HOW RED BULL WON F1 2021 PRE-SEASON TESTING
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And just like that, Formula 1’s 2021 pre-season is over. The three days of action in Bahrain last week comprised the championship’s shortest testing period – a necessary restriction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact and the decision to carry over most of the 2020 car designs. But the post-testing picture in 2021 is wildly different to how it appeared a year ago, mainly at the front of the grid.
In 2020, Mercedes topped the times and looked in full command – other than its reliability dramas – while Red Bull was all over and off the road, and down the order too. In 2021, the exact opposite played out in Bahrain, except that Mercedes still suffered on the reliability front and Red Bull did not. For F1 fans turned off by Mercedes’ metronomic success since 2014, this is a tantalising moment.
F1 has been here before, of course – most recently in 2019, when Ferrari looked in command after testing concluded, only to mess up at the season opener and never regain the initiative. So, it’s important to recognise that this may be another false dawn, and Mercedes’ astounding run of success means it has earned the right not to be quickly written off. But, at the same time, we should note that the 2020 season did play out exactly as testing suggested it would. Last year, Mercedes dominated while Red Bull floundered as it arguably never really solved its handling issues, even though it did improve significantly through a series of aerodynamic updates.
This progress led to Red Bull’s walk-off win in Abu Dhabi and, when testing got under way last Friday, the day-one results
