F1 2021 – What’s New?

On the surface, it’s easy to suggest that F1 2021 is in danger of repeating its 2020 season which, whilst producing highly entertaining racing, shock victories and gripping storylines, was ultimately dominated by Mercedes for the 7th year running, with Lewis Hamilton taking a record-equalling 7th world title to draw level with Michael Schumacher.

The cars are mainly carry-overs from 2020, with teams only allowed to make very limited developments in order to cut costs due to the pandemic. There have been some minor changes to the regulations, in which teams have had to remove certain areas towards the rear of the car in an attempt to slow the cars down and stop them from becoming ‘too fast’ for the circuits and the Pirelli tyres. Taking these factors into account, everyone assumed that Mercedes would walk the 2021 season.

That is until pre-season testing took place.

Mercedes struggled on all 3 days of the test with reliability woes, completing the least number of laps of any team, and the car looked unstable at the rear for both Hamilton and teammate Valtteri Bottas. By contrast, Red Bull, the second quickest team last year,  looked quick, reliable and comfortable – raising hopes that this could finally be the year that Mercedes’ dominance is finally broken.

Another new addition this year is sprint races, replacing Saturday qualifying at three events (Canada, Italy and Brazil) with qualifying for the sprint race taking place on Friday, in an attempt to provide more intrigue and action throughout the weekend. Many so-called ‘purists’ have condemned the idea, but there’s no harm in experimenting and trying it out at three of the most entering race track surely can’t be a bad thing.

2021 has also seen the implementation of a budget cap for the first team in F1 history, with a 145m dollar limit (with a few exceptions such as driver salary), and a sliding scale that allows the teams that finished lower in the 2020 championship to spend more time developing their cars in the wind tunnel and via the use of CFD (Computational Flow Dynamics).

The F1 Calendar 2021

F1 did an incredible job of fitting 17 races into the 2020 calendar between July and December, chopping and changing as it went along in order to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic worldwide. Old favourites like the Nurburgring and Imola returned, whilst 2 races were held at certain tracks including Silverstone and Sakhir (Bahrain).

This year, F1 is aiming even higher, with a record 23 races on the 2021 calendar, including a return to Zandvoort for the first time since 1985, and a first visit to the Jeddah street circuit in Saudi Arabia (amongst much controversy over the country’s violation of human rights).

Don’t expect the calendar to stay exactly as it is – the pandemic will inevitably cause issues at some point, somewhere. But F1 is well prepared and is hopeful that fans will be able to attend the majority of races across the year.

The Teams and Drivers

Seven of the ten teams have changed at least one of their drivers this year, leaving us with one of the most highly anticipated grids in recent memory.

Mercedes and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton returns with Mercedes seeking a record 8th world title, once again partnered by the Finn Valtteri Bottas. Max Verstappen will be hoping to challenge Hamilton in the Red Bull, and is joined by Sergio Perez for his first year with a team capable of winning races on a regular basis.

Mercedes and Red Bull are highly likely to occupy the top two spots in the constructor’s championship, but the midfield is anyone’s guess. McLaren looks strong and will hope to consolidate last year’s third-place finish, with the promising Lando Norris joined by new recruit and proven race winner Daniel Ricciardo.

Aston Martin and Ferarri

Aston Martin returns to the sport for the first time in 60 years, with Lance Stroll – son of team owner Lawrence – joined by four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel on the back of a torrid season with Ferrari.

Ferrari themselves will be hoping for much better than their abysmal 2020 and have an improved engine that should aid their hopes. Charles Leclerc is one of the quickest drivers around, and new team-mate Carlos Sainz is certainly no slouch.

Renault and Alpha Tauri

Renault have rebranded as Alpine – a sub-brand of the French automobile giant – and retain Esteban Ocon for a second season. The return of double world champion Fernando Alonso has been highly anticipated after two years away from F1, and at 39 there are doubts as to whether he will still have the raw speed that make him one of the greatest drivers of the 21st century so far.

Alpha Tauri managed to sneak a shock win with Pierre Gasly last season and may spring more regular surprises this year, with an upgraded Honda engine and the highly regarded Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda. Don’t be surprised if they jump to the front of the midfield.

The Rest of the field

The three teams that finished 8th-10th in last years’ championship were well off the pace of the other teams, forming their own unofficial ‘Class C’.

Alfa Romeo will hope to edge into a midfield after a promising pre-season and keeping the same driver line-up in Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovanazzi, whilst Haas have already committed to writing off 2021 and not developing their car at all in order to focus solely on 2022 – leaving the controversial Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher (son of Michael) with a very difficult first season in F1.

Williams will be hoping to score points having failed to do so in 2021. George Russell enters the final year of his contract hoping to secure a seat at Mercedes for 2022, whilst Nicholas Latifi will aim to build on his relatively unimpressive 2020 season.

Final Thoughts on the Formula 1 2021 Season

The prospect of a fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen for the world title is mouth-watering, and pre-season testing suggests that Mercedes may finally have a battle on their hands to take another world championship. The midfield battle will be enthralling with an abundance of top-class talent in cars that won’t justify their ability.

Teams will also face the dilemma of developing their car throughout 2021 or switching focus to 2022 – in which there are hugely significant regulatory changes that may set the pecking order for years to come. Get it wrong and teams could be languishing at the back for the next 2-3 years.

Different categories of the Body Mass Index

Underweight

Being underweight could be a sign you’re not eating enough, you’re working out too much or you may be ill. Essentially, you could be burning more energy than you are putting in, but there are a million reasons for being underweight, and this is something you should speak to your GP about.

If you don’t feel ill or have no specific symptoms, try eating more food and maybe cut back on the amount of exercise you are doing and see if that helps you put on a bit more weight.

Healthy Weight

This is great news, you are considered to be in the healthy range. Keep up what you’re doing, it’s obviously working well for you.

Overweight

The best way to lose weight if you have been classed as overweight is through a combination of diet and exercise. The BMI calculator will give you a personal calorie allowance to help you achieve a healthy weight safely. Note, the calorie suggestion it gives you is just a suggestion that should be used as more of a reference, than a hard and fast rule.’

You may have to tweak it as you go by upping or lowering the calories depending on how your body responds.

Obese

The best way to lose weight if you’re obese is through a combination of diet and exercise and in extreme cases, medication. If you are classed as obese, it would be wise to get a health check from your GP before starting exercise to make sure you are healthy enough to do so.

The simple maths here is that you will need to start to consume less calories than your body needs in order to lose weight. We lose bodyfat when it is used by our bodies for energy, in the absence of energy derived from food.

How to get started with exercise

There are numerous ways in which to begin your own fitness journey, including gentle cardio or starting to use weights for resistance training. You can exercise in a group, or just start by walking each day, but don’t try to do much too soon. The most simple and direct message here is simply to start moving more each day. Each step adds up, each lift will use calories and help breakdown muscle.

Tell yourself to start exercising today!

BMI Considerations for Black and Asian ethnic groups

Black and Asian ethnic groups have a far higher risk of developing a long-term (chronic) condition, such as type 2 diabetes.

Adults in this group with a BMI of:

– 23 or more are at an increased risk
– 27.5 or more are at very high risk and should seek a doctor’s advise

Why the size of your waist matters

Measuring your waist is a good way to check you’re not carrying too much fat around your stomach, generally visceral fat around your organs, which can raise your risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke.

You can have a healthy BMI and still have excess tummy fat – meaning you’re still at risk of developing these conditions.

To measure your waist…

1. Find the bottom of your ribs and the top of your hips.
2. Wrap a tape measure around your waist midway between these points.
3. Breathe out naturally before taking the measurement.

Regardless of your height, weight, activity level or BMI, you should try to lose weight if your waist is…
– 94cm (37ins) or more for men
– 80cm (31.5ins) or more for women

Contact your GP if your waist is…
– 102cm (40ins) or more for men
– 88cm (34ins) or more for women

Limitations of the BMI test

1. Your BMI can’t tell if you’re carrying too much fat.
2. The BMI can’t tell the difference between excess fat, muscle, or bone.
3. The adult BMI test generally doesn’t take into account age, gender or muscle mass.

This could mean that if you’re a very muscular person, you could be classed as overweight even if you’re body fat percentage is very low.

Things like pregnancy will also affect a woman’s BMI result as it won’t know if you are pregnant or not.

Apart from these few limitations, the BMI test is relatively straight forward and accurate (to a point) as well as being a convenient way of assessing your weight.

A growing game

But now, in 2021, MLS finds itself in a different landscape from the one where David Beckham made his maiden voyage to America via the LA Galaxy, and the league has made some impressive leaps away from the ‘retirement league’ label that has plagued the division for so many years.

Of course, some MLS franchises are still bringing in older players on big wages.

The LA Galaxy last year recruited Javier Hernandez via Sevilla whilst Inter Miami recently signed both Ryan Shawcross and Kieran Gibbs, yet these types of transfers are few and far between, with clubs in the American top-flight now are prioritising signing young prospects from smaller divisions in Europe as well as from major leagues in South America with the hope of selling them off for profit.

And what is more, MLS clubs are finding success in this strategy, and this should be of immense interest to the Premier League heading into the years ahead of us.

With a post-Brexit United Kingdom now making it harder for British clubs to sign youngsters from Europe, the new ruling also makes it easier for Premier League teams to sign promising players from other continents as part of the new international points system brought in as of this year.

Bearing fruit to Europe’s big guns

The Premier League has already seen its fair share of MLS graduates make a name for themselves in the division, with Newcastle United firmly establishing the American top-flight as a bonafide league to sign players from when they signed Miguel Almiron from Atlanta United for a then club-record fee of £20m in January 2019.

Whilst Almiron has done well since his move to England given the leap in quality, with the Paraguayan international hitting 13 goals and five assists in all competitions in 82 appearances for the Toon, the attacking midfielder is far from the only example of an MLS export thriving in the Premier League.

Indeed, Manchester City number two, Zack Steffen, has impressed for Pep Guardiola’s side since returning from his loan spell at Fortuna Dusseldorf last season, with the former Columbus Crew star making 10 appearances for the Cityzens this campaign, keeping five clean sheets and conceding just five goals in total in games against the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Marseille.

There’s also the story of Leeds United winger Jack Harrison, who left Manchester United’s academy at 14-years-old to take his footballing ability to America, where he was selected as the number one pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft and went on to become a crucial member of Patrick Vieira’s New York City FC side before being signed by sister club Man City in 2018, with the now 24-year-old attacker impressing so much for Marcelo Bielsa’s side in their comeback season in the Premier League that there have been rumours of an England call-up for the Stoke-born midfielder.

With Orlando City striker Daryl Dike thriving on loan in the Championship with Barnsley, so much so that BBC Sport reported that the Floridian club rejected a $10m offer for the striker from one of the big-six Premier League teams, MLS exports are starting to prove that they have what it takes to impress in one of the biggest footballing nations on the planet, and it is seemingly a connection that will only strengthen from here.

A promising future Major League Soccer

MLS profited massively in the most recent January transfer window as the likes of Bryan Reynolds, Brenden Aaronson and Mark McKenzie departed the States for Europe for fairly hefty transfer fees, almost signalling the beginning of a golden era of player development in America that is likely to only grow with the 2026 World Cup set to be hosted in the United States, along with Canada and Mexico, and the Premier League could stand to benefit from it.

With the pull of appealing to an American audience even bigger than ever with football, as a sport, slowly climbing up the ranks in popularity in the States, signing MLS products will open the door for Premier League clubs to expand their fellowship in a nation of 320 million people that is slowly but surely growing fond of the beautiful game after years of being dormant.

Success stories such as Harrison and Steffen’s prove that there is a market for MLS players to thrive in the Premier League, and for clubs in the English top-flight, they should be viewing America as a new and exciting opportunity to make new signings in a new streamlined process that was once a minefield due to visas and EU law, not to mention the vastly cheaper transfer fees they are likely to experience compared to negotiating with a club from a big European league.

MLS was once seen with sniggers and jeers in the fletching years of its life from European football fans, but now, 25 years on from its maiden season, the American top-flight is starting to prove why the US is one of the most promising nations in the game, and graduates of newly formed academies and programmes are beginning to make a name for themselves on the continent, and Premier League teams should be making the land of the free one of their new major markets in this post-Brexit world.