February 2021

After plenty of speculation over the past few months about his future, Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes finally agreed a new one-year deal yesterday. The seven-time world champion had been out of contract since January 1, but has now committed to the Mercedes outfit for another season at least. The new deal makes him the highest-paid driver on the grid by some distance. Hamilton dwarfs his teammate Valtteri Bottas’ salary by a cool £34m. He is still paid almost double his nearest rival on the grid Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc, the promising Ferrari driver, and the experienced Daniel Ricciardo are tied in third place, with both picking up a cool £10.19m per year from Ferrari and McLaren respectively. Leclerc’s teammate at Ferrari Carlos Sainz and four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, starting his first season at Aston Martin, complete the top six with them both earning £7.28m per year from their respective teams. Fernando Alonso, widely thought of as one of the finest drivers of his generation, alongside Hamilton, is in seventh place. Hamilton’s teammate Bottas is down in eighth place. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo complete the top 10 list with £4.37m and £3.64m respectively. Top 10 driver salaries in 20211) Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes – £40m 2) Max Verstappen: Red Bull – £18.2m 3) Charles Leclerc: Ferrari – £10.19m 4) Daniel Ricciardo: McLaren – £10.19m 5) Carlos Sainz: Ferrari – £7.28m 6) Sebastian Vettel: Aston Martin – £7.28m 7) Fernando Alonso: Alpine – £6.55m 8) Valtteri Bottas: Mercedes – £5.82m 9) Sergio Perez: Red Bull – £4.37m 10) Kimi Raikkonen: Alfa Romeo – £3.64m

Former Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen says he doesn’t have “much interest” in returning to Formula 1 as a stand-in for one of Haas’ new signings in 2021. Magnussen was recently announced as Peugeot World Endurance Championship driver and will be racing for the team when they will be staging a comeback in 2022. After losing his Haas seat at the end of 2020, bringing to a close a six-season run in F1, Magnussen will compete in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America this year with Chip Ganassi Racing. Haas team principal Guenther Steiner had revealed he would consider calling upon the services of former drivers Magnussen or Romain Grosjean if the American outfit needed a substitute to replace either Mick Schumacher or Nikita Mazepin this year. This comes as the F1 teams are making preparations to have stand-in and reserve drivers who have played a very major role in the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Magnussen’s former teammate at Haas, Romain Grosjean declared he would be open to stepping-in for a one time-off appearance with an F1 team. Magnussen on the other hand declares that the given role does not stand to be appealing to him. “I think it’s pretty difficult to say at this moment,” Magnussen said about being a potential F1 stand-in. “I don’t think it would really be that interesting.” “I’m always going to be there for the team, I spent some good years with them and I’ll be available for advice. Guenther is a good friend, as are many people in the Haas Formula 1 team. But any talks about racing for like a one-off race, I don’t really have much interest in that.” “I like to be fully focused on what I’m doing, and I think, again, I miss winning too much. I’ve done seven years in Formula 1 – doing one more race, just for the matter, I don’t think it’s that interesting.” The 28-year-old driver also said he pretty much considered that his F1 career was over. “I mean, if Mercedes came and asked if I wanted to drive, I think everyone would look at that very seriously. But I think I’ve given Formula 1 a very fair shot.” “I think I’ve tried my best to be very successful in this sport, I feel very very lucky to have been able to live my childhood dream of racing in Formula 1, I have a trophy at home from a Formula 1 race, which is something I was dreaming about as a kid.” “I just feel like I gave it a good shot, I’ve done it and I feel like I’m ready to go and win some stuff again, so that’s really where I’m at.”

Callum Ilott will appear during some Friday practice sessions in 2021. That is the news from Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto, who has already announced that while the 22-year-old Briton missed out on a race debut this year, he will be Ferrari’s official test driver and reserve instead. Ilott, alongside Robert Shwartzman, is another key member of Ferrari’s driver development ‘academy’. “We have Mick (Schumacher), who is starting his Formula 1 career at Haas, and we have other talents in Formula 2, like Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong,” said Binotto. “Callum Ilott will be our test driver and will be in the simulator quite often, and he will also drive free practice sessions.” Ilott is likely to get his Friday practice outings with Ferrari-powered teams Haas or Alfa Romeo.

Formula 1 is looking to trial a ‘sprint race’ format in 2021. The teams earlier baulked at Liberty Media’s plans to radically spice up the weekend format, and new CEO Stefano Domenicali ruled out reviving the ‘reverse grid’ idea. “That is over,” international media reports quote the Italian as saying. “That is something I can tell you. “It is important to think of new ideas to be more attractive or interesting, but we must not lose the traditional approach to racing. I think we learned that when we changed the qualifying format all the time. “What we are studying is what could be the approach of the so-called sprint race on Saturdays. We are wondering if this could be tested already this year,” said Domenicali. “There are ongoing discussions with the teams.”

A new project based in Monaco – simply called the Monaco F1 Racing Team – is aiming to join the grid at some point in the future, spurred on by a recent comment by F1 boss Stefano Domenicali. The project – spearheaded by management firm Monaco Increase Management (MIM) founded by Salvatore Gandolfo – is a second effort by the latter to put an F1 team on its rails. In 2019, Gandolfo’s MIM hooked up with junior outfit Campos Racing to study the feasibility of fielding a Spanish-based outfit in F1. At the time, discussions were held with then F1 boss Chase Carey although nothing concrete came out of the talks. Nonetheless, MIM apparently kept its project idling and even targeted an entry in 2021, as F1 introduced the sport’s budget cap and regulation overhaul. But following last year’s disrupted season, the new rule book was pushed back to 2022, while F1 included its 2021-25 Concorde Agreement a provision that forces any new entrant to pay a massive $200 million ‘anti-dilution’ entry fee, with the amount divided among F1’s current ten teams. However, last week, F1’s Domenical said that he would be prepared to waive the hefty fee that protects the teams’ current prize money distribution under certain specific conditions, pertaining to “cases that need to go deeper into the discussion without that money.” That potential opening is appealing to Gandolfo and now represents a solid incentive for him to work on bringing his project to a concrete reality. “The current Monaco F1 Racing Team Project was the first to actively discuss the possibility of an entry with the F1 governance, as early as 2019, and to set up a structure accordingly, realising the potential of the new technical regulations that was initially supposed to come into force in 2021 (and was subsequently delayed because of the pandemics),” said MIM in a statement published on Monday. “We believe that the recent statements of the new F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, which suggest that the [$200m] entry fee for new teams could be waived, represent a step forward in the right direction.“We appreciate the open attitude of both Stefano and the FIA and are ready to take the necessary steps in order to have our application finalised.” The Principality’s Automobile Club de Monaco, the promoter of the F1 Grand Prix, has reportedly not objected to MIM calling its project ‘Monaco F1 Racing Team’.

Toto Wolff says the decision to only agree to a one-year contract extension with Lewis Hamilton was the result of both parties wanting time to finalise a longer deal. Mercedes ended weeks of speculation on Monday when it announced that seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton would be staying on with the team in 2021. But the fact that only a single-season contract was agreed prompted some surprise, and fuelled talk that 2021 could be the British driver’s last season in F1. Speaking to media on Monday, Wolff explained the background to Hamilton’s contract length – and made clear that there was a desire from both to delay lengthier discussions regarding 2022 and beyond until the current season got going. Wolff said that complications caused by both he and Hamilton catching coronavirus, which derailed hope of talks taking place towards the end of last season, forced a change of plan. “We jointly agreed on a one year deal,” said Wolff. “First of all, there is a substantial regulation change in 2022. “We also want to see how the world develops, and the company. Plus on the other side, it’s because we kept it very late. “We wanted to discuss the contract at the end of the [2020] season between the Bahrain races and then obviously, Lewis didn’t feel well. “In the end, we started our conversation just before Christmas so it was important to get it done as soon as possible. “And in that respect, we thought, let’s postpone the discussion about 2022 and onwards to a later stage in 2021.” Wolff explained that the ongoing uncertainties about the impact of coronavirus on F1, and especially in relation to team budgets, meant that it was difficult to make certain commitments now about a longer term contract. That is why he feels contract talks in summer will be much clearer – and will allow time for proper discussion. “There are uncertainties in the world that affect the way that the sport can operate, that have an influence on our revenue, TV monies, and on sponsorship income,” he said. “Daimler, Mercedes, is in a huge transformation towards electric mobility and that means investments. So we are living in a financial reality that is very different to what it was a few years ago. “But having said that, we are totally in line, Lewis and me and the wider group at Mercedes about the situation. So there was never any discrepancy in opinion. “It was just that we felt we could get a good signature on the 2021 contract because we just need to get going and then find some time during 2021, earlier than this time around, to discuss the future. “And it’s not only specifically to 2022, but also beyond. And that is not something that we wanted to carve out via videoconferencing between Christmas and the end of January.” Wolff also rubbished any talk of Hamilton demanding a driver veto in his contract to avoid being partnered with another superstar driver, like Red Bull ace Max Verstappen. He added that suggestions pay talks had hit a sticking point over a potential revenue share of Mercedes incomes were “baseless”. “On the specific clauses that were out there in the media, I don’t know where they came from because none of that is true,” he said. “I actually read about this, and I found it interesting, but the truth is that there was not one second of discussion about any driver specific clause. “He has never asked for that in the last eight years and it’s a team decision. “And the other clause about a revenue share – that came out of nowhere. “That rumour was baseless too, so none of that was ever part of our discussions.”

The on-going contract saga at Mercedes has finally come to an end with world champion Lewis Hamilton signing a new deal for the 2021 season. The 36-year-old won his record-equalling seventh title last season in dominant fashion over teammate Valtteri Bottas, but a new deal for the Brit was a long time in the making. With rumours about Hamilton’s salary demands, Team Principal Toto Wolff admitted there were ‘curve balls’ for the lawyers to deal with in recent weeks. However, Mercedes and Hamilton today (Monday) confirmed an extended deal for the forthcoming season. A statement read: “A significant part of the new agreement builds upon the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that was made last year by Lewis and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsport.” “I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates,” Hamilton said. “Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track. “I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I’m proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on the track in March.” Wolff added: “We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process. “Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport. “Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners. The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it.” Mercedes will launch their 2021 contender on March 2.

Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer has confirmed the team’s first car this year will carry an entirely new chassis despite the supposed carryover of parts from last season. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic that severely affected F1 over the first part of last season, it was agreed that the introduction of new regulations would be delayed by a year to 2022 and there would be a freeze on last year’s cars into this season in a bid to save money. The teams, however, were still permitted two development tokens each under the rules to use as they saw fit, which has resulted in Aston Martin opting for chassis changes. This is due to the fact the FIA has made significant tweaks to the regulations to trim downforce. “We didn’t have the normal latitude of development that we usually do, so from a philosophy standpoint in running a low-rake car, that has stayed the same,” Szafnauer told Sky Sports F1. “Having said that, even though we didn’t have a lot of latitude for development, the FIA did make aerodynamic changes, and significant ones to take downforce away and slow us down. Because of that, we have had to redevelop the whole thing. “This is the first time that a carryover car has had many of its parts new, so although the philosophy is carryover we will still have a lot of new parts on the car, a lot of new aerodynamic development, even a new chassis for us as well. “Although the car will be similar to last year, it’s predominantly new.” The four aerodynamic changes are all relatively minor, but when added together they do significantly affect downforce, leading to a team like Aston Martin opting to work on how it can make gains again in this area. Whichever team has greater success then it could ultimately prevail in the race for the best of the rest behind Mercedes and Red Bull. After narrowly missing out on third in the constructors’ championship last season to McLaren, Szafnauer has confirmed “it will be the target for us” for the coming year. “I don’t think it will be easy, we’ve got some formidable competitors there,” he added. “Ferrari will work hard over the winter to do better than they did last year; McLaren gets a new powertrain, the same one that we have, and I’m sure they did that for reasons of competitiveness. “And then there are some driver movements as well, so we’ll see how all that pans out. There are some differences. “And, of course, the FIA have big rule changes. They took out big chunks of the floor for us to lose downforce and depending on how the teams claw that downforce back, that’ll have a big impact on performance as well. “So there are some things that have changed over the winter, and it will be really interesting to see the job everybody has done and how it pans out in the competitiveness stakes.”