Formula One Heads Down Under, 2023

Hello Hirschhorn Heraladers, hope you all have had pleasant weeks. We are headed down under, with another race preview for the 2023 Melbourne Grand Prix!

The Melbourne Grand Prix began hosting races in 1996, before then a track named Adelaide had played host to previous Australian GPs and races. The new and improved street circuit in Melbourne has proven itself as one of the most electric circutuits on the calander. The medium speed corners are everywhere and the race pace always remains high.

Similar to the last race weekend in Jeddah the Melbourne circuit is considered a street circuit, meaning the track is temporarily set up for hosting the race. The rest of the year people like you and I use the same streets to commute through the city.

After a short break from the calendar in 2020 and 2021, the Australian GP returned to the race calendar starting in 2022. The track featured serious upgrades that have increased the overall pace of the track. Last year fans had the opportunity to watch the first race back and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.

2022 Melbourne Grand Prix Results

1st. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:27:46.548

2nd. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +20.524

3rd. George Russell (Mercedes) +25.593

It can be a bit difficult to describe as a track, but I would say the best word to describe the track is “smooth”. The drivers don’t often need to drop gears and have the opportunity to maintain tons of speed through the slow and medium corners allowing for really cool onboards of great precision driving at high speeds.

Now, I would roll my eyes at this statement BUT I’ve raced the new Australian GP track in racing simulators and I must say, it is one of my favorites by far. As I said it isn’t overly difficult and the slow corners don’t demand too much effort to survive in, and thus it produces some great sim racing.

On an important note, this is a street circuit and as such is quite narrow, passing will be difficult and pole will grant a significant advantage. (Unless you are Red Bull with DRS). Verstappen breezes past Hamilton at the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP

2023 Saudi Arabian GP Short Review

The Saudi Arabian GP two weeks ago had many story lines to pay attention to before the red lights went out and the cars went on their way.

2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Results

1st. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) 1:21:14.894

2nd. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +5.355

3rd. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +20.728

In Jeddah, Max Verstappen faced some adversity for the first time in the season having car troubles in Q2. These car troubles prevented Max from putting down a qualifying lap and as a result, he started in P15.

Now, for most drivers and most teams, this position disadvantage would have been nearly impossible to overcome, especially on the fast and narrow street circuit of Jeddah. This wouldn’t be the case for Max and Red Bull. Max quickly made up ground and made his way through the field at a lightning-fast pace and finished the race in P2, giving Red Bull the lockout at the top as  street circuit demon teammate Sergio Perez ran away with the race early and never gave it back.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari had similar issues, as he took a penalty for his power system needing to be replaced for the third time in the season. He started his race in P12 and managed to drive quite well himself, finishing the race in P6.

I mention this to give you a more realistic view of what happens to teams that struggle with penalties and malfunctions. Red Bull has shown an uncanny ability over the past two years to overcome these sorts of events with multiple incredible comebacks that see the cars finishing at the very front despite significant disadvantages at the start, it is truly amazing how Red Bull has managed to recover such dire-looking moments.

All in all, it wasn’t the most exciting race of the season, the Red Bulls really showed off their dominance and the rest of the field was still scrambling to catch up. Aston Martin continued to show its pace and Mercedes hinted at some performance improvements despite Lewis being passed by Max with ease early in the race.

Team Previews

McLaren

The orange Google Chrome-sponsored cars have struggled immensely in the first two races of the 2023 campaign. In Bahrain, the team was stricken with serious reliability issues that saw both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris struggle immensely in the race.

In Saudi Arabia the reliability seemed improved, but quickly as the race began the orange cars slotted into positions and were stuck with very limited passing opportunities. I will give McLaren some slack here and admit that they had some terrible luck during the race. Even still, not very impressive.

I wouldn’t necessarily call this unfamiliar territory for the Formula One giant McLaren but it certainly feels worse considering the team’s immense struggles for pace and relevance during the 2022 season.

McLaren feels it too. They have moved swiftly this season and are set to make major changes throughout the season, both to the car and to the team.

The first major move happened on March 23rd when McLaren announced it had axed technical chief James Key and was looking to restructure its technical team. This move has resulted in the hiring of multiple technical gurus who will now head the new-look McLaren technical team.

Additionally, the team has announced future major overhauls for the team’s car, citing a B-spec car. A B-spec car is essentially a complete overhaul, a plan B. A pretty darn serious manuever to be speaking of so early into the season.

Will these management changes and an apparent sense of urgency be enough for McLaren to pick up the pieces of an abysmal start? Only time will tell.

This week is an exciting one for McLaren and I am sure they will be looking to perform at a high level, especially considering this will be Australian rookie driver Oscar Piastri’s first home race.

Aston Martin

It is going to be tough for me to not highlight the newly relevant dark green cars here every week, especially if they continue this incredible form.

Last week was exciting for Aston, as we saw Fernando Alonso masterfully drive the AMR23 through qualifying landing himself the second position at the start of the race. This meant we may have an opportunity to watch the Aston Martin battle it out with pole-sitter Sergio Perez of Red Bull.

Unfortunately for the fans, Alonso made a mistake at the start of the race in which he parked his car incorrectly for the start. This resulted in a small time penalty that essentially made it impossible for Alonso to truly duke it out with Perez. Despite this Alonso had a great drive and managed to bring in a second third-place finish in a row for the once completely irrelevant Aston Martin.

I think with that result we can officially say that Aston Martin has arrived, it wasn’t just a one-off fluke at Bahrain, the team clearly has pace and has shaken the power pendulum of F1 to its core during this early part of the season.

Interestingly, we are already starting to see the cracks in the relationship between Aston Martin and Mercedes. It’s understandable, Mercedes has been king for a long, long time. It is quite an unfamiliar territory for Mercedes to see a customer team outperforming them and it must be a tough pill to swallow.

Rumors are already circulating that engine priority for Mercedes may switch to Aston Martin for the season in order to allow the green cars to continue their push to catch the Red Bulls. I wouldn’t put much stock into these whispers but damn, that is a wild rumor to have already.

In the first two races of the season, the answer is quite clear, Aston Martin is the only team that seems even close to the Red Bulls, it may not be such a terrible idea for Mercedes to shift focus towards the successful customer team, but wow that would be a shocking move from the former kings of the grid.

The green cars continue to be the most exciting team on the grid, watch them closely Heralders.

Alpine

Alpine/Renault is a perplexing team, to say the least. They have been one of the quietest teams on the grid this year so far, with very little moving the needle for the team and its media coverage. Aston Martin, Red Bull, and Mercedes have been vocal about a variety of events this season, and yet the pink and blue Alpines seem to be left out of nearly every conversation.

The team over the off-season snagged longtime AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly, a second Frenchmen to compliment Esteban Ocon, a fellow countryman. Gasly had quite clearly proven that he was deserving of a better seat in Formula 1 and in his first two for Alpine things have been rather mediocre for the team.

Alpine has been pushing to become the best of the rest for some time now and I am sure the start of this season has been particularly difficult for them to watch. Aston Martin’s rise is exactly what Alpine has been dreaming of for 10 years without much success. The team showed great improvements towards the end of the previous regulation cycle, but since the switchover, the team has struggled immensely with reliability and pace.

As I stated last week I think this week in Melbourne is another important test for Alpine. While the media has not paid them much attention, yet another mediocre season will light the fires quickly.

Right now, Alpine are the masters of their own destiny. Will they be lambasted for another middling season or can they finally begin to take steps in the right direction and prove their prowess on the grid?

The car seems quick and if the team can get through a race weekend with good luck and the reliability of the car in order I still believe they can compete with the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari this year, something they have been dreaming of for years and years. With both juggernaut constructors seemingly in such dire straits, the opportunity seems to be now or never for the pink and blue Frenchies to bridge the gap.

Haas

Haas continues to improve itself week in and week out. For the team that is boasting the least amount of sponsorship money and individual sponsors, they are impressive. The team runs on such an incredibly tight budget compared to the rest of the field and is still there competing. It’s honorable as could be and I just can’t help but pull for these guys.

I will make it official here, I am a Hulkenburg fan. The dude can drive. He’s been out-qualifying his teammate Kevin Magnuson and has proved, at least in his two-race return, that he has what it takes to be on the grid.

I think Haas really has an opportunity to lay down a nice and clean season with a trend line constantly moving up. This is exactly the type of season the American team needs to attract sponsors and continue its venture into the sport.

Williams

Logan Sargeant was the only Williams driver to survive the entirety of the race in Jeddah with Alex Albon facing some reliability issues early on.

Sargeant continued to show that he has what it takes to compete with these guys. Racing the likes of Valtteri Bottas and Lando Norris is impressive and he showed that he can cause some of the best a headache, even in the slower Williams.

I am excited to keep watching Sargeant, it's fun to have an American on the grid.

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo is not overly impressive but they have some serious mid-field pace

Zhou managed to finish the race in Jeddah in P13, a respectable finish for the Ferrari sister team. It’s tough to speak on these guys, they are quick but at their core, they are a farm team.

Valtteri Bottas hasn’t performed overly well this season so far, so, it will be interesting to see if he can return to his 2022 form. He was pushing the Alfa to its limits in 2022 and it doesn’t seem he is yet comfortable enough to do the same in the 2023 car. I really hope he can grab that 2022 form back, he deserves it and it will be the only way he can avoid a media firestorm regarding his seemingly newfound relaxed nature.

AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri has been struggling so far in the first two races of the season. The team has not yet grabbed their first point of the season.

Yuki hinted at some upcoming upgrades that should bring the Blue Bulls closer to the mid-field and allow them more opportunities for overtakes and racing opponents.

Again, a sister team with little to speak about so far this year.

Ferrari

It’s tough, I don’t want to kick a horse while it’s down but damn. Ferrari just doesn’t seem to be functioning properly right now on any level. The car is quick, but not quick enough and I think that fact alone weighs heavily on the entirety of the team every day.

I sincerely hope Ferrari can figure this out quickly this year and get back to competing with Red Bull more consistently again, the start of the 2022 season was truly a spectacle to behold when both cars were so close to each other.

C’mon now Scuderia, show us some Ferrari magic.

Red Bull

You are so fast right now you made a Mercedes look like a Formula 2 car. Jesus.

Mercedes

All I will say about Mercedes this week is I think they need to look into keeping their mouths shut for a bit. They sure do a lot of talking for a team that was made to look like a Formula 2 car by their rivals.

Just fix it or shut up at this point. I’m tired of the complaining already. You play too much for the media, and you aren’t winning races. So, no one is listening anymore.

Tighten up and show us all why Mercedes has been feared for so long.

Cole’s Race Predictions for Melbourne 2023

Pole Position: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

Race Winner: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

Second Place: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

Third Place: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

Melbourne should be fun. Aston Martin has a real chance to compete here with the Bulls. Aston Martin excels in medium-speed corners and the Australian GP is littered with such corners. With this technical advantage and the sheer experience of Alonso, I think and hope he can compete for better than third this weekend.

The most interesting part of this season so far is just seeing if anyone can begin to close the gap with Red Bull, and I really think for the first time this year we may see that occur with Alonso and Aston.

The race has a weird start time for us Americans, so be aware. It will be an evening race for us on Saturday, rather than the usual Sunday morning. https://f1calendar.com/ check this website to find start times for your timezone.

The teams I will be keeping a close eye on this weekend are McLaren and Alpine. I think both these teams are reaching a critical point in the early part of the season. Will they be competitors or will they fail yet again on their journeys to relevancy?

Oscar Piastri of McLaren is a driver to keep your eye on. The pressure is immense on him this week being the only Australian driver on the grid. Sometimes magical things happen at a driver’s home race and Oscar certainly has been touted as having the potential for a miracle.

Enjoy the race friends and thank you for reading. I greatly enjoy making these and I am greatly encouraged by the feedback I receive on them.

Thanks a million.

- Cole B Hirschhorn