Formula One 2021 season preview

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team

Team partners & suppliers

Daimler, Petronas, Ineos, UBS, AMG, Epson, Crowdstrike, Hewlett Packard, IWC Schaffhausen, Marriott, AMD, Monster Energy, Pure Storage, Tommy Hilfiger, Tibco, Bose, Belstaff, Puma, OZ Racing, Endless, Axalta & Pirelli.

Team Principal & Drivers

Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton

Valtteri Bottas

What can be said about the team from Brackley? They have dominated Formula One throughout the hybrid era, winning seven consecutive driver and constructer championships. Lewis Hamilton winning six himself.

Valtteri Bottas is improving with each season, threatening to break the stronghold Lewis Hamilton has on the drivers’ championship, but he is now watching over his shoulder at George Russell, following his cameo in a Mercedes when Lewis caught Covid. If Valtteri doesn’t perform then I can see a mid-season change, perhaps even a swap with Williams. Valtteri is such a nice guy that even though I am British and would love to see George Russell in a winning car, I don’t want to see Valtteri fail.

The Mercedes Car looks sweet as usual, no surprises there. The silver arrow remains black this season following last seasons focus on the Black Lives Matter movement. Rightly so, the sport needs to become more diverse, just as every sport does, not only sport as every part of our lives needs to become more inclusive.

The fact that we were able to attract INEOS as an investor shows that we have a strong business case and that F1 continues to be a highly attractive platform for big brands and companies.

Toto Wolff
Team Principal & CEO of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Will Mercedes continue to dominate until the big reset in 2022? Yes, I think they probably will. They’ve had Red Bull edging closer and closer in each of the last seven seasons, but they have always found a way to claw those few extra tenths somehow.

With a load of downforce taken away and new Pirelli tyres designed to slow teams down (which I have never understood the logic of, why attempt to slow down the fastest sport in the world, it seems ludicrous to me), Mercedes are confident that they have found ways to make that reduction in downforce minimal.

The big question is have the other teams found a way to beat the regulations and then gain some? Well if they have, that is the only way I can see Mercedes relinquishing that top spot. My prediction is that Lewis Hamilton will go on to win his 8th world title and be the stand-alone champion of Formula One history, Valtteri will start the season brightly but will tail off mid-season, leading to a swap with George Russell. Then people will be saying, “If only George had started the season at Mercedes, he would have run Hamilton closer.” Now that is all a bold prediction given that I haven’t seen the cars hit the tarmac yet.




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