News: Pre-Season Testing Round Up

As quickly as it crept up on us, Formula One's pre-season testing is done and dusted for another year. The three day testing session, which took place at the Bahrain International Circuit, differed from previous years with only three days worth of track time compared to the usual seven or more that we've seen in the past. But, despite the limited running time teams had, they all took to the track from Thursday 23rd February to gather as much data as they could before the opening round of the season which was looming just days away.

Max Verstappen and Red Bull were the ones to watch during the testing period after their championship wins in 2022. Could they carry on where they left off? How was Fernando Alonso going to fair with his debut at Aston Martin? And, could Mercedes overcome their niggles that they experienced during their track days just days before? There were many questions just waiting to be answered.

The drama, however, started the day before:

"Lance Stroll suffered an accident in training, and won't be taking part in testing. The Canadian is said to have 'minor' injuries, with Aston Martin electing to bring in Felipe Drugovich to help out Fernando Alonso with driving duties here in Bahrain."

We still don't know the extent of Stroll's injuries or whether he'll even be taking part in the first race of season. Despite all this, I'm sure you are all with me when I say that we wish him all the best.

Day One

Day one arrived with every team, bar Red Bull, opting to split the driver duties between their pairings. George Russell, for Mercedes, was the first driver out of the pits, thus starting the 2023 season. However, it was only nine minutes in to the session when the first red flag appeared. Felipe Drugovich, Stroll's stand in, came to a stop at turn four due to an electronics issue but within the hour, was back on track.

Throughout the morning, Verstappen and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) were piling in the laps and consistently switching times. By 12pm, Sainz had put in a time of 1:33.253 - much quicker than the time Pierre Gasly put in for Alpha Tauri when he topped Day One in 2022. But it was Verstappen who eventually topped the morning session. His time was 1:32.959 - almost three tenths quicker than Sainz had managed behind.

The afternoon saw a mass driver switch with Verstappen being the only driver to continue on from the morning session. But, with all the set up changes, it took a while for drivers and cars to make their way to the track. After a short time on track, it became clear that there was a small issue down at McLaren. They weren't the only ones with issues, however. Aston Martin's day seemed to be going from bad to worse with Alonso spending most of his time on the pit wall rather than in the car itself. Eventually though, he was ready to hit the track. As for McLaren, they were quick to solve their problem and return to the schedule.

As the sun began to set, conditions were more representative of what the actual Bahrain Grand Prix would be like. Verstappen became the first driver to hit 100 laps and was still ahead of the pack with his times and at the end of the day was the fastest driver of the day

with a total of 157 laps worth of data for the Red Bull team.

Day one was more than productive for every team despite the hiccups that plagued a couple of them. But, that's all apart of the testing process. The full Day One classification is, as follows:

Day 2

A quiet, easy morning awaited the drivers and teams on Day Two and, with his interrupted running the previous day, Fernando Alonso was the first to appear on track. However, it was Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari to set the first time of the day.

The morning session predominately seemed to consist of teams focusing on the aerodynamic aspect of their cars, with plenty of them showing off their fancy aero testing instruments. Later on, towards the end of the morning session, the Bahrain sun was beating down onto the track with the air temperature reaching 30 degrees celsius. The FIA used the last few moments of the session to test safety procedures such as the yellow and red flags and aborted starts. Sainz was ultimately the fastest driver that morning with 70 laps driven.

The green flag signaled the start of the afternoon and, after driver and set up changes, cars made their way onto the circuit. Verstappen, who was back in the Red Bull, quickly got up to speed and started to challenge the fastest time from Sainz that was posted earlier in the day.

By half past five the sun was setting and teams started to focus on performance laps. But that didn't last long before the first red flag of the day was shown when Mercedes driver George Russell stopped out on track with a hydraulics issue. Unfortunately, this would also mark the end of the testing day for the Mercedes team. And, they weren't the only ones with issues. Alpine had discovered an issue with their rear axle during practice pitstops, the Alfa Romeo struggled to engage race mode and down at Williams, they had cordoned off their car with a failure. Luckily, however, these teams managed to get a good deal of running in before the reliability issues struck at the end of the day. And, despite Alfa Romeo's problems, driver Zhou Guanyu had posted the quickest time for Day Two. Full results can be seen here:

Day 3

The final day of testing was upon us and it was another hot one. Felipe Drugovich, who was still in as the stand in driver at Aston Martin, was first out on track. He was closely followed out by Valtteri Bottas in the Alfa Romeo and Sergio Perez in the Red Bull, the latter who was fitted with aero rakes and sensor straps. In fact, it was Perez who brought out the first red flag of the day when one of the sensor straps came loose and fell off on the back straight and needed recovering. Once the debris had gone, the green flag was back out once again.

Later on in the morning, the first spin out of the three testing sessions was recorded when McLaren's Oscar Piastri lost it in Turn 10. And, thanks to the large run-off area, the rookie from Australia managed to save it before hitting any barriers. However, though, later on in the morning session, McLaren was, yet again, experiencing issues with their wheel brow. An issue that plagued them during Day One. They later issued an update saying:

"The team are currently conducting some temporary strengthening work on the front winglets to ensure we can complete today's running. It's a very minor issue that will be permanently fixed for the Grand Prix next weekend."

Towards the end of the morning, a second red flag waved when Bottas and his Alfa Romeo stopped on track with what was a possible gearbox issue. Once the car was recovered, drivers made their way back onto the track for the final part of the morning. At the chequered flag, Charles Leclerc was leading the way for Ferrari.

Alpine and Esteban Ocon were first out for the final afternoon of testing and for some time had the track to themselves. But, once other drivers joined him, a change in weather conditions became noticeable when Sainz wobbled into Turn 10 thanks to the new wind direction. Due to the wind gusts, conditions were expected to change from lap to lap.

Halfway through the session, it was noted that the Aston Martin was back in the garage, up on stands. This time the issue was with the rear suspension.

Nearing sundown and Leclerc's time from the morning was still fastest. Teams were once again preparing for some fast laps as they fitted the quicker tyres. And, it didn't take long for drivers to become "racey" with Perez and Sainz getting into a slight tussle. Only half a second separated the top six at this point.

After some final flag and starting procedure tests, the chequered flag waved for the final time with Perez and Red Bull on top. Full times can be found here:

So that's that. Testing is done and dusted.

Red Bull seem to be the favourites, as suspected. Ferrari may not be that far behind. But who was sandbagging and who was just straight up struggling? We won't know until the first race of the season. It looks as if we could be in for a good one. See you there?

Questions Going Into 2023's F1 Pre-Season Testing

Tomorrow is the day - the start of the 2023 Formula One Season with three days of pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit. And, although teams have already had the chance to take their cars out on what is known as a "shakedown," they will officially be taking to the track alongside each other for the first time tomorrow morning. So, what can we expect from testing? Apart from sandbagging and a whole lot of secrecy, who knows. What we do know though, is that there are a whole lot of questions going into this long-awaited testing session.

Who will emerge as title contenders?

In this current era of Formula One, three teams seem to be dominating more than the others and it seems quite plausible that Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari will take the reigns on the 2023 season, yet again.

Still, the start of a new Formula One season gives teams a blank slate and chances are, at the end of the testing sessions, the pecking order will be somewhat mixed with unexpected results. We do need to, however, take the final testing results with a pinch of salt. Some teams do not want their rivals to know their full potentials, so the best way to hide it? Sandbagging. A term you'll hear quite frequently over the course of the next few days.

Unfortunately, testing won't give us the answer of exactly who will be title contenders. But, it'll give us fans some idea of what we're to expect in the upcoming season.

Has Red Bull's cost cap penalty hurt them?

As we are aware, one of the biggest stories from last season was that Red Bull breached the cost cap which therefore resulted in a harsh penalty for the team from Milton Keynes. With a $7 million fine and a cut in development time, has Red Bull been able to minimise the impacts that have resulted from the penalty?

Well, again, it's a waiting game.

What we need to consider, however, is that although the team are trying to keep the damage to a minimum, this season there have been some slight regulation changes meaning that things may not be as simple and straightforward for Red Bull compared to their 2022 campaign. Even Christian Horner himself described it as "limiting significantly."

However,other team principles, such as Mercedes' Toto Wolff, believe that the impact isn't "going to be too big."

Have Mercedes ran into trouble already?

Talking of Mercedes. Last week, they took to the track in Silverstone for their "shakedown" days. However, it wasn't plain sailing and the first day ended up as a session full of niggles. Should they be worried about these?

The team, itself, doesn't seem too concerned. What does concern them is the short period of time teams have for testing this year. If the same "niggles" crop up again they may not have the time to rectify these. At least, though, they'll be prepared for them.

And, as for the porpoising that plagued the team last year? Data and footage shows that they haven't got on top of that just yet either.

Is three days enough for pre-season testing?

One of the biggest concerns teams have this season is the limited time for pre-season testing. In past years, testing has lasted over the course of around 2 weeks, meaning teams are inundated with time to analyse all of their data. This season, however, is different, with testing lasting only 3 days and the first race of the season taking place just one week later. Time is limited.

As mentioned above, Mercedes have voiced their concerns over the limited testing time but they're not the only ones. Fernando Alonso, who has jumped ship to Aston Martin for 2023, is worried about his limited time in the car before the Bahrain Grand Prix on the 5th March. He said:

“This is the only sport in the world where you do one-and-a-half days practice and then you’re into a World Championship.” (Independent)

To be fair, he has a very valid point. However, we have to look on the bright side. A shorter testing period might be more beneficial for some teams. But, are three days enough for teams to collect all their data? Time will tell.

So, there we have it. Just a handful of questions we have going into the testing period. I'm very intrigued to see how the testing sessions play out, as well as being extremely excited that F1 is back! Don't forget, you can watch testing live on Sky Sports F1 from Thursday 23rd February at 7am.

Opinion: What I Think Of F1 Car Liveries In 2023

We're nearly there folks. The F1 pre-season is well under way and the 2023 challengers have appeared from under their covers. It won't be long and we'll soon see them gracing the Bahrain International Circuit for pre-season testing. But, what do I think of the liveries and cars for the 2023 season? Let's find out.

Haas

The first team to launch their car in 2023 was Haas on January 31st via social media. Earlier in the year, Haas teamed up with MoneyGram to become the "MoneyGram Haas F1 Team." With a new sponsor on board it was all indicating to a possible new livery for 2023 and, although similar to past liveries, there were definitely some very noticeable differences.

The new livery? I quite like it. I think that it's the nicest Haas livery to date. It looks sleek and simple but smart. There's also a lot of black, or "naked Carbon," on show which could indicate that the team are either saving weight or going for a different aerodynamic setup.

With Haas they tend to be quick at the start of the season and then just disappear after a few races. It would be nice if they could be regular point contenders because it is a lovely looking car.

Red Bull

The second car launch took place on February 3rd in an "extravagant" launch ceremony in New York City. Red Bull went with a location in the USA due to the announcement of a new partnership with Ford Motors that will begin in 2026.

With Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Christian Horner in attendance; the curtain was lifted to reveal - drum roll please - the same livery as previous years. But are we really surprised by this? I think not. The Red Bull team have been racing in Formula One long enough now for fans to expect the same livery year after year. However, I've always liked the Red Bull livery so I have zero complaints. Let's not forget though their epic camo and testing liveries from the past. When Red Bull do change it up, they really change it up.

Williams

Williams were the third team to debut their car and, like Haas, went with the social media approach with the car appearing on the team's social media pages on February 6th.

This livery is similar to last years but has some subtle differences. I like the different shades of blue. I think they go really well together. The side pods are an interesting shape also. And, we can't forget the Duracell battery on the roll hoop/air intake. I love it. Such clever marketing and PR. Overall, the Williams is a very slick looking car.

Alfa Romeo

The fourth car to make it's long awaited debut was the Alfa Romeo which was introduced in front of a live audience - not too dissimilar to Red Bull's extravaganza, just on a lesser scale. The cover was pulled off by drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. And, with an approving nod by Zhou himself, the 2023 Alfa Romeo challenger was here.

I do think that it's a very smart looking car. It reminds me of a Cherry Cola Bottle sweet. Random, I know. I love the black and the red, I think it really compliments the shape. It’s nice they’ve gone in a different direction to their previous liveries. But, I can guarantee you now, it won’t be long before I mistake it for a Ferrari.

Alpha Tauri

With Alpha Tauri's launch came everyone's fears that we were about to embark on yet another Red Bull type launch, especially as Alpha Tauri is Red Bull's sister team. But, to our surprise, it was more of a "blink and you'll miss it" type of launch with a short video aired live on Youtube. The complete opposite of our expectations. And, to be honest, that wasn't the only thing to take us by surprise. Alpha Tauri has always produced what is, in my opinion, a stunning livery, but this year? That wasn't happening.

I’m disappointed that I’m disappointed in this one. Like other teams, it's not too different from their 2022 livery - one that I liked. But, this one? There's just something about it which is odd. Maybe it's the inverted colour scheme? Maybe it's the larger than usual logo? I don't know. However, the addition of the red logos doesn't bother me. It gives me Toro Rosso vibes - especially the rear wing. This livery is AT's worse yet. Let’s just hope it’s fast.

McLaren

Next up was the team from Woking and, I think, the majority of F1 fans were expecting the traditional "papaya" look with this one. Did we get that? Yes, but no.

Ok, hear me out. This car looks incredible. Again, a very similar design to last year but this time with very noticeable differences. I love the carbon fibre look, really makes the papaya pop. The blue looks really good on it, as well. It’s a very smart looking car. The brightest on the grid. Definitely a big fat 10, for me.

Aston Martin

Another launch livestreamed to the internet was that of Aston Martin's. The car was launched on February 13th. Just mere moments after the McLaren.

Let's be honest, it's literally an exact copy of last year’s car. But, that’s ok because it’s still hella good looking. For 2023, the team have used such a handsome green colour and the neon yellow racing stripe really compliments the car. It completes the livery. I'm not usually an Aston Martin fan but they have a good looking car and Fernando Alonso as one half of their driver line up. Are amazing things on the cards for the team from Silverstone?

Ferrari

Ferrari seemed to be every F1 fan's Valentine this year as the car was launched in Italy, in front of many fans, on Valentines Day. Ferrari did their launch just right. It wasn't "extravagant" like Red Bull's, or low-key like Haas's, it was just perfect. With fans invited and live demos of the new car itself, what wasn't to like?

The launch wasn't the only thing Ferrari got right. The car was stunning. One thing you can guarantee in F1 is the Ferrari will be red. You can’t expect any different. However, this red does seem to be more vibrant than previous years. Again, the team have opted for the "naked" carbon fibre look but there is still enough colour for the car stand out from the crowd. In regards to the shape, the rear wing is looking fineeeee.

Mercedes

One launch that had fans buzzing was the launch of the 2023 Mercedes challenger. Would it be black, or would it be silver?

It's black! Are we really that surprised? It seems to be a running theme this year. But despite that, it looks so, so smart. Sometimes little is more, right? I like the neon coloured numbers. Really pops against the carbon. Maybe, just maybe, I would have added a little more colour? Other than that - fire.

Alpine

Last, but not least, came Alpine with a launch that could have rivaled Red Bull's. However, the team had already taken to the track just mere days before so I think we all knew what livery was coming.

And, surprise, surprise, it was the livery we were all expecting. Again, there is visible carbon fibre and I do actually quite like that look. The only thing I really dislike? The driver number on the back. It's not in a very good place. Especially when the cars are racing around at 200mph. But overall, not too shabby.

But wait!

Alpine gifted us with a second livery. A pink one! It looks good but I definitely prefer the blue and pink; it's more colourful!

So, there we have it. Our class of 2023. And, initial thoughts are relatively promising. I know that on social media a lot of fans have been unhappy with teams repeating liveries from previous seasons, as well as many teams going with the visible carbon fibre. But, sometimes, we need to remember that these teams are brands and brands don't regularly change up their branding. As for the carbon fibre, I think with current regulations, this was to be expected at some point. But like I've already mentioned, I like it and I think the teams have done some excellent jobs incorporating it into their liveries.

So, which do I like the most? Which do I like the least? Let's find out!

1) McLaren 2) Ferrari 3) Williams 4) Aston Martin 5) Blue and Pink Alpine 6) Red Bull 7) Mercedes 8) Haas 9) Alfa Romeo 10) Pink Alpine 11) Alpha Tauri

This was really difficult to categorise. I, personally, feel as if it's a strong livery contest this year. Many people will have a different opinion. The McLaren is way ahead of the others. It's my favourite. Alpha Tauri? I feel almost sad putting them last. But, it is what it is.

What's your favourite livery? Let me know in the comments below!