Red Bull Masterclass but the Weekend Belongs to Fernando and Aston Martin in Bahrain!
It has been a long wait for the 2023 season to start but it was finally here and boy was Bahrain worth the wait? (unless you are a McLaren/Ferrari fan!) Red Bull look impossible to beat and Aston Martin show Mercedes how to design a good car from an earlier mistake.
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Aston Martin
When Fernando Alonso decided to head to Aston Martin to replace Sebastian Vettel, most of the Formula 1 community raised not one but both eyebrows. Aston Martin were in the middle of a pretty horrible season. Alonso was not even on the radar for most as a serious contender for the soon to be vacant seat. Could it be another case of the wrong team at the wrong time? On the face of it, it looks to be right team, right time!
The Aston Martin car looked rapid from the start of testing and continued into the race weekend, with a solid qualifying performance. The car having a better race pace than single lap pace thwarted the chance for an Alonso pole.
With Alonso lining up 5th and the returning Stroll starting from 8th, it was a decent place to see how effective the AMR23 actually is. This was almost an unrealised dream when Stroll tapped the rear of his teammates car just after the start. Luckily for Aston Martin both cars survived unscathed.
Best of the Rest in Bahrain?
Arguably, the moment that proved that Aston Martin are are force in 2023, was when Alonso went wheel to wheel with George Russell in the Mercedes. Some amazing skill was shown from both parties, however the Aston Martin prevailed on their way to the podium.
While Stroll only finished in 6th place from 8th place, his race was just as impressive as Alonso’s. After recovering from a broken wrist (that required an operation), damage to his other wrist and a broken toe, he put in an assured and solid performance. He will definitely be a force this season once he has regained his fitness and is up to speed with the AMR23.
(Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images)
The data has backed the on track performance. In a tweet from @F1DataAnalysis, who listed the difference in speed from 2022 to 2023. Aston Martin was at the top of the list with an impressive 2.4 second difference!
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Ferrari Woes Continue in Bahrain
Ferrari come into 2023 as the most realistic challenger for the 2023 Championships, however they come away with more questions than answers. Firstly, they were not able to break the Red Bull wall in qualifying with Leclerc and Sainz crossing the line 3rd and 4th respectively. The race began reasonably well with Leclerc passing Perez at the start. Unfortunately for Leclerc; Ferrari Power Unit issues would raise their heads again, ending the Monegasque’s hopes of any points. Ferrari have since confirmed that it was the Control Electronics and Energy Store that have failed and are unrecoverable. These were the same components that had been replaced prior to the start of the race. Formula 1 regulations dictate that teams are only allowed 2 per season before gird penalties are applied. This could prove costly in Leclerc’s assault on the 2023 championship.
To rub further salt into the wounds of the Tifosi, Carlos Sainz was only able to take fourth at the chequered flag, losing ground early on against Red Bull is not what the Italian team were planning on.
McLaren
The biggest surprise for me has been McLaren. It was a horrible race for both Piastri and Norris. Not only is the MCL60 a few steps off where it should be, it has shown to be unreliable. Piastri was the first DNF with an electronic issue and Norris was hampered by an Air System leak, that necessitated regular trips to the pits to top up. The very small glimmer for the Papaya coloured team was that when Norris was racing with the front runners(a lap down). He was keeping pace with them, showing that there is some performance to unlock in the MCL60. Just don’t expect it before Baku at the earliest.
Red Bull
What can be said about Red Bull? Not much really, it was a masterclass!! Verstappen was barley troubled throughout the race and cruised to one of his easiest wins of his career. Sergio Perez followed behind in a distant second and way ahead of the impressive Alonso. It is a slight worry for the 2023 Championship if this is the state of play after the first race, however lets not forget that Red Bull have a reduced development wind tunnel and CFD time, due to a cost cap infringement. This will hamper the team as the season continues. The question is can anyone keep in touch with them long enough to mount a serious challenge later in the season?
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One final note on Red Bull and Verstappen, the last driver to win the Drivers Championship after taking the win at the opening race of the season was Nico Rosberg in 2016!
(Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
COOPS CONCLUSIONS
This season will be an interesting one for a number of reasons. Although I fear that it will take a few races to see exactly where everyone is or can be. Can Ferrari mount a challenge? Will Red Bull be hampered by the lack of development time? Will Mercedes finally find some sidepods? What is going on at McLaren?
I know I haven’t mentioned Ocon but I don’t really know how to put that race into words… probably the only one that could work would be “mérde”
The plots and story points have been started, where will they end up?
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