Formula 1: Two-round, 10-team 2021 mock draft

Red Bull – Round 2, Pick 9 (Pick 19 overall): Kimi Raikkonen

Red Bull shore up their driver lineup by taking Formula 1’s all-time most experienced driver and active elder statesman Kimi Raikkonen, who is more than two years older than any other driver who currently competes in the sport.

He drops to #19 because it is obvious that he won’t be around forever (or maybe he will?), but the team get good value here in that they can rely on him to bring the car home in one piece, to get the most out of it, and to provide reliable data and feedback to not only better the team as a whole but to mentor their first round pick, Pierre Gasly.

That could prove paramount in the long run after Gasly struggled in his real-life Red Bull debut in 2019, getting absolutely obliterated by Max Verstappen and then demoted during the season.

Mercedes – Round 2, Pick 10 (Pick 20 overall): Nikita Mazepin

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By definition, Mercedes make Nikita Mazepin “Mr. Irrelevant” by taking him with the last pick of the draft. But Mazepin has been anything but “irrelevant” throughout his racing career thus far. The problem is that this stems primarily from his struggles to control himself away from the track.

With billionaire father Dmitry funding his career, Mazepin hasn’t had to worry much about any of the things that have gotten him in hot water with the media and the sport’s fanbase. But this past offseason, that started to catch up to him a bit, and he needed to be reeled in more so than he had been in the past.

He didn’t have a ton of success on his ladder up to Formula 1, but two wins in his second Formula 2 season showed that there is potential. If he can get it together off the track, he may just prove his father’s hefty investment worthwhile.

And despite a rocky start on the track as well, he seems to have a better grip on what it takes to drive a Formula 1 car as well.

Do you agree with our list? Who would you draft to your Formula 1 team if given the opportunity to do so in a two-round, 10-team draft?