Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Formula 1: Way-too-early 2021 driver lineup prediction

By Asher Fair

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 17: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 and Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR14 Honda at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 17, 2019 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 17: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads Alexander Albon of Thailand driving the (23) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 and Pierre Gasly of France driving the (10) Scuderia Toro Rosso STR14 Honda at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 17, 2019 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 6
Next
HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY – JULY 28: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
HOCKENHEIM, GERMANY – JULY 28: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W10 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images) /

Way-too-early 2021 Formula 1 driver lineup

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton

With Max Verstappen set to stay at Red Bull Racing through at least the 2023 season amid rumors that he would leave the team for Mercedes if Honda could not improve enough in their second season powering the Milton Keynes-based team, Lewis Hamilton will be favored to return to Mercedes, even amid rumors that he will leave for Ferrari. The only thing that would change this likelihood is if Mercedes walk away from the sport as a constructor, which has been rumored. With that being said, despite the fact that Mercedes junior driver George Russell is supposedly tied to Williams through 2021, Mercedes could still have another good option in Russell if Hamilton does leave for Ferrari, discussed in more detail on a later slide. But as of now, he looks set to return.

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas is finally beginning to come into his own at Mercedes, and that showed with a career year in 2019. While there were doubts that he would be back with the team in 2020, the Silver Arrows made the right decision to retain him. CEO and team principal Toto Wolff vowed to make future negotiations smoother for the Finn. Does that mean a long-term future for him, provided Mercedes stick around in 2021, especially considering how great of a teammate he has been for Hamilton and how great of a team player he has been in general over the last three years?

Home/Formula One