The new F1 season is nearly upon us with the commencement of testing on the 19th February at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain. This year would see an additional two races in Vietnam and the Zandvoort circuit in Netherlands. Most of the teams have released the details of their car/team launch dates and confirmed their driver line-up. Click here to see the teams car launch dates and venues.
Alfa Romeo
The smaller Italian racing supremo look to build on their last year’s showing (finished 8th) with Antonio Giovinazzi, Kimi Rakionnen and a Ferrari engine carrying on unchanged from last year. Giovinazzi belives he has a chance at a Ferrari seat come 2021 and Robert Kubica has been signed up as a reserve driver following his dismal stint at Williams last year.
Alpha Tauri
The formerly named Toro Rosso would want to make a major push to get closer to their senior team in the Driver and Constructor Championships. The mid 2019 season swap for Pierre Gasly has been confirmed as a permanent fixture for 2020 and alongside the Frenchman would be Daniil Kvyat. No major changes to the team and management structure for the 2020 season has been announced so the assumption is basically the same team from last year.
Ferrari
Ferrari would have their sights on toppling Mercedes from the apex of the F1 championship as anything less would be a disappointing performance. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc are set to challenge for the Drivers’ Championship with Team Principal Mattia Binotto continuing for a consecutive run as the Ferrari Gaffer. Leclerc is signed to the Italian racing outfit till 2024 with Vettel’s future at the team uncertain with speculation of a possible bid for the six-time world champion Hamilton and the Alfa Romeo driver Giovinazzi eyeing a possible move for the seat come 2021.
Haas
The solo American F1 team retain both drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean for the oncoming season despite their on-track chemistry or its lack which have often resulted in disastrous results for the team. The team would be looking to improve on its 2019 campaign with their new VF-20 car.
McLaren
The team look set to build on a much-improved season from last year in which their two drivers: the seasoned Carlos Sainz and rookie Lando Norris were impressive in the opening part of races including a third-place podium for Carlos. The new season would see them trying to make improvements to their gains from last year with their MCL35.
Mercedes
The silver arrows have showed brief teases of their new car: The W11 and retain their driver line ups of Lewis Hamilton and Valterri Bottas with the former looking to match Michael Schumacher’s Seven World Championships which is looking like a foregone conclusion unless Ferrari throws a spanner in those plans. The team are reporting minor issues with the car development but indicate they would be ready for testing with three cars ready to go.
Racing Point
A consortium led by the team principal Lawrence Stroll has recently purchased a 16.7% stake in Aston Martin and the team is set to be the Aston Martin F1 works team from the 2021 season which would likely mean an end to the Aston Martin and Red Bull partnership. The driver line-ups are confirmed with Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll holding onto their seats for the season.
Red Bull
The team are set to place their future on the fortunes of Max Verstappen as the driver has been signed for a further four years and Alex Albion is set to continue as the No.2 driver. The team performed consistently last season with Max keeping the top duo of Mercedes and Ferrari on their toes. Verstappen would be looking at becoming the youngest world champion with the RB16 if he displays similar performances from the last campaign.
Renault
Renault announced a series of changes to their aerodynamics group with Pat Fry set to join the team as Technical Director(Chassis) from McLaren. Daniel Ricciardo and new man Esteban Ocon are the drivers for the R.S.20 car. The team would ideally want to regain the lead over McLaren after a sour split which saw the Woking team ditch Renault engines for Honda.
Williams
A dismal 2019 season sees the team pulling the cord on the Kubica experiment. Nicholas Latifi would be joining the driver lineup with George Russell behind the wheels of the FW34. The team also announced a couple of changes to their technical team with Jonathan Carter from Renault and Dave Worner from Red Bull as Deputy Chief Designer and Chief Designer respectively. This move confirms the team is set to try and challenge for a spot in the midfield again.
Automotive Britannia 