F1 2023 Preview: All roads lead to Bahrain
Ryan Brolly
As we head into another year of action at the pinnacle of motorsport with excitement building ahead of the first race in Bahrain this weekend, we must look at the changing landscape that has developed over the Formula One off-season.
The break has provided an opportunity for radical change across the grid, with a real shakeup in the driver pairings and also within some teams hierarchies. The vast number of changes means that this season is near impossible to predict as everyone tries to bed into their new surroundings.
Every F1 season is made exciting by the introduction of new rookies, as the best of the best in the lower rankings finally getting their seat on the 20 driver grid.
It is always interesting to see how they can adapt to the series, and this year's rookies offer real pedigree. One of those is Australian Oscar Piastri, who has joined McLaren. The mercurial talent has been successful in every series he has run in Formula Renault, Formula 3 and Formula 2 in three consecutive years.
It will be intriguing to see how he handles the ultimate step up and how he can perform, especially against his teammate Lando Norris, who has driven for the Woking based team since 2019.
Nyck de Vries is the 2nd ‘rookie’ to join the grid, but he is far from inexperienced. The 28-year old Dutchman finally has his chance in Formula One after a successful career outside of the series, which includes a Formula 2 championship in 2019 and a Formula E championship in 2021.
He has joined Red Bull Racing’s sister team Alpha Tauri, likely with the aim of breaking through to the Red Bull team to partner his fellow countrymen Max Verstappen in the future.
Lewis Hamilton will be looking to get back on track this year as he aims to win his eighth Drivers’ Championship.
The final addition to this year’s grid is American Logan Sargeant, replacing Nicholas Latifi. He is product of the Williams driver academy and had his first full season in Formula 2 in 2022, where he finished 4th in the championship, securing the super licence points required to race in F1 and win ‘Rookie of the Year’.
Elsewhere on the grid, the shakeup in management positions has been vast. Fred Vasseur has taken the reins at Ferrari following the departure of Mattia Binotto.
The Frenchmen joins the Scuderia after a spell in the Sauber group, who run the Alfa Romeo F1 team, where Vasseur worked with Ferrari star Charles Leclerc when he entered F1.
With Vasseur’s experience the Prancing Horse will be hoping to iron out the strategic problems experienced under Binotto, which cost them the title fight against Red Bull in 2022.
Further driver moves of note include the arrival of Pierre Gasly to Alpine-Renault. The race winner completing an all French lineup with fellow Frenchman Esteban Ocon.
Former Alpine driver Fernando Alonso will join Aston Martin, replacing the loved Sebastian Vettel as he retires from the sport.
Completing the changes to the driver lineup, is the arrival of Nico Hülkenberg to HAAS in place of Mick Schumacher who joins Mercedes as a test driver.
As for predicting the season’s race for the championship, as aforementioned, it is a near impossible task. After Bahrain testing Red Bull and Max Verstappen seem to be returning to business as usual with a strong package around the Bahrain International Circuit.
Ferrari also look to be strong, with Carlos Sainz topping the Friday morning testing time sheet. You also cannot count out Mercedes to have a strong showing in 2023, especially with George Russell behind the wheel alongside seven-time World Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton.
As for any outside predictions, Fernando Alonso has been looking like his old self, getting some great lap times from his Aston Martin and Zhou Guanyu in the Alfa Romeo seems to be building on a fantastic rookie season as he was also topping time charts during testing.
As a result, it is set to be another rollercoaster ride, so brace yourselves for a pulsating return in the Persian Gulf.
Ryan Brolly is a History and International Relations student at Queen’s University Belfast and a Sport Reporter for The Scoop.