With the new season just around the corner let’s take a look at some of the key points which we may need to keep our eyes on throughout 2023.
New & Old Faces
This season will also see two new proper rookies in Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant join the grid alongside Nyck de Vries, who joins full-time after previously featuring as an emergency replacement driver in 2022 for Williams.
Pierre Gasly left AlphaTauri to replace Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard’s move to Aston Martin, replacing Sebastian Vettel who retired at end of 2022 season. Nyck De Vries will make his full-time F1 debut as Gasly’s replacement at AlphaTauri.
Nico Hulkenberg makes a full-time return to F1 for first time since 2019 season as he joins Haas, following Mick Schumacher’s move to Mercedes in reserve driver role & Logan Sargeant graduates to F1 with Williams as he replaces Nicholas Latifi.
Changes to the Regulations & Calendar
Floor edges have been raised by 15mm whilst the throat of the diffuser has been raised by 10mm in an attempt to reduce porpoising.
This season will see six sprint races take place compared to three sprint races in 2021 & 22 seasons & Las Vegas meanwhile will make its bow on the calendar whilst the Qatar Grand Prix is set to return after a one-year break.
Can anyone stop Max Verstappen?
Verstappen heads into the year on the back of one of the most dominant campaigns in F1 history, in which his second world title arrived as he broke the record for wins in a season.
After a dominating year for the Dutchman winning an incredible 15 races last year there’s no doubt that he is one of the favourites to take a 3rd Drivers Title. Could the budget cap and the aero ban play some part in disrupting the team from Milton Keynes?
If Red Bull’s advantage is as big as it looks to be, and team-mate Sergio Perez remains unable to mount a consistent challenge to Verstappen, the concern for anyone interested in a close title fight is whether a challenge will materialise at all.
The Challengers
Ferrari are cautiously optimistic they can take the fight to the champions – or at least they say they are.
But even when they had a car every bit as fast as the Red Bull last year, they proved incapable of mounting a serious challenge.
Mercedes ended last season on the up, having recovered from a dire opening sequence, worked diligently on their recalcitrant car, and taken a one-two in the penultimate race of the season in Brazil – George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
They are expected to make further strides in their campaign to return to the very front over the winter, but the jury remains out on whether they have for 2023.
Aston Martin = Dark Horses?
Aston’s rivals raised a lot of eyebrows during pre-season testing last week. Even Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravits placed the Aston as the 3rd fastest team on the grid!
Their new car was fast, and looked alive and responsive in the hands of Alonso, and many people said it looked like it was at least at the head of the midfield and might even give the Mercedes a run for its money.
How will this season unfold? Guess we will find out soon at Bahrain this weekend.
