There’s this palpable excitement that I get this time of year: Formula 1 is almost back. If you get excited about when pitchers and catchers report to camp, I get excited over F1 pre-season testing. Here are five things I’m looking for with this coming season.

The new season is quickly approaching and many driver and team changes are occurring in the F1 lineup 2021. Let’s run through the F1 2021 teams and their drivers competing this year. We’ll go in the order they finished the 2020 season

The new F1 season is nearly here. 2021 F1 testing was reduced from two sessions of three days each, to only one session of three days. With the 2021 regulations receiving only minor tweaks the cars will be minor evolutions from 2020 and teams should be very familiar with their operation. The season’s only test session has freshly concluded and here’s what we saw:

You’re hosting a holiday party and in walks the guest of honor: a Formula 1 driver! It’s any F1 fan’s dream. But out of the 20 F1 drivers, only one can make it to your holiday gathering. If you had to choose, who would you invite to a holiday dinner party? At CMC Motorsports®, we attempted to answer this tough question and also tossed a few Formula 1 gift ideas in with our top choices, just in case we can’t get the actual athletes to come over… this year.

Every year during the F1 season when the championships seem about wrapped up (let’s face it, nobody’s catching Lewis and Mercedes), attention turns to next year and, in particular, who is driving for whom on the Formula One team list. Let’s break down what we know about F1 2021 teams and drivers so far, starting with the straightforward teams:

Niki Lauda may be best known for his championship run in the Formula 1 1976 season against James Hunt. With one driver’s title under his belt and in the lead for his second, he drove for Ferrari against Hunt in the McLaren. In August of 1976 at the Nurburgring Lauda suffered a crash on the second lap. With his car in flames, he was trapped by his seat belts. Other drivers rescued him from the wreckage, but not before suffering massive burns and inhaling the toxic fumes.

There. I said it. The purists are already firing up the torches and sharpening their pitchforks. But, hear me out.

The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the site of the Italian Grand Prix, 2020. Monza is commonly called The Temple of Speed because it is here where the pinnacle of motorsport - Formula 1 - achieves its top speeds. Cars will be near 350 kph (218 mph) at the end of the main straight.

Ayrton Senna is universally recognized as one of the greatest Formula 1 drivers the world has seen. Unfortunately, his life was cut short in 1994 at the San Marino Grand Prix.

The numbers that describe British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton are incredible: 6 championship titles. 92 pole positions. Most wins at a single Grand Prix. Most wins at a home Grand Prix. 14 consecutive seasons with at least 1 race win. These numbers will surely increase and the records will get ever more impressive. 

Speed in Formula 1 is a relative comparison. You can go just as fast as you were the prior weekend, but if other teams are lapping faster, you are now, relatively, slower. There are also a few key things that affect Formula One speed that every team must consider to get the fastest car they can, but it really all comes down to money.

Perhaps you’re curious about the globe-trotting Formula 1 event circus and want to check out a race. Or you’ve heard about Lewis Hamilton and would like to see why he’s so amazing. Awesome - you’re in the right place to learn how to watch formula 1 racing, and hopefully your first race won’t be your last.