The long wait is finally over. F1 2021 has been released worldwide and is available to everybody who purchased the Deluxe Edition.
The incredibly popular My Team game mode has returned for 2021. Unsurprisingly, Codemasters' driver ratings have caused controversy in some circles of the Formula 1 fandom. Everybody has an opinion on certain drivers, but we believe these are the six that need altering the most.
Valtteri Bottas
It's no secret that Valtteri Bottas is under serious pressure to perform at Mercedes. The Finn is currently competing in his fifth season with the Silver Arrows and has never challenged his teammate Sir Lewis Hamilton to a title in that time.
One of the main points of contention when it comes to Bottas is that he's 3 overall points higher than Nico Rosberg's Icon stats. Robserg is an 89 overall, which is probably about right. However, when you consider that the German beat Hamilton in the same car in 2016 and these ratings are meant to from the peak of their career, it doesn't seem right.
On current form, would you say that Bottas is a better driver than the likes of Sergio Perez, Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc? Most fans would probably say no.
Bottas should be decreased to about an 86 or 87 overall, it's incredible that he's only 3 overall points off Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
George Russell
George Russell has continued to stun us all in 2021. The Mercedes junior driver has dragged his Williams car up to heights it doesn't deserve to be in on a number of occasions. Mr. Saturday's qualifying performances have been sensational, as he always makes it through to Q2 and sometimes, even Q3.
As this is only his third full season in F1, Russell's experience is understandably low. However, a pace rating of 83 and a 76 racecraft rating seems criminally low. The Brit's 84 overall rating puts him behind the likes of Esteban Ocon and Kimi Raikkonen.
For a man who should've won his first and so far only race in a top car at Sakhir last year, this doesn't seem fair. Russell should be at least the same rating as Bottas, so an 86 or 87.
Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez is a driver that's criminally underrated in a lot of official circles, including the Formula 1 game. Checo was sensational in 2020, winning his first race in the most sensational circumstances at Sakhir. That, along with other great performances, earned the Mexican a drive alongside Verstappen at Red Bull for this year.
While Perez has struggled to get to grips with his new car, he is the first Red Bull second driver since Daniel Ricciardo to win a race with the Austrian team. Nobody will argue that Perez hasn't performed better than Bottas in 2021, so his My Team rating should reflect this.
87 overall places him midtable in the ratings matrix, which doesn't feel correct. Perez has over 200 Grands Prix under his belt, so his experience rating should be at least 90. His racecraft is also undoubted, as nobody can save a set of tyres as well as the Mexican.
Perez should be up there with the likes of Ricciardo, Gasly and Alonso with a 90 overall.
Daniel Ricciardo
There's no doubting Daniel Ricciardo's talent, he's one of the best on the grid. The Honeybadger was a multiple race winner with Red Bull and consistently beat his teammates at Renault to earn multiple podiums. Ricciardo's move to McLaren hasn't panned out so far, as he's struggled to achieve consistent results.
This will probably rub some people up the wrong way, but on current form, Dan the man shouldn't be a 90 overall. If we're being totally fair, Ricciardo isn't performing better than the likes of Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly.
A small decrease in Ricciardo's overall to an 89 or 88 would be fair. He will find his feet in Woking, but for now, his rating should reflect his results on track.
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon signing for Alpine until the 2024 season shocked many people in Formula 1. The young Frenchman has shown glimpses of the potential he has, but hasn't exactly lit the world alight.
Since that contract extension was penned, Ocon has performed extremely poorly as teammate Fernando Alonso has pushed on to be the undisputed number one in Alpine. Like Ricciardo, we don't want to see a large demotion here.
An 85 or 84 overall would put Ocon at around the level of Lance Stroll and Tsunoda, which is about right for his performance levels right now.
Kimi Raikkonen
There's no denying that Kimi Raikkonen was a superb talent earlier in his career, but those days are over. Raikkonen won the 2007 F1 World Championship and was still producing solid performances at the front of the grid for Ferrari until 2018.
The Iceman continued to impress for Alfa Romeo, but is now living on borrowed time. At 41, he's the oldest driver on the grid and has bags of experience which helps his overall rating. At 87 overall, he's higher rated than both Russell and Tsunoda.
The Flying Finn is also a whopping 8 overall points higher than his Alfa teammate Antonio Giovinazzi. This seems ludicrous, as Gio has outshone Kimi for most of this season so far. A driver that hits the back of his teammates car on the first lap of a Grand Prix shouldn't have 84 awareness.
Raikkonen should be nerfed to an 85 overall, if not lower.