This Week – 08/01/2023
Hello, and Happy New Year welcome to This Week as the sport wakes up from its Christmas break. The new year has started as expected with the teams looking ahead, both for 2023 as well as the medium future, we also still have questions about the race in Shanghai being reinstated and could General Motors (Ford or Cadillac) return in 2026.
It may only be the start of the year but the countdown to Bahrain and the spin about what to expect this year has already begun….
General News
Organisers of the Chinese Grand Prix have started talks with Formula One about reinstating this year’s race after the government announced the lifting of the country’s zero-covid policy. The race was cancelled in November because of the restrictions and quarantine measures and was not replaced
This is going to be an interesting story to watch over the next month, whether other countries place restriction on China, and we know there wasn’t an intention to replace the race. I had this feeling when it was cancelled it may have been to premature and we have seen protests in Shanghai, Wuhan and other cities over the last month before this change was announced in the last week.
But reports from Shanghai, which hosts the race, suggest 70% of the population have been infected by Covid ahead of Chinese New Year, mainly driven by Omicron. There are fears that the government has lost control of the virus in a population
Andretti and General Motors have announced a joint bid to enter the sport in 2026, Andretti’s ambitions to enter the sport have been known for some time and we know the sport has grown in recent years in the US. Cadillac chairman Mark Reuss said: “We have a long, rich history in motorsports and engineering innovation.”
“We are thrilled with the prospect of pairing with Andretti Global to form an American F1 team that will help spur even more global interest in the series and the sport. Cadillac and F1 both have growing global appeal.”
As we know at the end of last year, the governing body had started opening the process for new teams to enter the sport when there are certain conditions including payments to current teams to offset the loss of income from the prize fund.
Mercedes
Mercedes go into this year following a “complete disaster” in 2022, after they admitted the concept of last year’s car was wrong. As we know it took them until the final month of the season to look like genuine contenders for race wins, and they continue to be cautious for 2023.
CEO and team principal Wolff added, “I would like this team to constantly develop to be chasing for race victories and championships every single year but not taking it for granted, not having any sense of entitlement and if I hear us talking it almost sounds like the complete disaster of all seasons… it felt like it and I think this is the right feeling.”
Mercedes have spoken about changing the DNA of the car, there are no major changes to this year’s regulations. Wolff says the team will be pushing flat out to achieve the best possible result with the same kind of scrutiny on our performance will help us going forward.
Red Bull
Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey is braced for a tough year against Ferrari and Mercedes, believing they will “be right back” in the championship fight. As champions, the team has to contend with an additional limit on its aerodynamic testing as punishment for breaching the budget cap in 2021.
It was already set to receive the least amount of time in the wind tunnel as a result of its championship win, but was hit with a further 10% drop for the breach, along with a $7 million fine for breaching the cap. Explaining what that meant, Newey told Motorsport.com, “The reduction in wind tunnel testing means we can therefore evaluate less different components, less different ideas.”
Red Bull need to be more tactical with its wind tunnel use and one of the things to watch this year is how do these regulations hinder teams and close the gap to the top teams.
motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says the team should fear Mercedes more than Ferrari as it goes into 2023. It is thought that in the final races that Mercedes were ahead of Ferrari, and that was after they understood the various issues they had with the car.
Marko said, “I would say that we should fear Mercedes more. Mainly because they have an advantage over Ferrari in terms of strategy and reliability.” I think that’s backed up by the long term pattern we often talk about with Ferrari’s seasons disappearing and then the mistakes built.
Marko was sceptical that Red Bull’s success in 2022 could mark the start of a period of dominance, similar to that of Mercedes when the V6 hybrid power units were introduced in 2014
Ferrari
Ferrari appears on course to hit its weight target with its new 2023 car, as all teams push hard to eradicate excess weight. The Italian team has said that one of its targets over the winter has been reducing the weight and airflow for this year’s car, which will both improve downforce and airflow.
The team want to get below the 796kg weight limit that gives them flexibility when it comes to placing ballast in the car which will also improve the performance of the car and tyre life.
But there has also been reports of what is being described as a ‘terrible new year’ with the manufacturers’ refusal to commit to the 2026 regulation changes seeing it barred from a meeting. It has also reportedly lost around 25% of its income around £91m worth of income after Crypto company Velas and chip semiconductor company Snapdragon, ended sponsorship.
This isn’t the news the team would have wanted, but I wonder how much of the refusal to commit to 2026 is a political move by the team to water down the regulations and get them more likely.
McLaren
McLaren believes that Oscar Piastri will give Lando Norris a stern challenge, but has no fears that their rivalry will cause friction. After two seasons where McLaren has enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere between Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, the arrival of Piastri looks set to deliver a very different dynamic at the team.
There has been this feeling, especially last year, that we didn’t know how good Norris is as he has massively outperformed Ricciardo. We also know that Piastri has had a very good junior career and it believed he can win races, but Brown hasn’t placed any expectations on him.
Brown has also praised the way that Piastri handled himself through the controversy of the battle between McLaren and Alpine over signing him for 2023 – especially in the face of criticism from his former boss Otmar Szafnauer.
Saying that Piastri had conducted himself well over the summer, saying he was mature throughout the process and described Szafnauer’s comments about the South African as “very unfair and not accurate.”
This who saga was one we will never forget and I agree Piastri saga, but the long term impact on his career if he doesn’t get the success what does that mean if he wants to move on to another midfield team? This dynamic could be one to watch this year.
The team has also announced they will launch the MCL37 on Monday 13th February, the same day that Aston Martin’s challenger is launched.
Alpine
Alpine has announced it will launch its 2023 car, the A523, on Thursday 16th February in central London. The team made the announcement on social media on Wednesday afternoon. The French manufacturer goes into this year with Pierre Gasly joining the team from Alpha Tauri to partner Esteban Ocon, after Fernando Alonso left to join Aston Martin. Alpine finished fourth in last year’s constructors’ championship,
Later in the week, its CEO Laurent Rossi said he hoped that Gasly can use his experience as Alpha Tauri’s “technical leader” to take the team to “a new level.” He said the Frenchman is going to bring what the team needs to help it develop the car and move the team out of the midfield.
Discussing what Gasly could bring to the team, Rossi told Motorsport.com, “Hopefully he’s going to bring what we need, which is to continue developing the car, because at the moment, we are still pretty much in the midfield and we need to take the car a notch up.”
I think if Alpine can prevent a civil war as there are rumours about a past rivalry between Ocon and Gasly from their junior career. But I think they can work together and develop the car as they have both delivered after having set backs in their career and have both won races.