Balance: This is how F1 teams look after the first three races of the year

The first three races of the course allow to have the first image and order of Formula 1 teams in 2023, waiting for things to change in the next appointments of the course at the start of the evolutionary race of cars, because the new parts of the single-seater are coming. For now, red bull It has shown itself in another league and clearly leads the classification, but the question remains if Aston Martin or Mercedes they can get close and if Ferrari It will confirm itself as a persistent contender to fight the green cars and those with the most powerful armed stars, as it did in Australia.

Red Bull, in another league

Red Bull started the course in another league. His car was over a lap and at race pace. Especially dominant in the straight, and above all, when the DRS opens, the difference with its rivals is huge. An airplane. They have less time allowed in the wind tunnel and CFD simulations for the development of their car, but so far they have started a world of rest.

Despite this, it is believed that they may bring important novelties to Baku that may give them a further Tenth advantage. Verstappen is the clear favorite for the title, but Pérez will not give up and it will be interesting to see if the controversy between the two continues and there is more friction. In three races there are already some tense situations or statements.

2

Aston Martin, a podium base

Aston Martin has confirmed that they have a very good car base to aim for the podium on all types of tracks if they manage to continue improving the car in their development throughout the year. It was the second best car in Bahrain and Jeddah, and again achieved the third podium of the year in Australia battling Mercedes and Ferrari on equal footing. It will be necessary to see if the step forward of its rivals is a particular thing at a track like Melbourne, with 4 DRS zones, or if Aston Martin will have to push to maintain second place behind Red Bull.
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​Aston Martin has more wind tunnel and CFD simulation time in regulation than its rivals (37% more than Red Bull) and the team is confident they will be close to Red Bull throughout the year. So far, improvements have been confirmed for Baku, Imola, Montreal and Silverstone. They want to continue to develop throughout the year and by having a new car (their rivals are evolutions of last year’s cars) they should have more room for improvement than their opponents.
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​The car’s strong points are the rear end, the traction, the good tire management, with very little wear, and its speed in slow corners, although they also adapt well to fast tracks. Its weak point is in the long straight and the performance of the car in one lap, in qualifying. The ‘qualy’ makes them lose places that they need to make up every Sunday. Alonso adds 3 podiums out of 3 possible and seeks his 33rd F1 win.

3

Mercedes is preparing a revolution

In Australia, Mercedes took a big step forward after the first two races and managed to be the second best car in the race, mimicking the pace of Aston Martin and Ferrari, all very close. It may be a matter of time at the Melbourne track with a car that in the first two appointments is not a convention. Mercedes realized its sidepod-less concept was no match for the Bahrain opener and ensured the Brackley factory went “full steam ahead”, revisiting all bodywork and undercarriage parts to bring a big new package to market . Imola. Its boss Toto Wolff assured that the data they are getting is very encouraging, which is why Mercedes is considered Aston Martin’s main rival in the fight for podiums.

At first, they solved the rebound they had last year and their lack of lead on the straight, but they suffered from a lack of grip and their car was difficult to drive. Wolff said Australia’s improvement was down to engineers hitting the optimal set-up key, something that might not happen at other tracks and still wasn’t enough. They want to win and that is why they will bet on a radical change to their car at Imola. Wolff has already warned that he will not be embarrassed “if Mercedes resemble Red Bull…”.

4

Ferrari, more doubts

Of the above, without a doubt, Ferrari has the most questions to be resolved. The SF-23 was not born as expected. The evolution of the car last year did not take the expected step forward. In the first two races, his main problem was his big tire wear, which affected his race pace, and the difficulty in understanding how to get the most out of the car with different compounds and on different track conditions. Sainz did a big set-up change job in Australia and that’s where the men in red stepped up, mimicking the Aston Martin and Mercedes racing and fighting for the podium. Carlos made it clear that the step that Ferrari must take is not in the short term and it has to wait. Those from Maranello say they are clear about what the problem is and are working to solve it. This may be a conceptual problem and complicates everything. But they are sure that they can improve.

Ferrari is a very fast car in one lap, in qualifying, but they must try, as happened in Australia, not to sink in the race. At tracks like Baku, with a section that destroys the rear tires due to traction, they need to show if they have really improved or if Melbourne is just a mirage.
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Another point that may be of concern is the power unit. Leclerc suffered some failures in the electronic control unit in the first race and both cars let out a secondary combustion engine in the second race, something that is not a good sign as 3 are allowed throughout the year before being penalized. Also, one of their customers, Haas, had a problem with Hülkenberg’s MGU-K in Australia which could indicate some generic setbacks for the Italian machines.

5

Alpine, better than it looks

If Alpine had run their races perfectly, without the countless mistakes made by their drivers or the team in these early races, they should have more points on their scoreboard. His car seeks to lead the central zone. And without further ado, in Australia, Gasly showed great potential by squeezing Sainz for most of the race. But there are so many mistakes. Ocon suffered a test in Bahrain with a triple penalty for his first mistake, for placing himself incorrectly on the grid, and a subsequent mistake by his team at the pit stop. And in Australia, Gasly ended their race with a dangerous maneuver at the end that ended with the two Frenchmen crashing into the wall.

6

equalized middle zone

The central part of the grid is very even. Teams like Haas showed their speed in qualifying by sneaking into Q3 as well hulkenberg on some occasions. McLaren should come off the back with expected improvement after a bad start. Meanwhile, the Alfa Romeo they have good days and others not so much, like AlphaTauri and Williams. The small consistency of the pilots in that area and the characteristics of the tracks can vary the order from one track to another in an area where the battle is maximum.