BERLIN: Nico Rosberg, himself the son of a former world champion, has warned Mick Schumacher to expect huge media attention when he makes his Formula One debut next week to follow in the footsteps of his father Michael Schumacher. “It’s not easy to be the ‘son of’. And with Mick, it is 10 times more difficult, because Michael’s era was not so long ago and he was much more successful,” Rosberg, 35, told website Sport1. Mick Schumacher, who turns 22 on Monday, makes his Grand Prix debut for American team Haas at the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 28. After winning the Formula Three European championships in 2018 and then the Formula Two title in 2020, Schumacher junior made the step up to Formula One this season. The German carries one of the most famous surnames in motorsport as the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who has not been seen in public since suffering brain injuries in a skiing accident in 2013. To add to the pressure, Michael Schumacher won the Bahrain Grand Prix in its inaugural Formula One race in 2004. Schumacher senior went on to win 91 races for Benetton and Ferrari, with five of his world titles coming in the famous red colours of the Italian marque. Britain’s Lewis Hamilton only surpassed Schumacher’s total of race wins last year with the Mercedes driver bidding to capture an unprecedented eighth world title this season. Rosberg, 35, retired after being crowned 2016 Formula One world champion, 34 years after his father Keke achieved the feat. Nico Rosberg predicts Schumacher will have to reckon with media attention in his first year of Formula One that will “probably be even greater than Lewis Hamilton” experienced. “I hope Mick can put that aside and concentrate well on his job because otherwise it takes a lot of the fun away.” If the media does not give him time to settle in Formula One, Mick Schumacher “has to take it himself”, advises Rosberg. “You need time and patience. After all, I had to wait seven years to win my first race and 11 years to win the (Formula One world) title. “You have to keep that in mind if you want to rate Mick this year.”
The 2021 Formula One season will be the 72nd year of the Formula One World Championship and it will have 23 Grand Prix held around the world where the drivers and teams will compete for the World Drivers’ Champion and World Constructors’ Champion, respectively.
This year’s calendar consists of twenty-three races, considering the reinstatement of the suspended Sao Paulo Grand Prix contract and of course, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which hampered the championship in a big way last season. The first race of the season is set to be the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on March 28 and the last is supposed to be the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
There have been some changes to teams too, with McLaren moving to a Mercedes engine from Renault. Team name changes include Racing Point becoming Aston Martin and Renault will now be known as Alpine.
With loads of team and driver changes, we take a look at the final line-up of the 10 teams and 20 drivers taking part in this year’s competition:
MERCEDES
Lewis Hamilton – 44
Valtteri Bottas – 77
Last year’s constructors champion will continue with the same driver line-up of Britain’s Hamilton and Finland’s Bottas as they chase another successful season at the top. Mercedes won their seventh Constructors’ Championship last year, thus, breaking the record for most consecutive constructors’ championships.
Hamilton won the championship last season, his sixth with Mercedes and seventh overall, while Bottas came second.
RED BULL
Max Verstappen – 33
Sergio Perez – 11
Red Bull finished second last year in the constructors championship and will now look to improve on their performance and give Mercedes a run for their money this season. They have made one change in their line-up with Mexico’s Perez coming in place of Alex Albon.
Verstappen was very fast last season and will look to go head-to-head with Mercedes boys again, while Perez, who was dropped by Racing Point, finished fourth behind Max.
FERRARI
Charles Leclerc – 16
Carlos Sainz – 55
Big and bold changes were made by the Italian giants as they decided to let go of their long-serving driver in Sebastian Vettel and pursue with two youngsters in Monaco’s Charles Leclerc and new boy Carlos Sainz of Spain. Ferrari finished a lowly sixth last season.
While Leclerc showed enough promise to lead for Ferrari, he finished eighth last season while Sainz, who was racing for McLaren, was sixth on the charts.
MCLAREN
Daniel Ricciardo – 3
Lando Norris – 4
This will be a fun team to watch with both Ricciardo and Norris being good drivers. McLaren had a sensational season last year and finished third behind Mercedes and Red Bull and will look to do the same with two fast exciting drivers.
Britain’s Norris, who is in his third season in the grid, was ninth last year, while Australia’s Ricciardo was fifth on the driver’s standings.
ASTON MARTIN
Sebastian Vettel – 5
Lance Stroll – 18
Racing as ‘Racing Point’ last year, the rebranded Aston Martin team will look to better their fourth place in this year’s championship. For this, they will have a newly acquired four-time drivers champion from Germany — Sebastian Vettel and Canada’s Stroll.
Vettel, who was with Ferrari last season, had a torrid run and finished 13th, while Stroll was 11th in the standings.
ALPINE
Fernando Alonso – 14
Esteban Ocon – 31
Another rebranded team. Known as Renault last year, they are lining up with the returning two-time world-champion from Spain Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon of France. Alpine finished fifth last year and will look to go up from here instead of staying in the midfield.
Ocon finished 12th last season in the standings, while Alonso is returning to the grid once again after 2 years. He left the grid in 2018.
ALPHATAURI
Pierre Gasly – 10
Yuki Tsunoda – 22
AlphaTauri finished seventh last year and will be represented by France’s Gasly and the young Japanese Tsunoda, who was promoted from Formula 2 by Red Bull.
Gasly finished 10th last season in the standings, while Tsunoda will be having his first season at the top level.
ALFA ROMEO
Kimi Raikkonen – 7
Antonio Giovinazzi – 99
The team based out of Switzerland has made no changes and will be going into the season with the same line-up for the third season in a row. They finished 8th last season.
Finland’s Raikkonen and Italy’s Giovinazzi finished 16th and 17th respectively last season.
HAAS
Nikita Mazepin – 9
Mick Schumacher – 47
Haas, who finished ninth last season, will have more eyes on them because of Mick Schumacher, who is the son of seven-time world champion and F1 legend, Michael Schumacher.
Haas has dropped both their drivers of last season (Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen) and will now go with the Russian Mazepin and German Schumacher — both graduating from Formula 2.
WILLIAMS
Nicholas Latifi – 6
George Russell – 63
Canada’s Latifi and Britain’s Russell will be racing for Williams for the second season in a row, despite them finishing at the bottom of the pile last year.
In the driver’s standings, Latifi was 20th, while Russel finished 18th.
