F1 pre-season testing - five things to expect

Pre-season Testing

F1 pre-season testing - five things to expect

Formula 1 will complete a single three-day test

Sam Hall

Thursday 11 March 2021 08:13

Formula 1 pre-season testing will be completed over a single three-day period this year in Bahrain and despite the huge carryover of parts from last season, there is plenty for you to keep an eye on.

It is very easy to get carried away with thinking the cars on track will simply be slightly modified versions of the machinery seen last year but, for most teams, this is far from true.

Yes, larger components such as the suspension and nose are subject to homologation and the spending of limited 'development tokens' but the finer details remain free for teams to tinker with.

Without further ado, here are five things you can expect from pre-season testing.

5. #WeSayNoToMazepin

Sorry, but we have to get this one out of the way immediately.

Just days after being announced as a Haas driver for the coming season in December, Mazepin sparked fury on social media when a video was posted to his Instagram account of him groping the breast of a female friend.

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Formula 1 and the FIA have trusted Haas to appropriately deal with the matter internally and Mazepin has since accepted "full responsibility" for his "huge mistake".

There remains, however, a large amount of ill-feeling towards the Russian as neither team nor driver has been willing to divulge any details with regard to the repercussions or his re-education.

Mazepin is keen to now do his talking on the track - in a car that features a livery seemingly heavily inspired by the Russian flag.

That is something the World Anti-Doping Agency is currently looking into as a ruling makes it illegal for the flag, national symbols or emblems to be displayed in competition.

4. Aerodynamic adaptations

The heavy aerodynamic changes may be coming next year - more on those later - but there are still alterations that have been made for this year to reduce downforce levels.

Changes include the removal of a large portion of the floor in front of the rear tyres and the shrinking of winglets on the rear brake ducts along with other minor tweaks.

It is expected these changes will lead to the cars running at 2019 levels of downforce, so the race over the winter to recover the deficit has been frenetic and will continue to be so over the coming weeks and months.

The solutions on display at this stage will be interesting to see.