2021 Formula One World Championship

The 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 72nd running of the Formula One World Championship . It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport , as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars . The championship was contested over twenty-two Grands Prix , and held around the world. Drivers and teams competed for the titles of Formula One Worl...

Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing - Honda won the Drivers' Championship for the first time in his career, having claimed 10 race wins across the season. Verstappen became the first-ever driver from the Netherlands , [ 2 ] the first Honda-powered driver since Ayrton Senna in 1991 , [ 3 ] the first Red Bull driver since Sebastian Vettel in 2013 and the first non-Mercedes driver in the turbo-hybrid era to win the World Championship. This season saw the return of Aston Martin since 1960 after Lawren...

Honda became the second engine supplier in the turbo-hybrid era to power a championship-winning car, after Mercedes. Four-time defending and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes finished runner-up. Mercedes retained the Constructors' Championship for the eighth consecutive season. [ 4 ]

The season featured a close year-long battle for the title between Verstappen and Hamilton, with BBC Sport 's Andrew Benson describing it as "one of the most intense, hard-fought battles in sporting history". [ 5 ] The two drivers exchanged the championship lead multiple times during the season and the title contenders were involved in major collisions at the British and Italian Grands Prix as well as minor collisions at the Emilia Romagna and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix. Both drivers entered the ...

This was the first season since 2008 where the champion driver was not from the team that took the constructors' title. [ 9 ] The season was also the final season in the sport for 2007 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen . [ 10 ]

All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli . [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars. [ 13 ] [ 14 ]

Across the season, five drivers drove as a test or third driver in free practice sessions. Callum Ilott and Robert Kubica drove for Alfa Romeo Racing at two and three Grands Prix respectively, while Roy Nissany and Jack Aitken drove for Williams at three Grands Prix and at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , respectively. Zhou Guanyu drove for Alpine at the Austrian Grand Prix . [ 25 ]

McLaren announced that they would change from using Renault power units to ones built by Mercedes , resuming the McLaren-Mercedes partnership that ran between 1995 and 2014 . [ 42 ] Racing Point became known as Aston Martin . The name change was brought about by the team's part owner Lawrence Stroll investing in the Aston Martin marque making its return to the sport since 1960 . [ 43 ] Renault became known as Alpine , taking on the name of Renault's sportscar brand . [ 19 ]

Four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel left Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season after racing with the team for six seasons. [ 44 ] Vettel's seat was taken by Carlos Sainz Jr. , who had left McLaren after two seasons. [ 45 ] Daniel Ricciardo moved from Renault to McLaren, where he replaced Sainz. [ 46 ] Ricciardo was replaced by double World Champion Fernando Alonso , who drove in Alpine's first season, having last raced in 2018 for McLaren. [ 47 ]

Vettel moved to Aston Martin, where he replaced Sergio Pérez . [ 48 ] [ 49 ] Pérez, who had previously signed a contract to drive for Aston Martin's predecessor, Racing Point , until 2022, [ 50 ] moved to Red Bull Racing where he replaced Alexander Albon , who was Red Bull Racing's reserve and test driver for the 2021 season. [ 51 ] Pérez became the first driver since Mark Webber in 2007 to join the team without being previously a Red Bull Junior Team member. [ 52 ]

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen , who had raced for Haas since 2016 and 2017 respectively, left the team at the end of 2020. [ 53 ] 2020 Formula 2 Champion Mick Schumacher , the son of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher , took one of the seats at the team [ 54 ] while the other was filled by Nikita Mazepin , who finished fifth in the Formula 2 Championship. [ 55 ] [ 56 ]

Yuki Tsunoda , who finished third in 2020 Formula 2 Championship, graduated to Formula One with Scuderia AlphaTauri , replacing Daniil Kvyat , who moved to Alpine as their reserve driver. [ 57 ] Tsunoda became the first Japanese Formula One driver since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014 . [ 58 ]

During the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Kimi Räikkönen tested positive for coronavirus . [ 59 ] He was replaced at Alfa Romeo Racing by reserve driver Robert Kubica , who last raced at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix , driving for Williams . [ 60 ] Räikkönen was also replaced by Kubica at the subsequent Italian Grand Prix . [ 61 ]

Nikita Mazepin tested positive for coronavirus during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, and was not replaced for the race as Haas did not field a third driver in free practice. [ 62 ]

The following rounds were planned, but were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic :

Liberty Media , the sport's commercial rights holders, announced that there would be scope for the 2021 calendar to expand beyond the planned twenty-two races of the 2020 calendar . [ 78 ] The sporting regulations were amended to allow for a maximum of twenty-five Grands Prix per year. [ 79 ]

Liberty Media was also reported to have come to an agreement in principle with race organisers to host a second race in the United States. Plans to hold the race at a circuit in Miami Gardens were unveiled. [ 102 ] [ 103 ] A second proposal to move the former Brazilian Grand Prix from São Paulo to a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro was also suspended. [ 104 ]

On 28 April 2021, the Canadian Grand Prix was cancelled for a second consecutive year and was replaced by the Turkish Grand Prix , originally intended to make a one-off return in 2020. [ 107 ] On 14 May 2021, the Turkish Grand Prix was postponed due to the British government imposing a ten-day hotel quarantine on travellers from Turkey into the United Kingdom . As a result, the French Grand Prix was moved forward a week and the Styrian Grand Prix , which was originally intended to be a one-off r...

On 18 August 2021, the Japanese Grand Prix was cancelled for a second consecutive year. [ 77 ] The race calendar was revised again on 28 August 2021, consisting of twenty-two Grands Prix, with the Turkish, Mexico City and São Paulo Grands Prix moved a week later, the round in which the cancelled Australian Grand Prix was due to take place left empty in order to replace it, and the confirmation that the Japanese Grand Prix would not be replaced. [ 73 ] On 30 September 2021 the new Qatar Grand Pri...

The 2021 championship was originally due to introduce significant changes to the regulations, including the sport's governance, car designs and the sporting rules but these were delayed in March 2020 in response to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 109 ] These rule changes were instead introduced in 2022 . [ 110 ]

The championship introduced a budget cap, with teams limited to spending a maximum of $145 million per year. [ 111 ] [ 112 ] [ m ] Teams were required to use more commercially available materials and to submit their annual expenditure. [ 113 ] Some teams argued to further reduce the budget cap to $100 million, citing concerns that the long-term financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the future of as many as four teams. [ 114 ] [ 115 ] Formula One managing director Ross Brawn stated ...

The value of the budget cap was set for twenty-one races; each additional race increased the budget cap by $1 million, and vice versa: each race removed from the scheduled twenty-one race calendar deducted the budget cap by $1 million. [ 116 ] However, the budget cap did not include marketing budget, drivers' salaries, and the salaries of the team's top three executives. In addition, under a later agreement among the teams regarding the introduction of sprint qualifying races, each team received...

Teams were limited in what components could be modified for the 2021 season, with this requirement introduced to ease financial pressures on teams brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 120 ] [ 121 ] The teams were allowed to apply for special dispensation to make changes, most notably in the case of McLaren, who were given permission to modify their car to accommodate the switch from Renault to Mercedes engines. [ 122 ] This prompted the FIA to introduce a token system whereby teams were giv...

Some aerodynamic rule changes were enacted by the FIA. [ 125 ] The floor of the cars were 'clipped' in order to reduce downforce for 2021. In 2020, the floor was permitted to run in a straight line from an area adjacent to the cockpit back to a point ahead of the rear tyre. However, from 2021 that point ahead of the tyre was moved 100 millimetres (3.9 in) inboard, making the floor edge a diagonal line when viewed from above. This change was expected to reduce downforce levels by 5%. [ 126 ] [ 12...

The "dual-axis steering" (DAS) system developed by Mercedes in 2020 was banned, starting from 2021. [ 128 ] The DAS system allowed the driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel. [ 129 ] The FIA introduced newly revised wing load tests mid-season at the French Grand Prix to clamp down on potentially excessively flexing rear wings. This comes after Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team had claimed, at the Spanish Grand Prix ...

From the Belgian Grand Prix onwards a new technical directive was enforced surrounding pit stop equipment after concerns teams were flouting the article 12.8.4 of Formula One technical regulations that state that pit equipment may only be filled with compressed air or nitrogen and that sensors on this equipment must 'act passively' to achieve quicker pit stop times and potentially meaning cars could be released in an unsafe condition. To help enforce this new tolerance parameters will be introdu...

It was originally proposed that teams would be required to allow a driver who had competed in fewer than two Grands Prix to replace one of their race drivers in a Friday practice session over the course of the season. Whilst these rules were intended to give a chance to more non-Formula One drivers to test a Formula One car, the wording of this rule meant that teams satisfy the requirement if one of their regular drivers was in their rookie season. [ 134 ] [ 135 ] Such rules were instead impleme...

Following the Mercedes tyre error during the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix , where George Russell was given front tyres allocated to Valtteri Bottas during a pit stop, the FIA had adjusted the rules on tyre usage; drivers using mixed compound sets or using sets allocated to another driver on their cars were permitted to complete two laps before the driver must pit to correct the error before facing a penalty. Under the previous rules, drivers could be disqualified as soon as such error had occurred. [ ...

For the 2021 season, the schedule of a race weekend was revised. Under the pre-existing regulations, a race weekend spanned four days, with the Thursday before the race being reserved for media and promotional events and scrutineering; however, under the new regulations all of Thursday's events were moved to the Friday morning, with the times between activities on that day being reduced. Cars were under parc fermé conditions following the end of free practice three instead of qualifying, further...

There was a trial of sprint qualifying at the British , [ 147 ] Italian , [ 148 ] and São Paulo Grands Prix. [ 149 ] Qualifying for these sprints took place on Friday afternoon in place of the normal second practice session and the sprints ran over the least number of laps to exceed 100 km (62 mi), approximately one third of a normal race distance. The result of the sprint race determined the starting grid for the main race. Three points were awarded to the winner of the sprint race, two points ...

Winter testing switched from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló to the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir , with three days of running beginning on 12 March. [ 155 ] Formula One declined an offer from Bahrain to provide COVID-19 vaccines for all personnel attending pre-season testing and the season's opening Grand Prix. [ 156 ] However, several teams and drivers opted to accept the Bahrain government's offer. [ 157 ]

Max Verstappen took pole position on the opening round in Bahrain . [ 158 ] On the formation lap, Sergio Pérez stalled at the last turn and was relegated to start in the pit lane, leaving his 11th place spot vacant. [ 159 ] On the first lap, Nikita Mazepin spun at turn 3, crashing into the barrier and calling out the safety car. [ 160 ] AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly collided with Daniel Ricciardo 's McLaren the lap after the safety car ended, [ 161 ] while Mick Schumacher spun off behind the pack. [...

At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix , Hamilton took pole from Pérez and Verstappen. [ 165 ] Verstappen went into the lead at turn 1 on lap 1, after it started raining on race day. Mazepin and Nicholas Latifi crashed at the exit of turn 13, bringing out the safety car. [ 166 ] Under the safety car, Schumacher lost control of his car and spun into the pit exit, losing his front wing. [ 167 ] On lap 31, at turn 7, Hamilton made a mistake, hitting the wall and damaging his front wing. After approximate...

Bottas took pole at the Portuguese Grand Prix . [ 171 ] He kept his lead from Hamilton and Verstappen. On lap 2, Kimi Räikkönen made contact with his teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi , and was forced into retirement, while Giovinazzi could continue. [ 172 ] Hamilton eventually overtook Bottas and won with Verstappen in second and Bottas in third. Pérez and Norris came fourth and fifth, respectively. [ 173 ] Verstappen took the fastest lap on the last lap but was soon deleted, due to track limits, me...

Hamilton took his 100th pole position in Spain . [ 175 ] On lap 1, Verstappen overtook him at the first turn. Five laps later, Yuki Tsunoda pulled over at the reprofiled turn 10, marking his first Formula One retirement. [ 176 ] Hamilton took the lead after Verstappen pitted on lap 23, but Verstappen took it back on lap 28. However, a slow stop and a decision to stay out until lap 59 let Hamilton into the lead until the checkered flag, Verstappen ended up second with Bottas in third place from L...

Leclerc took pole at the Monaco Grand Prix despite crashing in the final minutes. [ 178 ] The crash caused a driveshaft failure, [ 179 ] meaning he was unable to start the race. [ 180 ] Verstappen started at the front and led from Bottas and Carlos Sainz Jr. On lap 30, Bottas was forced into retirement after his front-right tyre would not come off during a routine pitstop. [ 181 ] Verstappen took the victory, as well as the championship lead for the first time in his career; Red Bull came away f...

Max Verstappen took his third season pole at the Styrian Grand Prix , the first of two back-to-back races at the Red Bull Ring. [ 194 ] On the first lap, three cars collided at the third turn, forcing Pierre Gasly out of the race. [ 195 ] Verstappen won from Lewis Hamilton , meaning Verstappen extended his title lead to 18 points. Valtteri Bottas came third, taking his first podium since Spain. [ 196 ] Verstappen took pole at the Austrian Grand Prix , the last race of the first triple header. [ ...

Hamilton was fastest in qualifying to start in first place for the first ever sprint in the British Grand Prix . [ 204 ] In the sprint, Verstappen made a better start than Hamilton and overtook him before the first corner, leading every lap and winning the sprint with Hamilton second and Bottas third, thus Verstappen started on pole for the Grand Prix itself. [ 205 ] On lap five of the sprint, Pérez spun, dropping him to the back of the field, and later retiring, [ 206 ] forcing him to start fro...

Hamilton was again fastest in qualifying to take pole in the Hungarian Grand Prix. [ 212 ] Rainy conditions at the start of the race led to Bottas misjudging his braking and sliding into the back of Norris; this escalated into multiple collisions which eventually eliminated five drivers: Bottas, Norris (who only retired on lap 3), Pérez, Lance Stroll and Leclerc. [ 213 ] Due to the large amount of debris on the track, the race was red-flagged; at this stage, Hamilton led from Ocon and Sebastian ...

Verstappen took pole from Russell and Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix in a wet qualifying session. [ 219 ] The race was heavily affected by rain, which initially saw the start delayed by 25 minutes. After two formation laps behind the safety car, the race start was suspended and red-flagged due to poor conditions and lack of visibility. [ 220 ] A nearly three-hour delay followed before the race was resumed. After a further three laps, the race was red-flagged again. [ 221 ] It was not restart...

Verstappen would again take pole at the first Dutch Grand Prix to take place since 1985 at Zandvoort. [ 226 ] He held his lead from Hamilton to take the win at his home race, [ 227 ] taking over the lead of the championship by three points. Bottas came third, overtaking Norris, who finished tenth, [ 228 ] in the standings for third place. [ 229 ] Bottas won sprint qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix , but was forced to start from the back of the grid after exceeding the quota of one on his powe...

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest in qualifying in Turkey , but was dropped down the grid because of a penalty due to a power unit component change. [ 234 ] Valtteri Bottas was promoted to pole position and won the race, his first of 2021. He was followed by Max Verstappen , who re-took the championship lead, and Sergio Pérez , who took his first podium since France . [ 235 ] Verstappen continued his momentum in the United States Grand Prix , taking pole position. Despite Hamilton taking the lead i...

Hamilton was fastest in qualifying in Brazil , but was disqualified the following day for a technical infringement. Bottas won the qualifying sprint, giving him pole position for the Grand Prix. By finishing second in the sprint, Verstappen increased his championship lead over Hamilton by two points, and Carlos Sainz Jr. , who finished third, increased Ferrari's championship lead over McLaren. Hamilton finished fifth in the sprint from last on the grid, but a five-place grid drop due to taking a...

Hamilton took pole position in Qatar , while a penalty for failing to respect double waived yellow flags during qualifying forced Verstappen to start from seventh. [ 241 ] Hamilton took the win, leading every lap of the race. Verstappen quickly recovered to second place but was unable to threaten Hamilton's race lead despite setting the fastest lap on the last lap of the race. Fernando Alonso used a one-stop strategy to finish third, less than three seconds ahead of Peréz in fourth, it was Alons...

Hamilton took pole position again in the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix ahead of Bottas and Verstappen, who crashed at the last corner of his final qualifying lap. [ 244 ] The race played host to several incidents which saw the retirements of Schumacher, Pérez, George Russell , Nikita Mazepin , and Sebastian Vettel , with Hamilton, Verstappen, Tsunoda, and Kimi Räikkönen also being involved in collisions during the race. Hamilton won the race from Verstappen, while Bottas overtook Esteban Oc...

Verstappen took the pole position in Abu Dhabi ahead of Hamilton and Norris. [ 247 ] During the race, Hamilton had a better start and took the lead into the first turn. At turn six Verstappen attempted to pass, forcing Hamilton to evade by going off the track. Emerging from the corner still in the lead, Hamilton was instructed to give up the advantage he had gained. The pair settled in their positions until the first round of pit stops, with Hamilton gradually extending his lead. He later lost m...

Mercedes lodged two separate protests against the race's result. [ 251 ] [ 252 ] Both protests were dismissed, [ 253 ] [ 254 ] [ n ] and Mercedes announced their intention to appeal the dismissal of the protest regarding the handling of the restart following the safety car period. [ 257 ]

A statement from the FIA acknowledged the controversy, [ 258 ] and that it was "tarnishing the image of the championship and the due celebration". [ 259 ] The statement was made after a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council , which was scheduled for 15 December 2021, [ 260 ] and was described as "extending an olive branch to Mercedes". [ 258 ] On 16 December 2021, [ 261 ] Mercedes announced that it had withdrawn its challenge to the race result. [ 262 ] [ o ] In addition, Hamilton boycott...

Following an FIA investigation and inquiry, Michael Masi was removed from his role as race director, being replaced by Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas , with Herbie Blash appointed as a permanent senior advisor alongside Wittich and Freitas. [ 7 ] [ 8 ]

On 10 March 2022 the FIA World Motor Sport Council report on the events of the final race of the season was announced, and that the "Race Director called the safety car back into the pit lane without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations", however also noted that the "results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed". [ 267 ] [ 268 ] Hamilton himself revealed that he ha...

In October 2022, the FIA published their review of the teams' budgets for 2021. Red Bull Racing had committed a minor financial breach (defined as less than 5% over budget) of £ 1,864,000. Additionally, both Aston Martin and Red Bull were found to have made procedural breaches. [ 270 ] Red Bull were punished with a US$ 7,000,000 and a 10% reduction in wind tunnel testing time for period of one year, [ 271 ] while Aston Martin were fined US$450,000. [ 272 ] Opinion on the outcome amongst F1 team ...

Points towards both titles were awarded to the top ten classified finishers at each event. [ 1 ] In addition, one point was awarded to the driver who achieved the fastest lap time of the race and to the relevant constructor, provided the driver was in the top ten positions of the final race classification. [ 1 ] At those events where a sprint qualifying session took place, points for both titles were awarded to the top three finishers in the final sprint qualifying session classification. [ 1 ]

In the case of a tie on points a countback system was used where the driver with the most first places is ranked higher. If the number of first places was identical then the number of second places was considered, and so on. If this procedure failed to produce a result, the FIA nominated the winner according to such criteria as it thinks fit. The points were awarded for every race using the following system: [ 281 ]