F1 2021: Mercedes yet again?

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 made it an incredible SEVEN consecutive Constructors' Championship title in 2020 and look on course to make it eight in a row, but will any of the other teams beat them to it this season?

Red Bull were Mercedes' closest challengers last year and were still 254 points off it. That is a gigantic gap to close in just one off-season, but stranger things have happened, haven't they?

Lewis Hamilton didn't sign a new contract until a couple of weeks ago, he was the last driver on the grid to be announced. Is that a sign that all might not be rosy in camp? It was probably just a PR tactic, but we can dream.

One cause for concern for Mercedes is the poor performances of Valterri Bottas. Time after time, he looked set to win races only to not put up a fight or get his elbows out against his teammate. You simply can't do that if you want to be a serial winner, a world champion. Look at Verstappen and Ricciardo, Vettel and Leclerc, Hamilton and Rosberg in 2016 especially. You need to go for it and with 'lesser' teams strengthening their driver line ups for 2021, the Black Arrows may need Bottas to improve if they want to lock out front rows and have both cars on the podium.

McLaren's switch to a Mercedes power unit is really interesting. They claimed third in the Constructors' standings in 2020 and, after signing Daniel Ricciardo to replace Carlos Sainz, I expect them to be even faster this year. Then you've got Aston Martin with Sebastian Vettel alongside Lance Stroll and Red Bull themselves put faith in Sergio Perez to partner Max Verstappen. The teams behind Mercedes mean business and will look to attack whichever German car is in front of them.

All that being said, though, Mercedes still have Lewis Hamilton. If it wasn't for all those DNFs in 2016, he would have eight titles and would match his team with seven in a row. It's quite staggering. He's getting older, but getting quicker - especially in the wet. My word he is amazing in the rain. It's hard to see passed him surpassing Michael Schumacher and winning his eighth world championship and, if he does, I can't see anyone other than Mercedes claiming the Constructors' title.