We are just over a month away from the start of the 2021 Formula 1 season and there are plenty of storylines to follow in what promises to be another exciting year for the world championship.
Naturally, all 20 of the drivers on the F1 grid will be looking to make improvements and have a more complete campaign, but there are some more than others who know they have a point to prove.
Here are five drivers that will be working particularly hard to ensure they turn in a stronger 2021…
Valtteri Bottas
In recent years, Valtteri Bottas has become a regular fixture on the end of term ‘must do better’ report card. While he played an important role in helping Mercedes achieve a record-breaking seventh successive world championships double in 2020, he ended up a huge 124 points down on teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Such was Hamilton’s superiority, that despite missing a race due to testing positive for COVID-19, he single-handedly amassed enough points to ensure Mercedes would have finished the year ahead of nearest rivals Red Bull, who will be strengthened by the arrival of Sergio Perez as Max Verstappen's new teammate in 2021.
While his qualifying efforts in relation to Hamilton were impressive, significant gains are required on Sundays if Bottas is to mount a genuine challenge to Hamilton for the title this year, with the Finn only managing two victories compared to Hamilton’s 11 in 2020.
Bottas faces added pressure knowing he is heading into the final year of his current Mercedes deal, especially after George Russell’s starring performances on his Mercedes debut at the Sakhir Grand Prix. Assuming Hamilton does indeed extend his Mercedes tenure into this season and beyond, the German manufacturer will have a big decision on its hands whether to stick with Bottas for a sixth campaign in 2022, or promote the highly-rated Russell when his existing Williams deal ends.
Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes AMG F1 on the grid.
Sebastian Vettel badly needed a reset in 2021 following a disappointing final few years at Ferrari, and he has been provided just that with Aston Martin’s new F1 project.
The German has looked a shadow of his former self since suffering back-to-back title defeats at the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in 2017 and 2018. Vettel was seemingly unable to recover from notable errors during his failed championship attempts and suffered when Charles Leclerc quickly usurped him upon his arrival at Ferrari in 2019.
Vettel’s decline in form only continued during a miserable 2020 campaign - statistically the worst of his F1 career - and he was once again outshone by Leclerc. There were, however, some signs that the four-time world champion still has his spark, such as his brilliant drive to the podium in treacherous conditions at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Fresh motivation and renewed energy amid a supportive environment should provide Vettel with the tools he needs to recapture his mojo and he arrives at the works outfit knowing he needs to step up his game if he is to lead Aston Martin into a successful new era.
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon made his long-awaited return to the F1 grid in 2020, but as the Frenchman himself admitted, it took him longer than expected to get back up to speed following a year out of the sport.
He was comfortably outclassed by teammate Daniel Ricciardo throughout the season and struggled to match the Australian’s consistent level of performance, though encouraging gains were made towards the end of the year with a breakthrough podium earned thanks to an excellent drive to second at the Sakhir GP.
Indeed, it was Ricciardo who did much of the legwork to haul Renault up to fifth in the constructors’ championship, scoring 119 points to Ocon’s tally of 62. With a hungry two-time world champion in the shape of Fernando Alonso arriving at the rebranded squad in 2021, Ocon knows he will have to step up if he is to avoid another similar whitewash.
There will be an expectation from Alpine for Ocon to translate his improved end of season form and take that consistency into the new season in order to hit the ground running heading into what is expected to be another intense, year-long midfield battle.
With the French manufacturer expecting big things from Formula 3 champion Oscar Piastri and Guanyu Zhou in Formula 2 this year, Ocon will no longer have the safety net of time on his side.
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Renault F1 Team celebrates his second position on the…
Ferrari-backed Antonio Giovinazzi showed a marked improvement during the 2020 season as he bounced back from a difficult debut F1 campaign in 2019.
Giovinazzi not only cut out the sort of mistakes that hampered his rookie year, but he also stepped up his performances against experienced teammate Kimi Raikkonen, equalling the Finn’s tally of four points from 16 races as the team struggled for competitiveness, while he also out-qualified Raikkonen by nine to eight across the season.
With two full F1 seasons now under his belt at the age of 27, Alfa Romeo will be expecting further gains from Giovinazzi. Should Ferrari’s power unit improve as hoped, Alfa should have a car that is capable of regular points finishes, and Giovinazzi will need to be on hand to take advantage of any such opportunities amid a tighter than ever midfield scrap.
On a one-year deal, Giovinazzi will also be looking over his shoulder at the emerging cluster of highly-rated juniors Ferrari has rising through the single-seater ranks, with the likes of reigning Formula 2 champion Mick Schumacher, test driver Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman and Marcus Armstrong all potentially jostling for the Ferrari-reserved seat at the Swiss squad in 2022.
After a steady but unspectacular rookie F1 season, Nicholas Latifi knows he must make improvements if he is to take the fight to Williams teammate George Russell in 2021.
The Canadian’s biggest shortcoming to Russell was clearly apparent in qualifying, where he suffered a 16-0 defeat to the Briton on Saturdays across the year with an average gap of over half a second in dry sessions - the largest deficit of any driver.
After progressing to Q2 on just one occasion compared to Russell’s nine appearances, Latifi has openly admitted that his one-lap pace is in need of most refinement ahead of his sophomore season.
Race days were better and Latifi has shown himself to be a capable performer on Sundays, but a clear all-round step forward is needed, particularly if Williams produces a car capable of challenging for points.
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