March 1, 2023
I’m back! After a nice and restful winter off, Formula 1 is coming back this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix. If last weekend’s pre-season testing was any indication, this year’s record-breaking, twenty-three race season will be very close and filled with ups and downs. Here is everything you need to know for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix:
Weekend Schedule (in EST):
Practice 1: Friday 03/03, 6:30-7:30 AM
Practice 2: Friday 03/03, 10:00-11:00 AM
Practice 3: Saturday 03/04, 6:30-7:30 AM
Qualifying: Saturday 03/04, 10:00 AM
Race: Sunday 03/05, 10:00 AM
The Bahrain International Circuit is 5.412 km with fifteen turns and three DRS zones. Due to the heat of Bahrain, the race will start a little before sunset and end with the track lit up by floodlights. Teams will most likely struggle to find the best set-up because of the temperature fluctuations between practice sessions, wind, and dust. This track has historically been good for wheel-to-wheel racing and overtaking, with its many straights and tight corners. It’s a good track for teams to know who their main competition will be during the season.
Pirelli – F1’s official tire provider – is introducing a new compound this season, making it a total of six. The new C1 tire is between last year’s C1 and C2, and aims to bridge the performance gap between the two hardest tires. It will be interesting for us to see how this new tire plays into race strategies this season.
February’s pre-season testing proved that the Red Bull is reliable and quick in every aspect. Defending champion Max Verstappen has said that he thinks this car can dominate, just as it did last season. This isn’t to say there won’t be a title fight though. The Ferrari and Mercedes cars also showed promising results and there’s a chance that they could put up a fight. Ferrari remained in the top ten all through the testing weekend, and Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes in second place on Day 3 of testing. Newly appointed Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has said that Ferrari just needs to fine-tune the machinery. Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes will most likely be the top three teams this season. I am hoping and praying Ferrari somehow comes out on top. (A girl can dream)
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What we need to see again |
At the end of the 2022 season, we saw Aston Martin creep its way up to seventh in the Constructors Championship. This year, it looks like that upward trajectory is continuing! The AMR23 went fastest of the grid on Day 1 of testing, and stayed in the top ten throughout the rest of the weekend. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will be making his debut with Aston Martin this weekend after switching from Alpine last season. His teammate Lance Stroll unfortunately suffered minor injuries in a biking accident in the off-season and had to sit out from testing. Reserve driver Felipe Drugovich filled in for Stroll, and if Stroll can’t come back for the season opener, Drugovich will be set for his F1 debut!
Alfa Romeo was also impressive as they went P8, P1, and P3 during testing. From being at the back of the grid or barely scoring points last season to being at the top of the midfield, it looks like Alfa is going to be competitive this year. I’m excited for our resident mullet-man (Valtteri Bottas) and Zhou Guanyu score some points!
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Just a man and his mullet on the beach |
McLaren underwent many changes through the winter, with Andrea Stella taking over as the new Team Principal and Oscar Piastri filling Daniel Ricciardo’s seat. Stella has only had two months to adjust and start running the team, but it seems like he’s doing pretty well so far. Lando Norris has said that the car has majorly improved from last year, but the team also faced some durability issues during testing so I don’t know how reliable Lando is right now. Oscar Piastri is gearing up for his F1 debut and first race in two years. Hopefully my papaya heart will be happy this year and see Lando get his first win!
Haas was eighth in the Constructors championship last year and it seems like they are placing their trust in that model. The VF-23 is an evolution of the 2022 season’s car, making it easier for the team to collect data and work on their car. At the end of last season, much to my dismay, the team announced that they would be replacing Mick Schumacher with Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 season. Hulkenberg, much older and more experienced than Schumacher, is ready to reenter the sport after a few years away. Sadly, I won’t get to freak out over Schumacher’s volatile results anymore.
AlphaTauri’s car has seen some significant improvement in terms of downforce. Last year, the Italian team struggled to keep its car from sliding around on track and wearing out its tires. Yuki Tsunoda said that he felt a real difference in his control over the car’s performance throughout testing, so it looks like the solutions are working. Tsunoda has also said that his goal for the season is to be more consistent throughout the whole weekend, rather than having a good qualifying and bad race or vice versa. Let’s hope Yuki can achieve that goal and get some points! Unfortunately, those points are going to be earned without Pierre Gasly by his side. Yukierre is now over and Gasly is replaced by Nyck de Vries. It has been a long time coming for de Vries, and after his impressive F1 debut last year, he proved that he truly deserves this chance. I’ll be rooting for Nyck de Vries, even if I blame him for breaking up Yuki and Pierre.
The end of Yukierre was not actually Nyck de Vries’ fault, it was Pierre Gasly. Gasly will be making his debut with Alpine this weekend after moving teams at the end of last season. His experience with the French team has been positive so far, and if their car is anything like it was last year, Gasly should be scoring the points he deserves.
Williams is starting fresh this year. First, they replaced Nicholas Latifi with the first full time American F1 driver since 2007, Logan Sargeant. As an American who is probably American F1’s biggest hater, I don’t know how to feel about this. Over the winter, Jost Captiano officially stepped down as Team Principal and was replaced by James Vowles. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how these two new additions fare.
Honorable Mentions:
The Albon Pets got a new dog! Everyone, meet Otto!
The 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix should be interesting. We’re going to see which teams are actually at the top of the midfield, which teams are back-markers, and if my Ferrari-McLaren-Schumacher heart will live to see another week (yes, I will be bringing Mick Schumacher up in every blog post until he comes back to F1). I’m excited for F1 to come back!
I’ll be back after the race to tell you what happened and complain more about the fact that Mick Schumacher wasn’t driving.
Happy Race Weekend!
- Divya
Where I got these
from:
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/2023/bahrain-grand-prix/guide-to-bahrain/
https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2023/Bahrain/Circuit.html
https://www.ferrari.com/en-US/formula1/articles/bahrain-grand-prix-2023-preview
https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/en/2023-bahrain-grand-prixview/
https://www.haasf1team.com/news/bahrain-grand-prix-preview-0
https://cdn-1.motorsport.com/images/amp/2y3x3d96/s1000/charles-leclerc-ferrari-f1-75-.jpg
https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/03/21/08/GettyImages-1386722864.jpg?width=1200
https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/FjIUg1YXgAAl0xY.jpeg –
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoUyngRt0Yx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link