Time For Some F1 2023 Predictions!

We've done it, guys. We've made it through yet another F1 Winter Break. Cars have been revealed and testing is done, which means only one thing - this weekend the racing returns and I don't know about you but I am very hyped for this up and coming season.

Towards the end of last year, I wrote a post about five things I'd like to see happen during the 2023 season. And, although they were just five mere hopes and dreams, it has inspired me to make some more realistic predictions for this Formula One season.

So, what predictions am I going to make exactly? Keep reading to find out!

Max Verstappen Third World Drivers Championship

I think this predicition is pretty self-explanatory. Verstappen is the current reigning champion and he and Red Bull looked extremely strong during testing. For the first time in his career, Verstappen is the out right favourite for the season and I think it will be quite a surprise if someone beats him to this year's crown.

Fernando Alonso Podium

Surely this is coming. With 21 seasons and two World Championships under his belt, Alonso is more than capable of finishing on the podium. However, since leaving Ferrari in 2014, Alonso hasn't had the right machinery underneath him to compete at the front of the field. In 2022, we got glimpses of what he can still do when he started on the front row, in an Alpine, for the Canadian Grand Prix. Testing for this upcoming season has also been relatively positive for Alonso and the Aston Martin team with Alonso, himself, stating that their race pace could be quicker than Ferrari's. If this is the case, then surely Alonso will appear on the podium at some point this year.

Teammate Rivalry

Ok, let's be honest, we all love an F1 rilvary. Verstappen v Hamilton kept us on tender hooks for the majority of the 2021 season and I just can't help but feel things may not be as simple for Verstappen this year, as it was in 2022. During the Brazilian Sprint Race in 2022, we got a glimpse of a forming tension between Verstappen and his teammate, Sergio Perez. And, with Perez stating that he has no plans to help Verstappen during this season unless Verstappen returns the favor, Red Bull may have a slight problem on their hands. However, Red Bull are no strangers when it comes to tension between teammates. Remember the Vettel and Webber days? Well, the team may knock any tension on the head before it gets too out of hand.

And, potentially it may not be the Red Bull drivers with that rivalry. I'd keep my eye out for the Alpine and Haas drivers, in particular. They've both got some history there. I'll never forget when Kevin Magnussen told Nico Hulkenberg to suck his balls. What a time to be alive.

Haas To Start Strong But Fade Away. Like Usual

Haas are definitely a team that belong in the mid to back end of the midfield when you look at their performances from recent seasons. However, I don't know if anyone else has noticed this pattern, but Haas seem to start the season strong before fading away. There could be plenty of reasons for this including the fact some teams manage to develop their cars more quickly and more successfully than others throughout the season. Haas has very little money compared to some of the bigger teams so of course they're going to get stung eventually by the development wars. I wouldn't be too surprised to see the same happen again this year.

Williams Become Regular Point Scorers

The Williams team know what it's like to win. They also know what it's like to be backmarkers, struggling to break into the points each race weekend. In 2022, we started to notice an improvement from the long-standing F1 team which saw them finish in the points on a more regular basis. This year's battle in the midfield is looking to be a fantastic one and the effort the Williams team have put in during testing hasn't gone unnoticed, especially as Logan Sargeant finished Day Two's morning session in P2.

Are we about to see them in the points more often? I'd like to think so. The only thing that the team seems to be lacking is overall race pace but still, this is F1 and anything can happen.

Tough Season For McLaren

As we know, results from testing sessions need to be taken with a pinch of salt. For McLaren, however, there is some cause for concern.

During the pre-season testing sessions, the car didn't live up to the team's expectations and spent quite a bit of time being worked on in the garage. It was because of this that a lot of testing time was lost and very few laps were completed in comparison to other teams. And, although the team was adamant everything was ok, they soon admitted that the car "fell short" of their development goals. Other teams also suspect, that come the first race in Bahrain, due to the overall lack in performance, McLaren will find themselves towards the back end of the grid. Ouch. This could be a tough one for the team from Woking.

At Least One First Time Winner

In recent seasons, there has been at least one new winner in Formula One. From Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri in 2020 to Esteban Ocon and Alpine in 2021 and Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari in 2022. There's something magical and heartwarming about a driver winning their first race. And, what's stopping another driver from doing it all again this year? Well, of course there's the machinery for starters but that doesn't always matter. As I've already mentioned in this article, this is Formula One, after all.

Nyck De Vries: Rookie Of The Year

Formula One see's the addition of three rookies to the grid in 2023. And, although Nyck de Vries competed at last year's Italian Grand Prix, he is still considered a rookie for this season. De Vries is a seasoned racing driver. He is older than the other rookies and holds several championship wins such as Formula E and Formula Two, under his belt. His experience is an advantage and to get a full time race seat from just one Formula One race, the Dutchman is doing something right. I honestly think that it would be kind of silly to bet against him for the title of "Rookie of the Year."

So, there we have it. My 2023 predicitions. I should probably apologise to any drivers mentioned in this article as I've probably just jinxed them. I'm good at that.

Will any of these predictions prosper? Time will tell. Let me know any of your predictions in the comments below! In the mean time, let's have a bloody good season of Formula One!

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.