The raging F1 battle of 2021 almost too close to be named

The battle between Mercedes and Red Bull for victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix dominated the Formula 1 headlines, but another fascinating battle is looming right behind it.

The battle for midfield supremacy has been one of the most intriguing storylines seen over the past year. Based on the first race in Bahrain, it looks like we can face an even more intense battle this season.

While the opening round gave a glimpse into the state of the competition for 2021, trying to form a full pecking order is an especially difficult task as the field is covered in hundredths of a second.

Here are the team’s verdicts on where the midfield mix is ​​and where the second round of the season is going this weekend in Imola …

McLaren is at the top of the queue

McLaren took both cars home on the points, with Lando Norris starring on the way to a brilliant fourth place, while new signing Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh despite losing a significant performance due to premature damage to his floor.

The result – which suggests that McLaren has closed the gap to the front runners since last year – enthusiastic team boss Andreas Seidl and is a great encouragement for everyone in Woking as the British squad want to maintain their position as the third best team this year.

On the subject of matching items

But Seidl also warned that more races would be needed to paint a more definitive picture of the competition order.

“I think we just have to wait for more tracks with different characteristics, different environmental conditions and different tire choices to see if there is some kind of trend,” he said.

“I think what is also clear is the cars around us, the cars we fought with, they have also made good progress compared to last year and the fight is back within a few tenths of a second.

“This also means that you can quickly swing for strengths or weaknesses of one car or another, depending on some characteristics of the tracks or the environmental conditions.

On the subject of matching items

“It’s very tight and we just have to make sure we move on and both analyze the package and understand that we need to get more out of it.

“Then we have to keep the car up to date in the next races to make sure we keep track of this fight.”

Ferrari improved, but still lacked in all areas.

Ferrari showed a marked improvement in Bahrain as it appears to be recovering from its worst F1 season in over four decades. Charles Leclerc turned heads with a breathtaking qualifying lap and finished fourth on the grid.

While the Monegasque lacked the ultimate racing pace of its rivals, he and his teammate Carlos Sainz were hugely encouraged by how close Ferrari was to McLaren at the season opener on their way to P6 and P8 respectively.

Bahrain gave an early hint that the famous McLaren-Ferrari rivalry could be renewed this year despite Scuderia team principal Mattia Binotto downplaying the Italian team’s start. Binotto admitted that he was relieved that Ferrari had made significant gains compared to last year, but emphasized that the team with its updated SF21 is still missing “in all areas”.

“It’s important that the team stay calm and positive,” he added. “It’s important to see that the car has made progress and that the team is in a serenity where we can work better.

“It’s not just the engine – [it’s also] Chassis, drag, aero, correlation. How much is removed from the aggregate is difficult to say as everything is relative to the competition, it is not an absolute value and I do not know the progress of the others. Again, we just have to assess the entire package. “

AlphaTauri fast but looking for consistency

AlphaTauri’s impressive performance in testing led to the inaugural race in Bahrain and showed that the Faenza-based team could be the surprise package of 2021.

Pierre Gasly secured a strong fifth on the grid but his race was ruined by an early crash with Ricciardo’s McLaren, meaning AlphaTauri’s hopes of a points race were based on rookie Yuki Tsunoda.

While the 20-year-old Japanese racing driver didn’t join his teammate on medium-duty tires in the third quarter and was disappointed to qualify only for 13th place, he showed a noticeable performance in the race when he finished ninth on his F1 debut Fought for place with an entertaining and combative presentation.

AlphaTauri left Bahrain confident that it has a strong car and is well in the midfield. The goal is now to complete the remaining 22 races consistently after some dramatic form fluctuations in 2020.

“We seem to be in that mix again this year, but we also got into the mix with a rookie driver,” said Jody Egginton, AlphaTauri’s technical director. “So it looks like everything we do allows him to respond quickly.

“Then we have to see if we are more consistent. I was happy with the pace of the car last year, but there were some events where we went home happy and others where we went home a bit pissed off.

“So let’s try to minimize that. And you have to minimize that in midfield because it’s so tight that you lose points and everyone steals points from everyone.

“We scored a lot of points last year and finished seventh. I think that’s proof of how tight that is. The key to this is to understand our car, its strengths and weaknesses and what makes it tick. “

Alpine are lagging behind Alfa

Alpine was arguably the biggest disappointment at the Bahrain GP as the team’s new A521 was off pace compared to its rivals, although returning two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso impressed – especially in qualifying – although he admitted he hadn’t hit 100% yet to have “.

It’s been a pointless weekend for the renamed French squad, with a faulty sandwich bag triggering a bizarre resignation from Alonso, while Esteban Ocon’s race was effectively ruined after being awkwardly rammed by Sebastian Vettel.

In response, Alpine will bring a major upgrade to its car in Imola in 2021.

“They clearly have Red Bull up front and Mercedes not very far [behind]”Said team boss Marcin Budkowski about the pecking order.

“Behind that you have McLaren who was strong, AlphaTauri was strong, Ferrari was strong – a bit stronger than we expected. Then there we are, there is Aston Martin … so that’s the grid if you want.

“I think this group with McLaren, with Ferrari, with AlphaTauri, with us and Aston Martin and even with Alfa Romeo wasn’t far either, this group is very, very close. It’s almost like P5 and P6 to P16 – it will be tight, circuit to circuit, conditions to conditions, it will be variable.

“Our goal is to be in front, not back, and right now we’re somewhere in the middle and we only have a few tenths to be in front. The midfield will be very, very competitive all season. “

Aston Martin has “rude awakening”

Along with Mercedes, Aston Martin appears to have been hurt the most by the changes in aerodynamic regulations in 2021 as it has a low-rake philosophy.

The Silverstone-based team finished 2020 with the third fastest car and had high hopes of continuing that form this season. In Bahrain, the renamed team had problems compared to its rivals.

Lance Stroll scored Aston Martin’s only P10 points, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel made a nightmare debut, finishing in 15th place after receiving a 10-second time penalty for ramming Ocon.

Aston Martin team principal and CEO Otmar Szafnauer admitted that his team had suffered a “rude awakening” in Bahrain.

“I think the rude awakening happened in qualifying when, after analyzing the data, we found that the regulations and Aero Reg changes made the low rake cars much more handicapped, so we expected a tough race but there are some positive results. ” of it, ”said Szafnauer.

“On the soft and medium tires, we looked pretty competitive in midfield, overtaking some of our competitors and catching some of the others. We struggled a bit with the hard tire in the end and we have to understand that.

“We are a little more competitive in race conditions than on a lap, but we still have a lot to do compared to a few months ago before the regulations were changed.”