Written by Nirek Dandanayak
Changes in the off season:
The 2023 Formula 1 season promises to be packed with action with three former champions and two first time rookies on the grid. While the 2022 season broke many records (thanks to Red Bull’s dominance), many fans were disappointed with a very one sided title fight. However with Mercedes showing promising signs towards the end of the previous season and Ferrari employing a new team principal in Fred Vasseur, there looks to be a strong challenge for the title for Red Bull. Also, away from the title fight, the midfield was heavily competitive last year with McLaren and Alpine in a bitter battle and Aston Martin and Sauber’s fight for sixth being decided by the barest of margins in the last race of 2022.
Looking forward into 2023, many of these driver line-ups have changed. Alpine have let go Fernando Alonso and replaced him with Frenchman Pierre Gasly to achieve an all French line-up with Esteban Ocon. Their main competitor, McLaren, have also changed one driver by cutting Daniel Ricciardo’s contract one year short and replacing him with another Australian in Oscar Piastri. I’m sure they hope to produce a much more competitive car for their star driver, Lando Norris. Norris has never won a grand prix in his career but has achieved many podiums and going into his fifth year, he will definitely want to win a race or two. Also, Aston Martin have had to replace Sebastian Vettel which is no easy task but they have done a very good job in employing another world champion in Fernando Alonso who will line up with Lance Stroll in 2023.
Moving down the ranks, AlphaTauri have had to replace Pierre Gasly with Formula 2 and e champion, Nyck De Vries. Coming off a below par year, Franz Tost will hope to make strides for more points in 2023. Haas improved massively last year with the comeback of Kevin Magnussen earning P5 in the Bahrain Grand Prix and also achieving his first pole position in Brazil towards the end of the year. Lastly, Williams unfortunately have earned less points than 2021 but Alex Albon and the exciting prospect of Logan Sargeant partnering up with former Mercedes strategist James Vowles will hopefully provide a more competitive season from the historic racing team.
My thoughts and predictions:
After a hectic off season there are many things to consider when thinking about what is to come in 2023 for Formula 1. In my opinion, however, Mercedes have been too dominant for too long to not fight back in 2023. So I think Hamilton and Russell will give Red Bull a run for their money with the research and development facilities that Mercedes have available. In addition, Red Bull have had to deal with their cost cap penalty due to their breach of the regulations in 2021. This means that they will have had less time to progress their car coming into 2023 which my give Mercedes and Ferrari a fighting chance. While Mercedes have been very dominant for the last eight or nine years, I think that Ferrari can’t be counted out too in 2023. They definitely had the car to fight for the title in 2022, however their reliability and strategy had let them down. But with Fred Vasseur being appointed the new team principal, I think there is hope for Ferrari to stay in the fight for longer than last year.
Moving down the paddock, Alpine looks promising but, similar to many people’s concerns, they will have to find a way to manage a potentially unsportsmanlike rivalry between the two frenchmen who have been known to butt heads in the past. However if they can keep this under control, they will definitely have the ability to compete for podiums if not race wins. McLaren need to bounce back from a relatively poor year in 2022. They need to give Lando Norris a car that is capable of fighting for race wins and podiums if they are to move up in the standings. As for Piastri, in my opinion, I don’t think he is going to do well and I think by the end of 2023, they might have to replace him.
As for Alfa Romeo, I hope they can produce a more competitive car to fight with the midfield as they have a very talented and experienced driver in Valtteri Bottas to take their team higher up the standings. However, contrary to popular opinion, I don’t believe that Zhou Guanyu will live up to his potential that has been backed by the team. I think that Aston Martin will make great strides in the standings as they have received a phenomenal driver in Fernando Alonso who was one of the best on the grid in 2022. In addition Lance stroll has shown his talent by progressing through to Q3 many times in the past year.
Haas have improved greatly in the past year and I hope to see them advance further with the addition of the experienced Nico Hulkenberg. Though him and Magnussen have had disputes in the past, reports have said that they are on good terms now and are focused on 2023. AlphaTauri will have a tough challenge facing them as they have lost Pierre Gasly, who has been magnificent for them in the past few years, and are left with Tsunoda and De Vries. The latter impressed greatly in Monza when he filled in for Albon to score points on debut, finishing ninth. So, Tsunoda will have to up his game if he wants to show his worth for a seat after 2023. Lastly, Williams who, in my opinion, will stay last in the standings in 2023, but Alex Albon has shown great potential last year and I hope he can do the same this year and also help Logan Sargeant handle the pressure of the sport as well.
Interview with Sam Alford
On Monday the 16th of January, I sat down with another Formula 1 fan in the RGS, Sam Alford, and discussed his thoughts on the upcoming season and any predictions he might have. Starting from the back of the paddock, he mentioned that Logan Sargeant will score points in his first season and said that Williams will benefit greatly from the newly appointed James Vowles who ‘helped Mercedes dominate’. He also made his stance clear on AlphaTauri saying that they will ‘finish P10 in the Constructor’s Championship’ due to a poor previous year and two relatively inexperienced drivers in Formula 1. On Hulkenberg, he mentioned that the returning driver ‘has the capability to get podiums’, lauding the German.
Discussing Aston Martin, he believes that ‘they will finish strong…again’ but sees a large difference in the drivers saying that Stroll will be ‘far behind Alonso’ and will ‘not get a podium’ in 2023. In a similar fashion, he predicts great things for Bottas, saying ‘Bottas will finish P8 in the Championship’ but the opposite for Guanyu, predicting that he ‘will disappoint’. Moving onto McLaren, similar to me, he predicts that ‘Oscar Piastri is going to flop’. Also, he mentioned that Lando should perhaps look elsewhere for 2024 and says that a Mercedes seat would be ‘ideal for Norris’. Regarding Alpine, he predicted that ‘Gasly will beat Ocon’ in the standings1 saying that ‘Ocon was barely ahead of Alonso who had many more DNFs’ referring to Ocon’s year in 2022. When I asked him about Mercedes and their upcoming season, he thought that Hamilton will bounce back as he has ‘pure consistency’ but that Mercedes ‘will win the Constructor’s but not the Driver’s Championship’ as they have a ‘10/10 driver lineup’.
As for the Driver’s Championship, he said that Leclerc will win as he showed huge promise in 2022 and believes Red Bull will not have an answer for him in 2023. As for Red Bull, he predicted that Verstappen will ‘follow Alonso’s path’ implying that Verstappen will stay as a two time champion for the time being like Alonso. Discussing Perez, he said that he is going to have a ‘winless year’ and will ‘not finish in the top 5 in the Championship’ and perhaps implying that Perez may be out of seat at the end of 2023 and maybe opening up a spot for Ricciardo who is currently Red Bull’s reserve driver.
My Driver’s standings predictions:
- Leclerc
- Verstappen
- Hamilton
- Sainz
- Russell
- Perez
- Norris
- Gasly
- Alonso
- Piastri
- Bottas
- Ocon
- Stroll
- Hulkenberg
- De Vries
- Magnussen
- Albon
- Tsunoda
- Guanyu
- Sargeant
Sam Alford’s driver’s predictions:
- Leclerc
- Hamilton
- Verstappen
- Russell
- Sainz
- Norris
- Perez
- Bottas
- Gasly
- Alonso
- Piastri
- Ocon
- Hulkenberg
- Stroll
- Albon
- Guanyu
- Magnussen
- De vries
- Sargeant
- Tsunoda
The 1509 