2021 Formula One World Championship
The 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship is a planned motor racing championship for Formula One cars which will be the 72nd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship is due to be contested over a series of races, or Grands Prix, held around the world. Drivers and teams are scheduled to compete for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion respectively.
Entries
The following teams and drivers are currently under contract to compete in the 2021 World Championship. All teams will compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Each team is required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.Team changes
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. 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.Driver changes
is set to leave Ferrari at the end of the championship. The four-time World Drivers' Champion will have raced for the team for six seasons. Vettel's seat will be taken by Carlos Sainz Jr., who will leave McLaren. Daniel Ricciardo is due to move from Renault to McLaren where he will replace Sainz. Ricciardo is due to be replaced by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who returns for a third stint with Renault having last raced in for McLaren.List of planned races
The following eighteen Grands Prix are under contract to be held as part of the 2021 World Championship:| Grand Prix | Circuit | Ref. |
| Abu Dhabi Grand Prix |  Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi | |
| Australian Grand Prix |  Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne | |
| Azerbaijan Grand Prix |  Baku City Circuit, Baku | |
| Bahrain Grand Prix |  Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir | |
| Belgian Grand Prix |  Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot | |
| British Grand Prix |  Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | |
| Canadian Grand Prix |  Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montréal | |
| Dutch Grand Prix |  Circuit Zandvoort, Zandvoort | |
| French Grand Prix |  Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet | |
| Hungarian Grand Prix |  Hungaroring, Mogyoród | |
| Italian Grand Prix |  Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza | |
| Japanese Grand Prix |  Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka | |
| Mexico City Grand Prix |  Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City | |
| Monaco Grand Prix |  Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo | |
| Russian Grand Prix |  Sochi Autodrom, Sochi | |
| Singapore Grand Prix |  Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore | |
| United States Grand Prix |  Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas | |
| Vietnamese Grand Prix |  Hanoi Street Circuit, Hanoi |
The following ten races are under contract to run in 2020, but not for 2021:
| Grand Prix | Circuit | Ref. |
| 70th Anniversary Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | |
| Austrian Grand Prix |  Red Bull Ring, Spielberg | |
| Brazilian Grand Prix |  Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo | |
| Chinese Grand Prix |  Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai | |
| Eifel Grand Prix |  Nürburgring, Nürburg | |
| Emilia Romagna Grand Prix | Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola | |
| Portuguese Grand Prix |  Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão | |
| Spanish Grand Prix |  Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona | |
| Styrian Grand Prix | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg | |
| Tuscan Grand Prix | Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, Scarperia e San Piero |
Calendar expansion and changes
, 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. The sporting regulations were amended to allow for a maximum of twenty-five Grands Prix per year.- The Dutch Grand Prix is due to be revived, with the race scheduled to take place at the Circuit Zandvoort. The race will mark the first time the Dutch Grand Prix has been run since. The Dutch Grand Prix had been included on the calendar, but was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Liberty Media was reported to have signed an agreement to host a second race in the United States. When a proposal for a race around Downtown Miami and Dodge Island was rejected, a circuit around Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens was named as the preferred venue. 2021 was put forward as the earliest date for the race.
- Organisers of a proposed event in Rio de Janeiro announced plans to bid for the rights to host the Brazilian Grand Prix. Under the proposal, the race would move from the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo to the Rio MotorPark, a brand-new circuit to be built for the event.
- The Azerbaijan, Monaco and Singapore Grands Prix are due to return to the calendar. These races were initially postponed, but were ultimately removed from the re-issued 2020 schedule because of the logistical difficulties associated with establishing a street circuit on short notice.
- The Australian, Canadian, French, Japanese, Mexico City and United States Grands Prix are also due to return. The 2020 races were cancelled because of the pandemic.
- The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit, the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Imola Circuit, the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Portimão Circuit, the Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring and the Tuscan Grand Prix at the Mugello Circuit are not included in the list of 2021 planned races. These Grands Prix, except the Portuguese Grand Prix, and the Eifel Grand Prix, were specifically named in this way for the 2020 calendar to allow tracks and countries to hold multiple races in the season.
Regulation changes
Financial regulation
The championship is due to introduce a budget cap, with teams limited to spending a maximum of $145 million per year. Teams will be required to use more commercially available materials and to submit their annual expenditure. 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. Formula One managing director Ross Brawn stated that the sport's intention is to reduce the budget cap further in the coming years.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. 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. The cap will only apply to expenditure related to car performance, which will remain in place until 2026. 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.
Technical regulations
Teams will enter the cars they used in the championship. This requirement was introduced to ease financial pressures on teams brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. McLaren were given permission to modify their car to accommodate the switch from Renault to Mercedes engines, which prompted the FIA to introduce a token system. Under the system, teams will be given a series of tokens which can be exchanged for the introduction of chassis upgrades. This allows for some development of the car year by year, but prevents teams for introducing an entirely new car.The "Dual-Axis Steering" system developed by Mercedes in 2020 will be banned in 2021. The dual-axis steering system allowed the driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel.
Sporting regulations
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.Race weekend structure
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 3 instead of qualifying, further restricting teams and drivers making major changes to setups ahead of the race.