After making rapid progress towards the end of a troubled 2022 campaign, Mercedes was hopeful of closing the gap with Red Bull and Ferrari but instead has found itself further adrift in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Mercedes came out of the 2023 season opener as the fourth-fastest team after Hamilton was powerless to resist Aston […]
The German manufacturer endured a difficult F1 season-opener in Bahrain last weekend, with its W14 proving much slower compared to rivals than it had anticipated. The gap to pacesetter Red Bull is immense and, having been leap-frogged by customer team Aston Martin, Wolff has already conceded the current Mercedes concept is not going to be […]
With former Red Bull head of aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows as its technical director, Aston Martin rolled out a 2023 challenger that looked conceptually similar to last year’s Red Bull. Pre-season testing confirmed that Aston had hit its ambitious aero targets with the AMR23, and in the Bahrain race Fernando Alonso passed Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes […]
After the AMR23’s promising testing pace raised eyebrows in the F1 paddock, Aston Martin confirmed its leap forward by taking third and sixth in the Bahrain GP with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. As Aston grabbed headlines by helping Alonso claim his first podium in two years, the Silverstone team’s former chief Szafnauer was keen […]
Hulkenberg was quick throughout practice on his full-time comeback, finishing the second practice session in an encouraging fifth place. Having made it through to Q3, he eventually qualified in 10th. However he tumbled down to 14th on the first lap after a touch with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, reporting to the team: “Possible some […]
Morbidelli spent the entirety of 2022 struggling to adapt his ultra-smooth riding style to the factory Yamaha, with the 2020 championship runner-up scoring just 42 points across the season compared to team-mate Fabio Quartararo’s 248 – which included three wins on his way to second in the standings. While the Yamaha used to be known […]
After testing, Williams was regarded even by Albon himself as the slowest team in the 2023 field. However, over the race weekend the conditions, including a lack of wind, appeared to favour the car. Albon sailed through Q1 in ninth place and was then left frustrated after front wing damage meant he couldn’t progress further, […]
The two-time champion ran early in Q3 last weekend to qualify in fifth place before losing out to former McLaren team-mate Hamilton on the run into Turn 4 on the opening lap of the grand prix. But, after Charles Leclerc had retired, Alonso came alive on his hard compound Pirellis to overhaul Hamilton and the […]
Defending champion Max Verstappen controlled proceedings from pole to never face a genuine threat as he claimed his first win in Bahrain by almost 12s. Team-mate Sergio Perez completed a comfortable Red Bull 1-2, helped by Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc retiring on lap 39 of 57 with an electronics system failure. That left the Mexican […]
Leclerc qualified third for the season opener and, having saved a new set of soft tyres, he was able to jump Sergio Perez at the start. Later the Mexican got back ahead and Leclerc had to settle for third as leader Max Verstappen and Perez pulled away. However, his race was ended by a loss […]