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And now, to show the cards. The winter of Formula 1 is opaque, with factories at full capacity and occult tests by the teams. But This weekend the World Championship returns with the Bahrain GP, the first race of twenty-three, and the enormous expectations of all must translate into tenths of advantage. “At this time of year we are all champions and we love each other very much,” jokes Frédéric Vasseur, Ferrari’s new ‘main team’, but he is right: after weeks of boasting about each other, with evolutions, expectations of improvement, ambition to “win again at some point” and empty messages, the only truth of F1 manifests itself: the cars go to the track and the drivers put each one in their place.
Ahead there are few doubts: the two-time champion Verstappen defends number one with a Red Bull RB19 that starts 2023 with a certain air of superiority. The preseason tests confirm this. Checo Pérez aspires to the title, like anyone who drives such a beast, but his job is one of the most difficult in Formula 1 because he must measure himself, in each session, with the most uncomfortable bar on the grid. Max won 15 races in 2022, no one had reached that figure in the same season (although there weren’t that many grand prix per year in the past) and now he faces another weighty challenge: only Fangio, Schumacher, Vettel and Hamilton have won three World Cups. in a row.
Who can avoid it? The theory says that Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc; or the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Practice may confirm otherwise. In the meantime, one has to believe that the SF-23’s evolutions correct the weaknesses of its predecessor, that it was a great car; and that the two Carlos will have refined in the preseason to leave behind the individual errors of the previous year. Because they will not only need a great car to stand up to Red Bull, they must also have a perfect year if they want to worry Verstappen for any of the tiny neglected flanks that he offers.
Behind, but not far behind, this specialty always threatens new teams that join the fight, or at least show up from time to time. In this role of ‘outsider’, Aston Martin aspires to be the reference with the exciting signing of Fernando Alonso. The high expectations are based on the pre-season tests: the AMR23 excelled at one lap and in long runs, it could even face the Mercedes in the first races of the season. Alpine will be there (confidence in the garage is important) and Alfa Romeo has a lot to say. McLaren is missing, with starting problems and pending the first package of evolutions. But each place on the grid is a universe of benefits, entertainment and politics in a sport that is in fashion, and knows it. Formula 1 wants to ride the wave of fans that now crowd its circuits. And it must correspond with the best possible season.
Between illusion and obligation
Carlos Sainz aspires to everything in 2023. The Madrid rider has been self-critical in the winter to correct everything that did not go well and start the course from a more advantageous position. He is in his prime, at 28 years old and facing his ninth F1 campaign, third in Maranello. Last year he won his first race (Silverstone) and had three pole positions; but he suffered when Ferrari was more competitive and lost the regularity that was his hallmark. He also bites at the starts, although that can be attributed to the difficult clutch at Maranello. In recent weeks he has reviewed every detail, every race. And he trusts that the SF-23 will return him to the fight for victories and allow him to fight for the title against Verstappen, his partner and whoever comes.
“When you are a Ferrari driver and you are as competitive as I am, the objective before a season has to be to fight for the World Cup and try to win it. I think so and the whole team. But you have to look at the short term and if you want to be world champion you have to be the best driver and the best team. I focus on what I can do in the short term, how to be the best driver on the grid. I have worked a lot in winter and I feel more confident and better prepared than last year, I know what I have to do to fight in front. But in February we are all world champions and we are ready, what matters is how you maintain your personal goals as the season progresses”, says Sainz.
At a completely different point in his sports career, Alonso (41 years old) embarks on his latest project with the ambition of fighting for the World Cup before it is too late. The Aston Martin is the revelation of the pre-season, its tests in Bahrain pleasantly surprised but it shouldn’t be like that: star engineers such as Dan Fallows (technical director, former head of aerodynamics at Red Bull) and Eric Blandin (aerodynamics manager at Red Bull) converge at the factory. Mercedes); a CEO of weight like Martin Whitmarsh (formerly of McLaren); the investment of the owner, Lawrence Stroll; and the push of the star, Fernando.
“I am motivated and happy with what I see. This team is not happy with fourth, third or second place. It’s very different compared to other teams I joined, who had been successful in the past, but were fourth, and they were happy with fourth. Or they were fifth and they were satisfied with the fifth. A seventh place was a celebration. There will be no parties here until we win, that’s very attractive”, explains Alonso, who thinks about victories: “I think there is a possibility. Not this year, I’m honest and I have my feet on the ground. I can’t say we’re going to fight for wins this year, I’d be lying if I said so. But we want to have a good car to develop during the season, and perhaps in the second part of the year we can be closer, if the opportunity arises we will not let it slip away”.
New races and more sprints
In the calendar, the main novelty is the Las Vegas GP (November 18) on a Saturday night. The penultimate race of the year can be decisive in the championship, but surely it will not leave anyone indifferent in terms of the show around the event. Qatar is not new, it was already played in 2021 (with victory for Hamilton and podium for Alonso), but it returns in 2023 in Losail after a one-year hiatus forced by the World Cup. In addition there will be six sprints instead of the three that were in previous years. The circuits chosen for this Saturday race are Baku, Spielberg, Spa-Francorchamps, Losail, Austin and Interlagos.
5SEA
BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX
BAHRAIN CIRCUIT
19SEA
SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
JEDDAH CIRCUIT
2APR
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
ALBERT PARK CIRCUIT
30APR
AZERBAYIAN GRAND PRIX
BAKU CIRCUIT
7MAY
MIAMI GRAND PRIX
MIAMI CIRCUIT
twenty-oneMAY
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
IMOLA CIRCUIT
28MAY
MONACO GRAND PRIX
CIRCUIT OF MONACO
4JUN
GRAND PRIX OF SPAIN
BARCELONA CIRCUIT
18JUN
GRAND PRIX OF CANADA
CIRCUIT OF GILLES-VILLENEUVE
2JUL
AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
SPIELBERG CIRCUIT
9JUL
UNITED KINGDOM GRAND PRIX
SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT
23JUL
HUNGARY GRAND PRIX
HUNGARIORING CIRCUIT
30JUL
GRAND PRIX OF BELGIUM
SPA CIRCUIT
27AUG
GRAND PRIX OF THE NETHERLANDS
ZANDVOORT CIRCUIT
3SEP
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
MONZA CIRCUIT
17SEP
SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
MARINA BAY CIRCUIT
24SEP
JAPAN GRAND PRIX
SUZUKA CIRCUIT
8OCT
GRAND PRIX OF QATAR
LOSAIL CIRCUIT
22OCT
US GRAND PRIX
ARAMCO CIRCUIT (Circuit of the Americas)
29OCT
GRAND PRIX OF MEXICO
RODRIGUEZ BROTHERS CIRCUIT
5NOV
GRAND PRIX OF BRAZIL
JOSE CARLOS PACE CIRCUIT
18NOV
LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX
LAS VEGAS CIRCUIT
26NOV
ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
YAS MARINE CIRCUIT
Around with the ‘porpoising’
There are slight technical variations in the single-seaters by regulation. To consolidate the elimination of ‘porpoising’, the FIA forces the cars to be raised 15 millimeters and reinforces the ends of the flat bottom in order to avoid those uncomfortable and showy oscillations. The problem, judging by the tests, is that it doesn’t go away: the teams tend to keep the car as low as possible because it generates more ‘ground effect’ and downforce. And due to the natural physics of these F1 cars, rebounding is inevitable. There are also slight tweaks and clarifications to the front wing and roll structure (due to Zhou’s accident in Great Britain 2022). The minimum weight of the cars is lowered slightly and that of the engine is increased.
taller cars
To consolidate the elimination of ‘porpoising’, the FIA forces the cars to be raised 15 millimeters and reinforces the ends of the flat bottom in order to avoid these oscillations. They will be stiffer. The measure was announced in the last third of last season and has forced the factories to work with very little time. It also increases the height of the diffuser by 10 millimeters.
Diffuser
A good engine and a good chassis is what makes a Formula 1 competitive, and in relation to the second everything is based on how the car crosses the air. The way in which the flow coming from the nose of the car is channeled is just as important as its exit at the rear, and that is where the diffuser comes into play, which expels the air from the flat bottom.
Security
The rollover arch of the single-seaters is reinforced. Guanyu Zhou’s violent accident at Silverstone (with no consequences for the driver) has prompted stricter controls to ensure that F1’s safety structures can withstand a rollover impact. Any appendage to the car above 935mm must withstand a 15G impact.
Chassis
After the radical change in the cars that caused the entry of the new regulations last year, this is one of continuity, which is why there are hardly any significant novelties, although the concept continues to evolve. Thus, in the second part of 2023, solutions will be tested to reduce the spray left by cars in their wake on wet asphalt.
The tires
Pirelli slightly modifies the wheels before each season to accommodate the speeds and G-forces that the cars develop. Among the novelties, one more compound is introduced in the range: from C0 to C5 depending on its degree of hardness.
Pontoons
With the current regulations that simplify the design of both wings, the sidepods have gained in importance because it is in that middle area of the car where engineers focus most of the aerodynamic work. Hence, the solutions proposed by the teams are so different from each other, although Red Bull sets the trend by being the most efficient.