Team's so far in 2021
#1

I blame Neil for this one. He had me thinking with that driver thread, so here is some pointless babbling from me about the teams this year (those whole three races!). 

Mercedes
Being the best team is one thing, but being the best team in dominant way and for almost a decade now, well, that is very impressive. Nothing but respect for this team.
Engine is just the best, no doubt about it.
Chassis is great and as a package this is just a beautiful machine. Although still the best, this year seems Red Bull finally got very close and maybe at some tracks it could be Mercedes does not have the fastest car.
Very solid at strategy, rarely a misjudgement there. Pitstops are fast as well. Everything is very accurate, clinical even. How do they call it Mornini, German precision?
Just very, very good. Hate the stupid underdog role they always try to take…
 
Red Bull
I am not a fan type of guy, but if I have to choose one team it would be Red Bull. They’re bold and fun, but at the same time very ambitious and professional at getting results. Being the second team (or third sometimes, but always top three) as a non-manufacture team deserves respect.
Engine, I can not praise Honda enough for the result they got. Coming from a terrible time at McLaren to were we are now with an excellent and reliable engine is good work. But doing it while already decided to leave the sport next year, hats off for that.
Chassis, some say it is the best out there. I tend to agree, although this car seems pretty hard to drive for the drivers. But when they can control it, its mighty fast.
Strategy is good and they really give Mercedes a run for its money this year. I can’t always follow them, but afterwards they show me why I am not in F1 and they were a step ahead of me. Hope with Perez settling in we get more two vs two strategy fights in the front. Red Bull is the very best with pitstops. They made it an art almost. Impressive.
Very close to Mercedes, hopefully at some races better.
 
Ferrari
Well, the most iconic team in the sport. You love them or hate them and even if you hate them, secretly you want to see that red flying on track. To bad they messed up with the cheating (yes, they cheated!) in 2019 and had a huge falling back in power last year. This year they are much better. Still not close to were they belong, in the top three, but they will get there.
Engine is still a work in progress. Maybe slowest on the track even.
Chassis seems pretty decent this year. I have noticed how good these cars are in slow corners. Shame about the terrible paint job…
Strategy, now that is something Ferrari seems to mess up a lot. I don’t know why, but they often act like there is no real control or leadership. They just decide what to do on the fly. In the pitstops I see them do the same.
Think they are in a very close battle being the fourth team this year. Hope they keep it up and are back in the top three in the near future.
 
McLaren
Fantastic what they’re doing. These guys really showing some passion for the sport. Got to love McLaren.
With the Mercedes engine they have a beauty in the back.
Chassis, I think they have a great chassis and it shows during the weekends. Fast overall and very good with tyres. But I do wonder why Ricciardo struggles so much with this car, is it difficult to learn?
This team does good in every department, including the strategy. Dares to take some bold and/or different choices to see if a gamble pays off. I like it. Fast with the pitstops as well.
These guys are definitely the third team this year. If Ricciardo finally gets on the level of Norris, were he belongs in my opinion, than they are very hard to beat and even a regular treat for the top two teams (at least at qualifying).
 
Alpine
These guys have high ambitions as a manufacture team, but have long road ahead I think.
The inhouse engine is better than it shows I think. It certainly is more reliable than in the past it seems (almost couldn’t be worst though).
Chassis is a bit different and not all that great I believe and the package engine-chassis should have much more potential.
Strategy. With the changing of leadership they probably did good. Not sure if Alonso is a great help in there, but they seem to be better than last year.
Overall they making little steps forward. Think it will differ per track how they achieve.
 
AlphaTauri
Another team I like. As a B-team, they are very ambitious and gritty.
Engine is the admirable Honda and I do believe this team deserves some credit since they worked with Honda before the big team took over.
Their chassis is interesting. Being this b-team, they seem to have a great chassis and that car is showing to be very fast. Nice to have these guys in the midfield fight, although Tsunoda needs to get better or get replaced. Learning is one thing, but the difference with Gasly is too big.
In strategy they tend to look for different choices, hoping to profit from unforeseeable things. This hasn’t worked out that great so far. Pit stops are decent normally.
Just a good team, wonder about how independent they are from Red Bull.
 
Aston Martin
Well, well, well. What can I say? With loosing the pink, this baby Mercedes lost a lot more.
Engine, I will not repeat my babble to much here.
Chassis, could they mess up that much when decided to adjust parts by themselves and not copy the 2020 Mercedes? Are they that bad at ruining a good car?
Strategy, I am not sure as well were they stand. Not that impressive.
Just a disappointment this year.
 
Alfa Romeo
This team seems to be were it suppose to be. Just like the other Alpha team, it is the b-team of another.
Engine, see Ferrari.
Chassis, I really don’t know. This team always flies under my radar.
Strategy idem dito.
Just some team in the back field, pretty solid at that spot.
 
Williams
Like it or not that the family sold the team, it needed to be done. New owner, lets hope they can bring this team more up in the field.
Engine see Mercedes.
Chassis is showing progress, so I hope they keep this up.
Strategy wise they do what they can. Nice to see that with an excellent driver they manage to show up in the mid field so now and then.
I wonder about their role towards Mercedes. Is it a real b-team, will they change the name to something with Alfa/Alpha in it?
 
Haas
This team seems to be lost. Gave up this year for sure, just hope they don’t give up completely. Or in that case I hope a new owner will step up, not being Mazapin’s dad…
No need to go any further into this team, they already have the wooden spoon.



And if you don't want to read all this text I totally get that. After typing it down I wondered myself why I did this...

Got to have a 27B-6.
[+] 4 users Like Antilochos's post
Reply
#2

Nice write up Anti.

"You live more for 5 minutes going fast on a bike than other people do in all of their life"....Marco Simoncelli
[+] 3 users Like forzaferrari's post
Reply
#3

Great post Anti

I absolutely hate Red Bull but I agree with your analysis Anti. To my mind they absolutely have the best chassis I think if they ever got to have a Mercedes engine in that car it would be world domination!!!!

Aston Martin have gone backwards at a rate of knots since VJ sold the team. Under him they were massive over achievers, hard to see what new ownership has brought to the team other than substandard drivers and a horrible plan of copying Mercedes car without (I assume) knowing in the ins and outs of the design philosophy.

Alpine or Renault as I prefer to call them are a huge disappointment to me in F1. The engine has got better and may not be too far behind the Mercedes but the whole package does not look even close to being up there and I doubt it ever will.

Haas. I question how much longer they will be in the sport. I do not believe Haas's claim that they are actually making money in F1. I fully expect them to be sold in the next 2/3 seasons.

Williams I just hope they make more progress its painful to watch the team I followed so closely in the 1980's as an Englishman struggle so much. Their history alone in F1 is legendary.

Finally a shout out for Honda, from Fernando Alonso continual bitching (which in my opinion McLaren did not handle well he should have been put in place and told to shut up - I lost a lot of respect for him in that period) to where they are now is fantastic and its sad they are leaving the sport. For all the darts Horner throws at Mercedes its not stopped him and Red Bull bringing on board high level staff from Mercedes. They full well know what a magnificent engine Mercedes have built and I will be brutally honest here I want them to fall flat on their face. Yes, bad for the sport I guess but the ego's and arrogance of that team is just too much for me.
[+] 2 users Like NeilP's post
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)