Formula 1 2023.

[Cleoriff]

I'll run a Formula 1 thread for one more season. Hopefully there will be some new members who are interested? If not, I'll spend a lot of time talking to myself 😂

A fair amount of changes this season with the driver line up but I'll discuss that later.

Kicking off in Bahrain on March 5 and concluding in Abu Dhabi on November 26, the season will feature a planned, record-breaking 24 races, with Qatar set to return and Las Vegas arriving as the penultimate round for a Saturday night race. China has been dropped due to the ongoing Covid situation.

CALENDAR

*Pre Season testing will take place in Bahrain on Feb23-25th

DRIVERS 2023

No change in the top three teams of Red Bull,(Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez)

Ferrari, (Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz and

Mercedes  (George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Alpine team, Pierre Gasly moves to drive with them as Alonso has moved out

McLaren Team. Oscar Piastri replaces Ricciardo and Lando Norris remains.

Alfa Romeo Team. No change in the line up with Valtteri Bottas and George Zhou.

Aston Martin Team. Fernando Alonso replace Seb Vettel who retired last year. Lance Stroll remains.

Haas Team Another change. Mick Schumacher was sacked last year and has been replaced with Nico Hulkenberg who will have his arch enemy Kevin Magnussen as a team mate.

Alpha Tauri team. Nyck De Vries (a rookie) replaces Gasly who moved to Alpine. Team mate Yuki Tsunoda (no change)

Williams team. Alex Albon remains and Nicholas Latifi (one of the worse drivers on the grid), resigned before being sacked, is replaced by another rookie Logan Sargeant (who was 4th in F2 last season)

So lots to look forward to this season. There have been changes in Team Principals. For Ferrari, Fred Vasseur replacing Mattio Binotti, McLaren has changed but the most shocking change (for me) is James Vowles Chief Strategist for Mercedes has taken on the team principal role for Williams!!

I hope Merc have got a damn good replacement!

[Safwan]

What on Earth is happening with Leclerc & Perez? 

[Cleoriff]

I don't know @Safwan. What I DO know is Sainz deserved more than 1 penalty. He impeded someone else (Russell I think) with his dawdling on the racing line. Yesterday he looked like someone who had just stepped into a F1 car for the first time!

[Safwan]

For sure @Cleoriff Gasly had a right to be angry, incredibly dangerous driving. Very disappointed in Sainz

[Cleoriff]

Pretty boring race.

DOD was Albon (well deserved)

Lewis overtook Alonso at the start to gain 2nd but Fernando took it back a few laps later. Russel put his car in the wall which the mechanics fixed but he had to retire later when there was integral damage.

[Safwan]

Yeah, some fun battles but not much to write home about. Ferrari for once having a good strategy though. Slightly depressing that Max has more points than Mercedes, sheer domination by him.

[Cleoriff]

Something wrong somewhere @Safwan. The new rules and regulations for 22 were to stop dominance of the rich teams and bring every car on the grid closer together!!

Then we have Red Bull, unbeateable. How's that happen? Stop Merc running away with it and now Red Bull is the car to beat?  Max is a good driver in a great car.

I could see the way this was going in Abu Dhabi 2021. There are certain FIA personnel who don't want Schumachers record broken, so Masi and his ilk manipulated the rules to ensure Hamilton (who was 10 minutes away from winning his 8th) didn't win it. There are many people like me who have never forgotten that farce.

There is a distinct difference between a stewards decision on lap 1 of a 58 lap race, to a race director applying a new interpretation of established rules on the penultimate lap of a race.

Sorry about that rant but it just shows the depth of feeling I still have about that farce.

Same with the cost cap. Ross Brawn said 'Championships could be won and lost if teams broke the cost cap rules' Red Bull did in the 21/22 season. They got a slap on the wrist. Corrupt.

[Safwan]

Yeah, it’s fair to say the worst case scenario has emerged from that  Abu Dhabi verdict, Masi getting fired did naught. 

There’s definitely evidence of trying to stop Sir Lewis from breaking Schumachers record, but I believe it may also be down to money, scaring away the new companies coming into the sport 

[Cleoriff]

AUSTRIA F1 (SPRINT WEEKEND UGHH!)

You can guess I don't like Sprints.

PRACTICE 1

Lewis should have stayed on the hards, he was top of the leaderboard then changed to softs and ended up 4th.

2 hrs time it's Qualifying which sets the grid for the race on Sunday.

[Cleoriff]

QUALIFYING

Never seen so many lap deletions!!

[Safwan]

Threw me for a right surprise that Quali was today, sprint races are not a good thing