The Formula 1 season opener on Sunday in Bahrain (4 p.m., live on ORF1) will take place without ex-world champion Sebastian Vettel. The Aston Martin driver delivered a positive corona test and will be replaced in Sakhir by his German compatriot Nico Hülkenberg.
Hülkenberg, meanwhile actually an expert at ServusTV, contested his last races in Formula 1 in the 2020 season. Even then he came to Racing Point for two assignments as a substitute due to Covid 19 diseases: In Silverstone he replaced Sergio Perez, on the Nürburgring Lance Stroll. The 34-year-old Hülkenberg was appointed reserve driver by Aston Martin in the previous season and is now the first choice in this function after Vettel’s failure.
Before Vettel, McLaren driver Daniel Ricciardo had already been hit in Bahrain. Although the Australian missed last weekend’s tests, he was given the go-ahead for the race weekend after two tests had failed.
Start of a new era
Today’s practice session will see the teams’ true performance for the first time, allowing the new cars to be compared to their predecessors. “I’m excited that we can now turn our attention to racing. It’s a completely new era for the sport, anything can happen,” said world champion Max Verstappen.
In order to promote balance, the makers of Formula 1 have opted for completely new aerodynamic regulations. The underbody now generates the main part of the downforce, around the rear of the car there should no longer be any air turbulence (“dirty air”) that disturbs the person behind. “The focus is to bring the field closer together and make it easier to drive one behind the other. I hope we’ll see that in the first race,” said the Red Bull driver.
“Everything is new, so there are a lot of unknowns ahead of the first race of the season. I’m looking forward to seeing where we are in qualifying on Saturday compared to the rest of the field,” said the Dutchman.
Source: Nachrichten
