[ninjatalli]

Less than two weeks to go!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=viQC-6xoJ3E

This year holds a lot of potential - a new bunch of fresh talent, a couple of old workhorses seemingly poised to do much better than what they did last year, and the incumbent champion up against the wall without the backing of his 'defense minister' with whom he burnt his bridge(s) last season.

[ValarMorghulis]

Ferrari gets a new Chief Strategist Ravin Jain who will replace Inaki Rueda on the pit wall.

Ravin has a first class degree in physics & a distinction in a master's degree in mathematical & theoretical physics, both from the University of Oxford. Ravin Jain has been a part of the setup of the Italian team for almost seven years now. Climbing the ranks since then, Jain has grown from being a mathematical modeling engineer in 2016 to the head of strategy at Ferrari in 2023.

Link

[Hatari]

Found this online, a compilation of various F1 journalists/sites on their opinion of the pecking order.

I feel the Aston Martin hype, based on a race simulation stint on the 3rd day of testing, is getting a bit much.

Mercedes will have plenty in hand, as do Alpine.

[dmplog]

Excited about the new season. Looks like the real fight will be for 3rd place in championships. But it will be interesting to witness Charles, Carlos inter-team rivalry and how Fred V manages that conflict!

Any idea if Star Sports will broadcast the races as usual? Last year the races were on Star Sports Select 2 HD. Hoping it continues as well (heard that Disney+Hotstar wont stream it online).

[ninjatalli]

Things to watch out this season

1. Econ Gasly rivalry - already there's history between them

2. Sainz Leclarc competition - last season it was clear that Sainz is not going to play second fiddle. With Mattia's exit, let's see if it further impacts the drivers

3. Impact of Verstappen's backstabbing Checo last year will be interesting to see the dynamics especially if Checo is asked to 'support' his partner

4. Lewis Russell dynamics - Russell would be extremely confident based on his previous year performance. Don't think he's going to play the secondary driver role behind Lewis

5. Impact of the new kids on the block - Nyck De Vres & Piastri especially. Both would be rearing to prove themselves on the track for sure.

Last but not least, Alonso. The man is sure to make waves.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by dmplog

Any idea if Star Sports will broadcast the races as usual? Last year the races were on Star Sports Select 2 HD. Hoping it continues as well (heard that Disney+Hotstar wont stream it online).

This year to watch Formula 1 you would need to subscribe to F1 TV Pro. No Star Sports or Disney+ Hotstar. Please check out our thread on F1 TV Pro for all the updates.

Cheers

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Found this online, a compilation of various F1 journalists/sites on their opinion of the pecking order.

I have a feeling Mercedes, with the W14, have to and will emerge quite strong (had read somewhere that with their budget and spends, Mercedes cannot afford to come 2nd in the WC). Also, their deg rate was the best during testing which will come in handy when HAM ekes out his set to win races on a 1 stop strategy etc.

And I do hope Ferrari live up to the P2 hype and not fall to pieces as usual. VER and RB will remain untouchable though.

FP1 & 2 will clarify many doubts/speculations today.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

I have a feeling Mercedes, with the W14, have to and will emerge quite strong (had read somewhere that with their budget and spends, Mercedes cannot afford to come 2nd in the WC). Also, their deg rate was the best during testing which will come in handy when HAM ekes out his set to win races on a 1 stop strategy etc.

And I do hope Ferrari live up to the P2 hype and not fall to pieces as usual. VER and RB will remain untouchable though.

FP1 & 2 will clarify many doubts/speculations today.

I have a feeling Mercedes will be the 3rd fastest team as well, although completely rooting for Alonso and Aston ofcourse.

The team from Brackley though have been weakened in the past few years with their highly reputed PU boss, that led their dominance into the hybrid era, Andy Cowell, moving on and with their head of Aero leaving for Aston Martin at the end of 2021. James Allison has moved on as well from his day to day role.

They do seem to be at loggerheads with the new size zero concept, they mentioned this at the launch as well, banking on a large new upgrade package to come. Clearly they are not 100% confident with the existing direction.

The big change is the cost cap, they cannot throw money at a problem and expect it to be resolved as they did in the past.

But a Champion team do not forget how to win overnight.

Ferrari should comfortably be in P2, at the least, with the PU gains now deployable, that they had to turn down last year.

I am sure we will have to wait till Quali to see true speed and the race for overall performance, as the numbers suggest, a few teams are suffering from high deg like Ferrari and others like Aston who have very low deg.

Am hoping we will witness a see saw in pace given the nature of circuits which will mix things up nicely.

[rdtechy]

Ferrari reliability still a key, with Leclerc now taking a penalty already (and it's only the 2nd race of the season!)

I honestly can't see anyone but Max taking this season, I would love for Ferrari to recover and give him a fight, but realistically I don't think AM will be able to challenge over a whole season and seems Mercedes aren't starting off too strong, although I do think they seem to make it look worse than they actually are with the public open letter to their fans and such.

[supermax]

Do we have a predictions thread for the 2023 season? I remember seeing one for the 2022 season, but when I try searching with the keyword prediction, I'm getting results which are from 2008! My prediction for rookie of the year is Logan Sargeant, but it would be interesting to see how de Vries and Piastri turn out too. I predict at least one win for Alonso, in a race with at least one RedBull retirement in this super long season.

[Cyborg]

Max and Red Bull world champions respectively. I cannot see anyone having the car or consistency over the balance of a 21 race season.

There is chatter on social media of Mercedes Powertrains prioritising Alonso/Aston Martin if Mercedes performance does not improve. I guess it would mean giving giving Aston full power/party modes (if they exist)/updates engine wise to take down Red Bull/Honda if they can.

I don’t think Aston Martin have what it takes to beat Red Bull over the season, they may take a win if Red Bull stumble big time.

Overall Formula 1 is stumbling big time with the latest fiasco on Alonso’s third place, it completely unacceptable for them to make such errors being such a massive organisation operations wise. Hope they pick up their game.

Cheers

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

I don’t think Aston Martin have what it takes to beat Red Bull over the season, they may take a win if Red Bull stumble big time.

Exactly, if Checo can take it to Verstappen in non-street circuits as well, Red Bull just might implode, like '89 SEN-PRO, '07 ALO-HAM, '13 VET-WEB and give AM a chance to sneak in.

Or perhaps RB get banned due to some irregularity dug up by Mercedes later in the WC

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

Exactly, if Checo can take it to Verstappen in non-street circuits as well, Red Bull just might implode, like '89 SEN-PRO, '07 ALO-HAM, '13 VET-WEB and give AM a chance to sneak in.

Or perhaps RB get banned due to some irregularity dug up by Mercedes later in the WC

Checo taking it regularly to Max seems inconceivable to me, Max is too, too much above Checo’s potential. Checo will show flashes of brilliance coinciding with Max’s off day but beyond that unlikely. This last race showed exactly that, Max came from 15th to second, backed off calculatingly a few laps from the end to cool things off and took fastest lap. A few extra laps with his car support and we could have had a different winner.

Red Bull getting banned, Mercedes will be keeping their fingers and toes crossed plus maybe having a few people studying the rule book and their car

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Checo taking it regularly to Max seems inconceivable to me, Max is too, too much above Checo’s potential.

True, its just the hope of a fan who does not want the season to be decided just yet, we all need some dose of controversy, be it intra-team rivalry or external factors like Michael Masi

I think Checo snapped last year when Max gave him the cold shoulder on many occasions. He wants some revenge, and I do hope he gives it back to Max! Still remember his season at McLaren (was it 2013?) when he put pressure on Button.

The Red Bull DRS though, really makes others look slow and dim witted. It was 50% the cause of Max's storming drive from P15 to P2, he could just cruise up behind and pass within a few corners! Though with equal machinery up ahead, he could not make further inroads (also the drive shaft issue). This was so similar when HAM used to storm from the back on his Mercedes rocket (penalty after a new engine) and nobody used to put up a fight because they knew it was a waste of time and risk degrading their tyres.

[Hatari]

Came across an article where Lewis claimed the 2023 Red Bull is even more dominant than Mercedes were at their peak.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...een-/10446329/

Here's a comparison on the Constructors Point difference between the 1st and 2nd position teams, sorted on Point difference.

Lets see where we end 2023 at.