelled.

This also meant that the season started with two races in Austria, and later on in the season there were also two races at Silverstone Circuit along with two races at Bahrain International Circuit. Each race is the minimum number of laps that exceeds a total distance of 305 km (189.5 mi). Under the sporting regulations, a minimum of eight races must take place for the season to be considered a championship. The 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship was the motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 71st running of the Formula One World Championship.

It marked the 70th anniversary of the first Formula One World Drivers' Championship. The championship was recognised by the governing body of international motorsport, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively.

Granted, some drivers have got behind the wheel of the genuine cars on filming days, which are limited to 100km of running, but these have been perfunctory, often split between teammates and hit by bad weather. So heading into Wednesday, even those with a little real-world experience only have a slender advantage over the rest. As four-time world champion Vettel explains, all the simulator running in the world only has limited value. He is fast on Saturdays and Sundays and is always there when something can happen.

While McLaren and Racing Point generally had a better car, Ricciardo was on the podium twice and finished fifth in the drivers' championship. What's more, Sergio Perez proved himself to be one of the most adept drivers on the grid last year, winning one of the races from the back of the grid. Perez struggled more than Verstappen in qualifying at the Bahrain GP, and the car stalled on the warm-up lap of the race, but the Mexican showed his lion heart once again to battle back to 5th position at the chequered flag. He has been beset by bad luck, so to be right there in the best-of-the-rest battle outside of the top three drivers says a lot for his resilience and consistency.