F1 cars are much slower in 2021!
The time has come to establish a first comparison between the pace of current single-seaters and that of their predecessors. In the first four races of the season, some teams have lost little time, while others have lost a lot.
Mercedes loses a lot but stays ahead
German cars are among those that have lost the most performance since last year. Just on the first Grand Prix, in Bahrain, the gap amounts to 2.121 for Lewis Hamilton, relegated to second place by Max Verstappen. Mercedes has dominated the poles of the last three Grand Prix. So far, the Brackley team has never been closer than 802 milliseconds to a 2020 lap time, namely Bottas’ pole at Imola set at 1.13.609. The average loss for Mercedes is 1 second 349 from its previous performances.
Less substantial loss at Red Bull
Max Verstappen has become a much more pressing threat aboard his Red Bull #33. The Austrian team is on average 955 milliseconds behind in 2020. The most revealing gap of Red Bull’s “progress” is its time in Barcelona, only 485 milliseconds above its 2020 qualifying time: 1:16.292 last year compared to 1:16.777 this year. Verstappen took pole position in the opening round in Bahrain, beating Hamilton by over 4 tenths… while the Dutchman was 1.319 seconds off his time from last year!
Ferrari and Alfa Romeo have negotiated the turn well.
Scuderia is the team with the smallest loss of pace in 2020. An average of 0.699 seconds that allows the Reds to climb strongly in the hierarchy. Charles Leclerc has hardly ever left fourth place in qualifications this year. At Imola, the Monegasque almost touched upon improving his previous mark: 1:14.616 last year compared to 1:14.740 last April! The biggest gap was found in Portugal, where Leclerc’s 1:18.813 was 1.723 seconds away from his 2020 qualification.
Alfa Romeo is another pleasant surprise: the Hinwil team is trailing only by 724 milliseconds compared to its 2020 pace. The most significant example can be found in the lap times from last year and this year at Imola. There is a 21 millisecond difference between the previous record and the one from almost a month ago. The time gap between 2020 and 2021 has never exceeded 1.015 seconds, at Portimao, for the Italian brand. Very encouraging for the rest of the season!
Aston Martin and Haas in distress
The British manufacturer is having a very difficult time in their Formula 1 adventure. The pace of the Greens suffered a 1.298 second blow. They are but a shadow of the Racing Point contenders for 3rd place among the constructors, struggling this season to score a few points.
The biggest blow occurred in Bahrain this year: an abyssal loss of 2.279 seconds in the 2020 qualifications. Even harder when Sergio Pérez had settled in fourth place with a time of 1:28.322… However, Aston Martin lost less than Mercedes, which is still a benchmark. Alpine lost slightly less (+1.210) while still maintaining a position in the top 10. But Lawrence Stroll’s team bore the full brunt of the new technical regulations, as they do not perfectly understand what is – for the most part – last year’s Mercedes.
The descent into hell continues for Haas. Two rookie drivers have taken the place of the experienced Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen with, to make matters worse, a car that is difficult to handle. The American team is the one that has lost the most pace compared to 2020: + 1.484 on average.
Interesting fact: Haas lost exactly the same amount of time, to the millisecond, as Aston Martin in Bahrain. The 2020 reference being that of Kevin Magnussen in 1.30.111, Mick Schumacher improved this year by 2.279 seconds from the time of the Dane.
Chronos 2020 beaten by current single-seaters this season?
With less aerodynamic support, this year’s Formula 1 cars should logically go faster in a straight line. We could witness an improvement in lap times from a large part of the teams on circuits such as Monza or Spa Francorchamps compared to last year. It is difficult to imagine this on tracks that emphasize grip, notably Monaco or the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
However, teams like McLaren, Ferrari, or Alfa Romeo could beat their best times from a year ago on several circuits. These are the teams that have lost the least time of all and therefore have the least time to catch up. Losing six tenths is complicated but not insurmountable, but catching up with a second and a half or even two seconds is a lost cause.
