A 2023 Formula One Season Preview
With the football season wrapped up neatly with a bow on top many fans are desperately seeking some sort of Sunday ritual to make life whole again.
Look no further than the 2023 Formula One season that begins this weekend.
Now, I have plans to extensively cover this season and its happenings, both here and through other mediums, don’t worry everything will be linked to here, the Mothership that is the HIH.
Included in those plans is a rather extensive guide to Formula One built for the American mind. Be on the lookout for that in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, if you are looking for a fantastic introduction then I cannot recommend the first season of Netflix’s Drive to Survive enough. That was my introduction to this world, and as you will see in this article it has sent me down a spiraling stair of borderline obsession.
A Quick 2022 F1 Season in Review
The last season of Formula One was quite enjoyable to start and sort of ran out of enjoyment steam towards the end as the Championship was clearly settled.
The top dog in 2022 was Red Bull. They had the fastest and most reliable car throughout the year, winning 17/22 races, damn impressive.
This dominant car was in turn piloted by the number one driver on the grid at the moment, Max Verstappen. The results were, as you might expect, dominant. Max ended the season by winning 15/21 races and of course winning the Drivers Championship. His second in as many years.
The only real competition Red Bull faced throughout the season came at the hands (hooves) of the Scuderia. Ferrari showed some improvement last year in terms of their overall pace. They finally seemed to have cracked the code that would allow them to win races. Early in the season, we saw some truly incredible battles between Charles LeClerc and Max that showed the bright red car had the capabilities to fight alongside the Red Bulls.
The issues that led to Ferrari’s downfall are innumerable. Terrible strategy, reliability issues, and just overall team dysfunction were constant themes for Ferrari last season. This resulted in them falling off rather quickly. As the season continued they simply couldn’t keep up with Red Bull, or in many cases even stay on track with them.
Anyway, I could easily make an entire article discussing the happenings of last season, but that is not the goal of this article, so I will wrap it up nicely in a bow for you in the next sentence.
Red Bull dominated in ways no other team ever has in the history of Formula One.
Now then, on to this year.
2023 Team Previews
Here we go. I will now go through each team, I will inform you of their driver lineup, and comment upon their most recent results at last weekend's testing runs in Bahrain. Some will get more than others, deal with it. (I’m sorry reader that was antagonistic, deal with it)
- Red Bull
Driver Lineup: Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez
Red Bull is coming off their aforementioned most dominant season ever and looked to continue that success at Pre-Season testing in Bahrain last weekend. They appear to have succeeded. The car was the quickest in terms of lap times in Bahrain and ran into no reliability problems during their testing runs.
I will keep it simple for the Bulls as there is not much to be said about them. They are quick, reliable, and are looking to continue their dominance. It is hard to imagine the Bulls being anywhere but the front this season.
2. Ferrari
Driver Lineup: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
Ferrari is still looking for its return to its former glory. The Scuderia has been the most dominant team throughout the history of Formula One. The sight of the red car flying down the track is synonymous with formula racing, they are big deal and boast the largest fan base in the sport.
That being said, the last decade for Ferrari has been an extremely uncharacteristic one for them. They have struggled immensely to find success.
This year is truly a fantastic opportunity for them to surprise everyone. Last year the car was quick, really quick. The issues came with reliability and strategy. If the team has managed to focus on these issues and has solved the reliability issues then the Ferraris could very well become the championship favorites quickly.
To address some of the issues from last year the team fired their team principal and is now running with Fred Vasseur, former Alfa Romeo team principal. His success with mid-field Alfa Romeo last year was truly impressive, if he can bring that genius to Ferrari, it may quickly become an exciting time for the Scuderia.
At the Bahrain tests the red stallions were quick but appeared to be running with high fuel loads that prevented them from showing their true top speed. From everything I have heard the expectation is that the Red cars will be quite fast. The major question is now, can they stay on track and complete the races without constant engine failures?
3. Mercedes
Driver Lineup: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
The silver arrows are coming into this season with an interesting amount of pressure. The team last year for the first time in a long time was not at the top of the grid often.
The car lacked pace and seemed to be barraged with consistent reliability issues, as well as a nagging porpoising issue.
This year at testing the car looked good, but the team played their cards close to their chests and did not reveal much about the true pace and potential of the car. We will have to wait for this weekend to see the true pace of the Mercs.
One interesting thing to watch this year within the team is the battle between Lewis and George.
George bested Lewis last year in terms of results, a true rarity considering Lewis Hamilton may very well be the greatest Formula One driver of all time. Is it truly the changing of the guard at Mercedes? Or can Lewis return to form and chase the elusive 8th drivers’ championship
4. Aston Martin
Driver Lineup: Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin blew the socks off people at testing in Bahrain this year with pure pace.
Alonso made the car look like a top dog from the moment he stepped into the cockpit. He topped the time charts at multiple different points of the testing sessions.
For those of you without context, this is an astounding turnaround. The first two years of Aston Martin’s existence in Formula One have seen them finish in 7th place both times with pretty middling results.
So, to show up to testing in Bahrain in your third year and turn this many heads is truly impressive.
Those in the know seem to believe that the Aston Martin could be a serious contender this season. I will keep on them closely this weekend and advise anyone else planning to watch to do the same. We may bear witness to the birth of a new top team.
5. Alpine
Driver Lineup: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon
The French are full French now, the signing of Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri to replace the exiting Fernando Alonso has made it so.
The French team had some of the most running at the Bahrain pre-season testing but similar to the Mercedes, played their hand close to their chest. They never ran on low fuel and never on the softest tire. This means they never showed us their true speed.
Interestingly the team has shown an aura of confidence that is unfamiliar to the hallways of Alpine. Does this mean they have something up their sleeve, or are they gaining an undeserved arrogance?
Time will tell.
6. McLaren
Driver Lineup: Lando Norris and Oscar Pisatri
For the second year in a row, McLaren had a disastrous testing session in Bahrain in which they were almost unable to keep the car on the track. McLaren only managed to deliver 312 laps, the least by 40 laps. To put that into perspective the team with the most laps was AlphaTauri with 456.
McLaren is in an interesting position, the team has been middling for the past few seasons and is hoping to return to form this season. To assist with their goals they have ousted longtime fan favorite Daniel Riccardo from his seat and have replaced him with rookie phenom Oscar Pisatri.
Now with this move in place and finalized it can be argued that McLaren has one of the most intriguing driver matchups to follow this season. Is the phenom Piastri going to be able to eek out better results than Riccardo? And if Piastri is not immediately competing with teammate Lando Norris, will the aura around Oscar come crashing down?
Interesting times are ahead for McLaren. I am hoping for a resurgence year, orange is my favorite color.
7. AlphaTauri
Drivers Lineup: Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries
AlphaTauri is a forever interesting team, they are the sister team to Red Bull and are most often viewed as almost a racing school for possible future Red Bull drivers.
This year the team signed Nyck de Vries, who was long deserving of a seat, as proven by his fantastic stand-in performance for Williams last year. He managed to score points in his first race, and on top of that he was driving a Williams, a car that did not finish in the points often last year. It will be interesting to see his development in the car this season.
Yuki Tsunoda kept his ride with the team this year and I must say I am greatly looking forward to watching him this year, I think Yuki has shown some flashes of brilliance and truly could become a reputable driver for a higher-level team.
AlphaTauri is a developmental team and they have two very interesting drivers to pay attention to, should be fun to watch.
8. Williams
Driver Lineup: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant
Honestly, I don’t know what is going on at Williams.
They managed to post the second most laps of the preseason testing with 439, this bodes well for the team as they are in desperate need of some serious development on their car.
I think it is safe to say that at this point Williams is very much a developmental team for young drivers to get their chops in on.
Logan Sargeant however, is quite interesting. He is the first American Formula One driver in quite some time. I look forward to watching him this year and learning more about him.
Quickly I can say that he is a 22-year-old who has been living in Europe for some time pursuing his dream of becoming a Formula One driver. Last year he competed in F2 and managed 4th place in his rookie season, so, the guy can drive a bit.
9. Alfa Romeo
Driver Lineup: Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo is a fun team, but never a true competitor. This year however they seem to have built upon the successes of last year and may have the opportunity to move higher in the mid-field.
Last year I was very impressed by Alfa Romeo, with Valtteri Bottas leading the charge the team managed to seriously compete in a few races even finishing in the points quite often.
The upgrade to Valtteri Bottas has seemingly turned over a new leaf for the team, they seemed loose and excited last year and I think if they can continue that they can compete with the mid-field solidly this season. The loss of Fred Vasseur could be a huge blow to that mentality though, we will see.
Zhou is still a mystery to most I believe. He showed some flashes of really solid driving last year but was also very inconsistent. This is to be expected in the early part of a career. However, in Formula One, a career can last one year or twenty, and he will need to begin to decide which side of that pendulum he will end up on.
10. Haas
Driver Lineup: Kevin Magnusson and Nico Hulkenberg
Now, if you read last year’s articles at all then you will know that Haas holds a special place in my F1 heart. I like em, they are the only American-based team, and they suck most of the time.
What’s not to like?
I think Haas is in quite the same position they were in last year. They are a potential midfield contender if they can solve their reliability issues and driving issues.
Last season was one of the brightest in Haas's memory, with the team putting up some great qualifying performances as well as race performances. I hope they can continue this rise and continue to develop as a team.
I would like to comment quickly on the Hulkenburg signing. I don’t like it. I think it puts Haas back in the same position they had shown a desire to break away from, sort of past their prime drivers who never found great success being relied upon heavily to put up unrealistic results. I hope I am wrong on this but it just seems a bit odd to recycle a driver who has been out of their seat for nearly 3 years.
I still think KMag is a beast and I am glad they kept him again this season.
The Author's Hopes and Wishes for the 2023 Formula One Season
I will keep it brief. I want to see competitive and close racing. The first few races of last season were some of the most enjoyable sports moments I can remember. Watching Verstappen and LeClerc trade positions on every turn was truly awesome. If we can get more of that up and down the field then I will be satisfied.
What I don’t want is for Red Bull or any team to just run the table again, it gets boring very quickly when the result of the races is near guaranteed before the race begins. I know that this has been a major point of focus for Formula One, avoiding this scenario I mean. Let’s see if they have managed to get closer to that goal this season.
Cole’s 2023 Formula One Predictions
Drivers Champion: Carlos Sainz
Constructors Champion: Ferrari
Most Impressive Rookie: Logan Sargeant
Bold Predictions
1. Haas (KMag) will finish on the podium once this season.
2. Fernando Alonso will win a race for Aston Martin
3. George Russell will again outperform Lewis Hamilton at Merc
2023 Bahrain GP Predictions
I will not be doing a race preview this week before this weekends first race of the season in Bahrain, so here are my predictions.
Race Winner: Max Verstappen
2nd Place: Carlos Sainz
3rd Place: Sergio Perez
Written by: Cole B Hirschhorn
Comments?
Direct them to hirschhorncole@gmail.com