With five races of the 23-race Formula 1 season now done, here's a look at how drivers who joined new teams in 2021 have fared.
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The 2021 Formula 1 season might only be five races old but it hasn’t been devoid of drama. This is helped considerably by the fact that, unlike in 2020, the season started on time. There’s also the fact that we set to be in for one of the closest title battles in years. Yet it’s also because the midfield teams in the sport are all fairly evenly matched. As such, more drivers on the grid are aiming at least for points finishes.
One of the most interesting parts of a new season is seeing how drivers who switched teams perform in their new car. It isn’t always a seamless transition; indeed, teething problems happen more often than not.
A number of teams changed drivers for this year and the sport even saw three rookies make their debut at Bahrain. However, for the purpose of this article, we will focus on those who were on the grid last year and switched teams.
With five races of the 23-race Formula 1 season now done, here’s a look at how drivers who joined new teams in 2021 have fared.
Vettel was the man whose next move in the sport dominated large parts of the 2020 season. After all, Ferrari took the bold decision of dropping a four-time world champion – even if everyone knew a parting of ways was for the best. That being said, we are yet to see the best of Perez in Aston Martin so far.
Some of it is down to the car – the new car doesn’t quite have the pace of 2020’s ‘Pink Mercedes’. But some of it is down to Vettel himself. His last two years at Ferrari were underwhelming, and saw the German make a number of unforced errors. While that hasn’t happened this year, he still looks some ways off his best. Maybe the P5 at Monaco is a sign of better things to come?
The biggest casualty of Vettel moving to Aston Martin, Perez seemed destined to be without a seat in 2021. That is until Christian Horner decided to offer him a one-year deal at Red Bull. Yet, much like Vettel, he too has struggled to stamp his authority on the new team.
It’s no secret that Red Bull see Max Verstappen as their next world champion. Yet ‘Checo’, as Perez is fondly known, hasn’t helped himself sometimes. The positive is that he’s finished in the top 5 in every race so far this season. A podium finish doesn’t look too far off.
The main beneficiary of Vettel leaving Ferrari, Sainz has arguably thus far been the pick of the driver’s to have changed teams. The Spaniard was impressive for McLaren last year and while he hasn’t yet hit his stride, he has shown glimpses of what he can do.
Vamos @ScuderiaFerrari
–#Carlossainz #essereFerrari pic.twitter.com/PTcSiL45kX— Carlos Sainz (@Carlossainz55) May 25, 2021
Ferrari’s improvement to the cars at Monaco also saw him notch his first podium for his new side. Sainz has managed points finishes in all but one race this season and will look to build on his second-place finish at Monte Carlo.
Poor Ricciardo. The Australian is a race-winner on his day but has absolutely struggled to get the best out of his McLaren. It’s not even as if the car is poor; teammate Lando Norris has managed two podium finishes this year, after all. And it says a lot that Ricciardo has managed points finishes in all races except Monaco this season.
But while Norris is mixing it up with the top drivers on the grid, Ricciardo is competing against the midfield. For his and the team’s sake, fans will hope he can come to grips with the McLaren sooner rather than later. Indeed, he would be classfied as the poorest driver in a new team so far if not for the next man…
Oh Fernando. The two-time world champion returned to Formula 1 after a two-year hiatus but the comeback has proved a nightmare thus far. He did not finish at the season-opener in Bahrain then scored a solitary point at Imola. An eighth place finish at Portugal followed, but he was a lowly 17th at his home race in Spain.
Things didn’t get much better at Monaco, where he finished 13th. Alonso returned to the sport because he felt the new regulations could help him potentially claim a third driver’s championships. But at this moment, he is being comfortably outperformed by Esteban Ocon – a driver with no race wins.
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