Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso: Assessing the prospects for 2021 as F1 images begin new eras

Formula 1 expert Mark Hughes is looking forward to big seasons for Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso as the world champions try to rediscover old form with new teams; watch the Bahrain Grand Prix live-only on Sky Sports F1 on March 26-28

There is so much excitement ahead of this season but it is certainly among the most exciting revolving around the prospects of former champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel and how they could answer the question marks around them.

Alonso enters the season with 39-year-old Alpine having been out of F1 for two years. His last grand prix victory was eight years ago.

Thirty-three-year-old Vettel will join his new team Aston Martin after being let down by Ferrari and behind a disastrous season when he was well accomplished by his best friend. his childhood Charles Leclerc.

Their roles are somewhat interconnected – Vettel was hired by Ferrari as Alonso’s replacement, rather than capturing Alonso, who was ignorantly negotiating that the team was deliberately slowing down the process to see if Vettel ‘s release clause from Red Bull would be triggered.

Eventually it was, of course, and Alonso started the second fruitless spell at McLaren.

The recruiter of both Alonso and Vettel to Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, recalled: “Fernando was an outstanding driver, perhaps even the best. But in his comments he conveyed the idea of it would be in Mercedes that he would win every race and that had a huge impact on the team.

“I started thinking back to what Michael was up to [Schumacher] it had always been said about Vettel – that he was the man we should be looking for. “

By the time Vettel arrived there, Montezemolo was gone.

What went wrong for Vettel at Ferrari?

The legend of Schumacher – Vettel’s hero – had always cast a long shadow at Ferrari. In his mind, Vettel was recreating the structure that Michael had enjoyed there, with him at the center of it all, providing direction.

But the Vettel team with which Schumacher had benefited did not have the supportive structure.

Michael was hired on his own terms in 1996 by a troubled team and brought with him his own technical brain confidence in Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne. Brawn, Schumacher and team leader Jean Todt set up a unit that swore to each other not to let their efforts be weakened by the team’s prestigious politics. They came to create an inaccessible shield and worked with complete openness and trust. Because they were all incredibly good at their job and Byrne was one of the most creative technical brains around, they eventually broke every record.

Vettel didn’t go with anything like that in 2015.

The man he hired had been put off by a new, aggressive boss Sergio Marchionne, who had his own vision of how things would be – and it didn’t involve a driver being more greater than an employee. There was no equal Brawn or Todt, no protective shield, or space at the head of the board.

Instead, Vettel was suddenly challenged to prove he deserved the role of chief driver – and that was very much part of Marchionne ‘s plan to merge a young Ferrari Leclerc driver with him.

In the car industry, Marchionne came from you making things by standard. He wanted to celebrate Vettel.

Perhaps the worst way was to be able to get the most out of that particular person. He never saw how it turned out, but it’s hard not to believe that it negatively impacted Vettel’s achievements, thus giving Marchionne’s plan a unique quality of self-fulfillment. at the end of the day.

Vettel ‘very ready’ to reappear at Aston Martin

Vettel comes to Aston Martin behind the back of that brutal experience that proved to him and the world that last year’s Vettel was not a proper reading of his level.

At 33 there is no reason to believe that his physical skills have diminished. It was as far as Suzuka 2019 when he set a strong pole position, going down Leclerc’s chest.

He should be strongly motivated and in the perfect environment – an ambitious young team that wants to make his mark and join him as the experienced leader for leadership. On paper it seems that everything is ready to see the old Vettel quickly reappear.

Will Alonso be the same after F1’s absence?

There was never much doubt about Alonso’s level behind the wheel. His strong competitive spirit and great talent did not diminish even in the four seasons of the 2015-18 McLarens sub-par. And if Stoffel Vandoorne’s hiring in ’17 as Jenson Button’s replacement was ever intended to be Alonso’s criterion, he strongly answered that question by outperforming the high-ranking champion. young GP2 status.

But two years out of F1 and brooding 40 years old, will it be the same? The signs at Abu Dhabi last year suggested that.

After keeping an eye out for his 2005 Renault V10 around the track for what were supposed to be ‘display’ paws on demo tires, it slammed the Q1’s standard lap times. In post-race tests he put down the car at that time a little faster than he had been certified by Esteban Ocon or Daniel Ricciardo.

So the signs are good in terms of its own level of performance. Perhaps the bigger questions are about how competitive the new Alpine could be and how it might respond if he did not expect it.

Roll on the Bahrain Grand Prix where we start to find out the answers.