9. Vettel told he's no longer wanted at Maranello
The impact of coronavirus was more than enough pre-season drama for anyone, but before F1 got back on track came a shock announcement in May that triggered a series of events that will transform the grid for next year. Sebastian Vettel had thought that he would be starting negotiations with Ferrari about his contract with the team which was due to expire at the end of the year. Instead, he was informed by team principal Mattia Binotto that there weren't going to be any talks - Ferrari wanted a change and the four-time world champion's services were no longer required. At the time it was presented as a joint decision by team and driver, but Vettel later admitted that it had come as a surprise to him.
Within days Ferrari had poached Carlos Sainz from McLaren to take over from Vettel. As a result McLaren quickly signed up Daniel Ricciardo from Renault, who were not amused - although it did end up making room at Enstone for the return of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso next year, so it worked out well in the end. When the season finally got underway in July both Sainz and Ricciardo enjoyed strong campaigns while Vettel himself - perhaps demotivated or lacking support at Ferrari as he served out his notice - had a dreadful time in what was in any case a dismal campaign for the team as a whole. Perhaps they had been knocked off-balance by the shock of Vettel's exit. Coming off a banner year at McLaren, Sainz would be forgiven for wondering exactly what he's landed himself into next season.
At the time it wasn't clear whether Vettel even wanted to stay in F1, but eventually he was won over by an approach from Racing Point boss Lawrence Stroll to join the newly rebranded Aston Martin team in 2021. But that came at a cost, as it meant the time was forced to let Sergio Perez go to make room in the line-up. Perez was already having a strong season on track and it only got better for him, to the point where it seemed impossible to conceive that he would be left without a place on the grid in 2021. A week after the end of the season, the last domino in this long chain fell with the announcement that Perez was heading to Red Bull - and Alex Albon became the unfortunate driver caught out at the end of F1's annual game of musical chairs.
