Alright when was that again.....?

[Antony Snook]

This is the Calendar for 2021. I like the fact FIA are positive about this Virus being sorted out by next year when others are saying it will take Longer. Spanish Flu was 3 Years and we haven't even done 1 year yet.

 

[Jason Chamberlain]

So I have been thinking a lot about why I am so down on F1 being boring. I downloaded some stats and performed some simple analysis that will help me understand why I thought prior decades were better than the last decade. These are factors that make seasons interesting to myself. They may not be as significant to other people.

I really appreciate this and it makes a lot of sense. I also really respect it because it goes far beyond the hot takes of the likes of various media outlets that cover F1 and get views and clicks by complaining about how boring it is.

This is only my third season of following F1 closely and I've tried to immerse myself in it. I feel like I know what's going on fairly well and I've tried to learn as much history as I can too. I've tried to understand the "F1 is boring now" take, so this is a huge help.

I think that one's formative years are a large factor. I'm also a big baseball fan (apparently I love sports that many consider boring) and one thing I've found is that we tend to romanticize the era when we got into the sport. They're dying out, but you'd find tons of people who thought that the 50s were the best, even though the decade was dominated by the Yankees. I don't think it's a coincidence that I consider 80s NFL football to be the best because that's when I learned about it (and also when the Browns were last relevant).

My attitude with sports is to "love the one you're with," as it were. This season, I'm hoping that McLaren can pull out third place and I'm entertained watching them battle out in the midfield. I find ways to be entertained by all the races in their own way (though France 2019 was pretty rough). It would be nice to see legitimate battles for the championship and not just the Lewis show. I like Lewis just fine, but as Wilt Chamberlain once said, "Nobody roots for Goliath."

I still just enjoy seeing the cars on track. I hope I don't grow tired of that anytime soon.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Racings been good this year and the new tracks put in have been a godsend from those boring tilke dromes and street circuits, looking forward too turkey, always be one or 2 teams at the top, best racings middle of the pack.

As the data shows, F1 has never had a period of time so dominated by 1 team. This is not good for the sport and it should not take 5+ years to correct. I will still watch the races because I have an F1 disease. Others that have a passing interest in F1 may get bored and not follow or attend races.

 

[BillyBobSenna]

As the data shows, F1 has never had a period of time so dominated by 1 team. This is not good for the sport and it should not take 5+ years to correct. I will still watch the races because I have an F1 disease. Others that have a passing interest in F1 may get bored and not follow or attend races.

Mercedes has won 74% of all F1 races over the last 7 years. That is crazy.

 

[Paul McCluskey]

Mercedes has won 74% of all F1 races over the last 7 years. That is crazy.

Is that their fault? if ferrari or red bull can't match them or beat them then it's their fault

 

[BillyBobSenna]

Is that their fault? if ferrari or red bull can't match them or beat them then it's their fault

Not at all.

 

[Jason Chamberlain]

Is that their fault? if ferrari or red bull can't match them or beat them then it's their fault

Short of making it a stock series, I don't think that anything will end Mercedes' dominance except maybe if Wolff leaves. Listen to the Beyond the Grid podcast with Toto Wolff and you'll understand why they win. The money of course helps, but even more than that is their organizational philosophy and focus. I think that they'd probably dominate a stock series too.

Maybe the answer is for the FIA to direct Mercedes to hire Maurizio Arrivabene as the new Team Principal. They could force the mechanics to take full lunches with tablecloths and bottles of wine during the race weekends too (per the John Barnard interview).

 

[Charlie Lockwood]

• Formula One has released the provisional race calendar for the 2021 season.
• The calendar features a record 23 races pending contracts being signed for two events and details of a third finalised.
• The season should begin at Albert Park in March and finish under the lights of Abu Dhabi in December.

Formula One has announced a provisional 23-race calendar for the 2021 season, pending contracts being finalised for events in Barcelona and Sao Paulo. Another race weekend is pencilled in for the weekend of the 23rd-25th of April, and will hopefully complete the record-breaking calendar.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 season has of course been impacted rather heavily. Next year it is expected that the calendar will have a more familiar feel about it. The season will begin on the 21st of March for its 'tradtional' Melbourne start at Albert Park, and will finish under the lights of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina on the 5th of December.

There had been question marks over whether Barcelona would be on the calendar for next season, as well as the Brazilian Grand Prix being held at Sao Paulo, amidst rumours that the sport could visit a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro upon the Interlagos contract expiring. Fortunately it seems that both are likely to be retained going into next year.

The other event that stands out on the calendar is of course the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah, which was announced last week. The race is expected to be held on the Corniche, which is a coastal resort by the Red Sea, and should run along the seafront. The event will precede the season finale in Abu Dhabi at the end of November.

The Dutch Grand Prix will finally make its first appearance on the calendar since the 1980s at Zandvoort in September, forming part of a triple header between classics, Spa and Monza. Missing out on a slot on the calendar will be the Vietnamese Grand Prix, which was due to be held in capital city, Hanoi earlier this year. This of course means that F1's inaugural visit to the country may fail to come to fruition.

The rest of the provisional calendar is otherwise largely the same as the original one for this season. The biggest question that remains to be answered is of course about the identity of the 'TBC' event scheduled for the end of April. Seeing as it falls before Barcelona, it would be logical for the additional race to be held in Europe.

Given the success of events this year held at Portimao, Imola, Mugello and Nurburgring, could we hope for a return to one of them to mark the beginning of the 'European' season next year? To add a little fuel to the fire, the end of April is historically when the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola was held. Furthermore, President of the Emilia-Romagna region, Stefano Bonaccini has been quoted as saying he would like to see a "stable inclusion" of Imola on F1's calendar in years to come.

Let us know where you think we might end up, as we look ahead to the 2021 season.

 

[FinFan]

Too many races. I don't think that will be feasible.

 

[Steven Poirier]

Ok and no more Vietnam already XD

 

[LeSunTzu]

Monaco in May is quite optimistic.

 

[Knoxstar]

I think the first half is optimistic in so far as bums in the seat are concerned.

 

[DND]

It's back to the uninspiring tour, couldn't keep one or more of Imola, Mugello or Portimao? On the positive side it sure does free up some weekends, to do what exactly is TBD.

 

[kk08]

Please F1, Imola or Portimao for R4!

 

[Nick Hill]

OK, now show us some progress on fixing the lack of competitiveness.

 

[PawelP]

Please F1, Imola or Portimao for R4!

No way it will be another round in Sochi

 

[Stig's Portuguese Cousin]

25th April would be a PERFECT time to race in Portugal AND even better on the logistics side since it's just on the side of Spain!

 

[Filip Carlén]

I think a lot of people in the future are going to look back at 2020 and think "damn, what a great calendar". I hope F1 sees the potential in "random" races, or at least having some races swapped each year. Like Nurburgring and Hockenheim but on a larger scale. Have a few races that always is the same, like Silverstone, Spa, Monza (and a few other), and have the rest being changeable. It might even make it easier for a track to host a race that way, not having to pay the huge sums to host each year, but every other or third year instead. Oh well, a man can dream...

 

[Blues Fly]

I think a lot of people in the future are going to look back at 2020 and think "damn, what a great calendar". I hope F1 sees the potential in "random" races, or at least having some races swapped each year. Like Nurburgring and Hockenheim but on a larger scale. Have a few races that always is the same, like Silverstone, Spa, Monza (and a few other), and have the rest being changeable. It might even make it easier for a track to host a race that way, not having to pay the huge sums to host each year, but every other or third year instead. Oh well, a man can dream...

Good idea

 

[tigermilk]

I imagine low probability of that schedule coming to fruition. And the circuits this year were very refreshing.