At first look, 2021 is not the most optimistic of years for the Swiss team. The more time goes on both ends of the driver lineup have less of a threat, and one is young, with the carryover of a car that is far from groundbreaking.
The main aim of this season will be to put the team in the best possible place to make progress when the rule changes come into play come 2022. Especially with the sliding scale of wind tunnel research you can do which is likely to be favouring Alfa Romeo based off of 2020 results.
A tactic seen in other sports, such as the NFL, is ‘tanking’. This is where the team will perform badly on purpose to try and get better circumstances for the seasons following.
As better wind tunnel time comes with finishing further down the field along with the fact both Williams and Haas are looking to make progress this season and Alfa Romeo have been very quiet, the idea of almost writing off 2021 seems painfully more likely than it should be.
Kimi Raikkonen is without a doubt a fan favourite within the sport no matter what team he is at. On saying this, the soon to be 42 year old come the end of the season is very unlikely to come back after this season with the massive rule changes coming into play.
Along with the the long line of Ferrari junior drivers waiting to come into the sport the changing from one era to another just looks too simple to no take as soon as it comes.
Antonio Giovinazzi is someone who is under all the pressure at Alfa Romeo. After not really doing anything of note in his first few ventures into F1 it is very fair to say he has to really outperform his teammate in order to keep his seat for the future or the cut throat nature of the sport will grab hold of its next victim.
Looking at 2021 as a whole, Alfa Romeo cannot be looking further forward than getting eighth in the constructors championship. Whether they would want to do that is another question.
If they are fully focused on getting the best they can out of 2022 and bounce back in the new era, a few questionable strategy decisions could be deployed that worsens the teams fortunes for this season to better them in the future.
Eighth would be the ideal, but the optimism over what Williams are rebuilding makes it difficult not to believe that Haas and Alfa Romeo will be battling over the bottom spot. Unless, Ferrari sort out their engine.
Sports Insider by Gerren Scapens 