FORMULA ONE · 2021
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 motorsp
All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli . Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.
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 .
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 . 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 . Renault became known as Alpine , taking on the name of Renault's sportscar brand .
Four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel left Ferrari at the end of the 2020 season after racing with the team for six seasons. Vettel's seat was taken by Carlos Sainz Jr. , who had left McLaren after two seasons. Daniel Ricciardo moved from Renault to McLaren, where he replaced Sainz. Ricciardo was replaced by double World Champion Fernando Alonso , who drove in Alpine's first season, having last raced in 2018 for McLaren. Vettel moved to Aston Martin, where he replaced Sergio Pérez . Pérez, who had previously signed a contract to drive for Aston Martin's predecessor, Racing Point , until 2022, moved to Red Bull Racing where he replaced Alexander Albon , who was Red Bull Racing's reserve and test driver for the 2021 season. Pérez became the first driver since Mark Webber in 2007 to join the team without being previously a Red Bull Junior Team member. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen , who had raced for Haas since 2016 and 2017 respectively, left the team at the end of 2020. 2020 Formula 2 Champion Mick Schumacher , the son of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher , took one of the seats at the team while the other was filled by Nikita Mazepin , who finished fifth in the Formula 2 Championship. 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. Tsunoda became the first Japanese Formula One driver since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014 .
During the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Kimi Räikkönen tested positive for coronavirus . 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 . Räikkönen was also replaced by Kubica at the subsequent Italian Grand Prix . 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.
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 . The sporting regulations were amended to allow for a maximum of twenty-five Grands Prix per year. 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. A second proposal to move the former Brazilian Grand Prix from São Paulo to a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro was also suspended. 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. 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. 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. 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. These rule changes were instead introduced in 2022 .
The championship introduced a budget cap, with teams limited to spending a maximum of $145 million per year. [ m ] Teams were required to use more commercially available materials and to submit their annual expenditure. 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. 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. 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...