Hello, This Week the dust settles a chance without going straight into round two offered a chance to reflect and understand what happened in Bahrain. But one question remains how do Ferrari and Mercedes catch Red Bull? While it’s too early to call this season won, it could be a big challenge to close that big gap this season. The longer this gap remains the harder it gets to close that gap will be<\/p>\n
The FIA has announced that the son of president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has died following a car crash in the United Arab Emirates. Saif Ben Sulayem had followed in his father’s footsteps by participating in motorsport, competing in the 2016-17 UAE Formula 4 series against current rookies Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n
The news has been confirmed by the FIA, but there will be no further statement from the organisation and it has indicated the president has asked for privacy. Further comment is not expected from the FIA or Ben Sulayem, who has requested privacy.<\/p>\n
Lewis Hamilton says he has to be a \u201cpositive light\u201d for his Mercedes after a difficult opening race of the 2023 season in Bahrain. The seven-time champion finished fifth after passing team-mate George Russell and benefitting from the retirement of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.<\/p>\n
However, Mercedes appeared powerless to defend off the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who had a bad start and eventually recovered to finish third. It’s widely accepted that Aston are the team who have made the most progress and has been able to join the top three teams this season.<\/p>\n
However, he was powerless to hold off the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who had a bad start and eventually recovered to finish third.<\/p>\n
Asked if he was concerned that the team hasn\u2019t made much progress since last season, Hamilton insisted that his role is to keep the team motivated. he said, \u201cConcerned wouldn\u2019t be the word. There is nothing I can say, I don\u2019t want to say too much. We\u2019ve just got to keep working.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we are not where we need to be, and we know that this isn\u2019t the right car. It is a difficult one. But I\u2019ve just got to try and stay positive, keep my head up and keep pushing the guys. Keep trying to be a positive light for them and get the best points I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mercedes had strong race pace for much of the 2022 season, although the Bahrain opener saw the team struggle with tyre degradation. That pattern was repeated in Sunday\u2019s event. Hamilton says they need to keep adding downforce to the car, believing when they have more rear load they will be able to pick up the pace.<\/p>\n
George Russell has backed Toto Wolff\u2019s calls for the team to change their concept saying he is ready to sacrifice part of 2023 to be more competitive in the future. While the team isn\u2019t suffering from porpoising or extreme bouncing it appears to have disappeared but the gap has increased to Red Bull once again.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cWe obviously want to optimize every single result, but if you give me a choice between fighting and having a chance to win races, whenever that is, versus slow progress and never having that chance, you obviously choose one of taking those victories. if we want to sacrifice some races or part of a season to give ourselves a chance to get a car that can fight\u201d<\/p>\n
We know the longer you leave it to catch up and the longer the season goes on the harder it is to close the gap and change for the championship. Russell admitted Mercedes’ regression was a “big blow”, just when it was hopeful the mandated 15mm floor raise for 2023 would allow its design concept to show its true potential.<\/p>\n
Russell has been listed on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Forbes wrote \u201c Russell joined Formula One powerhouse Mercedes in 2022 and finished ahead of teammate and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, placing fourth overall in the F1 driver standings for the season and notching his first victory. In 2021 he was elected Director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, the trade union of F1 drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max Verstappen believes that his rivals will be closer in Jeddah despite his dominance in Bahrain. The two-time champion appeared unimpeachable at the Sakhir circuit as he pulled out of DRS range of the chasing Ferrari of Charles Leclerc by the end of the opening lap.<\/p>\n
Leclerc eventually retired from the race after his engine failed on lap thirty-nine, then Verstappen opened a twelve-second lead and stretched his stint longer than his Ferrari rival. He eventually took victory twelve seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez with his sixteenth win in a row.<\/p>\n
With Mercedes driver George Russell ‘betting’ that Red Bull would every single race in 2023, Verstappen has rebuffed suggestions of a whitewash and instead predicts a far more hotly contested round awaits in Jeddah.<\/p>\n
The two-time champion said: “Saudi is quite a different track to this one. You have a lot more like straights, fast corners, and a lot less degradation. And I think here [in Bahrain] we were particularly good on the deg. So, I do expect in terms of race pace, that everyone is closer in Jeddah.”<\/p>\n
We are still early on in this 2023 season, I think Jeddah is obviously a very different circuit and Ferrari looks quick in a straight line but Red Bull holds the advantage in the corners.<\/p>\n
Motorsport.com reported this week that Ferrari has lost its head of vehicle concept David Sanchez Sanchez, who has effectively been in charge of the design and development of Ferrari’s F1 cars for the past two seasons, has been at Maranello for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n
He was prompted to the role in 2019, having previously lead the aerodynamics department before his promotion to chief engineer, head of vehicle concept in 2019. Sanchez was one of the key figures of Ferrari’s era under Mattia Binotto and was credited with playing an influential role in the team’s return to form in 2017 as he and Simone Resta turned the SF-70H into a race winner.<\/p>\n
The timing of Sanchez’s departure is far from ideal, with Ferrari already facing a challenge in trying to work out how to close down the gap to Red Bull after the disappointment of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. We know that people in these high technical roles need lengthy gardening leave before being able to work elsewhere, with their next destination not yet confirmed.<\/p>\n
The team is looking to continue with the development of its single-pillar rear wing despite having obvious issues in testing and the opening race in Bahrain. The design is intended to clean up the airflow to the wing, which triggered a DRS issue when it was trialled on the final day of testing.<\/p>\n
When it was tried again in the Friday FP1 session, TV coverage showed it oscillating in dramatic fashion, and it was quickly replaced with a standard twin-pylon wing for the remainder of the weekend. Ferrari engineer Jock Clear, who currently serves as Charles Leclerc\u2019s driver coach, says the problems were a simple reflection of the lack of track testing available to teams.<\/p>\n
He said \u201cI think the double-pylon obviously is a carryover from last year, tried and trusted. The single didn’t really come into development until later in the year, in fact very late in the year, maybe the last month of development.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it’s fairly young. It’s a development that’s just a step forward on the rear wing really. Obviously getting down to a mono pillar just cleans up the flow to the bottom of the main plane.\u201d Clear said it is impossible to judge how much work will be required for the team to be in a position to actually commit to using it on a race weekend.<\/p>\n
Lando Norris says there is no reason for his McLaren to be \u201cdownbeat\u201d despite what appeared to be a disastrous start to the 2023 season in Bahrain. The past fortnight in Sakhir has been a repeat of 2022, limited running during testing followed by a double retirement from the Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
Asked by Motorsport.com about his role in keeping spirits in the camp up, he said: “It’s very important. It’s part of my job, really. I guess more so now than ever. But there’s no reason why they should be downbeat. The main thing is we should have scored points, that was our objective today, with a car we know is not that competitive. The team know that, and if we fix the issue, we should be fine.”<\/p>\n
McLaren are hoping that they can make a major step in Baku when they introduce their first upgrade. However, the challenge is to avoid a repeat of 2022, where in the teams own words following Bahrain they were \u2018playing catch-up\u2019 for the whole of last year.<\/p>\n
Norris admitted with the problem they knew they would need to box every 10 laps, we knew we were going to be out of the race very quickly.<\/p>\n
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has confirmed talks have taken place with McLaren over becoming their engine supplier in 2026, when the next set of engine regulations are introduced. We already know two things, Red Bull is starting a partnership with Ford in 2026 and McLaren\u2019s contract with Mercedes ends.<\/p>\n
Reports emerged in February that McLaren chief executive Zak Brown visited Red Bull Powertrains, the team’s engine division, and Horner confirmed the meeting ahead of the season-opening Bahrain. Asked about that meeting, Horner said, \u201cAs a power-unit manufacturer for 2026, discussions are going to be held regarding potential power-unit supply. It’s only natural that we would talk to potential customers.”<\/p>\n
When asked about the talks, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella pointed to a “solid partnership” with Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), but admitted the Woking-based team are considering their options.<\/p>\n
McLaren are also understood to have been in dialogue with Honda, as the Japanese manufacturer considers an official return to the sport in 2026. These talks are I think only natural when regulations change, but I feel a bit surprised by the move to team up potentially with Red Bull. Could this signal Red Bull are looking to take their involvement in the sport to the next level becoming a long-term player like Ferrari and Mercedes?<\/p>\n
The team also announced this week the building of their new wind tunnel has been complete with the target of it being up and running in June. This project was started in 2019 under then-team principal Andreas Seidl, as the team’s infrastructure had fallen behind compared to that of its rivals.<\/p>\n
The effects of Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the economic picture over the last few years has caused the deadline to slip.<\/p>\n
Seidl’s replacement Stella has explained that the new wind tunnel’s hardware is already finished, with actual development work starting in June. The team still needs to wait until all the usual calibration work is finished to make sure the new wind tunnel works as expected.<\/p>\n
We know there have been suggestions that the team are stuck in their current position and can\u2019t progress until this wind tunnel becomes fully operational. It’s unlikely to have an impact until 2024-25, but when the regulation change in 2026 that\u2019s when we are likely to see the full impacts of this wind tunnel.<\/p>\n
Currently, the team rents Toyota’s wind tunnel in Cologne, which involves packing parts into a van and sending it off to Germany.<\/p>\n
CEO and team principal Otmar Szafnauer says the team \u201cdoesn\u2019t know its true pace\u201d after both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly had problems during last weekend\u2019s race in Bahrain. In testing the team didn\u2019t set fast times on Pirelli’s softest compounds.<\/p>\n
But the race weekend revealed only a glimpse of Alpine’s true place in the pecking order. Ocon qualified ninth but then faced three-time penalties in the race before he retired while set fast times on Pirelli’s softest compounds.<\/p>\n
The race weekend revealed only a glimpse of Alpine’s true place in the pecking order as both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly ran into issues. Ocon qualified ninth but then faced three time penalties in the race before he retired. There are questions I think always early on in the season it takes time to understand the order and how the teams are performing.<\/p>\n
Taking the problems out, Szafnauer said \u201cI’m looking at lap times and if you ever watch a race between the guys up front and the guys at the back, [in the same car] you can be two seconds a lap different just because of where you’re racing. So, I still don’t know where we are relative just because we’re out of position with one car and the other car had the problems we talked about. I don’t think we’re far off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having been leapfrogged by Aston Martin compared to last year, Szafnauer says its main goal is to “out develop” it as it still aims to hang on to fourth. But even in the short term he’s confident the Enstone team will score “plenty of points” just by executing clean weekends.<\/p>\n
Aston Martin, now Alpine, team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes his former teams performance in Bahrain \u201cwas exactly the same\u201d as when it raced there as Force India in 2014.<\/p>\n
As we know over the last fortnight the team has been described as the most improved team with Fernando Alonso taking his first podium in two years. Szafnauer was keen to point out that the Bahrain result reminded him of the 2014 race. Szafnauer said \u201cWell, they made the jump. I mean, to be fair to them, it’s always been a good and efficient team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to them but I think Force India in 2014 were exactly the same: in about the same relative position, podium-winning. I think [Perez] qualified fifth in 2014 and had really good race pace.\u201d Over the last fortnight in Bahrain, its rivals have described Aston as \u2018the most improved team\u2019 or \u2018the team who have made the biggest step\u2019 over the winter.<\/p>\n
While Szafnauer admitted Aston will be hard to catch for Alpine, he rather wants to focus on the Enstone team’s own deficit to the leaders to gauge its progress.<\/p>\n
He explained, \u201cWhat we’ve got to look at is how close we were relative to pole from last year. \u201cHow close were we on race pace, and where could we have finished had we not had our operational issues relative to those: was it better than last year or not?\u201d<\/p>\n
Logan Sargeant says he didn\u2019t want to be \u201ctoo greedy\u201d on his debut in Bahrain and that failing to make Q2 was the biggest disappointment he encountered. He set an identical lap time to Lando Norris and was knocked out because the McLaren set his lap time first.<\/p>\n
But his race was solid as he was one of several drivers to benefit from an extra set of fresh tyres in the last part of the race after Charles Leclerc triggered a VSC. Sargeant acknowledged that it has been a good weekend but that failing to make Q2 when he had to car to do so was frustrating.<\/p>\n
Asked if he could have wanted any more from his debut, he said: “You don’t want to get too greedy. It’s been a great weekend. I’m very, very happy with the way it went, I’m very happy with the pace we’ve had. Am I a little disappointed to have missed Q2? Yes, because I know the car was capable of making it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sargeant I think had a good weekend he didn\u2019t make the headlines for bad or good reasons, finishing you’re debut race gives a good impression to start you’re career. He also said that Bahrain felt like a normal event but he acknowledged that prior to the start the reality of making his F1 debut hit home.<\/p>\n
However, conceded that he still has much to learn as his debut season progresses.<\/p>\n
Nico Hulkenberg says he went through his tyres like a \u201cknife through butter\u201d after his Haas car suffered front wing damage early in the Bahrain GP. While he qualified tenth he tumbled down the order following contact with Esteban Ocon on the opening lap.<\/p>\n
The team opted not to replace the nose at Hulkenberg\u2019s first pitstop. However with his handling deteriorating and his tyres suffering, it did so at his second stop on lap 26. That gave the German a more competitive car for the final 30 laps, but by then he was out of contention for points.<\/p>\n
He finished an unrepresentative fifteenth, having also picked up two track limits penalties that added 15 seconds to his race time but didn’t impact his position. Hulkenberg said, \u201cA tricky race, especially the first half. Apparently I had some contact with someone on Turn 1 or Turn 2 on lap one, which I didn’t even really notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying, I was a bit squeezed in Turn 1, I was trying to avoid everyone, but apparently obviously there was some contact and then consequently some damage which was very compromising to my race because I lost a lot of downforce.\u201d<\/p>\n
The week ahead will be about looking ahead to Jeddah, we started this edition asking if can anyone catch Red Bull? I think we won\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t conclude anything based on one race. Red Bull admits they have a target on their backs but the feeling I have from reflecting on Bahrain is that could that challenge be too much for other teams to catch up?<\/p>\n
We know Ferrari should be the closest challenger it will be whether they have resolved the reliability issues in Bahrain. The spin from all the teams will be \u2018we have only had one race, there\u2019s along way to go this season,\u2019 which is true and we know that these opening races aren\u2019t reprehensive of the whole season given the variables we have.<\/p>\n
Mercedes in my mind are trying to spin their current position as we are nearer but not their yet, they have a bit to do to catch Ferrari. Street circuits have been a weakness going back years, but they are in a better place than last year, and still the way they spin things is smart and without the blame culture. I think they are hopefully that they are not in the same place as 2022.<\/p>\n
As we saw ahead of Bahrain, sport and politics do mix and the two races we have had in Jeddah have been used to highlight the problems around human rights. We are likely to hear \u2018we are committed to human rights,\u2019 from F1 and the FIA while \u2018not interfering in the countries politics,\u2019 but we know in the short term nothing is likely to be done.<\/p>\n
Off track, I think their maybe some reporting if there is tighter security given the attack by Houthi rebels on the oil refinery last year, this is still a very controversial race. We know once the track action starts, it doesn\u2019t go away but we stop talking about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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