With the 2023 season now underway, and a break between the first two races, let's take a look back over last year and the events that led us to this point. All new technical regulations brought brand new cars, a cascade of driver swaps and even a shuffle of Team Principles to add to the confusion. All this and more means we have much to discuss!
1. That New Car Smell
The big topic of 2022 was a complete overhaul of the technical regulations, meaning completely new cars with a new design philosophy centred around the return of the Ground Effect. Hoping to allow the cars to follow one another more closely on track, the new regulations aim to reduce the disturbance to the airflow behind the car. It has become clear in recent years that following another car means a complete lack of downforce and horrible tyre wear, due to the wake created by the leading car. This meant our only hope for overtaking relied on DRS down the straights and though the performance of each individual car is very impressive, it hasn't been providing the wheel-to-wheel racing that every fan loves to see.
As the lights went out in Bahrain for the first race of the season, it quickly became apparent that these changes were working, and working well. The 2022 season brought closer racing throughout the field than we've seen in a long time, making for a fascinating spectacle at each race weekend. However, the tech nerd in me was possibly more fascinated by the hugely varying approaches taken by each team. From the 'bathtub channels' of the Ferrari to the 'no-pods' implemented by Mercedes, it was clear that people had gone in very different directions when interpreting the new rules.
Though Ferrari kicked off with a bang in the first few races, it was Red Bull, who had actually got it right and went on to dominate the rest of the season in spectacular fashion. So much so that Verstappen managed to break the record for most wins in a single season. The Red Bull's ability to retain downforce even in the slow speed corners without sacrificing straight line speed instantly became a deadly combination and the team remained unstoppable as the season progressed. Ferrari on the other hand, were lacking reliability and sabotaging their own opportunities through poor strategy, ultimately costing them any chance of competing for the title. Meanwhile, Mercedes had a fatal flaw in their combination of large exposed floor and limited range of rear suspension. The phenomenon of porpoising (bouncing) experienced by these ground effect cars was exaggerated as the large floor induced 'stalling' of the downforce produced beneath the car. Normally this would be mitigated by increasing the ride height but the tight suspension would not allow for this. Compensating with large wings meant drag was increased and their straight line pace just couldn't cut it. Granted, their in-season development was mighty and I can't dismiss the events of Brazil as it genuinely warmed my heart to see George Russell take his maiden win after lot of tough luck over the past few years (and a first British 1-2 since 2010 with Lewis also on the podium!).
2. A Miraculous Escape
If I have to pick out one race from last season that is cemented in my memory, it has to be Silverstone and that's not just because it's the only one I got to see in person! In modern F1 it's pretty rare to see the kind of accidents that make you really fear for the driver because of the significant advances that have been made to the safety standards and robustness of the cars. You still get the odd occasion however, when all of the parameters align in an unprecedented combination that slips through the cracks of anyone's expectations.
I so vividly remember sitting in the grandstand at Becketts and hearing the crowd fall completely silent as Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo flipped up and over the safety barriers into the wire fencing before landing upside down between the two. You could just about hear the bone-chilling sound of the carbon fibre halo dragging across the concrete from the far side of the track. There's a known rule of televised events (particularly sporting events) that footage of an accident will not be shown until confirmation that all involved are okay. Simply put: they don't want to risk televising someone's death. So, the clock ticked on, and it had to have been at least 40 minutes with still no replays or footage on the big screens. I remember holding back tears and fearing the worst. A crowd renowned for being incredibly loud and vibrant, still sat silent and you just knew everyone was thinking the same thing. As clearly as I remember that initial impact, I also remember the collective relief as a message came over the tannoy that Zhou was okay and out of the car. It was like we had all been holding our breath for the past 45 minutes and had all simultaneously let go. The replays began to play and the same chorus of "oohs" and "ahs" were heard for every single one. It really was a catastrophic accident and the fact that a driver is able to walk away fairly unscathed is a huge testament to the advancements that have been made to keep everyone safe. For all of those who protested the introduction of the halo: this is now life number 4 saved (and that's just in F1, many more in the junior series).
The other reason I remember Silverstone so prominently is the triumphant performance of Carlos Sainz. I like this story in particular due to a clip that appeared on social media of Carlos arriving at the track alongside his teammate Charles Leclerc. The video showed a British fan walking up to the open window of their car and remarking "Carlos, good luck today mate, I want to see P3 yeah!" and it only takes a split second for Carlos to quip back "Wait, why P3!?" much to Charles amusement. It's one of my favourite videos though I do feel for Sainz as he was discounted from any involvement in the battle up front very early on. Most hailed him capable of podiums, but not the win. So to go into that race weekend, stick the car on Pole and go on to convert that into his maiden Formula 1 race win, I think we can safely say that Carlos took that fan's comment personally. Who knows, maybe he'd even thank that fan now for lighting a fire under him... or maybe not. Either way it was a fascinating race to watch, and not an easy run for the spaniard by any means. A late safety car left him P2 behind his teammate, but on fresh tyres, at which point Ferrari requested that Sainz give Leclerc 10 car lengths of space to protect him from losing the win (a move that would be feeding Sainz to the lions behind him). Carlos simply said "no" and quickly passed Charles on the restart to take the win. Much deserved in my opinion.
Some footage I managed to dig up of Lando Norris making his way past our grandstand at Becketts!
3. Self-Sabotage
The one thing more frustrating than watching a team struggle on track due to a poor performing car, is watching a team with a competitive car continue to sabotage their own chances through strategy and technical decisions. Now I realise this has been an issue for Ferrari for a long time, however, now that they have bounced back in terms of car performance and since they were ultimately our only hope for a title battle alongside Red Bull last season, the effect of these mistakes has been greatly exaggerated. I mentioned earlier the request from the Ferrari pit-wall to Carlos Sainz to 'protect' Charles Leclerc, essentially sacrificing his own race for the Monegasque driver. This seems harsh and unusual unless you know the track record of this particular Strategy department. I have lost count of how many times Ferrari have destroyed race winning chances through poor strategy, be it choosing the wrong tyres, calling drivers in at the wrong time or simply rattling through a whole alphabet of plans throughout a race without being able to commit to a single one. It's not unusual to hear messages coming through to the drivers stating "we are going to go to Plan G" within the first 5 laps! You don't have to be an avid follower of the sport to see the errors of their ways...
Take Monaco for example. If you're a Ferrari fan, maybe skip this section, I don't want you to re-live the pain. Now remember, in Monaco, getting Pole is as good as getting the win as the track is so tight that overtaking is a near impossibility, and this time it belonged to Charles Leclerc. As race day began, the heavens had opened and the Monaco streets looked more like a river network than a race track. But, after a long red flag period, Leclerc led the pack from a safety car restart on wet tyres. As the rain eased off, it came time to swap onto dry tyres and Sainz was the first to bite the bullet. He came in from the lead as Leclerc and both Red Bull's had already been in for a fresh set of intermediate tyres. Only, Ferrari decided to pull Leclerc in on the same lap as his teammate. It wasn't until Charles had entered the pits and spotted his teammate occupying the pit box that his race engineer shouted "Stay out! Stay out!" over the radio. He sat stationary waiting for Sainz to depart before he could pit and subsequently dropped behind the two Red Bulls, costing him the race win. Simple communication between the two sides of the pit wall could have mitigated this mistake but instead Leclerc not only missed out on the race win, but didn't even manage a podium place. This was just one of many scenarios that led to the team with arguably the fastest car, with no chance of claiming the 2022 Championship.
There is a glimpse of hope for the upcoming season however, with a newly appointed Team Principle to shake things up. Former Alfa Romeo boss Fred Vasseur will replace Mattia Binotto for the 2023 season, bringing new life to the team that has felt stuck in its ways for so long. If all goes well, and Vasseur can make the necessary changes, maybe we will see a more refined and calculated Ferrari, ready to show exactly how good that car can be. I know many people will be glad to see both drivers able to show their full potential as well.
4. Silly Season
The Formula 1 driver market is rife with drama, gossip, loyalty and betrayal. Headlines are thrown around left, right and centre and no secret stays as one for long. Hence the nickname: Silly Season! If you follow the sport closely, most driver moves become fairly predictable. Take George Russell moving to Mercedes for 2022 for example. The Brit was a shoe-in for a seat at the works team having had a foot in the door since they pulled him up from F2 into Williams to essentially prepare him for the inevitable move. There are exceptions to this predictability however when, for example, a long-standing member of the grid decides to retire...
Sebastian Vettel's announcement shook the world of Formula 1 as he decided not to continue on with Aston Martin but to instead hang in the towel and spend more time at home with his family. The sudden appearance of an empty seat in a highly attractive up-and-coming midfield team was bound to cause some turmoil, and it didn't take long at all for the carousel to begin. Fernando Alonso, 2-time World Champion, having returned from 2 years out of the sport to join Alpine, decided that seat at Aston Martin was just too good to let up. Now Fernando isn't exactly known for making the best career moves and is definitely not one to put team loyalty over his own desires, however, having stated that he was ready to build a Championship winning team at Alpine and having already supported them in rising up to P4 in the standings, making the jump to a team currently sat in P7 definitely raised some eyebrows. The drama didn't stop there as Alpine quickly took to social media to announce the promotion of reserve driver and F2 Champion Oscar Piastri. So far this was making sense, that is until Oscar made a post of his own claiming that he would definitely "not be driving for Alpine for the 2023 season". Oof. Well you would only make a statement as strong as that if you had a better offer elsewhere right? Enter McLaren and bid a farewell to Daniel Ricciardo whose performance in Papaya Orange had gone from bad to worse and one could only assume that alliance wouldn't hold on for long. This was however a premature departure for Ricciardo resulting in a whopping $18 Million payout to end his contract early (and an opportunity as a reserve driver for the reigning World Champions... go Daniel!). McLaren saw this as a fair value but likely weren't expecting to be hearing from Alpine so soon as they began threatening legal action against Piastri to reimburse them for the costs of his development through the junior programmes (of which any financial repercussions would fall on his new team). Luckily for the British team, the arrival of Pierre Gasly at Alpine seemed to calm the storm as they believed they had (albeit accidentally) ended up with the better deal. All sorted? Not quite. The empty seat left by Gasly needed to be filled, though this was a much simpler process due to the impressive stand-in performance of Mercedes reserve driver, Nyck De Vries, for Williams a few races prior. The Dutchman was promptly called up to the Red Bull sister team and remains one-to-watch for the upcoming season.
Two final notable changes for the 2023 season include the return of Nico Hulkenberg in place of Mick Schumacher at Haas and the promotion of Logan Sargeant from F2 to replace Nicolas Latifi at Williams. Both fairly expected due to a drop in performance, though many would be sad to see Mick away from the sport and as such, he received a call from Mercedes to join them as a reserve driver to keep in touch whilst he hunts down alternative opportunities on the grid.
5. Farewell Seb
I don't think I'm alone when I say that I was an emotional mess watching the final race of the 2022 season as Sebastian Vettel bid farewell to the sport in favour of a quieter family life. The four time World Champion had always resisted social media but occasionally remarked that he would create an account when he retired. So when @sebastianvettel appeared on instagram, we all knew what was coming. A moody black and white video followed shortly after in which Seb explained that his priorities in his life have changed and how he is excited to spend more time watching his children grow up.
Vettel wasn't the most popular character at the peak of his career. He dominated the sport for 4-years with Red Bull, earning back-to-back Championships that, at the time, most thought would define his legacy. Statistically that is how he will be remembered but the past few years have shown a very different side to the driver. His candid and unwavering passion for bettering the world became the forefront of his presence on the grid, whether that be human rights, climate change or even saving the bees. He ruffled a lot of feathers and actively put the difficult topics and conversations at the front of one of the highest profile sports platforms without ever worrying about how it might affect his reputation. When the camera's went off, he continued his pursuit, staying late after races to clean up the grandstands and visiting local schools to build bee hotels. He never expected praise or compensation for any of these actions and he has injected a new incentive within the sport to use its platform for good. This is how I will remember Seb.
One thing I have particularly enjoyed seeing is the relationship that has flourished between Vettel and Mick Schumacher. It didn't take long for fans to spot the similarities to his relationship with Michael Schumacher (Mick's father). Sebastian often talked of his admiration for Michael and holds him as his Hero. Since Michael's accident has prevented him from seeing Mick's F1 career develop, it seems as though Seb has taken on this mentor-like role to repay the favour. Whether true or not, it has certainly brought joy to many of us and provided a wholesome contrast to the intense rivalries typically portrayed in the media.
I felt compelled to include some remarks on Vettel's impact on the sport so thank you for indulging me in this tribute to one of my favourite drivers. I will miss his witty remarks, awful jokes and general paddock mayhem. I am however, very excited to see what he does next, and hope that he gets to enjoy some peace and quiet among his family as I think he thoroughly deserves it.
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