Formula 1's class of 2021 has been further expanded today with two of the most highly anticipated new cars of the year. First up is the Alpine A521, which is an evolution of the 2020 Renault Grand Prix car. Like the previous Renaults, the first ever Alpine to race in Formula 1 is a collaboration of the chassis arm in Enstone, England and the engine factory in Viry-Chatillon, France. With development limited by the special regulations for 2021 and the team keeping most new parts under wraps, the key news of today's A521 launch was the new red, white and blue livery. This is set to be one of the most striking on the grid this year. Also of note is that two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso will return for his third spell with the team.
Defending World Champions Mercedes-Benz will field this W12 E Performance in 2021. The car utilises the chassis of last year's title winning W11 with the team deciding to use the available development tokens for aerodynamics. Again little was visible on the renders of the W12 released. The livery features some subtle changes and includes the AMG logo instead of the three-pointed star logos that dominated the colour-scheme in 2020. Underneath the skin, there is a substantially improved engine that should cure the reliability issues that dogged the Mercedes-engined teams several times last year.
There will be no hiding for the teams once testing starts in Bahrain next week, so you can expect further updates after the cars have hit the track.

Enjoy the links:

2021 Alpine A521 Renault

2021 Mercedes-Benz W12 E Performance