It's been 105 days since we last went racing and all eyes are on Bahrain to see where the teams line up ahead of the new season. Pre-season testing brought a raft of headlines, with the general consensus being an evolution rather than a full shake-up, with the exception of one particular team in green...
Lights Out
There is no buzz quite like the starting grid of the first Grand Prix of the season. You can feel the nerves, the drive and the suspense lingering in the air as everyone anticipates the next 57 laps. When the lights go out, it's the two Red Bulls leading the pack into turn 1, through which I always sit in awe at the skill of these drivers to remain in one piece. No surprises so far as the convoy continues on, though my eye was drawn to the two Williams drivers picking up 2 places each right off the bat (definitely a step up from the underwhelming pre-season test). I wonder how Alonso might have felt, thinking he had escaped any risk of inter-team collisions when he left Ocon behind at Alpine, only to fall victim to the torpedo of Lance Stroll on the first lap! We'll let him off on this occasion due to the Canadian driver's somewhat miraculous recovery from a bicycle accident that left him with two broken wrists only two weeks prior to this event. I can't say I disagree with the Aston Martin pit wall restraining from informing Alonso of the particular driver involved in the incident...
The Woes of McLaren Continue
Pre-season testing looked almost as rough for McLaren as it did 12 months prior at the 2022 test here, however the car looked much more balanced as the start of this race unfolded. This glimpse of hope was short lived however as Lando Norris peels into the pits for an early tyre swap and a top up to the hydraulics to correct a seemingly irrecoverable engine issue. With the Brit at the back of the pack, eyes moved to his new teammate and rookie driver Oscar Piastri. The Australian was picking up places before a team radio message revealed a loss of gear shifts related to his steering wheel, forcing the second McLaren into the pits. A swap of steering wheels couldn't rectify the issue and the team in Papaya were down to one car, albeit requiring frequent pit stops for hydraulic top ups. Norris continued to trundle along at the back, but the race was over before it really began for these two. Not quite the season start that anyone would have wanted.
Lean, Mean Green Machine
Let's talk about the elephant in the room that is Aston Martin and particularly the re-ignition of Fernando Alonso. With the retirement of Sebastian Vettel, there was very little hesitation before Fernando decided to jump ship from Alpine and join the Silverstone based team for the 2023 season. This sparked a lot of speculation as to what exactly convinced the two-time World Champion to make the switch. The reason may have come to light however when we hit the track for pre-season testing and the green cars were instantly lighting up the timing sheets, taking the fight to Mercedes, Ferrari and even Red Bull at times. As the race begins, it seems as though they will be focussing their attention on the two Mercedes for the duration... that is until Alonso starts picking through the field. It's not long before he's up into the podium places and bidding a cheeky "bye bye" to the cars left in his wake. He's so comfortable in the car that he even takes the time to jump on the radio and remark "this is a lovely car to drive". Great praise and huge step up for this team who now find themselves P3 and up on the podium for the first race of the season!
Can anyone challenge Red Bull?
Last season it was Ferrari and the occasional Mercedes taking the fight to the reigning World Champions, and early signs would say we're in for a similar battle this year. However, the first race hasn't given Red Bull much to worry about as Verstappen sailed off into the night sky right from the off. Sergio Perez was close behind and though the team opted for an odd strategy of two consecutive soft tyre stints at the start, it clearly payed off with little disturbance from any other car on track. It became clear very quickly that the Mercedes were to be more concerned with Fernando Alonso biting at their heels rather than looking forward. On the other hand, Ferrari looked to be in a position to follow the leaders through and maybe get onto their tails as the race progressed, however a slow moving Charles Leclerc killed these chances as he drew to a halt half way round the track with a fatal engine issue. It was assured pre-season that the reliability woes of 2022 were long gone but I doubt many will be believing these claims now, especially as Leclerc had to take a new Energy Storage component before the race even began! Bear in mind he has now used half of his allowance for this particular component already...
Mix-up in the Midfield
I mentioned earlier the impressive start from Williams and it has to be said that Logan Sargeant definitely gets the best start to the season out of the three rookies on the field with a P12 finish. Albon even managed points in P10 so a greatly deserved return to the midfield after a tough few years for the team. After qualifying, things looked promising at Haas with Hulkenberg returning from 3 years out of a race seat and immediately putting the car into Q3. The German driver, having a rich career history in the sport, proving to all that he's not just a super stand-in, but also a very capable full time racer. Unfortunately an early incident caused severe front wing damage and sent him way back in the standings to an irrecoverable position, but I do still think the team is shaping up nicely for a consistent points-scoring season in 2023. My final note-worthy performance of the weekend is Pierre Gasly, who I'm sure was having some real real doubts about his decision to peel away from the Red Bull Racing programme to join an all-French lineup along Esteban Ocon, as he lined up on the grid in P20. The former race-winner kept his head down though and quietly weaved his way through the grid, ending up in P9, bagging 2 championship points and setting up alongside Valtteri Bottas as the best of the rest so far.
The Take Away
Simply put:
Red Bull continue to dominate at the front of the field.
Ferrari have yet to squash their reliability issues and may again lose out on a Championship because of it.
Fernando Alonso has jumped on board with Aston Martin at the perfect time and may be our best hope of a fight up front.
Mercedes are concerned that their drastically different sidepod design is a fatal philosophy.
The grid is packed very tightly in the midfield and should make for some excellent races (fingers crossed!).
There is reason for big concern at McLaren right now as they drop to the back of the field...
What do you think? Let me know if you agree or if I've got it completely wrong!
Will Alonso take the fight to Red Bull?
Yes! 3rd WDC Here we come!
Nah, they'll run away
Final Standings
1 | Verstappen |
2 | Perez |
3 | Alonso |
4 | Sainz |
5 | Hamilton |
6 | Stroll |
7 | Russell |
8 | Bottas |
9 | Gasly |
10 | Albon |
11 | Tsunoda |
12 | Sargeant |
13 | Magnussen |
14 | De Vries |
15 | Hulkenberg |
16 | Zhou |
17 | Norris |
DNF | Ocon |
DNF | Leclerc |
DNF | Piastri |
Nice to see Alonso back on the podium where he belongs! Shame about Ocon, he really couldn't seem to catch a break with those penalties.
Great summary.