The circuit Paul Ricard was originally designed as a test circuit, and has thus far proven to be a test of patience for Formula One fans sine its reintroduction to the calendar in 2018, but will it give us some joy as it makes its return to the calendar in 2021?

Well, to put in bluntly, at least the weather tends to be nice in le Castellet. Although, having said that, we did see a couple of excellent battles during the 2019 race, particularly through the chicane into Turn Seven. And what’s more, we might not expect to see Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton utterly dominate this one.

The silver Arrows looked decidedly average two weeks ago in Baku, which is extremely concerning given the powerful nature of a track where we typically expect the champions to thrive – they are perhaps being given their greatest challenge since the beginning of the hybrid era.

And that challenge is coming from Red Bull who, crucially this time around, have both dogs (or bulls) firmly in the fight. Max Verstappen’s previous team mates, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly, were simply left unable to compete with the other frontrunning cars during their unsuccessful tenures with the team, but we have seen a momentum shift with Azerbaijan winner Sergio Perez. The Mexican took the gauntlet to win following Verstappen’s cruel tyre blowout. Part of the reason for the swing of the ultra-fast pendulum has been the form and misfortune of Finn Valtteri Bottas.

It was his turn to give a tow in Baku in qualifying last time, leaving him down in tenth, and he only fell backwards in an immensely disheartening race – he did however finish ahead of Hamilton after the world champion’s massive error on the safety car restart.

So all in all, this is a big race for Mercedes; they need a strong response to what has been a baffling and exasperating last couple of Grands Prix. The lead in the championship remains the same between Verstappen and Hamilton Hamilton coming into this weekend, so it actually may just be an enthralling few days of action with a lot to play for.

Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon enter their home race this weekend, both coming off the back of impressive performances at Baku, with Ocon’s efforts not yielding the results they deserved as he failed to finish after a mechanical failure. Gasly, meanwhile, picked up his third career podium.

In fact, we have seen improvements from a lot of drivers in the midfield – even from Mick Schumacher’s Haas team mate, as drivers begin to settle into new teams.

Daniel Ricciardo, though is another that finds himself in need of a response to team mate Lando Norris’ supreme form. Should he find it this weekend, McLaren will find themselves with a wonderful opportunity to try and put the sword to Ferrari for third in the Constructors’ standings.

This circuit does not always give us the best racing, but with a lot to play for up and down the field, we may witness another cracker for round seven, as F1 returns to where motor racing all began.

749 races, nine Constructors’ titles, and seven world champions after Williams F1 team entered Formula One in 1975, the British team arrive in Monaco for their 750^th World Championship Grand Prix this weekend.

It is a milestone that gloriously coincides with a return to Monaco, following a two-year absence that has felt like an eternity. F1 returning to one of its spiritual homes feels like the beginning of a return to normality, and a glimpse at the vivid light at the end of the tunnel during this Coronavirus pandemic.

Within that, we had to watch as the Williams family said a teary goodbye to their creation, but Williams and racing fans around the globe enter this weekend knowing that, spiritually at least, this is Claire and Frank’s team reaching a tremendous milestone.

McLaren are also feeling the occasion, bringing the iconic Gulf livery to the first race in the Principality since 2019, but what we really care about is how the spectacle will look.

Well it is worth mentioning that just two seconds covered first and twentieth in the opening qualifying session in Spain two weeks ago, and we arrive at a much more condensed 3.3 kilometre circuit this weekend. This makes the need for a good qualifying all the more important, but also making the gaps in the midfield ever more enticing. Williams in particular will therefore be relishing the prospect of closing the gap to some of the teams in front, as they seek points or the first time this campaign.

And as Monaco tends to be rain’s twin as a great equaliser in this weird and wonderful sport, it will provide the opportunity for Aston Martin, Alpha Tauri and, to an extent, Alpine, to recover from a tough start to 2021.

At the front, there have been some developments since Spain. A prohibition on Red Bull’s “bendy wing” opens an intriguing debate as to whether the alteration to the rear wing will adversely affect the Milton Keynes-based outfit, but previous form makes them the favourite in a season that has seen them push Mercedes to the limit thus far.

But Lewis Hamilton’s three wins in Monaco since his arrival into F1 14 years ago make the seven-time champion a stallion that cannot for a second be ruled out of this race, as he goes hunting for his third victory on the bounce in 2021.

McLaren look snazzy, Williams are making history, and the wings this weekend will not be bendy. It is great to see Formula One back in Monaco.

With championship protagonists trying to stamp down their authority and new faces struggling to make an impression, Formula One looks very interesting indeed right now as we head to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix.

It has been an immense back-and-forth battle so far between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen over the course of the first three races, with Hamilton ensuring robustly last race that Verstappen knows he will need a magnificent season to beat the seven-time champion.

Hamilton strongly overtook Verstappen in Portugal on his way to reversing the qualifying deficit to his team mate Valtteri Bottas and claiming Grand Prix victory in the Algarve.

Just to make things a little more exciting, the 4.6 kilometre Spanish track has undergone a change, with turn 10 going deeper and widening the exit. It means that qualifying will become much more significant, with the opportunity for overtaking becoming even more oppressed than before.

It also means that, with a two-stop strategy anticipated, the boffins on the Mercedes and Red Bull pit walls are going to find themselves under enormous pressure. Add in Sergio Perez’s impressive performances to this point for Red Bull, and we are about to find ourselves in an immensely gripping game of chess between two teams that know exactly what it takes to find success in Formula One.

Spain will see Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso strap in for their home race, and they need all the momentum they can get. Sainz fell back out of the points following an impressive qualifying in Portugal, while Alonso needed a resurgence after an incredibly difficult qualifying to finish eighth.

Daniel Ricciardo is still finding his feet at McLaren, and his recovery to the points last weekend scarcely papered over a stuttering start for the Honey Badger at the Woking-based outfit. Given the necessity of strong one-lap pace in Spain, getting knocked out in Q1 cannot be an option for the Australian this weekend; his team mate Lando Norris, by contrast, has made an immaculate start to the campaign, contriving to finish on the podium finish in Imola.

After three races, Spain is the checkpoint e have been looking to as a reference for the title and who will be best of the rest and, if the first three races have been anything to go by, it will still be impossible to call after the chequered flag falls in Barcelona.

Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton came through a tremendously exciting battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Milton Keynes-based team were dealt a rough hand before the race even began, as Mexican driver Sergio Perez, who was eliminated from Q2 yesterday, suffered a problem on the formation lap, and thus was forced to start from the pitlane.

Verstappen led from pole on an opening lap that saw Haas’ number 9 car spin off into the wall on the exit of turn 2. As a result, the Aston Martin safety car made its race debut, as Verstappen began to complain of problems under throttle just two laps into the race.

Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas, who was leapfrogged by Charles Leclerc off the start, managed to etch back ahead of the resurgent Ferrari, as the 2021 season got off to a frenetic start.

The returning Fernando Alonso instantly made some waves, taking full advantage of Aston Martin’s team orders to pass Sebastian Vettel; the German was going long on strategy after a grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags compounded his already-calamitous qualifying. The four-time champion, however, came back at the Spaniard as Alonso’s team mate Carlos Sainz got involved in the battle on his Ferrari debut.

Alonso’s first race back however, ended in retirement just over midway through the race due to a mechanical issue.

The other Alpine did not fare much better. Esteban Ocon was punted and spun by Sebastian Vettel at Turn One after the Frenchman had passed him down the home straight, and failed to score points after the incident. Vettel has now been given two penalty points in what turned out to be an abject Aston martin debut.

Back out front, it was a strategic war between Mercedes and Red Bull for the victory. Mercedes blinked first, bringing Hamilton into the pits to attempt the undercut on Verstappen on the Hard tyres. Red Bull refused to bite though, opting to stay out and pit later onto the mediums, sacrificing track position as a result. Interestingly, Mercedes pitted Bottas just a lap before red Bull’s change, but he was sent back out on Hards.

One more stop each for the leaders meant that Verstappen was chasing Hamilton with 17 laps to go, and we were set for a grandstand finish. We got a controversial one.

Verstappen passed Hamilton at Turn four, but was adjudged to have completed the move off the track, forcing him to return the position. This prompted Red Bull to protest Hamilton’s extensions at the same corner, as yet more stewarding inconsistencies reigned in the desert.

But it was Hamilton who survived the mammoth challenge from Verstappen to win the opener by just half a second.

Valtteri Bottas took the other spot on the podium, as Lando Norris scored an impressive fourth for McLaren. Sergio Perez recovered excellently to finish fifth, while Yuki Tsunoda scored points in his first Formula One race for Alpha Tauri.

For the second year running, Albert Park in Melbourne finds itself unable to host the Formula One curtain-raiser, so instead the circus rolls back to the scene of the pre-season test – the 5.4 kilometre Sakhir International Circuit.

The venue played host to two races at the back end of last year, meaning that F1 has spent a lot of time here over the course of the last three months, but this now is set to be our last visit to Bahrain for at least a year.

Just as the two races last year, there is a sense of anticipation that this year’s edition will be an exhilarating one to watch.

Red Bull and Max Verstappen looked exceptional in pre-season testing, while Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton looked decidedly average, leading many to believe that we have a title fight on our hands this season.

Conversely, however, Mercedes have a history of “sandbagging” in testing – take 2019 for example – so exactly how much validity Red Bull’s title credentials have will be revealed when the cars are properly unleashed for the first time in qualifying on Saturday, but the outlook is certainly positive for Red Bull. Let’s not forget of course that Red Bull’s new driver Sergio Perez won the second of the two races last year for Racing Point.

Looking further down the grid, the midfield yet again promises to be a dramatic one. Fernando Alonso’s new-look Alpine team sport an eye-catching new engine cover, and they hope to achieve an equally flamboyant championship finish, but they face stiff competition from McLaren, Ferrari and potentially Aston Martin for what has become a coveted third spot.

Alonso’s return not only coincides with Renault’s transformation to Alpine, but also Racing Point’s re-brand as Aston Martin. They looked shaky in the test in Bahrain, with Sebastian Vettel completing the second-lowest tally of laps last weekend.

Bahrain will be the first of 23 races in 2021, but this calendar has already been adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, so just how this year will shape up remains to be seen.

One thing that is certain for now, though, is that Sakhir will play host to its third F1 race in four months this weekend, and we can get the long-awaited 2021 season underway

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace as pre-season testing came to an end on day three, as Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda sprung a surprise to finish second.

The second session on day three brought some more big names into play, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen joining the fray.

Early doors, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda went for a spin through the chicane at turns six and seven, but left the incident completely undeterred, going on to set a an exceptional 91 laps.

Kimi Raikkonen, who completed 91 laps in the earlier session, briefly occupied top spot before being displaced once more by the scintillating Dutchman Verstappen. The Finn took his tally up to 166 for the day.

The second session saw seven drivers topple the Sergio Perez lap that led the opening three hours of the day. The slightly cooler conditions as night began to fall allowed for more ideal one-lap conditions.

The Ferrari of Carlos Sainz struggled with gearbox issues midway through the session, but recovered to put the Prancing horse into the top three, six tenths off the pace.

Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel had to abandon a long run to allow the team to make some significant changes to the body of the car; he ended the day 17th fastest.

Mercedes’ unexpected struggles persisted, as Lewis Hamilton contrived to finish the day fifth fastest overall, seemingly fighting to the tame a volatile back-end; it is an issue over which his team mate Valtteri Bottas has been outspoken during the three days of testing.

The session ended dramatically, with Carlos Sainz and Kimi Raikkonen reportedly making contact into turn 10 – an indication that nobody can wait for the real racing to get going in two weeks’ time.

Final Classification:

1. Max Verstappen (RB) 1:28.960
2. Yuki Tsunoda (AT) +0.093
3. Carlos Sainz (FER) +0.651
4. Kimi Raikkonen (AR) +0.806
5. Lewis Hamilton (MER) +1.065
6. George Russell (WIL) +1.157
7. Daniel Ricciardo (McL) +1.184
8. Sergio Perez (RB) +1.227
9. Fernando Alonso (ALP) +1.358
10. Charles Leclerc (FER) +1.526
11. Lando Norris (McL) +1.701
12. Pierre Gasly (AT) +1.868
13. Esteban Ocon (ALP) +2.350
14. Car 9 (HAAS) +2.571
15. Mick Schumacher (HAAS) +3.093
16. Valtteri Bottas (MER) +3.446
17. Sebastian Vettel (AM) +6.081
18. Lance Stroll (AM) +7.140