2021 Formula One World Championship

McLaren announced that they would change from using Renault power units to ones built by Mercedes, resuming the McLaren-Mercedes partnership that ran between 1995 and 2014.[33] Racing Point will become known as Aston Martin. The name change was brought about by the team's part owner Lawrence Stroll investing in the Aston Martin marque.[47] Renault will become known as Alpine, taking on the name of Renault's sportscar brand.[15]

Mick Schumacher is contracted to make his debut with Haas.

Four-time World Drivers' Champion Sebastian Vettel left Ferrari at the end of the 2020 Championship after racing with the team for six seasons.[48] Vettel's seat will be taken by Carlos Sainz Jr., who left McLaren.[25] Daniel Ricciardo moved from Renault to McLaren, where he replaced Sainz.[34] Ricciardo will be replaced by double World Champion Fernando Alonso, who will drive in Alpine's first season, having last raced in 2018 for McLaren.[17]

Vettel is due to move to Aston Martin, where he replaces Sergio Pérez.[22][49] Pérez, who had previously signed a contract to drive for Aston Martin's predessor, Racing Point, until 2022,[50] is due to move to Red Bull Racing where he replaces Alex Albon. Albon is due to be Red Bull Racing's reserve and test driver for the 2021 season.[41] Pérez is set to become the first driver since Mark Webber in 2007 to join the team without being previously a Red Bull Junior Team member.[51]

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, who had raced for Haas since 2016 and 2017 respectively, left the team at the end of 2020.[52] 2020 Formula 2 Champion Mick Schumacher – the son of seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher – is due to take one of the seats at the team,[30] while the other will be filled by Nikita Mazepin, who finished fifth in the Formula 2 Championship.[28][53]

Yuki Tsunoda, who finished third in 2020 Formula 2 Championship, will graduate to Formula One with Scuderia AlphaTauri, replacing Daniil Kvyat. Tsunoda will become the first Japanese Formula One driver since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014.[13]

Liberty Media, the sport's commercial rights holders, announced that there would be scope for the 2021 calendar to expand beyond the planned twenty-two races of the 2020 calendar.[58] The sporting regulations were amended to allow for a maximum of twenty-five Grands Prix per year.[59]

• The Dutch Grand Prix is due to be revived,[60] with the race scheduled to take place at the Circuit Zandvoort.[61][62] The race will mark the first time the Dutch Grand Prix has been run since 1985. The Dutch Grand Prix had been included on the 2020 calendar, but was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[63]
• The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is due to make its debut, with a night race to be held on a temporary circuit in the city of Jeddah.[64] Further plans to move the Grand Prix to Qiddiya in 2023 were also made public.[65][66] The race is scheduled to take place at night, the third venue to host a night race after the Singapore and Bahrain Grands Prix.[lower-alpha 9]
• The Vietnamese Grand Prix would have made its debut, with the race scheduled to take place in the capital Hanoi on the Hanoi Street Circuit. The Vietnamese Grand Prix had been included on the 2020 calendar, but was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[67] The Grand Prix was dropped from the 2021 calendar because of the arrest on corruption charges of a Hanoi's People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Chung, a key official responsible for organising the race.[68]

Further changes to the calendar are planned following the disruption to the 2020 championship brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic:

• The Azerbaijan, Monaco and Singapore Grands Prix return to the calendar.[69][70][71] These Grands Prix were removed from the re-issued 2020 schedule because of the logistical difficulties associated with establishing a street circuit on short notice.[72][73]
• The Australian, Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese, French, Japanese and United States Grands Prix also return.[74][75] The 2020 races, together with the debut of the Mexico City Grand Prix, were cancelled because of the pandemic.[76] The Brazilian Grand Prix will be renamed as the São Paulo Grand Prix in deference to the increased involvement from local government.[77]
• The 70th Anniversary, Eifel, Portuguese, Sakhir, Styrian, Turkish and Tuscan Grands Prix are not included in the list of 2021 planned races. These Grands Prix were specifically introduced into the 2020 calendar in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure that as many races as possible could be held.[78]

Liberty Media was also reported to have come to an agreement in principle with race organisers to host a second race in the United States. Plans to hold the race at a circuit in Miami Gardens were unveiled.[79][80] A second proposal to move the Brazilian Grand Prix from São Paulo to a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro was also suspended.[81]

The original calendar that was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council included the Chinese Grand Prix, which was due to take place on 11 April. However, the event was postponed due to travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, which was originally intended to be a one-off Grand Prix in 2020, was retained in its place. Additionally, the Australian Grand Prix, which had been due to take place on 21 March as the inaugural Grand Prix of the championship, was postponed to 21 November because of the pandemic. The dates for the São Paulo, Saudi Arabian and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix were changed to accommodate this.[57]

The championship is due to introduce a budget cap, with teams limited to spending a maximum of $145 million per year.[84][85][lower-alpha 10] Teams will be required to use more commercially available materials and to submit their annual expenditure.[86] Some teams argued to further reduce the budget cap to $100 million, citing concerns that the long-term financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic threatens the future of as many as four teams.[87][88] Formula One managing director Ross Brawn stated that the sport's intention is to reduce the budget cap further in the coming years.[85]

The value of the budget cap is set for twenty-one races; each additional race increases the budget cap by $1 million, and vice versa: each race removed from the scheduled twenty-one race calendar deducts the budget cap by $1 million.[89] However, the budget cap does not include marketing budget, driver's salary and the salaries of the team's top three executives. There will be additional restrictions put in place dictating how prize money can be spent.[90] The cap will only apply to expenditure related to car performance, which will remain in place until 2026.[89] In the event that a team breaks the financial regulations, the team can be penalised in a combination of three separate ways. For a procedural violation teams will be fined on a case-by-case basis. Teams can be given a range of punishments for exceeding their annual budget which include being deducted championship points, having reduced testing time, a race ban, or—for the most severe cases—disqualification from the championship.[89]

Teams will be limited in what components can be modified for the 2021 season,[91] with this requirement introduced to ease financial pressures on teams brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.[92] However, some changes will be mandated by the FIA, including adjustments to outer floor that are designed to reduce downforce levels.[93] Teams can also apply for special dispensation to make changes, most notably in the case of McLaren who were given permission to modify their car to accommodate the switch from Renault to Mercedes engines.[94] This prompted the FIA to introduce a token system whereby teams will be given a series of tokens which can be exchanged for the introduction of specific component upgrades.[95][96]

The floor of the cars will be 'clipped' in order to reduce downforce for 2021. In 2020 the floor was permitted to run in a straight line from an area adjacent to the cockpit back to a point ahead of the rear tyre. However, from 2021 that point ahead of the tyre will be moved 100 millimetres (3.9 in) inboard, making the floor edge a diagonal line when viewed from above. This change is expected to reduce downforce levels by 5%.[97][98] Further, some slots on the edge of the floor will be removed, brake duct winglets will be narrowed by 40 millimetres (1.6 in) and diffuser fences will be narrowed by 50 millimetres (2.0 in). These three changes are expected to reduce downforce levels by a further 5%, meaning the 2021 regulations will see a total 10% reduction in downforce. However, it is expected that teams will increase downforce by 4–5% over the winter, so the anticipated overall downforce reduction is approximately 5%.[99]

The "dual-axis steering" system developed by Mercedes in 2020 is banned starting from 2021.[100] The dual-axis steering system allows the driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel.[101]

Teams will be required to allow a driver who has competed in fewer than two Grands Prix to replace one of their race drivers in a Friday practice session over the course of the season. Whilst these rules are intended to give a chance to more non-Formula One drivers to test a Formula One car, the wording of this rule means that teams satisfy the requirement if one of their regular drivers is in their rookie season.[102][103]

Following Mercedes' tyre error during the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, where George Russell was given front tyres allocated to Valtteri Bottas during a pit stop, the FIA has adjusted the rules on tyre usage; drivers using mixed compound sets or using sets allocated to another driver on their cars will be permitted to complete two laps before the driver must pit to correct the error before facing a penalty. Under the previous rules, drivers could be disqualified as soon as such error had occurred.[104]

The race time limit for red flagged races will also be reduced from 4 hours to 3 hours.[105]

For the 2021 season the schedule of a race weekend is due to be revised. Under the pre-existing regulations a race weekend spans four days with the Thursday before the race being reserved for media and promotional events and scrutineering; however, under the new regulations all of Thursday's events will be moved to the Friday morning with the times between Friday's activities being reduced. Cars will be under parc fermé conditions following the end of free practice three instead of qualifying, further restricting teams and drivers making major changes to setups ahead of the race.[106] The length of the two Friday practice sessions will be cut from 90 minutes (as had been the case since the 2007 season) to 60 minutes.[107][108]

The 2021 W Series for female drivers has been added to the list of support racing series alongside Formula 2, Formula 3 and Porsche Supercup. The 2021 W Series season will start at Circuit Paul Ricard where it will be a support event for the French Grand Prix in late June and will end in Mexico City in late October, supporting the debut of the Mexico City Grand Prix.[109] Formula 2 and Formula 3 will support Formula One on alternate weekends, rather than the same ones as a cost saving measure.[110]