2023 Formula 1 Preview & Review.

Bahrain GP: FIA Drivers Press Conference.
Today's press conference with Nyck de Vries, Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Max Verstappen.
02/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Pitpass

Q: Fernando, let's start with you. Time flies: your 20th season in Formula 1. How are you feeling? Fresh, ready to go?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, feels good. I think it's always the same feeling for race one, where you obviously prepare over the winter, and we have less and less testing these days and you feel maybe not 100% ready with the car, especially if you change team. You need a little bit more time to adapt to many new things. But it's the same for everybody. So let's go.

Logan, thank you for waiting. So race one for you as well. How different is your first Grand Prix to all of the other races you've done in your career so far?
Logan Sargeant: Well, obviously, as Nico said, it's on a much bigger stage. But other than that, I feel like it's really just business as usual. Now, it's a bit more juggling preparation and media. But to be honest, you know, I feel very happy with where I was in the test. And I feel comfortable in the car. I feel like I've laid a good foundation and a base to work from so I'm relatively relaxed heading into tomorrow.

Q: Max, coming to you, you're looking relaxed. That to me is the sign of a good winter and a fast racing car.
Max Verstappen: Yeah, but it's not related to the car. I think it's important to always be relaxed.
Q: You had a good winter, what did you get up o?
MV: Yeah, it was good to spend a bit of time with family and friends and enjoy it a bit. Try not to think about Formula 1 too much. Yeah, spend a bit of time at home at some point as well. And get ready for racing again.

‘FIA Drivers Press Conference’;

https://www.pitpass.com/74578/Bahrai...ess-Conference


Hamilton, Verstappen and others convinced Aston Martin are “fully in the fight”
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 3rd March 2023, 7:152nd March 2023, 21:01
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Leading Formula 1 drivers including Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are convinced they will face a stronger threat from Aston Martin this year. The performance of the team’s new AMR23 has been the talk of testing. A race simulation run by its latest hiring, two-times world champion Fernando Alonso, convinced many in F1 that the team has made a significant step forward in the off-season.

Aston Martin ended last year tied on points with Alfa Romeo, who pipped them to seventh place in the standings thanks to a fifth-place scored by Valtteri Bottas. However he is one of several drivers who took note of Aston Martin’s pace in testing. Heading into the new season Bottas suspects his car is “not as fast as the Red Bull, not as fast as the Ferrari – and also Aston looked faster in the race sim.”

Aston Martin, which previously competed as Racing Point, dropped Sergio Perez from its line-up in 2020. Now at Red Bull, Perez still has affection for his former team, and was pleased to see their performance in testing. “They definitely have a strong car,” he said. “They definitely will be fighting. They looked very strong in testing so of course I think they’re going to be very strong through the year,” he added. “They are a great team and I would be very happy for them to be competing at the front.”

“Fully in the fight”;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/03/...-in-the-fight/


Bahrain Grand Prix: What the drivers said ahead of the 2023 season opener
02 Mar 2023 9:00 PM
Henry Valantine
PlanetF1.com

The Bahrain Grand Prix weekend is upon us, and the drivers spent their Thursday speaking to the media as they got themselves back in the zone in time for the new season to start.

Friday practice will set the scene for the race weekend, with keen eyes set to be on Sakhir as the pace-shielding from testing finally falls away, and the drivers fully unleash their full potential in their new cars.

PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher is on the ground in Bahrain this weekend, and he was in the thick of the action as the drivers gave their pre-race thoughts ahead of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix – here is just a selection of what they had to say.

‘Pre-race thoughts’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/bahrai...rence-summary/


Verstappen says RB19 is ‘100%’ better than last year’s championship-winning Red Bull as he gears up for title defence
02 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site.

When asked if he felt the team were in a better place than after testing last year, the Dutchman answered “100%,” before going on to say that they had improved “everywhere.”

“That’s the aim,” he continued. “You always try to improve it. It feels nice, well balanced. Every team lost a little bit of performance with the floor [regulation changes] but you always try to gain that back.

“I mean we had three really good days [testing], I think also just in general the progress we made over winter was really good. We need to show it this weekend, and not just this weekend but continue to develop. Every track is also a bit different in terms of the behaviour of the car but the test days were good for us.”

‘100% better’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...1hyDe87s2.html


RACE WEEKEND
FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2023
Formula One - Official Site.

https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2023/Bahrain.html

Perez fastest as Alonso’s Aston Martin split the Red Bulls in practice.
Sergio Perez retained his position as the quickest driver in pre-season testing by topping the times in first practice in Bahrain, ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix first practice
Posted on 3rd March 2023, 12:44
Written by Will Wood

Perez’s best time of a 1’32.758 was just under half a second quicker than Alonso, who himself was faster than the second Red Bull driver of Max Verstappen.

As expected, conditions were clear and warm as the opening timed session of the 2023 session got underway. All 10 cars that set a lap time in the first 10 minutes did so using the medium compound tyres, with Aston Martin’s Alonso setting the early pace with a 1’35.048. That was beaten by the Red Bull of Perez, who posted a 1’34.343 on the mediums, seven tenths faster than the Aston Martin.

The two debutants both had two different moments of concern in the early running. Logan Sargeant reported the smell of something burning in his Williams’ cockpit during his first run out in the circuit, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri caught a snap of oversteer through turn seven early on.

‘Sergio Perez fastest in FP1’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/03/...s-in-practice/


(FP1) First Practice Results – 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
3rd March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Results (Classification):
•
1. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing – 1:32.758
2. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.438
3. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.617
4. Lando Norris McLaren +1.407
5. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +1.499
6. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.540
7. Kevin Magnussen Haas +1.644
8. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +1.817
9. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +1.931
10. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +2.159

‘Bahrain Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the first free practice ahead of this weekend’s 2023 F1 World Championship opener in Bahrain’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/fp1-first-...and-prix-81567


AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from first practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix
03 March 2023
Beck Hart.
Special Contributor.
Formula One - Official Site

‘AS IT HAPPENED’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...SQehCQbPt.html


2023 Bahrain GP FP1: Carlos Sainz manages to avoid the wall after high speed spin in first practice.
03 Mar 2023
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was sent into a high speed spin in opening practice in Bahrain as he turned in at Turn 9. He was able to catch it before hitting the wall, but had to immediately pit for new tyres.

‘Avoiding the wall’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...724350624.html


Ferrari beam wing trial suffers a major wobble in practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix
03 Mar 2023 1:10 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Ferrari were once again forced to remove a new beam wing from their car, this time because of excessive movement as it wobbled from side to side on Charles Leclerc’s SF-23. Not for the first time Ferrari trialled a new beam wing, opting to do comparison tests during the opening practice session of the Bahrain Grand Prix. But, as with testing, it didn’t go to plan.

Ferrari initially ran the beam wing on the final day of pre-season testing, one equipped with a mono-pylon support, but problems with the right side flap of the DRS meant they were forced to revert to their medium load wing. However, less than a week later – the opening race of the new season scheduled for the weekend after testing – and the single-pylon wing was back on the car but just Leclerc’s.

Ferrari trialled it during Friday’s opening practice with the aim of improving the stability of the SF-23. It is also expected to help with downforce. Stability, though, was questionable at best looking in from the outside with rear wing rocked from side to side.

‘Wing trial suffers a major wobble in practice’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrar...on-bahrain-gp/


Piastri 12th in first Grand Prix practice in Bahrain
Fri, 3 March 2023 9:23PM
Ian ChadbandAAP
The West Australian

Australian youngster Oscar Piastri has made an eventful Formula One debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix before finishing 12th quickest in his first practice session for McLaren. The 21-year-old rookie Piastri oversteered on one corner and came off the track early in the session before regaining control, making a similar error to one made by his more experienced teammate Lando Norris later in the session.

When Piastri lost control of his car on turn seven to leave the track briefly, his engineer asked over the radio, "Is the car all okay?" To which the man from Melbourne responded: "Yep, all okay, just had a snap"

‘12th quickest in his first practice session’;

https://thewest.com.au/sport/motorsp...rain-c-9933216

‘I’d be lying if I said the car doesn’t feel good’ says Alonso after leading practice.
The Aston Martin driver set a best time of 1’30.907 during the second practice session, putting him 0.169 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 3rd March 2023, 16:533rd March 2023, 17:50
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Fernando Alonso says Aston Martin still have scope to improve after ending the first day of practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix with the fastest time. However the two-times world champion insisted he wasn’t focusing on the lap times ahead of the first competitive session of the new season tomorrow. “Obviously, it feels good to drive,” he said. “I will lie if I say that is not feeling good.”

“But everything is relative to what the other teams are doing. You can feel very good on one car and maybe there are three or four cars faster than you and then it doesn’t feel that good anymore. So let’s see where we are.” The team won’t have a clear picture of how competitive it is for a few more races, Alonso believes. “Obviously it’s good to see the times, that you are competitive.”

“After testing there is always a mixed feelings of where you are and still until we go into qualifying and the race and maybe the first three races on very different circuits – Bahrain, Jeddah and Australia.”

“Obviously, it feels good to drive”;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/03/...ding-practice/


(FP2) Second Practice Results – 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
3rd March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Results (Classification):
1. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin – 1:30.907
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.169
3. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.171
4. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.460
5. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.469
6. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.543
7. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.568
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.636
9. Lando Norris McLaren +0.663
10. Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo +0.679

‘Bahrain Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the second free practice ahead of this weekend’s 2023 F1 World Championship opener in Bahrain’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/fp2-second...and-prix-81577


AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix
03 March 2023
Becky Hart
Special Contributor.
Formula One - Official Site

‘AS IT HAPPENED;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...QjFzQKAov.html


2023 Bahrain GP FP2: Onboard for Fernando Alonso’s fastest lap
03 Mar 2023
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Ride onboard as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso posts the fastest lap of second practice at the 2023 Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, with a time of 1:30.907.

‘Fernando Alonso’s fastest lap’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...039880983.html


Alonso quickest in surprise-filled second Bahrain GP practice
3rd March 2023, 16:20
By Jack Cozens
The Race

Fernando Alonso beat the Red Bulls to the fastest time in second practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix as the hype surrounding Aston Martin’s 2023 Formula 1 car persisted.

Attempts from Alonso and Aston Martin to play down its impressive underlying pace from testing a week earlier were undermined when the two-time F1 champion split pacesetter Sergio Perez and defending champion Max Verstappen in first practice.

Alonso has now backed that up with the fastest time of the weekend in FP2, though the switch to performance running and qualifying simulations resulted in an incredibly tight lead order, with one second covering the top 13 cars and the whole field within 1.9s.

‘Attempts to play down its impressive underlying pace undermined’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/alons...n-gp-practice/


Hamilton fears Mercedes worse than in F1 2022 and on "wrong track".
Lewis Hamilton thinks Mercedes could be in a worse situation than last year, as he fears the team is on the "wrong track" with its 2023 Formula 1 car.
3rd March 2023, 17:43
By: Jonathan Noble
Motorsport.com

Asked what he had found out on track, Hamilton said: "We've found out we're a long way off. We kind of knew that a little bit in the test, but it's a big gap. I'm trying everything I can out there. I thought that Ferrari were second," he said. "But I think on the long run, we're quite close to Ferrari, and it looks like the Aston was second.”

"We're kind of between third and fourth. So we're kind of either where we were last year, or if not a little bit further behind. It's difficult for everybody. And this is really not where I think anyone in the team wants to be, and certainly not where I believe everyone deserves to be, because everyone continues to work so hard and really are so courageous and thoughtful in the process.”

"We're just on the wrong track. So we've got to just continue to graft away and find a way to get ourselves on the right track. But right now, we're a long way off from the guys in front."

‘Worse situation than last year’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/h...path/10439127/

Leclerc: Ferrari F1 "doesn't have performance for pole" in Bahrain GP.
Charles Leclerc F1 TV: "I don't think we have the performance maybe for pole."
18:24 Fri, 03 Mar 2023.
By: Matt Kew
Motorsport.com

In the later FP2 session, which best replicates qualifying conditions, Leclerc was fourth fastest as his Scuderia team-mate Carlos Sainz ran to 14th. Leclerc was 0.46s adrift of Aston Martin pacesetter Fernando Alonso and 0.3s in arrears of 2022 title rival Max Verstappen before the shift to focus on race stint simulations.

While Leclerc expected the strong Aston pace to drop off on Saturday, the Monegasque reckoned Ferrari would still not be there to fight for pole. He told F1 TV: "I don't think we have the performance maybe for pole.

"It's still early days. I maybe think that Aston is a bit quicker than they will be tomorrow. We don't know. It's just what I think." Leclerc reckoned his team had "most work to do" in tuning the SF-23 to fix its race pace but said "there's a bit of margin" to improve.

"Doesn't have performance for pole";

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/l...n-gp/10439178/


Charles Leclerc rules Ferrari out of pole contention at Bahrain GP
03 Mar 2023 8:25 PM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Reflecting on his day at the wheel of the SF-23, Leclerc said: “Let’s say that the feeling is better than testing. “On my side testing has been very, very inconsistent in the way we run the car because we were testing loads of things. So I didn’t have much time to put the car to my liking, which I did today. And I think that went really well.”

“On the other hand, it seems that again, what we thought was confirmed, Red Bull seemed quite a bit ahead compared to everyone, Aston seems very strong too. I maybe think that Aston is a bit quicker than what they will be tomorrow. “But let’s wait and see, for now we need to focus on ourselves, try to gain a bit of performance overnight and hopefully have a great qualifying.”

“I don’t think we have the performance maybe for pole, but we can be in the mix, and whenever we have races that are a bit more difficult, we should be here and try and take every opportunity, so that’s what we’ll try to do this weekend.” Of course pole is one thing, but as Ferrari found out all too often against Red Bull in 2022, it is over a race distance where the car must perform to bring the points home.

‘Ferrari out of pole contention’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/charle...ole-contender/


Verstappen: Red Bull ‘really bad’ in F1 Bahrain GP practice
Saturday 4th March, 2023 - 12:00pm
By Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Held in the sunshine, conditions in which neither qualifying nor the race will be held, the Dutchman was unable to replicate the pace he’d enjoyed during pre-season testing a week ago. “Difficult start to the day,” he confessed.

“I mean, FP1 was really bad, just couldn’t get a balance which was a bit odd because in testing, whatever we tried, okay, some things were maybe not amazing, but not that far out. So, a few things to understand.”

“Even the start of FP2 was a bit difficult, but then I think for the final run, even though not really having a good reference and confidence up until then in the car, the last was not too bad. Also the car felt a bit more connected.”

“Difficult start to the day”;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/04...n-gp-practice/


Bahrain GP: 'Long way off and on wrong track,' admits Hamilton after more F1 woe.
Mercedes driver said he had half-expected to discover a performance deficit, but not one as alarming as revealed on Friday
07:08, 4th March 2023.
The National

A disappointed Lewis Hamilton admitted Mercedes were "a long way off" the pace and struggling to close the gap after he finished eighth in Friday's second practice at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

"I'm trying everything I can, but it is what it is and we've just go to try and work at it. We kind of knew that a little from the test, but it's a big gap," he said. "We're not strong on single lap pace or race pace. I'd say they're very similar. We're a second a lap behind Red Bull so we've got a lot of work to do."

"We're just on the wrong track so we've got to continue to graft away and find a way to get on the right track," he added. "Right now we're a long way from the guys in front. Do I believe we can close the gap? Yes, I do, but I think it's quite hard with the concept we have."

‘Half-expected to discover a performance deficit, but not one as alarming as revealed on Friday’;

https://www.thenationalnews.com/spor...r-more-f1-woe/


Alonso Victory? 5 Things To Watch For - 2023 Bahrain GP Preview
Published ‎Mar‎ ‎03‎, ‎2023‎ ‎6‎:‎24‎ ‎PM
Inside Line F1 Podcast (Weblog)

Fernando Alons-ooooh! Will he take the top step of the podium this Sunday in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix?
In this episode of the Inside Line F1 Podcast, preview the first race of the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Five things to watch for:
1. 2023 cars - we will finally see them!
2. End of sandbagging
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Overtaking fest.
5. Race strategy

‘Fernando Alons-ooooh!’;

https://omny.fm/shows/inside-line-f1...r-2023-bahrain

Alonso pips Verstappen by five-thousandths of a second in final practice.
Alonso put Aston Martin on top for the second consecutive practice session, ahead of the Red Bulls of Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix third practice
Posted on 4th March 2023, 12:384th March 2023, 12:42
Written by Will Wood
RaceFans

Fernando Alonso was the fastest driver in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, just five-thousandths of a second quicker than Max Verstappen. Lewis Hamilton gave Mercedes some encouragement by setting the fourth-fastest time ahead of Charles Leclerc, the fastest of the Ferraris in fifth. The top 13 cars were separated by less than nine tenths of a second.

(WHEN) …it was the turn of the two fastest from Friday, Alonso and Verstappen, to have a fast lap on soft tyres. Verstappen set a new best time with a 1’32.345 to put Red Bull on top for the first time in the hour, before Alonso retook the top spot by just five-thousandths of a second.

Perez was third-fastest again for Red Bull, exactly a tenth of a second slower than Verstappen. Hamilton ended the session fourth fastest, ahead of Leclerc’s Ferrari and team mate Russell. Stroll was seventh ahead of Sainz, with Oscar Piastri ninth and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten for Alpine.

‘Alonso put Aston Martin on top for the second consecutive practice session’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/04/...inal-practice/


(FP3) Third Practice Results – 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
4th March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Results (Classification):
1. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin -1:32.340
2. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.005
3. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.106
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.215
5. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.284
6. George Russell Mercedes +0.391
7. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.579
8. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.605
9. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.705
10. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.724

‘Bahrain Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the final free practice ahead of this weekend’s 2023 F1 World Championship opener in Bahrain’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/fp3-third-...and-prix-81592


AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix
04 March 2023
Becky Hart
Special Contributor
Formula One - Official Site

‘AS IT HAPPENED’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...u6IdBZild.html


Alonso fastest again in final Bahrain GP practice
4th March 2023, 12:42
By Valentin Khorounzhiy
The Race

Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso was quickest again in the final practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix, once more outpacing the Red Bull duo.

Key moments:
> Alonso 0.005s ahead of Verstappen
> Mercedes fourth and sixth
> Piastri gets McLaren into top 10
> Williams, AlphaTauri slowest again

Informed that he was “still P1”, Alonso responded with a nonchalant “Ah, really? Great.” to his Aston team – and he stayed in that spot until the chequered flag, as the other Red Bull, that of Sergio Perez, came up a tenth short.

‘Informed that he was “still P1”, Alonso responded with a nonchalant “Ah, really? Great.”!’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/alons...n-gp-practice/


Bahrain GP: Alonso pips Verstappen by 0.005s in final F1 practice
Fernando Alonso edged out Max Verstappen by 0.005s in final practice for Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix, setting up a mouth-watering qualifying battle.
4th March 2023.12:47
By: Filip Cleeren
Motorsport.com

The sweltering afternoon conditions in Sakhir were not particularly inviting for fast times, with early laps over two seconds slower than during Friday night's FP2. After some unrepresentative efforts, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc went top with a 1m33.574s on softs, a time which was gradually improved upon by first Lewis Hamilton and then Alonso.

The Spaniard, who had caused a stir by topping FP2, led at the halfway mark with a 1m33.121s, ahead of Hamilton, Carlos Sainz and Leclerc. Verstappen was fifth at that stage, but ominously less than six tenths behind Alonso on the slower hard compound, even as he complained of having "no grip".

The pace picked up after the typical mid-session pause, with Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu briefly appearing in second. It was the prelude to a flurry of faster times, led by Aston Martin's Lance Stroll. While recovering from a broken right wrist, the Canadian went top with a 1m32.010s with 15 minutes to go, establishing an Aston 1-2.

‘Alonso pips Verstappen’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/b...tice/10439471/

Verstappen leads Red Bull front row lock-out after Leclerc sits out last run.
World champion Max Verstappen has secured pole position ahead of Red Bull team mate Sergio Perez for the opening round of the Formula 1 season in Bahrain.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying
Posted on 4th March 2023, 16:21
Written by Will Wood
RaceFans

Verstappen improved on his own provisional pole time on his final attempt of the session to beat Perez to pole by a tenth of a second. The Red Bulls were the only cars to breach the 1’30 barrier, with the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr occupying the second row. Fernando Alonso will start fifth for Aston Martin.

Red Bull headed back out in the final minutes, as Alonso and the Mercedes came back in to the pits, their qualifying over. Surprisingly, Leclerc was not sent back out by Ferrari, leaving the battle for pole position as a shootout between the Red Bulls and Sainz.

Verstappen improved to a 1’29.708, lowering his own provisional pole time, but while Perez did break into the 1’29s, it was not enough to deny his team mate the first pole of the season. Sainz could only manage fourth, jumping ahead of Alonso but remaining behind team mate Leclerc. The two Mercedes finished the session sixth and seventh, with Stroll in eighth after improving on his first run in the final moments. Ocon secured ninth on the grid for Alpine, while Hulkenberg will start tenth on his return to the F1 grid.

‘Verstappen leads Red Bull front row lock-out’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/04/...-out-last-run/


Qualifying Results – 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
4th March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Q3
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:29.708
2. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.138
3. Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari +0.292
4. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +0.446
5. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.628
6. George Russell Mercedes +0.632
7. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.676
8. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1.128
9. Esteban Ocon Alpine +1.276
10. Nico Hulkenberg Haas NC

‘Bahrain Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from qualifying ahead of the opening race of the 2023 F1 World Championship in Bahrain’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/qualifying...and-prix-81596


LIVE COVERAGE: Follow all the action from qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix
04 March 2023
Becky Hart
Special Contributor.
Formula One - Official Site

‘As it happened’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...8ooYNAjzh.html


Verstappen seizes pole in Bahrain GP qualifying
Sunday 5th March, 2023 - 3:11am
By Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Max Verstappen has claimed pole position in a competitive qualifying session for tomorrow’s F1 Bahrain Grand Prix. Verstappen had been the favourite heading into the session following a strong pre-season, though faced competition from Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin in the lead into Qualifying 3.

When it came to the crunch, however, the Dutchman delivered on his potential to record the 21st pole position of his career. Sergio Perez will start second with Charles Leclerc third, one spot ahead of team-mate Carlos Sainz. Fernando Alonso is the lead Aston Martin in fifth, one spot ahead of George Russell.

‘Verstappen seizes pole’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/05...gp-qualifying/


Red Bull sweeps Bahrain GP front row ahead of Ferraris
Mar 4 2023
By Josh Suttill
The Race

Max Verstappen will start Formula 1’s 2023 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position as Fernando Alonso’s practice-topping pace translated to fifth place on the grid.

Expectations were high for Alonso after he topped FP2 and FP3 in his Aston Martin and that pace was something he appeared to substantiate in Q1 but he was clearly adrift of the pole fight by the time Q3 rolled around and he ended up fifth fastest.

Verstappen topped qualifying on a 1m29.708s, with his team-mate Sergio Perez completing an all-Red Bull front row in second place, 0.138s slower than Verstappen. The Ferrari drivers will share the second row with Charles Leclerc in third, some 0.292s shy of pole.

‘All-Red Bull front row’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/red-b...d-of-ferraris/


Qualifying: Verstappen claims first pole of 2023 in Bahrain
04/03/2023 at 16:21
Andrew Lewin
F1i.com

Max Verstappen successfully claimed pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez making it an all-Red Bull front row for tomorrow's race.

Charles Leclerc opted not to make a second run in Q3 meaning that he settled for third place, putting him alongside Ferrari team mate Carlos Sainz on the grid for the start of tomorrow's race.

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso wasn't quite able to deliver on his practice promise but was still a strong fifth putting him ahead of Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

‘Verstappen claims first pole’;

https://f1i.com/news/467748-qualifyi...n-bahrain.html


Qualy: Max Verstappen starts his title defence with pole position, issues for Charles Leclerc
04 Mar 2023 4:16 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen will start his title defence from pole position, the Red Bull driver leading a Red Bull lock-out of the front row at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Leclerc’s session ended with yet more drama, the driver jumping out of his car when it looked as if his mechanics were about to take the tyre blankets off. Ferrari said to be saving tyres for Sunday’s race.

That left it to Verstappen to secure pole, the reigning World Champion upping his pace to a 1:29.708 with Perez making it a Red Bull 1-2 ahead of Leclerc and Sainz. Alonso dropped to fifth ahead of Russell, Hamilton, Stroll, Ocon and Hulkenberg.

‘Ferrari said to be saving tyres for Sunday’s race’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/bahrai...ifying-report/

Another blunder? Charles Leclerc admits to bizarre Ferrari strategy.
Charles Leclerc has revealed that Ferrari’s bizarre Q3 strategy at the Bahrain Grand Prix was done purposefully and was not due to a technical issue, with the Monegasque having weirdly jumped out of his car with three minutes of qualifying remaining.
by Nick Golding
4 March 2023
Formula1News

With Leclerc having been in second after the initial Q3 runs, it was expected that the 25-year-old would complete a second run on his spare set of fresh Soft tyres; however, he ultimately stayed in the garage following his sole run.

As a result, he dropped to third behind Sergio Pérez who improved on his final lap, with Leclerc having opted to save a set of fresh Soft tyres for the race on Sunday. Leclerc explained the logic behind saving a set of Soft tyres for the race, with him believing that starting in third on new Soft tyres puts him in a “better place”.

‘Another blunder?’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/another-b...rari-strategy/


VASSEUR: ‘LECLERC? THE CHAMPIONSHIP IS NOT WON WITH POLES’
Ferrari surprised fans with a bold strategy for Charles Leclerc to save a set of tyres for the start of the Bahrain GP tomorrow
March 4, 2023
Dalila Zanardo
FormulaNerds

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur admitted the decision to not have driver Charles Leclerc participate in the last run of Q3 was planned to save a set of soft tyres for the race, as the team expects to struggle with degradation during the Bahrain GP. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc surprised fans by only making a first attempt at the pole position during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The choice, considered bold by many, will result in the Monegasque starting third behind both Red Bulls but with one set of new soft tyres. The decision was a strategic choice as Maranello expects to struggle with tyre degradation tomorrow, hence leading to this unusual end of Q3.

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur: “We were first in Q1 and Q2, then with Charles, we decided to keep a set of softs for the race. If he could have fought for pole? Difficult to know, without a doubt the track is always improving. Max managed to do it, maybe we could’ve expected the same improvement from Charles and be in the fight. But it was important to focus on the race and not get carried away by emotions.”

‘CHAMPIONSHIP IS NOT WON WITH POLES’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/va.../?nowprocket=1


Leclerc: I could’ve got Bahrain GP pole position
Charles Leclerc qualified third for Ferrari behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
By Adam Dickinson
March 4, 2023
Total Motorsport

Charles Leclerc believes he could’ve beaten Max Verstappen to pole position for the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix if he’d been allowed a second run in qualifying. Leclerc was second and just one tenth behind Verstappen with a minute to go in qualifying, but the Ferrari driver climbed out of the car at that stage while both Red Bulls went for a final lap that put Verstappen further ahead and allowed Sergio Perez to leapfrog Leclerc.

Ferrari opted to save a set of tyres for raceday instead, and left the Tifosi wondering what if rather than celebrating a season-opening pole as in 2022. “I mean, I hate saying yes,” Leclerc told the media when asked if he could’ve beaten Verstappen. “It’s difficult to say, but for sure, seeing the margin on the first set I knew there was a bit of time to find so it will have been close.

“Also Aston Martin seems to be really, really quick in the race which is why we made that choice in Q3 I think, which I’m sure is the right choice. But let’s see tomorrow.”

‘Could’ve got Bahrain GP pole position’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...pole-position/


Ferrari’s strategy gamble and Alonso in podium hunt – What To Watch For in the Bahrain GP
04 March 2023
Special Contributor
Chris Medland
Formula One - Official Site

We’ve pick out some key areas to keep an eye on when the lights go out at the Bahrain International Circuit…

1. Can Ferrari take the fight to Red Bull? Red Bull left pre-season testing as the clear favourites for 2023, and a front-row lock-out would back up that prediction. 2. Alonso chasing a podium but Mercedes a threat. “Now we are saying we start P5 and maybe we fight with the Ferraris for the podium,” Alonso said. “This is just incredible.”

3. Hulkenberg’s comeback potential. Hulkenberg was particularly impressive with the way he progressed through Q2 in what is a remarkably close midfield, and in the end an all-out final qualifying lap saw him exceed track limits, but the time would have left him 10th on the grid regardless. 4. The ‘midfield’ picture. Another driver to keep an eye on when it comes to performance over a race distance is Lance Stroll, who is somehow managing to drive competitively despite breaking his wrist two weeks ago and having surgery to insert screws.

‘What To Watch For’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...LrgcPOZkI.html


Alonso “very impressive from the moment he got in the car” – Fallows
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 5th March 2023, 7:154th March 2023, 21:42
Written by Will Wood and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows says he and the rest of his team are “very, very pleased” with the impact Fernando Alonso has had since joining them this season. Alonso went quickest in two of the three practice sessions for the Bahrain Grand Prix before qualifying fifth for today’s race.

Fallows, expressed before qualifying how pleased the technical team at Silverstone had been by Alonso’s impact since joining at the start of the year. “He’s clearly very impressive chap,” Fallows said. “He’s incredibly motivated, incredibly competitive and he’s brought a huge amount of energy to the team.”

“I think he has been very impressive from the moment he got in the car last year. His feedback is where you’d expect it to be for somebody with his level of experience. But he has the ability to diagnose issues with the car in a way that, as an engineering team, we’re very, very pleased with.” Alonso and Aston Martin drew the attention of rival teams and drivers with an impressive pre-season testing period in which Alonso regularly featured in the top five in the timings.

“Very impressive from the moment he got in the car”;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/05/...e-car-fallows/


‘It’s not realistic’: Mercedes’ two-year mistake now clear as boss admits they can’t win the title
March 5th, 2023 3:32 pm
Max Laughton
Fox Sports (Australia)

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff made the frank admission on Sunday (AEDT) his team could not return to the top of Formula 1 without major changes to its car concept. Their bold design philosophy was found to be problematic, with the car having to run so low to work as intended that the porpoising made it undriveable.

That meant the car had to be raised so high it simply wasn’t as fast as the top teams, Red Bull and Ferrari. Changes across the 2022 season allowed Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to contend for podiums, and even a race win for the latter in Brazil, and the team was hopeful of making continued progress into 2023.

But the W14 has not taken the expected leap forwards, with Russell and Hamilton qualifying sixth and seventh for the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso plus the two Red Bulls and Ferraris. Speaking after qualifying Wolff conceded this concept, even with expected growth across 2023, is not going to bring the team back into championship contention.

‘Two-year mistake, can’t win the title’;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...f91e43c2fb2bd3


Wolff: Mercedes must change car concept to return to top in F1
18:02 Sat, 04 Mar 2023.
By: Jonathan Noble
Motorsport.com

With George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualifying sixth and seventh, Wolff said the reality of his team’s lack of performance had hit home. With the squad having pushed on with the same car concept as last year, while many rivals had gone down the Red Bull downwash solution, Wolff said it was time to admit his outfit had got it wrong.

“I don't think this package is going to be competitive eventually. We gave it our best shot all over the winter, and now we just need to all regroup and sit down with the engineers, who are totally not dogmatic about anything. There are no holy cows and we need to decide what is the development direction that we want to pursue, in order to be competitive to win races.”

“We are racers, and we are racing, and we will never give up fighting every single session to be on top,” he said. “If you look at the pecking order, today, you say, well, it's not realistic. But I'm looking at what can we find next week? What can we add to the car? What is the change of direction that we can implement? And how quickly is that, so that maybe we can turn the ship around this year? It's just first qualifying of '23. That's why I don't want to discount anything for this year, while being totally realistic that it [the car] needs a lot to change a lot.”

‘Change car concept to return to top in F1’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...n-f1/10439712/

‘Their car’s half ours and they found 2s’ – Mercedes aim for same progress as Aston.
Mercedes admit the leap forward made by their engine customers Aston Martin shows the progress they should be making.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 5th March 2023, 9:155th March 2023, 8:48
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Aston Martin delivered on its pre-season promise in qualifying yesterday as Fernando Alonso took fifth place on the grid with a lap which was almost two-and-a-half seconds faster than the team’s best effort at the same circuit 12 months ago.

Alonso narrowly beat the two Mercedes drivers to fifth place on the grid, pipping George Russell by four thousandths of a second. Russell said that showed what was possible for his team.

“You’ve got to take Aston Martin’s case,” he said after qualifying. “I think they probably had a good basis last year and they added a load of performance over the winter. And if it’s possible, if anybody can do it, we can do it. So I think they’re a good example of what is possible.”

‘Delivered on its pre-season promise’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/05/...ress-as-aston/


Alonso 'laughing' at Bahrain GP podium chance on 'unreal' weekend
05 March 2023

Inside Racing

Fernando Alonso was left "laughing" at the possibility of a podium on an "unreal" weekend at the Bahrain Grand Prix. "It was amazing. The whole weekend has been unreal for us. It was like too good to be true in every session and every performance of the car.”

"And then in qualifying, our expectation was to be around half a second from Red Bull, so it was quite right." On race day, Alonso's potential could be even higher as questions over Ferrari's tyre wear make a podium a realistic prospect.

"Let's see, yes," the double world champion said. "I'm laughing because going for a podium in race one... it feels too good to be true. But for sure, what we saw so far on our car, and also historically Aston Martin has a very good tyre management. So yeah, if we have an opportunity for sure, we will take it."

"I'm laughing because going for a podium in race one”;

https://www.insideracing.com/formula...unreal-weekend


Alonso: Eight months ago Aston Martin F1 choice "was just a bet"
5th March 2023, 12:19
By: Filip Cleeren
Motorsport.com

Alonso shocked F1's silly season last summer when he slid into the Aston seat left vacant by the retiring Sebastian Vettel, leaving Alpine scrambling to find a replacement as it also saw junior driver Oscar Piastri move to McLaren. The 41-year-old has a history of making bold team decisions, often ending up at the wrong team at the wrong time, ever since claiming two world titles for Renault in 2004 and 2005.

"I don't know even what to say, because eight months ago the project was just a bet," he said. "But now to be race one with a completely new car - which I think we need still to unlock a lot of potential of - to be in the top five fighting with Ferrari, Mercedes, it seems a little bit unreal, but we take it for sure."

"There is a lot more to come in terms of development of this project, so I'm optimistic for that. This project has the motivation to always go for more, so there are good things coming for Aston Martin."

"Was just a bet";

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...-bet/10439993/


Nico Rosberg claims Aston Martin poaching key Red Bull designer key to their success
Aston Martin signed former Red Bull designer Dan Fallows at the start of 2022.
5 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

2016 Formula 1 World Champion Nico Rosberg praised the “phenomenal job” being done by Aston Martin, with the Silverstone-based team having asserted themselves as a podium contender at this weekend’s season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.

Given that they claimed seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, Aston Martin’s improvement is exceptional, with Rosberg believing it’s been made possible thanks to some instrumental signings. “It’s looking to be the case that Aston have produced a really good car,” said Rosberg on Sky Sports F1.

“Phenomenal job by them! The factory there has always produced within the means that they had. They’ve always done a great, great job very, very often. It’s been a couple of key hires that they’ve done in the last year – from Red Bull, for example, they brought in the number two aerodynamicist Dan Fallows, and he knows all about the concept of the Red Bull car for this particular set of regulations.”

“Phenomenal job”;

https://formula1news.co.uk/nico-rosb...their-success/


Helmut Marko makes concerning admission about Aston Martin
Red Bull locked out the front row during qualifying, with Max Verstappen taking pole position ahead of Sergio Perez.
5 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

Heading into qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Red Bull would have been worried about Ferrari, Aston Martin and maybe even Mercedes, with no one quite knowing the true pace of every team following testing and practice.

Red Bull’s chief advisor Helmut Marko has claimed that the Scuderia are not his team’s main worry ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Austrian reportedly told Sky Germany that Red Bull actually see Aston Martin as their main rival for the race, with Ferrari’s tyre degradation being too high for them to mount a serious challenge during the race.

Fernando Alonso’s recent claims would back Marko’s prediction up, with the Spaniard telling the media after pre-season testing that Aston Martin outperformed Ferrari after running the exact same long-run test as the Scuderia.

‘Aston Martin as their main rival’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/helmut-ma...-aston-martin/


“I see why Lewis Hamilton is asking questions”, says Ted Kravitz after Mercedes outpaced by Aston Martin in F1 Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying
5 Mar 2023
James Dielhenn

Mercedes lagging behind Aston Martin, who use the same power unit, is why Lewis Hamilton was critical of his team’s concept, says Sky’s Ted Kravitz.

“They were third and fourth in Q2 but ended up behind Alonso, with the same power unit,” Kravitz said on Sky. “This is the key, this is the key! Lewis said after practice: ‘This is the most we can achieve with our concept and we can’t have a Plan B under the cost cap because we can’t afford it’.”

“When you look at Mercedes’ power unit running a different concept of car at Aston Martin? And Aston Martin are ahead? I can see, you can probably see, why Lewis is asking questions.”

“This is the key, this is the key!”;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/102159...king-questions


‘Lewis Hamilton asking questions after Mercedes lost to the Mercedes-powered Aston Martin’
05 Mar 2023 10:45 AM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

That the Aston Martin in the hands of Fernando Alonso had better pace than the Mercedes is, as Ted Kravitz put it, “the key” to suggest Lewis Hamilton’s comments about the W14’s concept could be spot on.

Even Toto Wolff was questioning Mercedes’ design philosophy after George Russell and Hamilton both lost out to the Aston Martin of Alonso in Saturday night’s qualifying.

Kravitz reckons losing to Aston Martin in qualifying, a car powered by Mercedes’ own power unit, could to be the “key” to triggering Mercedes into making changes.

‘Questioning Mercedes’ design philosophy’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...-aston-martin/

Verstappen leads dominant Red Bull one-two as Alonso races to third.
Max Verstappen started the 2023 season in dominant fashion for Red Bull, leading home team mate Sergio Perez as Fernando Alonso took a podium for Aston Martin in third.
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix summary
Posted on 5th March 2023, 16:525th March 2023, 16:54
Written by Will Wood
RaceFans

The reigning world champions never looked under pressure during the race, with both Red Bull drivers holding almost half a minute of advantage over the rest of the field. The 20 cars lined up on the grid for the first time for Formula 1’s longest-ever season, with the two Red Bulls of Verstappen and Perez leading the field from the front row. When the five lights vanished to begin the 2023 season, Verstappen led away but Charles Leclerc beat Perez on the run to turn one, moving into second place with Carlos Sainz Jnr remaining fourth. Alonso dropped from fifth to seventh behind the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after he was hit by team mate Lance Stroll from behind at turn four.

On lap 40, Leclerc suddenly lost power in his Ferrari heading up the hill of turn 11, pulling off to the side of the road and into retirement. That brought out the Virtual Safety Car for a lap, while the Ferrari was pushed behind the barriers.

When the race resumed, Alonso began to catch Sainz’s Ferrari, which now occupied third place. After pressuring his rival heavily, Alonso out-dragged Sainz out of turn 10 to move into the final podium position in third. With Alonso through, Sainz was then caught by Hamilton’s Mercedes. However, Hamilton was unable to pressure the sole remaining Ferrari, and Sainz managed to pull safely clear again.

‘Dominant Red Bull one-two’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/05/...aces-to-third/


Race Results – 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
5th March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Results (Classification):
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing – 57 laps
2. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +11.987
3. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +38.637
4. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +48.052
5. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +50.977
6. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +54.502
7. George Russell Mercedes +55.873
8. Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo +72.647
9. Pierre Gasly Alpine +73.753
10. Alex Albon Williams Racing +89.774

‘Bahrain Grand Prix – Here are the complete race results from today’s 2023 F1 World Championship opening race from Bahrain’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/race-resul...and-prix-81615


LIVE COVERAGE: All the action from the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
05 March 2023
Becky Hart
Special Contributor.
Formula One - Official Site

‘As It Happened’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...QyksxOygK.html


Race: Max Verstappen untouchable but the Bahrain GP was the Fernando Alonso show
05 Mar 2023 4:40 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Max Verstappen and Red Bull gave their rivals a masterclass, the Dutchman untouchable as he began his title defence with a victory at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix. The Aston Martin driver was the star of Sunday night’s race as he raced, overtook and beat Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to grab his first podium for his new team.

Alonso caught Hamilton and challenged the Mercedes driver. He briefly got ahead but Alonso oversteered and slid the back end of his AMR23 with Hamilton back again. Alonso tried again, catching and passing Hamilton down into Turn 10 to run P5. This time Hamilton wasn’t able to fight back. “Yes, let’s go!”

While the Red Bulls ran 1-2 with Verstappen 10s up on Perez, Sainz came under attack from Alonso. With the Ferrari driver worried about his tyres not going the distance, Alonso tried the switchback and almost whacked the Ferrari. He tried again, up to P3 on his Aston Martin debut. Alonso pulled away from his compatriot while Hamilton closed up on the back of the Ferrari.

‘Bahrain GP was the Fernando Alonso show’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/bahrai...3-race-report/


Alonso hails “hero” team mate Stroll despite first-lap clash after podium return
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 5th March 2023, 17:10
Written by Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Fernando Alonso finished on the podium in his first race for Aston Martin then lavished praise on his team mate Lance Stroll – despite the pair colliding on the first lap of the race. Aston Martin delivered on their pre-season promise as Alonso was the first car home behind the dominant Red Bulls. Stroll took sixth on his return to the cockpit after undergoing surgery on his wrist following a bike crash two weeks ago.

The race nearly went awry for the team on the first lap when Stroll hit Alonso at turn four while trying to pass George Russell. The pair were able to continue, but Alonso was concerned about the collision and asked whether it had been investigated. After the race it emerged Alonso had been unaware who hit him. His race engineer Chris Cronin explained the first-lap collision. “Lance was trying to get past George and as you switched back to try and get Hamilton, Lance just couldn’t quite get stopped in time,” he said. “There was no damage to either car, so all okay.”

“Okay,” Alonso replied. “I thought it was George!” “I’m so proud of you,” Alonso told the team after scoring his first podium finish since the 2021 Qatar Grand prix. This is amazing. By the way, Lance is my hero,” he added. “Amazing performance from him.”

‘This is amazing’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/05/...podium-return/


'No power, no power!' Ferrari's Charles Leclerc forced to retire from F1 Bahrain GP
5 Mar 2023
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

Charles Leclerc was been forced to retire from the F1 season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with a suspected power unit issue. The Monegasque reported he had "no power" as he ground to a halt after running in third place behind the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

A Ferrari spokesperson said "we seem to have lost the engine on Charles' car". It marks a huge setback to Leclerc after Ferrari had already been forced to take on a new energy store before the first race of the season.

Leclerc has already used up 50 percent of his energy store allocation for the year and could be set for further engine headaches down the line, given his failure in Bahrain.

'No power, no power!';

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/102168...-gp-retirement

‘A second off’ – Leclerc despondent at poor Ferrari pace and DNF.
Charles Leclerc said it was impossible to find any positives from Ferrari’s Bahrain Grand Prix after he retired from the 2023 Formula 1 season opener with an engine problem, having been – in his assessment – a second off Red Bull’s pace.
5th March 2023, 17:12
By Matt Beer, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Edd Straw
The Race

Ferrari carried quiet optimism into winter testing but was more cautious about its prospects ahead of the Bahrain GP weekend. Leclerc and team-mate Carlos Sainz then qualified behind the Red Bulls on row two, and though Leclerc took second from Sergio Perez at the start, he was re-passed in the second stint and then fell away before having to retire from third.

Ferrari had put a huge emphasis on winter reliability work after problems in that area stymied its 2022 title bid. Asked by The Race how worrying it therefore was to have more reliability blows instantly, Leclerc replied: “I cannot say it feels good. Obviously there was quite a lot of work on that. We need to keep working because first race and first reliability problem, not good.”

And in response to another question from The Race about whether there had been any reliability concerns emerging from Ferrari’s factory and dyno work, he replied: “Not from what I know.” Ferrari’s poor pace is as concerning to Leclerc as the reliability drama.

‘A second off’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/not-g...p-double-blow/


Leclerc calls on Ferrari to ‘understand what went wrong’ after painful Bahrain GP retirement
05 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Charles Leclerc cut a deflated figure in the immediate aftermath of the Bahrain Grand Prix as his 2023 season began with retirement and a non-score due to technical problems at Ferrari. Leclerc’s race got off to a positive start when he jumped from third to second – between Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez – by making good use of the fresh soft tyres he saved in qualifying.

Reflecting on his race, and what was possible before retiring, Leclerc said: “We definitely had the car to fight for the podium. I mean, honestly, the podium was there. “We had a good gap behind, I was managing the pace, everything felt good, so it is a shame. Now I just hope we can look into it, understand what went wrong and don’t have this problem anymore…”

Asked if there were any positives to take from the weekend, Leclerc pointed to his and Ferrari’s decision not to complete a second run in qualifying – and bank an extra set of soft tyres – before offering a frank assessment. I mean, the first stint, the choice that we have made was the right one in qualifying yesterday. Apart from that, not much,” he summed up.

‘Understand what went wrong’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...Bh1CDeoFK.html


Charles Leclerc out of Bahrain GP and groans over radio as Ferrari engine dies
Leclerc was on for good points and a podium finish in the Bahrain Grand Prix, but with just 17 laps to go the Ferrari star was forced to pull over as his engine died
16:14, 5 Mar 2023
By Daniel Moxon F1 Writer

Charles Leclerc was clearly gutted as his engine failed while he was pushing for a podium in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Leclerc was running in third with just 17 laps to go in the first race of the season. The two Red Bulls were a long way ahead and probably would not be caught, but a place on the podium and a strong haul of points was on offer for the Monegasque.

But it was not to be for the Ferrari man. Suddenly, he was forced to pull over at the side of the track as he suffered mechanical problems. Replays appeared to show that his engine died as he attempted to go around a corner. The disappointment in his voice was obvious as he spoke over the radio as he parked his car at the side of the track. "Oh no, come on," Leclerc moaned before he asked: "What happened? No power!"

‘Groans over radio’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...hrain-29378651


Dejected Leclerc: I had no warning of 'complete shutdown'
05 March 6:14PM
Author Luke Murphy
RacingNews365

Charles Leclerc cut a disappointed figure in Formula 1 paddock after a late retirement from third place at the Bahrain GP. Charles Leclerc struggled to hide his disappointment at retiring from the first race of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

When asked if he had any warning about the issue, Leclerc responded: "No, I didn't. It just completely [shut down]. I cannot say that it feels good. Obviously, there was quite a lot of work done on that [over winter], but we need to keep working because first race and first reliability problems, so... not good."

Leclerc commented that Ferrari had feared after testing that Red Bull had the quicker car. "Unfortunately, after the the test, I think we were hoping that we were wrong in predicting things, but I think we were exactly right," added Leclerc. "We are very far from them in the race pace, and that was unfortunately expected."

‘No warning of complete shutdown’;

https://racingnews365.com/dejected-l...plete-shutdown


Leclerc concedes Red Bull 'on a different planet'
Sunday 5 March 2023 17:46 - Updated: 17:47
Sam Hall
GPFans

Charles Leclerc has conceded Red Bull are on a "different planet" after suffering late heartbreak with an engine failure at the Bahrain Grand Prix. "We are a step back and Red Bull is really on another planet, especially in the race," Leclerc told Canal+. Third was the best position we could have done. It's a shame."

Ferrari confirmed quickly after Leclerc's retirement that a suspected engine problem was to blame, shifting focus from the control electronics and energy store that the team had changed ahead of the race.

Refusing to speculate on his issue, Leclerc said: "I don't know what the problem is right now. I don't want to comment at this point. But we didn't finish the race and we'll have to look at that. There was just no power left. It's a shame because it's really on these weekends that we have to maximise the points with the potential of our car."

'On a different planet';

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...nother-planet/


Charles Leclerc reveals worrying Ferrari pace deficit after DNF heartbreak
05 Mar 2023 5:07 PM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Leclerc, speaking to media in Bahrain after his DNF, confirmed that he had “zero” warning of the impending failure, with the SF-23 shutting down “completely”. “I couldn’t do anything after that,” he added. “We need to keep working because obviously first race and first reliability problems, so not good.”

“Red Bull seems to have found something really big during the race pace. In terms of qualy pace, they are actually pretty similar to us or at least we managed to extract the lap time yesterday, but then we come to the race and we are a second every lap off the pace, which is huge.”

“Bahrain is also a very specific track, so I hope that the picture can change a little bit from the next race, but we cannot rely on that, we need to work and find something. So, we really need to work into that, plus the reliability.”

‘DNF heartbreak’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/charle...tires-bahrain/

Alonso praises Aston Martin for ‘second-best car’ after F1 Bahrain Grand Prix podium.
Fernando Alonso has praised Aston Martin for producing the “second-best car” after securing an “unreal” Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix podium.
March 5, 2023
Nathan Hartley
FormulaNerds

The 41-year-old produced a great performance to bring his Aston Martin AMR23 home in third, securing himself on the final step of the podium at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix. However, the start of the race would be a bit worrying for the Spaniard. He would make contact with teammate Lance Stroll at Turn Three. Luckily, both drivers did not suffer any damage to their AMR23’s.

After the early scare, Alonso would manage his tyre as he would look to take the battle to both Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. Before the first round of pitstops, Alonso managed to get past Russell, while closing into Hamilton. After the round of pitstops, the 41-year-old was left with the task of passing former McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton.

The two-time world champion would execute a perfectly-timed move down into Turn 10 on the seven-time world champion for fourth place. However, the Spaniard was not done there. He would then have a battle with fellow countryman Carlos Sainz – the pair almost came together during the encounter. After a stern defence from Sainz, Alonso was able to get past the Ferrari driver with DRS into Turn 11, managing to also pull away to secure the podium finish.

‘Second-best car’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/al.../?nowprocket=1


DRIVER OF THE DAY: Alonso's ruthless podium charge gets your Bahrain vote
05 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

He may have been hit by his team mate on the opening lap, but that didn't stop the oldest man on the grid putting in a sparkling performance in Sakhir. Winning thrilling duels with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso fought back in typically entertaining style to clinch a podium on his Aston Martin debut. Here’s how the voting broke down…

Fernando Alonso - 53.3%
Pierre Gasly - 6.5%
Max Verstappen - 6.3%
Lewis Hamilton - 5.5%
Charles Leclerc - 4.4%

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...eM5nfp5sQ.html


Alonso gushes over Aston Martin after 'unreal' podium
Sunday 5 March 2023 17:00
Ewan Gale

Fernando Alonso has praised Aston Martin for its winter development after taking a stunning podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Spaniard finished third at the season opener to underline the confidence portrayed by the Silverstone-based outfit across the pre-season test at the same venue.

‘Alonso gushes over Aston Martin’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...martin-podium/


'Gladiator' Alonso rolls back the years with Bahrain overtaking brilliance
Sunday 5 March 2023 18:48
Stuart Hodge
GPFans

Fernando Alonso delivered a masterful display in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, showing off the very best of his overtaking skills on his way to a podium finish. For a while, Alonso was having to showcase his overtaking just to get back up to fifth, passing George Russell first on lap 13, through turns four, five and six, then he became involved in a breathtaking battle with Lewis Hamilton as the veterans locked horns.

Alonso pushed hard made a move on Hamilton, again for P5, on turn four, on lap 37 before Hamilton passed him back on the run out of the corner. A couple of laps later though, the Aston Martin driver got his revenge with a magnificent move on turn 10 as he made an audacious pass down the inside.

The Asturian then profited for Charles Leclerc's power failure to move up to fourth, and dished more misery for Ferrari when he passed compatriot Carlo Sainz on lap 45 after a lock-up by the younger man on turn 10, holding on from there to cement a debut podium for his new team.

'Gladiator';

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...hrain-gp-2023/


Impressive Alonso has brought 'huge energy' to Aston
05/03/2023 at 14:06
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Aston Martin technical director Dan Fallows has been impressed by the level of motivation and drive displayed by Fernando Alonso, and by the "huge energy" the Spaniard has brought to the team. Alonso's presence at Aston has inevitably led to comparisons with his predecessor, Sebastian Vettel. But Fallows underscored one key difference between the two F1 greats.

"They are different people, for certain, for sure," said the British engineer (Dan Fallows). "But I think Fernando has still got a huge amount of energy, he is still very, very keen to go racing. "He keeps saying that he'll just carry on as long as he can possibly go. And that's very infectious.”

"It's been great for the team for him to come around and say hello to people. We have various Spanish members of the team as well who are incredibly excited that he's arrived. So yeah, it's been great having [him] on board so far."

'Huge energy';

https://f1i.com/news/467859-impressi...-to-aston.html


Ted Kravitz says Lewis Hamilton is looking at Fernando Alonso as Mercedes doubts creep in
Lewis Hamilton was the seventh fastest driver in Q3 on Saturday, putting him behind his teammate George Russell.
5 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

After going winless in 2022, Lewis Hamilton would have hoped to have been back with a bang this year, challenging for podiums and race wins from the very start of the season. Mercedes struggled with their W13 design last season, which led to a major porpoising issue and general lack of performance.

Heading into the 2023 season, the design of the W14 does appear to have solved the violent bouncing issue but the lack of performance still remains compares to the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull. Sky Sports pundit Ted Kravitz has explained that it is Aston Martin’s performance that will be annoying the 38-year-old, as Fernando Alonso’s team are an engine customer of Mercedes.

“When you look at Mercedes’ power unit tunning a different concept of car at Aston Martin? And Aston Martin are ahead? I can see, you can probably see, why Lewis is asking questions.”

‘Mercedes doubts creep in’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/ted-kravi...ubts-creep-in/


‘I don’t know what he’s taking!’ – Horner praises Alonso
by Fergal Walsh
Motorsport Week

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has praised Fernando Alonso for his early season form, joking that he doesn’t know “what he’s taking”. Alonso ended the second practice session from Bahrain on top of the timesheets, after splitting both Red Bull cars in the first session.

“Their car looks great. And, you know, they had some really impressive race runs last week [in testing]. Fernando looks, you know, I don’t know what he’s taking but he’s looking great on it. He looks in looks on fire, so I think they could be a real surprise this year.”

“[Aston Martin are a] bit of a dark horse so yeah, look, it just shows that it is possible to take a jump from the mid-field to potentially further up.”

‘He’s looking great on it’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...raises-alonso/

Green Bull or not, Aston Martin are the full package and rivals need to take note.
Fernando Alonso romped past both the Mercedes and Ferrari cars to claim a podium finish in his first start for Aston Martin.
6 March 2023 • 12:24pm
GARY ANDERSON
FORMER JORDAN AND JAGUAR F1 TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
The Telegraph


Fernando Alonso’s podium for Aston Martin in Bahrain showed that they are well and truly in the fight to be the best team behind Red Bull. Red Bull’s one-two was a crushing way to start the season but it was Aston Martin’s progress that was the most eye-catching result in the desert. How has this happened? Firstly, they have recruited shrewdly under Lawrence Stroll’s ownership. There is no doubt that technical director Dan Fallows – who arrived from Red Bull last year – has been a crucial part of that.

Fallows worked as an aerodynamicist for many years at Milton Keynes under Adrian Newey and will have learned a lot in his time there. Last year they changed direction on their visual concept mid-way through the year after it became clear that their original car was not the best response to the sweeping regulation changes.

Their B-car was a Red Bull-driven development, and delivered results: in the first half of the season they scored 18 points, but doubled that in the second half with 37 further points. Going into 2023 they are the one team that has not been shy about putting a car on the grid that is a derivative of the quickest car out there: Red Bull.

‘The full package’;

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-...eed-take-note/


Horner “flattered” by similarity between Aston Martin and Red Bull designs
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 6th March 2023, 12:246th March 2023, 13:06
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said it was “good to see the old car going so well” after Aston Martin emerged as the closest rival to his team in the season-opening race. Aston Martin’s new AMR23 also resembles Red Bull’s car. The team has made a larger step forward than any of its rivals over the last 12 months, cutting almost two-and-a-half seconds off its lap time in Bahrain.

Asked yesterday whether Aston Martin’s leap forward made him regret the loss of Fallows, Horner said: “No, because I think we have a wonderful team and everything has to evolve. Nothing stands still. I think that it’s flattering to see the resemblance of that car to ours,” he added. “So it was great to see the three of them on the podium.”

Aston Martin’s progress “demonstrates to all the teams that it’s possible,” said Horner. “They’ve obviously done a good job over the winter. They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery and it’s good to see the old car going so well.”

“Flattered”;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/06/...-bull-designs/


TOTO WOLFF ON THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX: ‘ONE OF THE WORST DAYS IN RACING’
March 6, 2023
Rhiannon Temporal

The 2023 Formula One season marks the second year of Mercedes' no side-pods concept. Following the winter break, it appears that the team hasn’t made the jump they were hoping for as the Silver Arrows are now the fourth-best team on the grid. Is it finally time for a change?

In the lead-up to the race, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff spoke to the press and seemed to indicate that Mercedes may change their car as they switch focus. A sentiment that Wolff seemed to double down on following the race. Wolff calls the Bahrain Grand Prix “one of the worst days in racing”

Following the conclusion of the season opener, Wolff was asked by Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz to sum up their evening. The team principal responded: “Well, one of the worst days in racing, really not good at all. Just lacking pace front, right and centre.” He went on to compare Red Bull’s day to “our best years where, you know, we just pulled a second on everyone else,” calling them “the benchmark.” Wolff also went on to comment on Aston Martin, saying, “the Aston Martin is very fast. They deserve that.”

“One of the worst days in racing”;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/to.../?nowprocket=1


Mercedes’ deficit to Red Bull has “doubled or tripled”, admits Wolff
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 6th March 2023, 10:39
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Mercedes will tackle the question of how to respond to their poor start to the 2023 season “straight at the beginning of the week” said team principal Toto Wolff after Sunday’s race. The team’s hopes of shrinking its deficit to Red Bull were shattered in Bahrain where the reigning champions scored a dominant one-two. The first Mercedes home, driven by Lewis Hamilton, finished fifth and was 50 seconds behind winner Max Verstappen.

“When you look at where we were at the end of the season when it seemed like we caught up a lot and it was just a matter of which circuit suited us and which not,” Wolff told media including RaceFans. “I think we’ve almost doubled if not tripled the gap to Red Bull. And this is what we need to look at.”

Hamilton admitted Mercedes had the fourth-quickest car in Bahrain but Wolff said the sheer scale of their deficit to Red Bull is more troubling. “Everything in between – the Ferrari, the Aston – that’s just a sideshow. Having said that, I mean, what Aston Martin was able to achieve is a good inspiration because they came back from two seconds off the pace to be the second-quickest team, probably, on the road.

‘That’s just a sideshow’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/06/...-admits-wolff/


'A bit of a reality check' – Sainz worried by Ferrari's gap to Red Bull and Aston Martin after season opener
06 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Carlos Sainz says he and Ferrari have been handed “a bit of a reality check” after he finished fourth at the season opening race in Bahrain, with the Spaniard left concerned by the team’s pace when compared to rivals Red Bull and Aston Martin.

Sainz was able to fend off Hamilton in a late battle for fourth, but when asked whether he was frustrated not keep a hold of third place, he replied: “Not too much. I was actually surprised how long we were lasting in that position.”

The Spaniard later explained: “From the test we knew that the Red Bulls and the Aston Martins just have a lot better deg [degredation – ie, how gently they are able to treat their tyres], a lot better race pace than us, and in the end we had to settle for P4, which to be honest is not a lot better than we could have done today.

'A bit of a reality check';

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...P47YqHDWK.html

Verstappen is already the heavy favourite for the F1 crown after just one race, Alonso shows class is permanent and Hamilton's Mercedes woes continue - SEVEN THINGS WE LEARNED from the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The first Formula One race of the 2023 season offered plenty of thrills and spills.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen made a serene start to world championship defence.
Fernando Alonso shone, while Lewis Hamilton came fifth at Bahrain Grand Prix.
Published: 16:02, 6 March 2023
By Max Mathews For Mailonline

In some ways, Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix, the curtain-raiser to the new 2023 Formula One season, offered us exactly what we expected. Red Bull leading from the front to take a one-two, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were off their rivals' pace, the same old issues for Ferrari.

On the other hand, the event in the Gulf kingdom also provided us thrills, spills, drama and fascinating new plotlines fans won't have seen coming. Aston Martin and Williams showing promising signs, nightmare starts for strong 2022 performers like Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon, and there was a grizzled 41-year-old on the podium.

‘Sportsmail looks at seven things we learned from the Bahrain GP.’;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...rand-Prix.html


Seven reasons why Max Verstappen’s Red Bull F1 team are just so bloody good
07 Mar 2023 6:00 AM
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Best driver - The debate surrounding the greatest driver in F1 – in the present day and of all time – is highly divisive at the best of times, but can usually be answered by the posing of a simple question. Best wingman - The most disappointing thing about the Red Bull controversy in Brazil last year was that Verstappen did not seem to care much for the relationship he had just jeopardised.

Best car - When asked ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix to pinpoint the areas in which the RB19 was better than its predecessor, Verstappen’s initial one-word response would have sent a chill through the spines of his competitors. Best tech chief - Adrian Newey occupies an interesting position in the pantheon of sport’s greatest pioneers. Best team principal - Christian Horner has always recognised the importance of Newey to Red Bull. Whatever it took to keep Adrian Newey at Red Bull, Horner would do it and there is no greater tribute to his management than a passage in Newey’s autobiography on his decision to stay put in 2014, which reads like a love letter.

Best strategy - In Bahrain on Sunday, Verstappen and Perez were two of only three cars that finished in the top 10 to switch to a second set of soft tyres at the first round of stops. Best pit crew - On multiple occasions over the years Red Bull have broken the record for the fastest-ever stop, raising the bar higher still despite changes to wheel and tyre profiles as well as to rule-enforced pit procedures.

‘Red Bull F1 team are just so bloody good’;

https://www.planetf1.com/features/se...o-bloody-good/


The key Aston Martin F1 pitwall move that gets you to read this article – Up/down in Bahrain
March 6th 2023
Author James Elson
Motor Sport Magazine

Aston Martin showed its ultimate poker face when dealing a disgruntled Fernando Alonso on the radio. The Spanish inquisitor demanded throughout the race to know who had biffed him from behind early on was and if a penalty had been given – but the pitwall held fast and tight lipped due to the fact that Alonso had been punted by…his paymaster’s son Lance Stroll. Sailing those choppy waters was Aston’s second-biggest win of the weekend.

It felt like an almost ‘guaranteed certainty’: massive fanfare for the return of the world’s premier motor sport category, and it turns into an absolute ‘chef’s kiss’ of a dud race – in an event which summoned the atmosphere of the early 2000s Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. Like the Scuderia in 2000, its 2021 season saw a decent battle against the reigning constructor champions, which went its way. Similar to Ferrari’s 2001, 2022 looked a tad tricky at times for Red Bull, but it was ultimately unchallenged.

Now a year on, Milton Keynes looks set to crush the opposition, mirroring the 2002 season which was misery for all but Scuderia fans. Red Bull’s previous challenger, Mercedes, is already starting to imitate McLaren — Ferrari’s rival of the era — in always emphasising the positives for next year, whilst being lacklustre in the here and now. Bahrain had all the misery of early 2000s Melbourne about it – plus the human rights issues. Here’s what was going up and down in the desert.

‘Key Aston Martin F1 pitwall move’;

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...3&nowprocket=1


Aston Martin shares race higher after results and strong F1 showing
Aston Martin's share price raced over 22% higher on Monday morning, following impressive gains last week
11:44 Mon, 06 Mar 2023.
Josh Lamb.
Proactive Investors (UK)

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC (LSE:AML) shares raced 22% higher on Monday morning building on last week’s impressive gains, boosted by a strong performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday.

Monday’s hike then came after Aston Martin secured third and sixth place at 2023’s maiden Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday. In London, Aston Martin shares moved as much as 22.5% in Monday's early deals to trade at 294p.

Looking ahead, City Index analyst Joshua Warner commented Aston Martin’s “outlook is improving,” given an inflation-driven hike in prices, making “2023 a key bridge year toward its goal to deliver £2bn of annual revenue” by 2024.

‘Monday’s hike then came after Aston Martin secured third and sixth place’;

https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/?search=...rchheadlines=1


Our take on the extent of Mercedes’ F1 plight
16:47 Mon, 06 Mar 2023.
The Race

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff didn’t declare the Bahrain Grand Prix one of his team’s “worst days in racing” just because Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished a distant fifth and seventh. He said it because this weekend was when the scale of the past champion team’s plight became obvious. Even with porpoising and bouncing solved, and having had a winter to put its 2022 learnings into its new design, Mercedes was no closer to the front.

That led to Wolff’s huge declaration after qualifying that Mercedes’ whole design concept under F1’s current aero rules – which it had stuck to, despite its poor 2022, not just for its initial 2023 package but for the major upgrade coming in May as well – had turned out to be the wrong one and would have to be reconsidered.

How did Mercedes get into that state and how long will it take to do something about it? That’s what Scott Mitchell-Malm, Edd Straw and Mark Hughes debated on The Race F1 Podcast.

‘The extent of Mercedes’ F1 plight’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/our-t...des-f1-plight/


Ferrari haunted by ghosts of F1 past as Aston Martin embarrass rivals - What we learned at the Bahrain GP
Monday 6 March 2023 11:15
Ewan Gale
GPFans

The first F1 race weekend of the year is in the books with Red Bull utterly dominant. Max Verstappen headed home team-mate Sergio Perez by 12 seconds to complete a comfortable one-two ahead of Fernando Alonso, who stunned for Aston Martin. With Red Bull and Aston Martin gleeful and Ferrari and Mercedes on the back foot, GPFans takes a look at what we learned at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Ferrari ghosts return - The Monégasque looked to have settled for third with a comfortable gap back to team-mate Sainz, who was ahead of Alonso at the time, when a power unit failure left him stranded on the side of the road. After the issues experienced with the engines last season, Ferrari fans could be forgiven for feeling empty after the opening race. Leclerc was already on his second energy store for the year after a swap before lights out.

McLaren misery - If something could go wrong for McLaren, it likely did. Oscar Piastri's eagerly-awaited F1 debut was cut short with an electrical issue just 13 laps into the race. For Lando Norris, fortunes were no better with his MCL60 forced into six pit stops in order to top up on pneumatic pressure.

‘Ferrari haunted by ghosts of F1 past’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...f1-bahrain-gp/

How three-penalty Ocon’s Bahrain GP ‘spiralled out of control’.
The bizarre array of penalties that Esteban Ocon incurred during the Bahrain Grand Prix is something the Alpine Formula 1 team is adamant will “never happen again” and Ocon himself reckons is unjust.
20:46 Sun, 05 Mar 2023.
By Matt Beer and Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

Ocon ended up with three separate penalties during the 2023 F1 season-opener, incurring the second while serving the first and the third while serving the second. He was initially given a penalty for an inaccurate starting position, as he lined up with his car’s right front tyre slightly out of his ninth-place grid slot.

Ocon felt he was unfairly singled out for that offence. “Four cars were also ahead [of their grid slots],” he argued. “I was not the only one out of the line. I was the most forward, that’s clear. But not the only one. So that’s a frustrating one.”

That meant a five-second time penalty, which he served at a pitstop where a damaged front wing was also replaced. He was running 12th before that stop. But the Alpine crew began work to do that before the time penalty had been fully served, which team principal Otmar Szafnauer said was due to a system problem.

‘Spiralled out of control’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/how-t...ut-of-control/


'Everything went wrong today' says frustrated Ocon after being penalised three times and retiring early in Bahrain
05 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

It was a Bahrain Grand Prix to forget for Esteban Ocon after the French driver was not only forced to retire early from the race, but was also given three separate penalties for different offences on Sunday evening.

Ocon’s race then came to an end after he came into the pit lane and was boxed into retirement on Lap 43. And speaking after the race, the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix winner was less than impressed with his evening.

“Quite impressive how it was not our day today,” said a frustrated Ocon. “We are usually quite good on these operational things. Pit stopping, stopping at the right places, and these are things that we put a lot of effort on, so everything went wrong today for sure.”

'Everything went wrong today';

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...VpzCX9Bp6.html


What triggered Ocon's bizarre F1 penalty triple whammy
14:56 Mon, 06 Mar 2023.
Motorsport.com

From being out of position at the start to not serving his subsequent sanction correctly, Ocon's race turned from bad to worse when he also picked up a pitlane speeding offence.

In the end, the situation left him well outside the points and triggered the team's decision to end his race early.

How it unfoldedThe sequence of events kicked off before the start when Ocon lined up slightly.

‘The Trigger’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...ammy/10440641/


Alpine explains how one penalty became three for Ocon
Monday 6th March, 2023 - 11:52pm
By Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer has explained how Esteban Ocon’s Bahrain Grand Prix unravelled when one penalty became three. The Frenchman was one of three retirements in the race, his demise coming only after he felt the wrath of officials on three separate – but related – occasions.

The first of those was for a starting infringement, the second for that penalty being incorrectly served. He was then caught speeding in the pit lane to complete the trio which served to ruin his race.

“The grid penalty was I think out of position at the start of the race,” Szafnauer told media, including Speedcafe.com. “Then I think we were a half second off, or less than a half second off, before we started working on the car.”

‘One penalty became three’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/06...hree-for-ocon/


Pierre Gasly makes his Alpine demand very clear with radio message after Bahrain GP
Pierre Gasly managed to rescue a couple of points in his first F1 race with new team Alpine, having sparked concern with a miserable result in qualifying the previous day
16:46, 7 Mar 2023
By Daniel MoxonF1 Writer
The Mirror

Speaking over the radio after taking the chequered flag, the Frenchman seemed pleased with a good day's work. But he also laid down a challenge to his team so that he can be in a better position to fight for more points in the coming races.

His new race engineer Karel Loos said over the radio: "Nice work there mate, impressive last stint. And good to get in the points in your first race with us. We know what to work on and we'll definitely get some more points. This is a good start mate."

And Gasly replied: "Yeah, thanks guys. Really good strategy, really good pit stops. I must say that was fun! Nice race car, so if we start further up the grid we'll fight for bigger points. But yeah, nice recovery. We've got some work to do, but it's a good start."

‘Start further up the grid’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...hrain-29396491


Pierre Gasly on incredible recovery drive after starting from ‘Bahrain city centre’
06 Mar 2023 1:30 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Starting the Bahrain Grand Prix from the “Bahrain city centre”, Pierre Gasly put in an epic recovery drive as he raced from 20th on the grid to ninth at the chequered flag.

It was the perfect response from the Frenchman after he’d been criticised by his new Alpine team boss for a wretched qualifying performance on Saturday that left him at the very of the grid.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s 57-lap Bahrain Grand Prix, Otmar Szafnauer told Sky Deutschland that “if you look at Pierre, he doesn’t live up to expectations” with the driver having lost his fastest lap time in Q1 for track limits.

‘Incredible recovery drive’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/pierre...ion-next-time/


Gasly discovers Alpine 'confidence' after Bahrain recovery
14:35 Mon, 06 Mar 2023.
Thiemo Albers-Daly
GPFans

Pierre Gasly has revealed a newfound confidence at Alpine after recovering from a back-of-the-grid start to score points at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Frenchman endured a nightmare start to his Alpine career when, after qualifying 17th - a result that saw him eliminated in Q1 - his time was deleted for a track limits infringement and he was relegated to the back.

But Gasly put this behind him on Sunday and aided by the troubles of some rival drivers, he climbed to ninth, securing two world championship points. Speaking to Canal+, Gasly said: “We know what we need to work on. After only one race, it’s obvious that the top three haven’t changed (although) there is Aston (Martin) who have taken a big step forward.”

"I don’t think we need to panic. We just need to concentrate and we’ll have to develop during the season. (Alpine) showed that they could do it last year, There is no reason why the team can’t do it this year. I’m confident and I think we have a good base to work from. There’s still a lot of work to do to get more but it’s nice to start this season in the points.”

‘Alpine Confidence';

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...ne-confidence/

Quick start and Alfa Romeo’s ‘aggressive’ strategy key to points finish in Bahrain, says Bottas.
Valtteri Bottas managed not just to score points at the season opener, but to finish in the ‘best of the rest’ slot of eighth, behind the new ‘big four’ of Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Aston Martin – but ahead of Alfa Romeo’s midfield rivals. It was a result perhaps seemed unlikely after a less than stellar showing for the team on Saturday.
06 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Having been knocked out of qualifying in Q2 alongside his team mate Zhou Guanyu, Bottas's Alfa Romeo C43 didn’t look to be the class of the midfield. But as Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg tangled off the line, Bottas used all his experience to avoid the melee and emerge at the end of the first lap inside the top 10.

From there, Alfa Romeo adopted an aggressive strategy, pitting him early to avoid being undercut and despite wearing tyres in the closing stages, he was able to cling onto that eighth place at the flag. “I’m pleased, I don’t think there was much more to get today, all the cars ahead of us were clearly much faster unfortunately,” he said afterwards.

“For that I’m happy and also being aggressive with the strategy was nice. so solid first race. We have a good base car and today shows that yes we can score points with this car. There’s still obviously lots of work to do so we’ll keep working hard.”

‘Strategy key to points finish’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...aUb5536Yd.html


Alfa Romeo’s fastest lap bid with Zhou was targeted at Alpine
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 7th March 2023, 8:59
Written by Ida Wood and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Alfa Romeo’s head of trackside engineering Xevi Pujolar has confirmed the team pitted Zhou Guanyu at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix to take a point away from rivals Alpine. Pujolar explained the team’s tactical move after the race. He said Zhou’s start to the opening round was compromised when he lost four places at the start, which consigned him to a finish well outside the points-paying positions.

“With Zhou, it was just in the last part of the start pulling away, it went a bit too much [into] wheelspin and we lost some ground there,” he told media including RaceFans. “After that, we were just trying to see if we will get back into the fight, towards the mid-point of the race. That’s why also we tried with a soft [tyre strategy] in the last part of the race in the third stint.”

‘Alfa Romeo’s fastest lap was targeted’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/07/...ted-at-alpine/


Alfa’s Alpine-foiling tactic was impressively ruthless
7th March 2023, 09:53
By Matt Beer and Edd Straw
The Race

Alfa Romeo started the 2023 Formula 1 season as it ended F1 2022: doing everything in its power to ensure a key rival didn’t score all the points it could – even if it meant being a little unconventional and perhaps a touch sneaky.

In Bahrain last weekend there was no need for Alfa Romeo to cause any traffic jams. This time it achieved its aim by deploying its pace at the right moment. It identified McLaren and Alpine as its 2023 opposition. McLaren took care of itself with its reliability problems. Esteban Ocon took care of one Alpine with a near-comedic sequence of penalties.

‘Ruthless’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/alfas...vely-ruthless/


Alfa Romeo-Alpine fight tipped to be “nasty and close” in F1 2023
6 Mar 2023
Connor McDonagh
Crash.Net

Sky Sports’ Ted Kravtiz believes the battle between Alfa Romeo and Alpine is “going to get nasty” as they fight for fifth in the F1 constructors’ championship. Valtteri Bottas started Alfa Romeo’s F1 2023 campaign with a P8 finish, running as high as sixth early on.

Bottas fended off a fast-charging Pierre Gasly, who stopped under the Virtual Safety Car for new softs. It means Alfa Romeo sits fifth in the constructors’ championship after Bahrain, two points ahead of Alpine.

With Aston Martin taking a big leap into the top pack, Alpine are likely to be in a battle with Alfa Romeo and McLaren, when they turn things around. Alpine could have come away from Bahrain with an additional point, with Gasly holding the fastest lap.

“Nasty and close”’;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/102177...and-close-2023


Valtteri Bottas says Alfa Romeo can challenge Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes
Alfa Romeo looked strong during pre-season testing, putting them in the mix to challenge at the top of the midfield.
6 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News11:38 Mon, 06 Mar

Alfa Romeo will be looking to build on their impressing 2022 by climbing higher up the midfield this season and Valtteri Bottas has admitted that his is confident of a enjoying a competitive year.

“Not as fast as Red Bull, not as fast as Ferrari and also Aston Martin looked faster in race pace,” said the 33-year-old when asked about Alfa Romeo’s car.


“But other than that, it’s really close. Like you said, the time of day makes a big difference, engine modes can make a difference up to one second per lap but taking that into account we should be in the mix

‘Can challenge Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/valtteri-...-and-mercedes/

Zak Brown gives simple but BRUTAL verdict on McLaren misery.
"Bahrain wasn’t good enough. We know McLaren should be better than that, and we know we’re better than that. The team is working hard to get us back into the points in Saudi." Zak Brown.
Tuesday 7 March 2023 22:45
Stuart Hodge
GPFans

Norris talked in detail about the issues he had on Sunday, being forced to stop every 10 laps to refill his pneumatic systems. In total, Norris pitted six times while the remainder of the field executed a mix of two and three-stop plans.

Lando Norris on Bahrain misery. "We could have boxed (retired) after the first problem," he conceded. After they knew I was going to have to box every 10 laps, they knew I was going to be out of the race very quickly but we still tried to stay in it for as long as possible. That’s why we only retired with two laps to go.”

‘McLaren misery’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...reaction-2023/


Lando Norris mocks McLaren after embarrassing Bahrain GP
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both endured technical issues at the season-opening race in Bahrain last weekend.
7 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

Despite the disappointment of not being able to run a normal race, Norris was in good form after the race, where he joked that the “biggest positive” of the race was all the practice his pit crew got.

“I think the best thing is the mechanics did a lot of pit stop practices. That’s the biggest positive,” Norris joked.

“Good start, good launch, made up a few positions and then we had problems from turn one basically – pneumatic problems and various other issues. That just brought out us of the race more and more, we had to pit every ten laps and that was it.”

‘Mechanics did a lot of pit stop practices’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/lando-nor...ng-bahrain-gp/


‘Oh my god’: Piastri reacts to ‘miserable’ F1 debut as Bahrain disaster exposes McLaren hole
March 6th, 2023 10:46 am
Zac Rayson
Fox Sports (Australia)

Aussie Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut lasted just 14 laps as his McLaren team suffered a nightmare opening race of the campaign. But he was called into the pits on lap 14 with an issue, and his car failed to restart after a steering wheel change.

“I lost the gear box,” Piastri told his race engineers on team radio. “The engine was completely dead,” Sky Sports commentator Ted Kravitz said.

“I guess he had to turn it off before he came into box but now he’s shaking his head and what a miserable start. We’re all expecting him to have a stellar Grand Prix career but this is not the first Grand Prix he wanted. He’s shaking his head.”

“I lost the gear box”;

https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsp...734884b7c7d77d


McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri reveals what caused his Lap 15 retirement in Bahrain
05 Mar 2023
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Oscar Piastri’s Formula 1 debut lasted just 15 laps in Bahrain – and after the race the Australian revealed an electrical issue on his McLaren forced his retirement.

‘Electrical issue’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...018057185.html


McLaren chief fires back at critics: Pace of the car beyond expectation
Can McLaren recover from a disappointing start to the 2023 F1 season?
March 6, 2023
By Andrew Wright
Total Motorsport

Contrary to popular belief, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella thinks there were plenty of positives to take from a Bahrain Grand Prix that yielded zero points.

“I think the most positive element is that without issues, Lando would have been a strong contender for points,” Stella told reporters after the 2023 Bahrain GP.

“The pace of the car in the race was almost beyond expectation. I think in the race we see some reward of the work we did over the winter of trying to improve the interaction of the car with the tyres.”

‘Beyond expectation’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...d-expectation/


McLaren were quick enough for double points finish without car problems – Stella
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 6th March 2023, 17:056th March 2023, 21:43
Written by Ida Wood and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

McLaren’s race was ruined by technical problems for both drivers but their cars were quick enough for both to score points, team principal Andrea Stella believes. Stella said McLaren opted to keep Norris in the race despite his problem. “There was a pneumatic pressure leak on Lando’s car,” he explained. “We discovered this leak relatively soon in the race, and then we knew that it was possible to do only 10, 11 laps each time before having to refill.

“So we decided to stay in the race. We decided to try and stay at least within one lap from the leader in the last ten laps and then if there is a Safety Car try and see if there’s an opportunity. But it meant that we did six stops. I think the most positive element today is that without the issues, Lando would have been a strong contender for points,” he said.

“The pace of the car in the race was almost beyond expectation. I think in the race we see some reward of the work we did over the winter in trying to improve the interaction between the car and the tyres. This was certainly a strong position on Lando’s side.”

‘McLaren were quick enough’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/06/...oblems-stella/


The encouraging signs within McLaren’s nightmare start
09:12 Tue, 07 Mar 2023.
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

McLaren’s disastrous no-score in Formula 1’s season opener was caused by a wiring problem and a pneumatic leak, which wrecked a Bahrain Grand Prix that was “more encouraging” than expected.

Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut lasted 13 laps as an electrical issue started interfering with his gear shifts then resulted in a car shutdown that could not be resolved by a steering wheel change as hoped.

McLaren has been managing expectations since the launch of the MCL60 because this version of the car is the result of an old development direction that was abandoned late last year. A revised, much stronger design is due to arrive at the fourth race of the season in Azerbaijan, with some upgrades in Saudi Arabia and Australia before then.

‘A revised, much stronger design is due to arrive’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/the-e...ghtmare-start/

Unsettled Williams lacks 'vision of excellence' says new F1 boss Vowles.
New team principal James Vowles says that it will take years to break into the midfield fight, as he overcomes the legacy left by seasons of struggle
March 8th 2023
Author Chris Medland
Motor Sport Magazine.

Williams was clearly the 10th fastest team last season, picking up eight points in total as it only enjoyed competitive weekends on a fleeting basis. Dissent took on two forms within the team – from those unhappy at Jost Capito and his hiring approach, and from others feeling there was a resistance to change.

In just two weeks James Vowles has been understanding the magnitude of the project he has taken on. “Because of testing and because of racing the amount of days physically in the factory just haven’t been at the level required,” Vowles said ahead of the opening round. “I’ve had a chance now to walk round the facility and meet – albeit briefly, for a few seconds – individuals within the team, so I have a very, very macro-awareness of what’s there and what’s not there. But the detail behind what needs to be done across the next six months isn’t formed in my mind.”

“I think certainly a realistic step for this organisation is first and foremost, make sure that every year, we are just edging forward and not standing still. That has to be dream number one. Dream number two is that we have to set a sensible period of time in the future, and it’s years, where we start to actually break into sixth, fifth, fourth.”

‘Williams lacks vision of excellence';

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...3&nowprocket=1


Williams ‘survived’ 15 years of under financing
Tuesday 7th March, 2023 - 7:00pm
By Mat Coch
Speedcafe

New Williams team boss James Vowles has suggested the once all-conquering F1 team has simply “survived” for the last 15 years. “The team has, over the last 15 years, been through a tremendous amount of difficulty, financially and otherwise, and it’s survived,” Vowles told selected media, including Speedcafe.com.

“But it is just survival compared to other organisations that have had finance. That’s the luxury I had prior to joining, and as a result of that you have the stark differences between where we are today, and where we need to be in the future.” Given the team’s financial constraints, Vowles believes what money his predecessors had available has been used well.

“It’s just the problem is it’s a small piece of the pie that you need to fill entirely, all of the components need to be improved, not just one,” he explained. “They’ve just been limited by the steps they’re taking, so there’s more to do but certainly the investment so far has been pretty much correct.”

‘15 years of under financing’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/07...der-financing/


Williams celebrates best season start in six years
13:20 Tue, 07 Mar 2023.
F1i.com

Williams crews came together at the team's factory in Grove on Monday to celebrate the British outfit's best start to an F1 season in six years. The achievement came courtesy of Alex Albon's spirited drive to P10, but rookie Logan Sargeant followed up his teammate's performance with an impeccable debut race that landed him in 12th position.

"Wow, what a fantastic way to start this season!" commented a very proud James Vowles, Williams' new team principal, after Sunday's race. "For Logan, first race ever in Formula 1 and finishing 12th – solid performance from start to finish! And for Alex, he did this incredible job, always defending to faster cars behind.”

"What I'm proud of and what I'm pleased to see is that there's a good set of foundations to work from. I think our performance will probably be up and down from here. We can't expect to have this luxury going forward. McLaren I'm sure will get everything together. But in the meantime we've got to pick every single point we can."

‘Best season start in six years’;

https://f1i.com/images/468215-willia...six-years.html


WILLIAMS: THE HIDDEN HEROES OF THE BAHRAIN GP?
Both drivers of the Grove-based team are happy with their results
March 7, 2023
Lena Ferle
FormulaNerds

In 2017, Felipe Massa was the last Williams driver to score points at the opening race (then in Australia). Alex Albon managed to do so again after six years and a 10th place in Bahrain.
Both Albon and F1 rookie Sargeant survived the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix without any damage, allowing them to slowly but surely work their way forward. After ten laps, they were in 11th and 13th place before they pitted for the first time. The second stint also went without problems, so both Williams drivers started the last stint on hard tyres.
Sargeant and Albon fought with Gasly and Zhou for their places but emerged as the winners of the fights. Alex Albon scored the first point of the season for Williams in P10, and rookie Logan Sargeant finished the race in P12.

‘HIDDEN HEROES’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/wi.../?nowprocket=1


What made an assured F1 debut so good in Bahrain
Mar 8 2023
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

Logan Sargeant blended impressive commitment, opportunism and outright pace to produce an assured Formula 1 debut that set a good foundation for his rookie season. Sargeant was a left-field pick for the second Williams seat alongside Alex Albon and needed other candidates like Oscar Piastri and Nyck de Vries (his fellow F1 2023 rookies) to move elsewhere to land his F1 promotion.

When Williams signed Sargeant, he represented a wildcard kind of pick. He wasn’t the finished product in F2 but had shown enough through his junior single-seater career to see that there was some really nice raw material to work with. There is also, clearly, a real hunger to improve and crucially an ability to do so. It’s likely that many simply didn’t know quite what to expect from Sargeant in F1. But his debut was a fine early display of his credentials, even if it is only the beginning.

“From myself there’s definitely more to come,” Sargeant said. “I still have a lot to learn for sure. The team did an amazing job, guiding me through the weekend, helping me operationally, tried not to put too much on my plate, and just let me focus on the driving which is what I needed. There’s a lot to learn on that side. But I still need to keep working on my driving and adapting to this car and just maximising the performance of it.”

‘A real hunger to improve and crucially an ability to do so’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/what-...od-in-bahrain/

Yuki Tsunoda calls for AlphaTauri updates ‘as soon as possible’ after Bahrain GP.
When discussing specifics of what he would like to see changed on the AT04, Tsunoda said his main targets are for the car to have more grip and less drag in the coming races, reasoning that it was difficult for him to keep up his pace when following other cars during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
07 Mar 2023 3:45 PM
Henry Valantine
PlanetF1.com

Yuki Tsunoda hopes to see “good updates” brought to AlphaTauri as soon as they can after a tricky start to the season in Bahrain.

The team looked to be competing at the back of the field alongside Williams in the early part of the weekend, and while Tsunoda was able to make headway in the midfield in the race on Sunday, he narrowly missed out on scoring a point in finishing behind Alex Albon come the chequered flag. “So frustrating that I’m just stuck behind the Williams, so close to scoring points at the end,” Tsunoda told media including PlanetF1.com in Bahrain.

“It was really hard to maintain pace or kind of okay pace. We are still far away from I think the pace we wanted, to basically drive behind the cars there is sliding around and overheat[ing] the tyres, so we just need more grip in general. Hopefully we can develop through the season but we just need more as soon as possible, good updates [as] well, since we continue like this all year.”

‘AlphaTauri updates as soon as possible’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/yuki-t...pdates-needed/


‘It’s very frustrating’ – Tsunoda highlights ‘decisive moment’ after narrowly missing out on points in Bahrain
08 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda was left to rue what might have been at the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, saying a poor start set the tone for a race that yielded no reward. Tsunoda lined up in 14th position in Sakhir but dropped behind both Williams drivers when the lights went out and struggled to live with their straight-line speed.

“The start was the decisive moment as I lost some positions to Williams, and their straight-line speed was too strong for us, so we couldn’t manage to overtake them. I’m happy with my tyre management, although we struggled more than we thought. As soon as we wanted to push, the tyres began to overheat, and I started to slide around and lose the rear.”

“We have more work to do to develop the car so we can consistently fight the midfield, starting with Saudi Arabia,” Tsunoda continued. “Since we struggled with high-speed performance, Saudi might be difficult, but I’m staying positive as I’m sure the team and I will be able to extract speed from the car to be able to score points.”

‘Decisive moment’;


De Vries buoyed by AlphaTauri’s midfield display
09:20 Tue, 07 Mar 2023.
by Phillip Horton
Motorsport Week

Nyck de Vries says AlphaTauri can be encouraged by its performance during Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix after making his full-season debut for the team. AlphaTauri cut a low-key figure during pre-season testing while in qualifying de Vries was eliminated in Q1, though team-mate Yuki Tsunoda went on to make Q2.

AlphaTauri was firmly in the thick of the lower midfield action in Bahrain, with Tsunoda only narrowly missing out on the top 10 to Williams’ Alex Albon. De Vries classified in 14th position and was keen to draw on the positives from AlphaTauri’s Bahrain performance.

“What was important to me is that we were able to fight in the midfield and we were certainly up there in terms of pace,” said De Vries. “And that was encouraging. It’s a shame we missed out on the VSC pitstop at the end, but that’s the decision we make and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”

‘AlphaTauri can be encouraged by its performance’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...field-display/


De Vries ‘pretty satisfied’ with his AlphaTauri debut in Bahrain
05 Mar 2023
Formula One - Official Site (Video)

Nyck de Vries might not have scored any points in the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the Dutchman was pleased with how his debut for new team AlphaTauri went and said their race pace was a positive step for the Italian team.

‘Pretty satisfied’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...238437305.html


De Vries 'encouraged' by AlphaTauri pace in F1's midfield
07/03/2023 at 16:17
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Nyck de Vries' second race in F1 wasn't the show-stopping performance he produced on his Grand Prix debut last year in Monza, but the Dutchman was nevertheless encouraged by AlphaTauri's pace in F1's midfield in Bahrain. A scrappy qualifying on Saturday left de Vries stuck in Q1 down in 19th position while his teammate Yuki Tsunoda produced a strong lap that gave him a pass into Q2 where he set the 14th fastest lap.

However, when AlphaTauri opted to split its strategies under the Virtual safety Car, de Vries was the odd man out, which left him struggling on old rubber during his final stint. But the 28-year-old preferred to take away from the weekend his team's overall race pace rather than his own individual performance.

"What was important to me is that we were able to fight in the midfield and we were certainly up there in terms of pace," said De Vries. "And that was encouraging. It’s a shame we missed out on the VSC pitstop at the end, but that’s the decision we make and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”

‘E'encouraged by AlphaTauri pace’;

https://f1i.com/news/468228-de-vries...-midfield.html


Nyck de Vries escapes Bahrain penalty after Lando Norris FP2 incident
03 Mar 2023 6:45 PM
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

AlphaTauri debutant Nyck de Vries has escaped a penalty after a close call in the pit lane with Lando Norris in the second practice session at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Dutchman was released into the path of Norris’s McLaren during FP2 at the Sakhir circuit, with the British driver locking up after braking to avoid contact before complaining of an unsafe release over team radio.

The incident was the subject of an investigation by the FIA stewards, but a verdict of no further action was reached. Norris had a typically witty reply when asked how the visit to the stewards for himself and De Vries went, saying: “Great, everyone got away with everything.”

‘Bahrain penalty escape’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/nyck-d...ident-bahrain/

2023 Bahrain GP: Race
Drivers and Team’s quotes after the race
05 March 2023
Scuderia Toro Rosso - Official Site

Yuki Tsunoda (AT04-02, Car 22)
Race: Pos. 11th
“The race pace was better than we expected, but at the same time, it’s very frustrating to just miss out on points.”

Nyck de Vries (AT04-02, Car 21)
Race: 14th
“I’m pretty satisfied with our race today. Obviously, it could have been better and there is room for improvement, but in terms of performance, our race pace was decent.”

Jody Egginton (Technical Director)
“Both Yuki and Nyck have done an excellent job tonight from lights out until the chequered flag. They managed the tyres well, provided good feedback to the pit wall, and delivered a good performance.”

Franz Tost (Team Principal)
“First of all, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for a fantastic start to the season, finishing with a one-two and so far ahead of the rest of the field. From our side, I am not satisfied with our performance. From a technical point of view, we have a lot to work on as the car isn’t on the level I expect.”

‘Drivers and Team’s quotes’;

https://scuderia.alphatauri.com/en/2...hrain-gp-race/

Bahrain Grand Prix: Race Recap.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Kevin Magnussen 13th and Nico Hulkenberg 15th at the Bahrain Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Bahrain International Circuit.
March 5, 2023
Haas F1 Team - Official Site

Hulkenberg lined up from 10th place on Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires while Magnussen was the sole driver on the grid to opt for White hard tires – the Dane from 17th. Both drivers relinquished track position on the opening lap, with Hulkenberg suffering from minor contact and dropping to 15th, while Magnussen brought up the rear on his off-set strategy.

Hulkenberg came in on lap 12, the German switching to hard rubber, before another stop on lap 27, which included a front-wing change. Magnussen pitted on lap 15 for more hard tires before switching to softs on lap 30. Both drivers took the opportunity of a virtual safety car period, caused by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc coming to a halt, to pit for a third time on lap 40, both taking on softs. Magnussen greeted the checkered flag in 13th place while Hulkenberg finished his first race for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in 15th position.

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: “The result wasn’t what we expected – Nico didn’t have a great start losing a front wing endplate and Kevin was, in hindsight, on the wrong tire at the start. I think race pace was better than we expected and that’s what we take away from here – there is good potential in the car. We qualified in the top 10 and maybe could even have been in the top eight if everything went perfectly.”

‘The result wasn’t what we expected’;

https://www.haasf1team.com/news/bahr...x-race-recap-5


F1's most unwanted records: Ocon joins Moss & Hülkenberg on luckless list
March 6th 2023
Author: Cambridge Kisby
Motor Sport Magazine

Entering F1 after an abundance of success in the junior ranks, Nico Hülkenberg was widely regarded as a potential world champion in waiting, a reputation he confirmed with a surprise pole position at the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix during his rookie campaign for Williams.

But after a string of misfortune and critical driver errors, Hülkenberg has failed to achieve the minimum of what many expected of him in his 14 years of F1 experience – a podium finish. The 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, where Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton clashed while fighting for the lead, and his heartbreaking DNF at the 2019 German Grand Prix while running fourth is the closest Hülkenberg has come to showing his full potential.

But in 184 grand prix starts, Hülkenberg has only finished as high as fourth – a record that he will hope to rectify during his time with Haas in 2023 and beyond.

‘Unwanted records’;

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...3&nowprocket=1


Hulkenberg says he was going through tyres 'like a hot knife through butter' after Lap 1 contact in Bahrain
07 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

"Yeah, a tricky race, especially in the first half," he said on Sunday. "Apparently, I had some contact with someone… on Lap 1, which I didn’t even really notice. So that’s a bit frustrating, and I think I had some stuff missing from the front wing and lost a lot of load from that, and grip… so that made the first half of the race very, very tough.”

"We tried to hang in there but I was just going through my tyres like a hot knife through butter. I think in the middle of the race we thought there was no point continuing like that – [so I] pitted for a new front wing."

Hulkenberg then accrued 15 seconds' worth of penalties for exceeding track limits, which put him 15th in the classification. While the German driver said it was useful to get a race under his belt, he maintained that his Sunday was heavily compromised by that front wing damage. "A vicious circle, then lots of blue flags, and it was just going backwards from there. Yeah, but a race distance, good info, and take that in the bag," he summarised.

‘15 seconds' worth of penalties’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...zQ68XRPoS.html


Hulkenberg’s tyres ‘like a hot knife through butter’ amid damage
15:37 Tue, 07 Mar 2023.
by Phillip Horton
Motorsport Week

Kevin Magnussen, who was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday, gained places to finish 13th, though the results meant Haas missed out on scoring points.

“I was pleasantly surprised with our race pace,” said Magnussen. “We started P17 but still made up a few positions and it felt like the pace was alright in terms of where we came from.

“I think we were struggling a lot in testing and on Friday with tyre wear and in the race it seemed like we made a step, which is positive. It wasn’t the weekend we dreamed of, but we learned a lot.”

‘Kevin Magnussen’;

https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/F1/Haas


Hulkenberg went through tyres 'like a hot knife through butter'
08/03/2023 at 14:53
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Nico Hulkenberg's says damage suffered on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix led to his Haas going through its tyres "like a hot knife through butter" during his opening stint.

Heavy tyre degradation ensued which pushed the German further down the order, sealing the Hulk's fate for the remainder of the evening. Hulkenberg took away from his complicated race return the fact that Haas was able to gather significant more data on its VF-23 over the course of the evening.

On the other side of the Haas garage, Kevin Magnussen made up for a mediocre P17 qualifying performance with a strong few opening laps that carried the Dane as high as 9th.

‘Heavy tyre degradation ensued’;

https://f1i.com/news/468279-hulkenbe...gh-butter.html

Vasseur orders 'full investigation' into Leclerc's engine issue.
Vasseur said his team would do "a proper analysis of the situation to know what is going well and what is going wrong and to try to get the best on the issues".
05/03/2023 at 20:11
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Adding to Ferrari's engine woes was the relative performance of the Italian outfit's SF-23 in Sunday's event and its significant deficit in race trim to Red Bull's winning RB19.

"Overall, I would say that the picture is not the one expected before the race," conceded Vasseur. "If we want to win races, we need to have a clean sheet on the weekend and not small details here and there."

"But now that we have a better picture of the situation and we know exactly what we need this weekend we have to clearly make a step forward," he concluded.

'Full investigation';

https://f1i.com/news/468062-vasseur-...ine-issue.html


Ferrari “never expected” engine failure which ended Leclerc’s race – Vasseur
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 5th March 2023, 19:247th March 2023, 9:42
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

During the winter Ferrari focused on eliminating the reliability problems which undermined their 2022 campaign. There was no prior indication of the fault which brought Leclerc’s race to an end.

“We never expected to have something like this because it’s the first time that we had it,” said Vasseur. “We didn’t face the same issue at all during the six or seven thousand kilometres that we did with the engines last week with the three teams. And we never had the same issue on the dyno throughout the winter.”

“Never expected”;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/05/...-race-vasseur/


Vasseur: Ferrari need 'clear picture' on where team are 'failing'
06 March 8:55AM
Author Jake Nichol
Co-author Dieter Rencken
RacingNews365

Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur believes the team need to achieve a "clear picture" on where they are "failing" after Charles Leclerc's Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix retirement.

"It's never good to start with a DNF," Vasseur told media, including RacingNews365.com, in Bahrain. "I would have preferred to finish for sure, but now I want to stay consistent in my position. I told the team before one or two weeks ago that the championship won't be over in Bahrain because of the results.”

'Clear picture';

https://racingnews365.com/vasseur-fe...we-are-failing


Ferrari’s Frédéric Vasseur: “We have to ensure we have no more reliability problems”
March 6, 2023
By Joe Briley
TheCheckeredFlag.co.uk

Frédéric Vasseur admitted it was not the best of starts for the Maranello-based team in Bahrain, and it will be important to understand what caused Leclerc’s failure so they can prevent it from happening again. “Of course we are disappointed, how could we not be. We knew we’d have to deal with tyre degradation, but we had not expected reliability problems.”

“It’s a shame for Charles, because in the first stint his pace was good and even with the heavy degradation on the Hard tyre, he could have brought home a third place, that would have been a good way to start the season. Carlos drove a solid race, running at a consistent pace and he gave it his all to finish fourth.”

‘Shame for Charles’;

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2...lity-problems/


Vasseur reveals Ferrari 'game-killer' in Red Bull Bahrain battle
Monday 6 March 2023 16:22
Sam Hall
GPFans

"I think everybody was expecting that Red Bull would be a bit further away in quali and we were there, able to match them in the first 15 laps," said Vasseur.

“For me, this was good news. The fact that they were able to do two softs and one hard when we had to do two hards and one soft, it was for sure a game-killer and we have to improve on this. But I would say the first issue for me is the reliability because we have to have zero issues.”

‘Good news’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...-fred-vasseur/


Qualifying performance proves Ferrari can rival Red Bull on race pace – Vasseur
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 9th March 2023, 8:139th March 2023, 7:20
Written by Ida Wood and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

Vasseur said the team “don’t have to go into this direction” of changing the car’s design as its qualifying pace demonstrates it can be a threat to Red Bull on Sundays.

“I’m completely convinced about this,” he told media including RaceFans. “I never saw a car able to match the pace of another one in quali and not be able to in the race. Then it’s a matter of set-up and some choices on the car. But it’s not a matter of concept at all.”

‘Matter of set-up’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/09/...-pace-vasseur/


Fred Vasseur ‘completely convinced’ SF-23 concept can take fight to Red Bull
08 Mar 2023 1:30 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Fred Vasseur is convinced that having taken the fight to Red Bull in qualifying, Ferrari’s problem in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix was the “set-up” and not a fundamental flaw with the car.

Asked if the SF-23 could be upgraded to take the fight to Red Bull in grands prix, he replied to media including PlanetF1.com: “I’m completely convinced about this.”

‘Completely convinced’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/fred-v...em-in-bahrain/


Vasseur not scared of Ferrari pressure
Wednesday 8th March, 2023 - 3:00am
By Mat Coch
Speedcafe

Ferrari’s newest team boss, Fred Vasseur, has said he is not scared of the pressure that comes with his high-profile role. It is into that furnace that Vasseur has willingly gone, having been poached from his former role as CEO of Sauber Motorsport – a position which at the time encapsulated the team principal job for Alfa Romeo Sauber.

“I think that clearly there is more emotion, passion, and so on around Ferrari, but at the end of the day, I think all the racing teams are similar,” he explained of the differences between the two teams. We have the same DNA. It’s all about technique and performance, and continuous improvement. The approach is the same, passion is a bit higher but it’s okay.”

‘Into that furnace’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/08...rari-pressure/


‘Only one stupido’: Frederic Vasseur reacts to Toto Wolff prank
8 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

“It‘s Toto,” F1TV presenter Will Buxton said to Vasseur, whilst Wolff was touching his ear.

“Yeah I know. There is only one stupido doing something like this in the paddock,” Vasseur replied.

“Only one stupido”;

https://formula1news.co.uk/only-one-...o-wolff-prank/

Lewis Hamilton demands Mercedes engineers are 'held accountable' for ignoring him.
Lewis Hamilton has pointed the finger at Mercedes engineers for not listening to him last season. The seven-time champion has demanded the team “own up” and admit their current concept was wrong after failing to take his advice.
07:01, Thu, Mar 9, 2023
By Luke Chillingsworth
Daily and Sunday Express

The British F1 ace stressed he “knows” what a car needs and that he had previously pushed Mercedes in a direction to solve the problems. He told the BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast: “Last year, I told them the issues that are with the car.

“Like, I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need. And I think it’s really about accountability, it’s about owning up and saying ‘yeah, you know what, we didn’t listen to you, it’s not where it needs to be and we’ve got to work’.

“We’ve got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that’s what we do.

'Held accountable for ignoring him’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...rs-news-latest


Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes ‘didn’t listen’ to me on W14, ‘I know what a car needs’
08 Mar 2023 6:00 AM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Lewis Hamilton has called for accountability at Mercedes as he told them what the W14 needed and he was not listened to.

Hamilton was rather encouraging in that message, but speaking in a post-race interview with Rosanna Tennant on BBC’s Chequered Flag podcast, Hamilton took a more critical stance with his team. Having raced in every Formula 1 season since 2007, Hamilton says his vast experience means he knows “what a car needs”.

However, he says that the Mercedes team has not followed through on his guidance when creating the W14, and believes that cannot be allowed to slide

‘I know what a car needs’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...ot-listen-w14/


Lewis Hamilton labels W14 ‘average’ and ‘not alive’ after Bahrain qualifying
04 Mar 2023 5:12 PM
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Lewis Hamilton has described Mercedes’ W14 Formula 1 car as “average” and “not alive” after finishing a distant seventh in the first qualifying session of the 2023 season in Bahrain.

Having openly questioned the wisdom of Mercedes’ car concept earlier this weekend, Hamilton revealed that he expected the team to be considerably further behind after Friday practice running.

He told media in Bahrain: “I woke up this morning thinking we were going to be a lot further behind, so the fact that we’re even getting into Q3 is great.

‘W14 ‘average’ and ‘not alive’!’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...in-qualifying/


Lewis Hamilton reveals what Mercedes W14 is in desperate need of
Lewis Hamilton finished 51 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen at last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
6 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has warned Mercedes that they must find some downforce “ASAP” if they are to challenge the frontrunners, with the 38-year-old having finished the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in fifth.

“The team did a great job with the pit stops, just unfortunately, the car is just not there at the moment, we are lacking downforce and we have just got to work really hard to try and add that ASAP,” Hamilton said.

‘Downforce “ASAP”!’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/lewis-ham...erate-need-of/


Hamilton 'not listened to' in Mercedes W14 development
Wednesday 8 March 2023 09:53
Sam Hall
GPFans

Lewis Hamilton has criticised Mercedes for 'not listening' after he warned them about inherent issues with its car.

"We've got to look into the balance through the corners, look at all the weak points and just huddle up as a team, that's what we do.”

'Not listened to';

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...ilton-f1-2023/


Hamilton says Mercedes didn't listen to him on W14 design
08 March 10:00AM
Author Michael Butterworth
RacingNews365

Lewis Hamilton has suggested that Mercedes failed to listen to his advice when designing their 2023 challenger, the W14.

Team boss Toto Wolff had taken the unusual step of acknowledging even before the race that the W14 would never be truly competitive, and suggested that the team may switch its development focus onto an entirely new concept.

‘The W14 would never be truly competitive’;

https://racingnews365.com/hamilton-s...-on-w14-design


Mercedes to change F1 car concept as Toto Wolff admits they got it wrong
4 Mar 2023
Lewis Larkam
Crash.Net

Toto Wolff has conceded Mercedes will have to change their car concept in order to return to the top in F1. And Wolff says it is now time for Mercedes to admit defeat with their distinctive concept.

“We gave it our best go also over the winter and now we just need to all regroup, sit down with the engineers who are totally not dogmatic about anything, there is no holy cows, and decide what is the development direction we want to pursue in order to be competitive to win races.”

‘Gave it our best go’;

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/102156...lton-criticism


Martin Brundle senses tension at Mercedes with refusal to ditch Plan A philosophy
09 Mar 2023 6:45 AM
Henry Valantine
PlanetF1.com

Martin Brundle believes things “must be tense” behind the scenes at Mercedes at the moment, after a tricky start to the season in Bahrain.

“It seems to me that Mercedes went the wrong way in 2022 and refuse to turn around,” Brundle wrote in his post-Bahrain column for Sky Sports.

“Even Lewis and Toto were openly expressing their disappointment at certain points of the weekend, and normally they only sing the praises of the teams at Brackley and Brixworth. It must be tense at the team right now; the quality is there, it just needs direction and oxygen to calm heads.”

‘Tension at Mercedes’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/martin...cedes-tension/


Coulthard slates Wolff 'kick in the whatnots' Mercedes concept criticism
Tuesday 7 March 2023 16:05
Sam Hall
GPFans

Former F1 race winner David Coulthard has questioned where Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is coming from with his "brutal" criticism of the W14.

Speaking to Channel 4, Coulthard said: “I think it was brutal. This car has only been alive for six days, a few days of testing, three days here. I don’t know where he’s coming from with that.”

‘W14 has only been alive for six days!’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...des-criticism/

MARKO AND PEREZ: THERE WERE ‘THREE RED BULLS’ ON THE BAHRAIN PODIUM.
After the podium celebrations died down, the three drivers attended the post-race press conference as usual. During the press conference, Perez took the opportunity to joke about the similarities between his car and the Aston Martin. He said: “It’s nice to see three Red Bull cars on the podium.”
March 7, 2023
Rhiannon Temporal
FormulaNerds

When Aston Martin radically changed their concept design mid-season last year, many commented on the likeness to the existing Red Bull. Now that Aston Martin has scored their first podium since 2021, Red Bull Advisor Helmut Marko and driver Sergio Perez have both commented further on the similarities between the two cars.

While Marko seems to be considering the similarities in a more serious light, the drivers do not seem to be as concerned by the likeness between the teams. Marko questions whether Aston Martin has “documentation” of the Red Bull car

Following the conclusion of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marko questioned how Aston Martin was able to create a car with such a strong likeness to the Red Bull. Whilst talking to Servus TV, the Red Bull advisor said: “It’s true that what Fallows had in his head cannot be erased. Copying the focus is not prohibited, but can you copy in such detail without having documentation of our car?”

‘Three Red Bull cars on the podium’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/ma.../?nowprocket=1


Helmut Marko’s dig at Aston Martin’s former Red Bull crew who ‘obviously have a good memory’
06 Mar 2023 8:15 AM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

As Fernando Alonso lived up to pre-season hype with a third-placed finish on his Aston Martin debut, joining Red Bull on the podium, Helmut Marko has had something to say.

Marko had something to say. “If you compare the cars, the Aston Martin is most similar to our Red Bull,” he told Sky Deutschland. “There’s a reason for that. Not only did Fallows change, but also some other employees and they obviously have a good memory.”

‘Obviously have a good memory’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/helmut...red-bull-crew/


Christian Horner can’t resist light-hearted dig at Aston Martin after Bahrain GP
05 Mar 2023 6:45 PM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Christian Horner could not resist a light-hearted dig at Aston Martin as they joined Red Bull on the first podium of F1 2023 in Bahrain. And already the AMR23, which follows a similar concept to Red Bull’s double title-winning RB18 of 2022, is serving the team extremely well.

And now, Horner says Aston Martin have proven that it is possible, so is glad to see their RB18 has a new lease on life, so to speak. Plenty of sarcasm detected. “I think it demonstrates to all the teams that it’s possible,” he told media in Bahrain. “So, they’ve obviously done a good job over the winter. They say imitation is the biggest form of flattery, and it’s good to see the old car going so well.”

Asked if he is regretting Fallows leaving, Horner replied: “No, because I think we have a wonderful team and everything has to evolve, nothing stands still. “And I think that it’s flattering to see the resemblance of that car to ours, so it was great to see the three of them on the podium.”

‘Light-hearted dig: Good to see the old car going so well!’

https://www.planetf1.com/news/christ...in-amr23-joke/


Damon Hill: ‘Aston Martin certainly won’t be getting help from Red Bull from now on’
09 Mar 2023 12:00 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Although Aston Martin exceeded pretty much everyone’s expectations in Bahrain, Damon Hill doesn’t expect them to challenge Red Bull for the title as they “won’t be getting any help from Red Bull from now”. … while Fallows had knowledge of Red Bull’s RB18, he wasn’t around for the this year’s RB19.

Hill has ruled out a title challenge from the Silverstone-based team. “I think that might be a stretch too far,” he told Sky Sports News. “They’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations, they’ve exceeded mine, and they’ve probably exceeded their own so they’re very, very delighted at the moment.

‘Won’t be getting help from Red Bull from now on’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-...ll-damon-hill/


Aston Martin: Gap to Red Bull is "still substantial" after Bahrain F1 podium
09:42 Thu, 09 Mar 2023.
By: Adam Cooper
Motorsport.com

Aston Martin Formula 1 team boss Mike Krack has cautioned the gap to pacesetters Red Bull is “still substantial” despite Fernando Alonso's Bahrain Grand Prix podium. "I think the gap is still substantial," said Krack.

"We don't know how much management that Red Bull had to do and did. I think it was quite comfortable for them to just get the mandatory tyres through and cruise the race to the end. So I think we have now one good result, we have improved our car.”
"But we are fighting here with teams that are used to drive on the front, they are very used to high intensity development. So I think let's be respectful and humble, and see how it continues."

‘Gap still substantial’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...dium/10441613/


Martin Brundle reveals major advantage Aston Martin have over Max Verstappen and Red Bull
Fernando Alonso is set to be a serious rival to Max Verstappen in the fight for the 2023 world championship.
9 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

Ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle believes Aston Martin could become the “major challengers” to Red Bull this season, with the Silverstone-based side set to benefit from their disappointing 2022 campaign.

The only way for Aston Martin is seemingly up, with the British outfit having more wind tunnel time this season than Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes. “Because of their lowly championship finishing position last year, under the latest rules Aston Martin have so much more wind tunnel development time than their main three rivals,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“It’s already a good package but if they know where to go to improve it, then by mid-season they could emerge as the major challengers to Red Bull. That’s doubly painful for Mercedes because Aston Martin have the same engine, gearbox and rear suspension and use the same wind tunnel.”

‘More wind tunnel time’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/martin-br...-and-red-bull/


Aston Martin could catch Red Bull with significant development advantage
The story of 2023 Bahrain GP was unquestionably Aston Martin but this might only be the start for the British team
March 8, 2023
By Joe Ellis
Total Motorsport

Aston Martin are the most improved Formula 1 team in 2023 and they could even have the tools to catch Red Bull by the end of the current F1 season. Fernando Alonso stormed to his 99th career podium at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix and Lance Stroll nursed a broken toe and wrist injuries to sixth, ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes.

Lawrence Stroll bought the team in 2018 and quickly put down plans to build a brand new facility to help catapult the team. If that can find a few extra tenths per lap then it will be money very well spent for Aston Martin.

They also have 58% more wind tunnel time than Red Bull after their cost-cap punishment further reduced their ability to upgrade at a rapid rate.

‘Catapult the team’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...ent-advantage/


Alonso issues ominous 'this is just the beginning' Aston Martin warning
Wednesday 8 March 2023 14:59
Sam Hall
GPFans

Fernando Alonso has warned his F1 rivals "this is just the beginning" after a storming drive to the podium on his Aston Martin debut. "I think the most important point is that the new Aston Martin is just a new car, a new project," said Alonso. "This is just the beginning.

"You know, this is not the final car, this is just the starting car of this concept that we changed over winter. I think some of the top teams just kept the philosophy that they had last year. Red Bull or Ferrari kept more of the same shapes. Just, fine-tuning things and making perfection of that good baseline that they had.”

"For us, it was much more difficult. We have to change 95% of the car. So, I guess there is more to learn from the car, and there is more to come on our side."

"This is just the beginning";

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...artin-warning/


Could a move to Aston Martin or Ferrari await Lewis Hamilton if Mercedes ‘stay like this?’
10 Mar 2023 6:00 AM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Amidst the first sign of a potential crack in his relationship with Mercedes following his criticism at the Bahrain GP, Sky Sports’ Simon Lazenby has asked whether a move to Ferrari could be in Lewis Hamilton’s future. Hamilton isn’t impressed, the seven-time World Champion revealing Mercedes didn’t “listen” to him when he told them what the car needed.

Lazenby reckons if Hamilton does decide to leave Mercedes, Ferrari would be his number one choice. “Not to Aston, but how can you rule out a move to Ferrari if [Mercedes] stay like this?” he said. “He’s so desperate, so desperate for that eighth [title], that if Ferrari did manage to stay on the coattails and they were the nearest to Red Bull.

‘First sign of a potential crack’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-...n-sky-pundits/

Mercedes 'hold emergency meeting' after Lewis Hamilton criticism as 'ultimatum' given.
Tensions have reportedly flared up inside the Mercedes camp after a poor start to the new Formula 1 season in Bahrain and Lewis Hamilton's public criticism of the team.
16:40, 9 Mar 2023
By Daniel Moxon F1 Writer
The Mirror

"And I think it's really about accountability, it's about owning up and saying 'yeah, you know what, we didn't listen to you, it's not where it needs to be and we've got to work'."

In the wake of those words, it was reported by Italian publication Formu1a.uno that a meeting took place "late at night" at the team's factory. Technical director Mike Elliott was supposedly given an "ultimatum" placing extra pressure upon him to get the W14 into a place where it is more competitive on track.

This latest reported development will do nothing to quell concerns that there may be a rift among the big players at the Silver Arrows. But team principal Wolff's initial response to the result in Bahrain was to reassure fans that everyone is pulling in the same direction.

"Ultimatum";

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...matum-29417007


Mercedes 'hold emergency meeting' at their factory... with team's technical director Mike Elliott being given an 'ultimatum' after Lewis Hamilton's criticism over new car
• Lewis Hamilton struggled to compete at the opening GP of the 2023 season
• The Brit was sixth and nearly a minute down on race winner Max Verstappen
• Tensions have flared up in the Mercedes camp and 'a late meeting was called'
PUBLISHED: 08:13, 10 March 2023
By CHARLOTTE DALY FOR MAILONLINE

Tensions have flared up inside the Mercedes camp, with the team's technical director Mike Elliott being given an 'ultimatum' after a disappointing start to the 2023 season, according to a new report.

Mercedes are said to have discussed their issues in depth, while Elliott, the team's technical director, was given an ultimatum as they planned for the reminder of the 2023 season, according to Formu1a.uno.

It is claimed that Hamilton's comments after the first Grand Prix of the season instigated the discussion that took place.

‘Tensions have flared up’;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...m-new-car.html


Mercedes hold ’emergency meeting’ as Toto Wolff responds to Lewis Hamilton’s claim F1 team ‘didn’t listen’ to him
Thursday 9 Mar 2023 1:06 pm
Callum McAvoy
Metro.co.uk

Toto Wolff has played down talk of a rift between Sir Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes after he claimed the team ‘didn’t listen’ to him while developing their 2023 Formula One car. Wolff said: “The Lewis situation is you heard him on the radio. He is an integral part of the team, picking the team up and we are all sticking together and I don’t think that is going to change just because we had a start that was really bad.”

“We have won eight constructors’ championships and six drivers’ championships with him and that relationship holds. As much as being transparent as to how we need to turn the car around, it is not the point to talk about the driver situation in 2024.”

“It is far too early, we need to all push in then same direction, the drivers, the engineers, all the management rather than throwing in the towel. We have never done that and we will not do it.”

’Emergency meeting’;

https://metro.co.uk/2023/03/09/f1-me...o=newsnow-feed


Wolff insists Mercedes 'sticking together' amid Hamilton frustrations
10/03/2023 at 10:41
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Toto Wolff says Mercedes' troops are "sticking together" in the wake of the team's poor start to its 2023 campaign and amid the public grievances expressed by Lewis Hamilton.

Mercedes was significantly outperformed by its dominant Red Bull rival in the opening race of the season in Bahrain, but the Brackley squad's W14 was also defeated on pure pace by Ferrari and Aston Martin.

The team is attacking its car's downforce and balance issues head-on, with changes set to be implemented in upcoming races. But its troubled start has frustrated Hamilton who warned Mercedes last year about its car's development for 2023.

‘Troops are sticking together’;

https://f1i.com/news/468363-wolff-in...strations.html


Mercedes ‘sticking together’ amid F1 troubles, says Wolff
11:53 Thu, 09 Mar 2023.
Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths
Read Motorsport

Toto Wolff says Mercedes is “sticking together” in the aftermath of its struggles in Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix, despite Lewis Hamilton making his frustrations clear at the situation. Lewis Hamilton conceded Mercedes had gone backwards from last year and when speaking to BBC 5 Live after the race, claimed Mercedes had ignored his input on the W14.

“Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car,” said Hamilton. “I’ve driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn’t need. And I think it’s really about accountability.”

“It’s about owning up and saying: ‘Yeah, you know what? We didn’t listen to you. It’s not where it used to be and we’ve got to work.'” While Hamilton’s remarks hint at tensions behind the scenes, Wolff insists Mercedes is united in its current plight and maintains a strong relationship with the seven-time world champion.

‘Sticking together’;

https://readmotorsport.com/2023/03/0...es-says-wolff/


Toto Wolff responds to Lewis Hamilton accusation, denies contract is at risk
Mercedes were unable to even compete for a podium during the first race of the 2023 season.
9 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

Bizarrely, the Silver Arrows arrived in Bahrain with a W14 design that resembled the W13 a lot, with the zero sidepod approach being continued despite last year’s struggles.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has now admitted that continuing this approach was the wrong decision, with Mercedes now set to embark on a completely different development path after falling behind Aston Martin in terms of car performance.

Lewis Hamilton has suggested that his team should have listened to him last season, as he told Mercedes that there were issues with the car related to its design.

‘Denies contract is at risk’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/toto-wolf...ct-is-at-risk/


Wolff: Mercedes F1 "sticking together" amid Hamilton's 'didn't listen' remarks
10:12 Thu, 09 Mar 2023.
By: Filip Cleeren
Motorsport.com

Toto Wolff insists his Mercedes Formula 1 team is "sticking together" amid comments from Lewis Hamilton that it 'didn't listen' to his input on the 2023 car.

After the race Lewis Hamilton told BBC 5 Live that the team "didn't listen" to his input on the 2023 car, saying: "Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car.

"I've driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn't need. And I think it's really about accountability. It's about owning up and saying: 'Yeah, you know what? We didn't listen to you. It's not where it used to be and we've got to work.'"

‘It's about owning up’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...arks/10441623/


Toto Wolff makes damning claim about 2023 season after just one grand prix
Mercedes look significantly slower than their rivals once again this season.
9 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

Red Bull’s front lock lockout led to a one-two finish in Bahrain and this has caused Wolff pain, with the Mercedes boss now suggesting that while Mercedes are already out of contention for the championship, Red Bull could win every race.

“After the first Grand Prix, I also believe that they [Red Bull] will win every race this year,” he said. Wolff’s fears that Mercedes W14 may not be the correct one were confirmed in Bahrain, as Aston Martin’s AMR23 looks significantly quicker than the W14, despite having the same power unit.

Upgrades for the W14 that will see the car go down a different development pathway are already in the works, but it is expected that these upgrades will not be online until F1 heads to Imola, leaving Mercedes languishing behind their rivals for a few more weeks.

‘Damning claim’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/toto-wolf...ne-grand-prix/

Jenson Button: Former F1 world champion signs three-race Nascar deal

"Jenson Button won six grands prix on his way to the 2009 Formula 1 title in his one season racing for Brawn
Jenson Button won six grands prix on his way to the 2009 Formula 1 title in his one season racing for Brawn
Former Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button will race in three Nascar Cup Series meetings this year.

The 43-year-old Briton, who won the 2009 title, will make his debut in the stock car series in Texas on 26 March.

Button will also take part in the inaugural Chicago Street Race on 2 July and compete at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on 13 August.

"The most important thing for me is to enjoy it," said Button, who won 15 grands prix during a 17-year F1 career.

Button's first Nascar race will take place at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin at the end of this month where he will drive a Mobil 1 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing.

Since retiring from F1 in 2017 Button has enjoyed success in other motorsport arenas, winning the 2018 Super GT Championship and also competing in endurance races including the Le Mans 24 Hours.

"I love that challenge of driving new things," Button added. "Every time an ex-F1 driver gets in a stock car these days, they struggle initially.

"It takes a while for them to get up to speed, so I don't expect to be right at the front straight away. But I'm not just doing it for fun in some one-off.

"I want to be competitive, and I know that to be competitive it's going to take a bit of time. That's why doing these three races works very well this season."

Button will also take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours 100th anniversary this year, racing a Next-Gen Nascar modified Chevrolet Camaro in a collaboration with Le Mans organisers"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/64912876


Pretty 😎 huh..

How long do you think before he gets competitive, will 3 races be enough?

I expect Bunsen to be up to speed pretty quickly , mid-field in the first race .

He be to maybe tenth by the third , but will struggle to get higher than that .

And , yeah , pretty cool .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bagwan

I expect Bunsen to be up to speed pretty quickly , mid-field in the first race .

He be to maybe tenth by the third , but will struggle to get higher than that .

And , yeah , pretty cool .

---

I often find drivers trying a new discipline quite fascinating. Thats along the lines of what I was thinking but he sounds maybe a tad more optimistic than us. Not doubting his talents but I'd imagine it's not the kind of series you can just step into and be at the sharp end in such little time.. even as a former F1 driver.

Sky Sports presenter Simon Lazenby claims Lewis Hamilton would LEAVE Mercedes for Ferrari as he is 'desperate' to win an eighth world championship... with his current £40m-a-year deal set to expire at the end of this season.
Simon Lazenby believes Lewis Hamilton would leave Mercedes for Ferrari in an attempt to win an eighth world title.
Published: 00:40, 11 March 2023
By Abdi Rashid For Mailonline
Mail Online

'He's so desperate for that eighth, that if Ferrari did manage to stay on the coattails and they were the nearest to Red Bull. 'He's not put his pen to paper yet on his contract. He's definitely waiting to see how this year's car felt. I think the great relationship with the team and Toto will endure but I don't think you can ever rule out a move to Ferrari for racing drivers because it's their dream and he's said it before.'

‘So Desperate’;

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-Ferrari.html


Could a move to Aston Martin or Ferrari await Lewis Hamilton if Mercedes ‘stay like this?’
10 Mar 2023 6:00 AM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

The Brackley squad admitted the W14 wasn’t up to scratch, the car lacking in downforce with Toto Wolff questioning whether the package could even be made successful down the line. Hamilton isn’t impressed, the seven-time World Champion revealing Mercedes didn’t “listen” to him when he told them what the car needed.

Out of contract at the end of this season, the Briton has yet to sign a new deal with past World Champions Jenson Button and Damon Hill speculating that’s because he was waiting to see how competitive the car was. Now that he knows, or at least has an idea, former F1 driver Karun Chandhok was asked on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast if Aston Martin could be option for Hamilton. “I don’t think that will happen,” he replied. “You’re going to tell Lawrence to sack his son. Good luck with that.”

Sky colleague Lazenby reckons if Hamilton does decide to leave Mercedes, Ferrari would be his number one choice. “Not to Aston, but how can you rule out a move to Ferrari if [Mercedes] stay like this?” he said. “He’s so desperate, so desperate for that eighth [title], that if Ferrari did manage to stay on the coattails and they were the nearest to Red Bull. He’s not put his pen to paper yet on his contract. He’s definitely waiting to see how this year’s car felt.”

‘Stay like this?’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/aston-...n-sky-pundits/


‘Mercedes are under a lot of pressure from both drivers, but more so from Lewis Hamilton’
10 Mar 2023 12:00 PM
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Closer to the end of his career than the beginning, Naomi Schiff believes “time is of the essence” for Mercedes to get it right and give Lewis Hamilton a championship-winning car.

But as the most improved team in the back half of last season, many predicted Mercedes would at the very least close the gap on Red Bull this season. They’ve done anything but, Toto Wolff admitting their deficit to the reigning World Champions has “almost doubled if not tripled”.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of pressure internally, from both drivers, but I guess even more so from Lewis because he’s not getting any younger. He’s obviously got Fernando [Alonso] to look up to in terms of how far you can go. But time is of the essence. They [Mercedes] spent an entire season struggling and being unhappy with where they were at with the car. So to have had this whole winter period and come back even a step backwards from where they were at the last race last season, that is what is so tough to accept.”

‘W13 entire season struggling, W14 come back even a step backwards’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/merced...-naomi-schiff/


Mercedes face F1 embarrassment as top bosses consider huge Aston Martin decision
Mercedes endured a difficult opening Grand Prix weekend of the season in Bahrain, while Aston Martin excelled with Fernando Alonso securing a third-placed podium finish
09:21, 10 Mar 2023
By Fraser Watson Sports Trends Writer
The Mirror


https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...rabia-29420826


Hamilton says he knew 'from the moment I drove the car' that W14 would need work
10 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

It’s no secret that Mercedes were unhappy with their performance in Bahrain, but seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he knew the W14 would not be up to scratch well before the race.

“Yeah, I knew from the moment I drove the car where we were, and the challenges that we would be facing. On a positive note, not having the bouncing this year is a huge plus and trying to understand what the problems were whilst having bouncing really masks so many of the [issues] – it makes it difficult to figure out what those are,” he said.

As for the problems plaguing the W14, Hamilton explained: “We are lacking a lot of downforce, and we've got a lot of work to do to add more to the car. As soon as we put more load on the front and rear, we will be able to pick up our pace. We've just got to keep working; we know we are not where we need to be. I've got to stay positive, keep my head up and keep pushing the team. I will be a positive light for them and get the best points I can."

‘W14 would need work’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...bIXGpL41I.html

Frederic Vasseur will sack other key members of Mattia Binotto’s team.
“Fred is dismantling Binotto’s team. For different reasons and leaving different roles, Rosato, Giacobazzi, Sanchez have already left… I very much doubt that other key figures of the Binotto era will remain where they are for a long time.” Journalist Leo Turrini.
by Nick Golding
11 March 2023
Formula1News

Vasseur, of course, has been brought in to get Ferrari back to their glory days, something which has seen several senior members of the team resign. Head of vehicle concept David Sanchez is the most recent, according to The Race, with Sanchez having been a key part of Binotto’s set-up.

Formu1a.uni believe that Sanchez is reportedly returning to McLaren after a period of gardening leave, with Turrini expecting him to not be the last member of the “Binotto era” to depart Maranello. “Fred Vasseur, in agreement with the very powerful ad Vigna, even has the duty to build a team in his image and likeness,” Turrini said in his blog.

Despite Vasseur’s arrival and seemingly immediate changes, Ferrari still endured a disappointing season-opener in Bahrain last weekend, with Charles Leclerc having retired due to yet another power unit failure.

‘Sack other key members of Mattia Binotto’s team’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/frederic-...binottos-team/


Ferrari crisis as Charles Leclerc 'writes to board' and engineers 'send CVs to F1 rivals'
Ferrari are reportedly going through an early-season crisis after failing to trouble Red Bull at last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.
13:04, Sat, Mar 11, 2023 |
By Archie Griggs
Daily and Sunday Express

Ferrari have reportedly been plunged into an internal crisis after last weekend's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix saw them remain well adrift of the pace shown by Red Bull, who recorded a dominant one-two finish to lay down an early marker in the year-long battle for supremacy.

It seems as though Leclerc feels particularly aggrieved, with Gazzetta dello Sport claiming that the Monegasque driver wrote to Ferrari chiefs to request a crunch meeting with chief executive John Elkann in the aftermath of last weekend's Grand Prix. The prospect of faltering away for a second year in a row is said to be 'unacceptable' to Leclerc, which suggests that he could finally lose patience with Ferrari if things fail to improve as a matter of urgency over the coming weeks.

There is also said to be great unrest among the rest of the team at Ferrari after the exit of aerodynamics chief David Sanchez, who has reportedly offered his resignation of his own accord in order to join McLaren. A number of Sanchez's fellow Ferrari engineers have also been accused of sharing their resumes with other F1 teams in recent months, with several members of staff believed to be considering their options. It will be crucial for team principal Frederic Vasseur to stop the rot as quickly as possible in order to avoid the situation from spiralling out of control.

‘Ferrari crisis’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...ineers-F1-news


Ferrari F1 designer quits after Bahrain GP, set to defect to British team
David Sanchez was responsible for the aerodynamic concept of Ferrari's 2022 and 2023 cars.
by Nick Golding
10 March 2023
Formula1News

It has been reported by multiple media outlets in Italy that Ferrari’s head of vehicle concept David Sanchez has resigned, due to having been approached by a team based in the United Kingdom. According to Formu1a.uno, that British side is McLaren, who are under the impression that Sanchez will join the Woking-based team once he completes a period of gardening leave.

Sanchez is reported to have resigned with immediate effect, hence why he’s entered a period of gardening leave as standard at Ferrari. If true, losing Sanchez is a massive loss for Ferrari, with the Frenchman being an integral part of the team’s aerodynamic department, which he’s been promoted within since joining the Maranello-based team in 2012.

‘Ferrari F1 designer quits’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/ferrari-f...-british-team/


Senior Ferrari F1 technical figure has resigned
Mar 9 2023
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

One of Ferrari’s most senior technical figures has resigned and already been linked with joining a rival Formula 1 team.

Ferrari’s head of vehicle concept David Sanchez, a highly regarded member of the team’s technical organisation, has reportedly resigned. The team did not wish to comment when approached by The Race.

‘One of Ferrari’s most senior technical figures has resigned’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/senio...-has-resigned/


FERRARI CHIEF ENGINEER DEPARTS TEAM
Bad news for the Scuderia?
Jasmine Hughes
FormulaNerds

According to reports from Motorsport Italy, Sanchez has tendered his resignation after 10 years at the Italian team. Sanchez has been a key figure within Ferrari’s engineering team since 2012, working initially as a principal aerodynamicist. By 2016, Sanchez was made the team’s chief aerodynamicist.

The news is less than ideal and comes against a backdrop of discontent within the Scuderia. The team’s shortcomings last year lead to an overhaul of the team’s management, with previous Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur replacing Mattia Binotto. Other changes included the appointment of a new Chief Strategist, with Ravin Javin replacing Iñaki Rueda.

‘The news is less than ideal’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/fe.../?nowprocket=1


Ferrari aerodynamics chief OUT as Bahrain fallout continues
Thursday 9 March 2023 21:10
Stuart Hodge
GPFans

Thursday's reports from Italy suggest Sanchez will now have to undergo a period of gardening leave before what Sky Sport Italia predicts will be a move to McLaren.

The shock news comes just four days after all that pre-season hype surrounding the SF-23 - the design of which Sanchez played a major part in - was obliterated in a Bahrain beatdown at the hands of Red Bull.

The departure of Sanchez from Maranello is the second big change at Ferrari in recent weeks. Last month Inaki Rueda was replaced as Head of Race Strategy by Ravin Jain.

‘Fallout continues’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...-mclaren-link/


Top Ferrari engineer set to join McLaren?
MARCH 10, 2023
GrandPrix.com

Former team boss Stefano Domenicali warned the Italian team that it must now tread a fine line. "Saying 'we are Ferrari' is no longer enough," the F1 CEO told Sportmediaset.

"They now need to work on the weak points in order to grow without becoming typically Italian and emotional. Only with determination can you get out of difficult situations," Domenicali added.

Sky Italia, meanwhile, claims that former Renault and McLaren engineer Sanchez will now return to a British team - believed to be Woking-based McLaren.

"Saying 'we are Ferrari' is no longer enough";

https://www.grandprix.com/news/top-f...n-mclaren.html


Ferrari’s head of F1 vehicle design resigns
11:26 Fri, 10 Mar 2023.
Hamilton Lyndon-Griffiths
Read Motorsport

Ferrari has reportedly been hit with the surprise departure of one of its senior technical figures just one race into the new Formula 1 season.

Sanchez was seen as a key member of the Ferrari team under Mattia Binotto’s reign as team principal and played a key role in the Italian outfit’s resurgence in 2017 when he helped design the race-winning SF-70H.

The Frenchman was effectively responsible for the design and development of Ferrari’s last two cars, working on both last year’s F1-75 and its current 2023 challenger the SF-23.

‘Surprise departure’;

https://readmotorsport.com/2023/03/1...esign-resigns/

‘No panic, no knee-jerk reaction’ promise Mercedes in open letter to fans.
In an open letter to its fans, Mercedes said their performance in the opening race in Bahrain “hurt” after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fifth and seventh, respectively, beaten comfortably by the winning Red Bulls.
RaceFans Round-up
Posted on
12th March 2023, 0:0111th March 2023, 22:29
Written by Will Wood
RaceFans

“First, we won’t panic or make knee-jerk reactions,” Mercedes said. “We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves. And we are working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan, focusing on what needs to happen short term, medium term, and long term to win.”

“We already have developments in the pipeline for the next races – and there will be more to come. But this won’t be the work of a moment; there are no silver bullets in F1.”

“Hurt” ;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/12/...nd-up-12-03-6/


Mercedes make stunning statement one week on from Bahrain GP ‘hurt’.
Mercedes released a surprise statement to their fans after Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished outside of the podium places at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
March 11, 2023
By Nigel Chiu
Total Motorsport

“Bahrain hurt,” read a statement from Mercedes. “It hurt each one of us, who head into every season determined to fight for world championships.

“It hurt the team as a whole, after pouring so much hard work into a car that hasn’t met our expectations. And we know it hurt you, our fans, too. Your passion and support are so important in driving us forward – and we know that we feel the same pain.”

“Bahrain hurt”;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...and-prix-hurt/


Formula 1: Has Lewis Hamilton thrown Mercedes under the bus?
11:31 Sat, 11 Mar 2023.
by Asher Fair
Beyond the Flag (Weblog).

Lewis Hamilton was quoted as saying that Mercedes didn’t listen to his feedback when creating the team’s 2023 Formula 1 challenger.

All in all, only he knows what has gone on behind the scenes, so more than likely, these comments are accurate, even if not totally fair, based on his perception of what has gone on at the Brackley-based team over the last year or so during their fall from Formula 1 supremacy.

Nevertheless, there will be those who don’t take too kindly to his comments, given the fact that, for the better part of his career, he has been in a car that has been by far and away the best on the grid.

‘Under the bus?’;

https://beyondtheflag.com/2023/03/11...-mercedes-bus/


Mercedes publish open letter to fans amidst Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari rumours
Updated: Mar 11, 2023
By Jonathan Maze
World In Sport (Weblog)

Mercedes have published an open letter to their fans following a disappointing season opener in the Bahrain Grand Prix. The race saw Lewis Hamilton finish P5 and George Russell finish two places back in P7. Their performance was so poor that they were outshone by their customer team Aston Martin who looks to be Red Bull’s nearest competition.

“In a spotlight as fierce as F1, people are quick to point fingers or look for scapegoats. But you know us better than that,” the letter writes. “Inside the team, we talk about having the courage to fail, the character to be accountable and the strength to see failure as an opportunity. We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves.”

“Inside the team”;

https://worldinsport.com/mercedes-pu.../?nowprocket=1


Mercedes confirm talks on 'accountability' after Lewis Hamilton complained about engineers
Mercedes have penned an open letter to fans after Lewis Hamilton's struggles in Bahrain.
14:00, Sat, Mar 11, 2023
By Sam Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

Mercedes have confirmed that staff held ‘searingly honest’ talks after a dismal start to the Formula One season. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton appeared to point the finger at engineers and told them to ‘own up’ with the W14 car struggling for performance at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

In an open letter to fans, the team has now admitted that a clear-the-air meeting was held between staff. It comes following reports that technical director Mike Elliott was given a brutal ultimatum over his role.

‘Brutal Ultimatum’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...F1-latest-news


Mercedes ‘isn’t the right car’ – Hamilton
Sunday 12th March, 2023 - 7:30am
By Ian Parkes
Speedcafe

Lewis Hamilton has expressed concern the W14 developed by Mercedes this year simply “isn’t the right car”. Fifth-placed Hamilton even declared Mercedes “miles away” from Aston Martin as Fernando Alonso was third on his debut with his new team.

In addition, Hamilton stated in a post-race interview on BBC Radio 5 Live that Mercedes did not listen to his input last year with regard to the W13, and “the issues that are with the car”.

‘Isn’t the right car’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/12...the-right-car/


Mercedes engineers' 'view' on copying Aston Martin after Lewis Hamilton complaints
Mercedes have endured further problems with their car after beginning their 2023 season last week
05:20, Sun, Mar 12, 2023
By Joshua Lees
Daily and Sunday Express

The idea that Mercedes’ engineers could copy the model of their Aston Martin rivals has been rubbished, after Lewis Hamilton made strong complaints at last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix. It was a tricky start for Mercedes in Bahrain, as their struggles from last season continued into 2023.

'View on copying Aston Martin rubbished’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...milton-F1-news


Mercedes to make controversial decision in favour of Aston Martin
Aston Martin have started the season in stunning fashion with a podium in Bahrain via Fernando Alonso.
11 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

With both Mercedes and Aston Martin using the same power unit this season, it proves that Aston Martin’s car design is what is giving them the edge over Lewis Hamilton’s team.

Rumours have now emerged that Mercedes could be considering giving Aston Martin a more powerful engine this season to allow Mercedes to get the highest possible finish as an engine manufacturer.

“Mercedes chiefs are said to be willing to pay more attention to giving [Fernando] Alonso the fastest engine if their own car fails to perform in the next two races, which take place in Saudi Arabia and Australia,” Express have reported.

‘Giving [Fernando] Alonso the fastest engine’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/mercedes-...-aston-martin/


Toto Wolff comments on Mercedes developing two cars ‘side by side’ in 2023
11 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

“It’s extremely difficult to catch such an advantage [to Red Bull], but it’s what we need to do. We have no choice,” said Wolff.

“We’re not going to develop two cars side-by-side, but we’re going to develop one car and we will decide that in the next days and weeks which car that will be.”

‘Side by side’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/toto-wolf...-side-in-2023/

Ultimatum: Mercedes owners switch focus to Aston Martin.
If no improvement is seen in the next two Formula 1 Grands Prix, they will give significant help to Aston Martin, focusing instead on the customer team, away from the works Mercedes team of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
March 12, 2023
by thejudge13

To everyone’s surprise, the Aston Martin team took the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix thanks to Fernando Alonso’s third place. Lawrence Stroll’s team overtook the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton at the start of the season, whereas the gap was enormous last year. And Damon Hill can’t believe it when asked during the Grand Prix weekend.

Indeed the situation has not gone unnoticed by the board of Mercedes, the German bosses have given Toto Wolff and his team two races to improve their competitiveness. If that doesn’t happen in Jeddah and Melbourne, Mercedes’ will be told to send their best engines to Aston Martin rather than to the factory team.

It should be noted that although it is accepted that Mercedes customers are supposed to receive the same powertrains as the factory team, in reality they are not exactly the same because of the specifics of the production process. As an example, the Spanish newspaper The Objective reported that during the recent tests in Bahrain, the engine in the seven-time world champion’s car was about four horsepower more powerful than Fernando Alonso’s, even though they both had the same specification.

‘Best engines to Aston Martin’;

https://thejudge13.com/2023/03/12/ul...-aston-martin/


Fernando Alonso explains why Jeddah and Melbourne will be key for Aston Martin
After his podium finish in Bahrain, Fernando Alonso will now travel to Saudi Arabia for the second round of the season.
11 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

The Spaniard has explained that the next two rounds in Saudi Arabia and Australia will present very different challenges to the team, which could give a better representation of Aston Martin’s potential this year.

“Let’s see. I have the same feeling from testing, like it’s too good to be true and you’re always expecting that something will take you a step back and you will get back to reality,” said Alonso when asked for his revised 2023 expectations.

“But the performance seems real, so let’s see in Jeddah. I am curious to go to Jeddah and Australia. They are very different circuits, high-speed corners, very little degradation. In Bahrain, we were strong in areas maybe we don’t find in Jeddah and Australia.”

‘Next two rounds’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/fernando-...-aston-martin/


Alonso fires warning to Aston Martin's rivals over 2023 car
12 March 10:10AM
Author Jake Nichol
Co-author Aaron Deckers


Fernando Alonso has warned Aston Martin's Formula 1 rivals that because the AMR23 is "95% new", the team are nowhere near their potential. And the two-time World Champion believes the fact that the Aston is a fresh start holds a lot of promise for the team.

"I mean, there are a couple of areas that we have to improve that I will not share, but I think the most important point is that the new Aston Martin is just a new car, a new project," Alonso told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"This is just the beginning, this is not the final car, this is just the starting car of the concept we changed over the winter. [I have] full trust in our team, obviously they know what they are doing, so let's hopefully improve soon."

‘Aston Martin's Formula 1 rivals warned’;

https://racingnews365.com/alonso-fir...-over-2023-car


TREMAYNE: Aston Martin and Alonso's emergence is something we should all cheer
09 March 2023
David Tremayne
Hall of Fame F1 Journalist
Formula One - Official Site

So let’s start first with Fernando Alonso, and why the 2005 and ’06 world champion continues to be so important to the F1 scene. Number one, he is driving at least as well as he did back in those far-distant days, which is remarkable given that he’s 41 years old.

He’s never been that good at choosing his next moves, and had to leave McLaren for Ferrari given the way he chose to play Spygate in 2007 (though Ron Dennis did later persuade him to return in their final Honda phase). His relationship with Ferrari thereafter was not overly blessed, any more than that with Alpine after his recent comeback. But with Aston Martin, he may have chosen his move perfectly, and might just prove consistently to be the act that brings the most to the table after Christian Horner’s boys.

Lawrence expected this kind of form last year and was angrily disappointed. He doesn’t like losing, and I guess I wouldn’t either if I had invested so much. But the new AMR23 is the product of collaboration between a technical team led by former Red Bull aero guru Dan Fallows, whose prolonged period of ‘gardening leave’ after quitting the champion team has finally expired, McLaren and Toro Rosso refugee Luca Furbatto and Eric Blandin, whose past embraces positions as aero chief at both Ferrari and Mercedes.

‘Aston Martin and Alonso's emergence’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...47DFrjBuJ.html


Krack says 'experienced' Aston team can handle the pressure upfront
11/03/2023 at 14:39
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack says Team Silverstone can handle the pressure of fighting amongst F1's frontrunners thanks to its experience and "fantastic" crews.

But should that be the case, can the team handle the heat that radiates at the front of the field? "I think yes," said Krack, quoted by RacingNews365.com. "We must not forget that we are speaking about Team Silverstone. This is a very experienced team with a lot of fantastic people that have done that already."

Indeed, in its previous Force India and Racing Point guises, Team Silverstone often sparred with F1's leaders, with Sergio Perez - who scored his fourth career podium in F1 in 2014 with Force India in Bahrain - taking a remarkable win at Sakhir in 2020, on the track's outer loop configuration.

‘We are speaking about Team Silverstone.’;

https://f1i.com/news/468452-krack-sa...e-upfront.html

Ferrari crisis deepens with boss Fred Vasseur 'fed up' already after just one F1 race.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur is already ‘fed up’ after a dismal start to the Formula One season, according to reports. The Italian media claims that Vasseur is struggling for influence just months after replacing Mattia Binotto as team principal.
13:12, Sun, Mar 12, 2023
By Sam Smith
Daily and Sunday Express

The Frenchman is allegedly not the individual ‘pulling the strings’ at Ferrari. Instead, CEO Benedetto Vigna has enjoyed more power over the last few months.

Vasseur has apparently been given ‘little freedom’ in his role and is reporting to Vigna. Reports in Italy claim that the pair’s relationship has soured and that there is plenty of unrest within the team.

Compared with the nine other team principals, Vasseur is said to enjoy far less power over his team. There are also apparent fears that several key figures within Ferrari could depart, reportedly following their head of aerodynamics, David Sanchez, out of the door.

‘Ferrari crisis deepens’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...rmula-One-news


F1 rumours: Laurent Mekies part of Ferrari mass exodus? Leclerc meets Ferrari president
12 Mar 2023 10:30 AM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

Charles Leclerc reportedly met with Ferrari president John Elkann following a troublesome F1 2023 season-opener in Bahrain, while a host of staff, including Laurent Mekies, appear to be heading for the exit door.

After last season’s title challenge did not go to plan for Ferrari, the team returned to the drawing board for F1 2023 and came up with the SF-23 as they looked to take a fresh crack at reaching the Formula 1 summit for the first time since 2008.

The Scuderia then were hoping to be within range of Red Bull at the first round of F1 2023, even if they did expect Red Bull to have the edge over a race distance. As it turned out though, it was more than an edge.

‘Ferrari mass exodus’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/f1-rum...f-mass-exodus/


F1 Podcast: Is there any hope for Ferrari’s 2023 title bid?
Mar 13 2023
The Race

Ferrari never claimed it would instantly topple Red Bull going into the 2023 Formula 1 season, but it was at least very optimistic that it had solved its 2022 problems and would be a stronger challenger.

Yet it’s started this year weaker than it began 2022. Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell-Malm and Ben Anderson look at why that’s the case on The Race F1 Podcast, plus what it means for new team boss Fred Vasseur, whether the Bahrain Grand Prix might’ve been deceptive, and if Ferrari’s title bid is already over.

‘Is there any hope?’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/f1-po...023-title-bid/


More Ferrari staff to quit and join rival teams
Ferrari started the 2023 season poorly, missing out on a podium finish to Aston Martin.
12 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

New team principal Fred Vasseur would not have wanted to start his rein in such a disappointing manner and is now reportedly eyeing a number of changes behind the scenes.

It has been reported that Enrico Cardile’s future is currently uncertain, with the head of chassis potentially on the verge of leaving the Scuderia.

Assistant team principal Laurent Mekies is also eyeing an exit from Ferrari according to reports, with Vasseur looking to completely change the team from last season.

‘More Ferrari staff to quit’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/more-ferr...n-rival-teams/


Charles Leclerc ‘requests meeting’ with president as he mulls Ferrari exit
Charles Leclerc retired from third at the Bahrain GP following a power unit-related failure.
12 March 2023
by Nick Golding
Formula1News

Following Ferrari’s disastrous start to the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, it has been reported by gazzetta.it that Charles Leclerc asked for a meeting with Ferrari president John Elkann to “receive reassurance”.

“After the nightmare Bahrain GP, Charles Leclerc requested a meeting with Ferrari President John Elkann in Maranello to discuss the situation, seeking to share his point of view and receive reassurance,” wrote Ferrari News on Twitter, as per gazzetta.it.

“Charles wants to win with Ferrari, but feels that time is running out.” Whilst the engine failure was clearly less than ideal for Leclerc and Ferrari, the biggest issue is arguably the fact that they never looked like beating Max Verstappen or Red Bull. Even before Leclerc’s retirement, the Monegasque wasn’t anywhere near Verstappen, and was even overtaken somewhat easily by Sergio Pérez for second.

‘Mulls Ferrari exit’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/charles-l...-ferrari-exit/


The problems facing Ferrari and Mercedes that will be music to Red Bull’s ears
12 Mar 2023 7:45 AM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

While ex-F1 driver Karun Chandhok believes Ferrari will grow stronger in the coming races, both they and Mercedes still have issues to address.

Ferrari were looking a strong bet to join Red Bull on the podium, but an engine failure dropped Charles Leclerc out of the race when he was running P3, but not a threat to Red Bull ahead. Carlos Sainz crossed the line in P4.

“My concern for Ferrari is the fact that their reliability is already looking pretty shaky. Before the first race they had to change the control electronic unit on Leclerc’s car, then the engine went pop for a reason I don’t think has been publicly confirmed yet. So yeah, big concerns there.” Karun Chandhok.

‘The problems’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/karun-...2023-problems/

Gary Anderson on F1 2023’s big-name early underachiever trio.
Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have all dropped the ball to a certain extent with their cars at the start of the 2023 season.
11:37 Fri, 10 Mar 2023
By Gary Anderson
The Race

We only have Bahrain to judge performance by, but it means we can take a look at the three of them and explain the possible reasons why. Even if the regulations are relatively stable, as they were from 2022 to 2023, coming up with a detailed specification and set of objectives for a new car design is never easy.

Not only has Mercedes lost a bit of pace in relative terms since the end of last year, but it has also been leapfrogged by customer team Aston Martin. In Bahrain, it was 0.145% further off than it was on average across the last four races of 2022. Ferrari is better-placed than Mercedes on track but its problems are even worse than Mercedes. It has also lost a bit of ground to Red Bull, but the biggest hangover of last year’s troubles is the reliability that’s meant to have been fixed.

McLaren was the biggest under-performer in Bahrain – or perhaps I should say ‘non-performer’. The pre-season test at the same circuit hadn’t gone well for it either as there were continual problems with the front wheel brows that restricted the car’s running on various occasions. But even taking all that into account, we all know that Lando Norris will wring a car’s neck when he gets a chance, especially in qualifying and even that wasn’t enough to make Q3 in Bahrain.

‘Dropped the ball’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-...achiever-trio/


Mercedes bringing back James Allison after poor start to 2023 F1 season
Pressure is building on Mike Elliott and James Allison could be called upon to save the day.
March 8, 2023
By Joe Ellis
Total Motorsport

Mercedes are reportedly to call upon James Allison to take the lead in their 2024 Formula 1 car design after their 2023 campaigner had a difficult debut.
Allison previously worked with Mercedes from 2017 to 2021 and helped them to both drivers and constructors titles in multiple years before choosing to leave prior to the new regulations taking effect.

But Elliott has not lived up to the task and Toto Wolff is ready to bring Allison back with an SOS call for the 2024 campaign, according to the Italian version of Motorsport.com. “We know we don’t have a mechanical problem, otherwise Aston Martin would suffer too, the point is that we go well on the straight but we lose a lot of time in the fast corners,” Wolff said.

‘Bringing back James Allison’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...t-2023-season/


How a 2023 F1 rule change caught McLaren out so badly
Mar 10 2023
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

McLaren is playing catch-up with its 2023 Formula 1 car because it realised too late that its intended design was badly impacted by the rule change that increased the height of the floor edge by 15mm. As early as September last year, McLaren realised it was in trouble and had to make drastic changes that ultimately led to its preferred version MCL60 not being ready for the start of the season.

As McLaren went down this new route it quickly found gains relative to its original design. By the time it came to signing off the launch/race one specification, the revised floor was not considered “mature enough”. It was already performing better in simulations but McLaren felt its understanding of everything was not quite as robust as it needed to be.

“We tried to get it for race one, it wasn’t mature enough,” said Key. “It performed a bit better but with these floors you’ve got to maintain stability, good correlation, everything else, to guarantee it’s going to work. It was a little bit risky for race one.”

‘McLaren caught out so badly’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/how-a...-out-so-badly/


What’s behind the hints of Ferrari dysfunction already?
13/03/2023, 14:43.
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

One race into the new era of Ferrari’s Formula 1 leadership, the biggest source of pressure in Italy is portraying an image of dysfunction and borderline chaos. The Bahrain Grand Prix was a chastening season opener for Ferrari, comfortably beaten by Red Bull on pace and with a reliability problem condemning Charles Leclerc to a race-one retirement.

Many of the high-profile changes over the winter seem a surprise. Whispers of disagreement with management – which must be code for ‘Vigna’ – suggest some departed, or want to depart, because of an internal schism. This team has always theoretically had the requisite components to conquer F1 again. But too often, Ferrari is less than the sum of its parts. That has happened again in 2023, certainly based on the start of the season.

The suggestion that some parts are actually being stripped further away, and that there is a serious undercurrent of concern throughout the organisation, creates the impression things could get worse before they get better. The press pile-on is not a dagger in Vasseur’s back so much as a serious interrogation of Vigna’s management. The portrayal across various factions of Italian media is that of an organisation that is fraying at the edges and creaking under its unique mass – or at the very least is at risk of that happening.

‘Hints of Ferrari dysfunction’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/whats...ction-already/


F1’s new power: Can Aston Martin turn a ‘good baseline’ into a Red Bull-beater?
2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
Posted on 9th March 2023, 12:599th March 2023, 12:59
Written by Keith Collantine
RaceFans

Red Bull’s demolition of the opposition in the first race of the 2023 Formula 1 season left many wondering whether anyone will stop them this year. But the first race of the year also confirmed the remarkable progress made by Aston Martin. The team’s new hiring Fernando Alonso delivered on their pre-season promise by following the Red Bull pair home in third place.

Before the weekend began Alonso said his team believed its new AMR23 already offered superior performance to its predecessor and should have greater potential for further development during the year. However three days later, after overcoming the Mercedes and Ferraris to third place, Alonso sounded more confident, admitting the team were in an even better position than they predicted.

Aston Martin have surprised themselves already with the performance they have shown this year. Could they end up strong enough to rival Red Bull? And what potential for improvement is there in the new combination of the rapidly expanding Aston Martin team and the ferociously competitive, success-starved Alonso?

‘Can Aston Martin turn a ‘good baseline’ into a Red Bull-beater?’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/09/...d-bull-beater/


Palmer backs Alonso to break F1 win drought in 2023
12:52 Thu, 09 Mar 2023.
by Fergal Walsh
Motorsport Week

Ex-Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer believes that Fernando Alonso could take his first race win in 10 years this season with Aston Martin. Writing in his post-Bahrain column for Formula1.com, Palmer hailed Alonso’s performance.

“Fernando Alonso has been waiting a decade for a car that he can compete with at the sharp end of Formula 1, and finally in 2023 it seems he has one,” he said. “The Aston Martin looked hooked up from the word go in pre-season.”

“It took a while for Fernando to emerge in the car, but from the very first lap I saw, he looked comfortable and was hustling on, visibly more than most others out there. By the time we got to the race weekend, there was a palpable air of excitement for Aston Martin from the neutrals in the paddock, and a fear of them from their competitors, exaggerated by their practice-topping times.”

‘Alonso to break F1 win drought in 2023’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...ought-in-2023/

Marko lauds Perez for 'surviving alongside Verstappen'.
Sergio Perez's greatest achievement at Red Bull has been to merely "survive" alongside Max Verstappen for the past two years, says Helmut Marko.
11/03/2023 at 16:03
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Perez was handed the plum seat at Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2020 season, the Mexican replacing Alex Albon who had failed to make much of an impression against Verstappen during his year and a half with the team. And Albon's predecessor Pierre Gasly lasted only half a season alongside Red Bull's blindingly fast two-time world champion.

"Sergio has survived two years alongside Max without being broken like most drivers," the Austrian told German website sport.de. "That is a great achievement." Ahead of this season, Perez outlined his main target for 2023: fighting for race wins at every race.

"I want to maximise the car potential, and I want to be fighting for the win every weekend," he explained last month. I'm really working hard for it, and that's my main target."

'Surviving alongside Verstappen';

https://f1i.com/news/468464-marko-la...erstappen.html


Helmut Marko's bizarre "broken" compliment to Sergio Perez in Max Verstappen comparison
Sergio Perez is now in his third season as a Red Bull driver, and has been praised by Helmut Marko for lasting so long alongside two-time world champion Max Verstappen
11:34, 11 Mar 2023
By Joshua Lees Sports Trends Writer
The Mirror

Now into his third term, the Mexican is the world champion's longest serving Red Bull teammate, after Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly lasted just two years - two drivers Marko described as being broken by being left in the shadow of Verstappen. The Red Bull advisor did however praise his current driver.

He added: "Overall, the goal is that we want to win first and second place in the World Championship. From our point of view, it is not predetermined that that is Max." One man who is also confident the Mexican can become world champion is Perez's father Antonio.

‘Ccompliment to Sergio Perez’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...appen-29430208


Perez could beat Verstappen to 2023 title – Marko
14th March 2023, 06:12
Grandpx.news

Sergio Perez could “challenge” teammate Max Verstappen for the 2023 world championship. That is the wild claim of Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko, even though reigning back-to-back title winner Verstappen got his new campaign off to a dominant start recently in Bahrain.

There were clear signs of tension between Verstappen and Perez last year, but Marko actually thinks he has been one of the Dutchman’s best ever teammates. “Sergio survived two years alongside Max without being broken like most others,” he said. “That’s a great achievement.”

However, the Austrian admits that 33-year-old Perez has to acknowledge that his “teammate has no weaknesses”. Nevertheless, Perez “does not give up”, Marko added. “Overall, our goal is that we want to win first and second place in the world championship. We don’t specify that first place is for Max.”

‘Perez “does not give up”, Marko added’;

https://grandpx.news/perez-could-bea...3-title-marko/


‘He’s got to be on his A-game’ – Horner urges Perez to keep pushing to match ‘highest benchmark’ Verstappen
13 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Christian Horner has admitted that Sergio Perez needs to bring his “A-game” weekend in, weekend out if he hopes to challenge Max Verstappen during the 2023 campaign, describing the Dutchman as “the highest benchmark” on the F1 grid.

However, despite taking sporadic wins and regular podiums with his new outfit, Perez has often struggled to live with the raw pace displayed by Verstappen – underlined by significant differences in their pole position, victory and points tallies across the two seasons they have spent together. With 2023 marking another fresh opportunity for Perez, Horner was asked what the Mexican has got to change to challenge Verstappen at every Grand Prix weekend, to which the Red Bull team boss initially said with a smile: “His lap time.”

Horner then expanded: “Look, Max is a hell of a competitor and he’s a tough… probably the highest benchmark in F1. But Checo is now in his third year in the team, he’s confident, he’s comfortable and he’s got to be on his A-game – not just with Max. “I think the key thing in the appointment of Checo was his experience. And it had been unfair, perhaps, on the previous two guys [Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon] to bring them in so soon,” said Horner, referring to Red Bull’s previous driver line-up movements.

‘He’s got to be on his A-game’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...wFN6X83hJ.html


Antonio Perez adamant son Sergio will deliver World Championship for Mexico
11 Mar 2023 2:45 PM
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

Sergio Perez’s father has claimed his son has vowed to not leave Formula 1 until he brings the World Championship back to Mexico. The sight of Antonio Perez celebrating wildly at his son’s achievements has become a familiar one with Perez Snr able to watch his son battle for wins and podiums following his move to Red Bull in 2021.

Despite this, Antonio Perez revealed his son made a vow as a child to bring a Formula 1 World Championship back to Mexico before he retires. “We will have a Formula 1 champion in Mexico,” Antonio Perez told the Mexican newspaper Esto. “He said it since he was a child: ‘I will not return to Mexico until I am world champion.’

“From now until his career ends, we have to erase all these years that have passed because he never had the opportunity to fight like he is going to fight today. We are going to start to see the best of Checo Pérez, he still has a lot to give.”

‘World Championship for Mexico’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/sergio...onship-mexico/


Sergio Perez will be F1 champion says father
MARCH 10, 2023
Grandpx.news

Sergio Perez has no intention of settling for second best in Formula 1, his father Antonio insists.

Faced with the image of Perez as a solid and mature supporting teammate for Verstappen, his father Antonio insists: "From now on, his career begins.”

"We have to erase all these years that have passed because he never had the opportunity to fight like he is going to fight now. We are going to start to see the best of Checo Perez. He still has a lot to give," he said.

"From now on, his career begins”;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/sergi...ys-father.html

‘Snappy comments from Lewis Hamilton, Toto Wolff risk Mercedes civil war’.
Craig Scarborough believes Mercedes are at a critical point. “And you have to guess, given their success over the past decade, that they know how to do that. So there’s almost like a civil war going on.”
14 Mar 2023 7:00 AM
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff’s questioning of Mercedes’ Formula 1 car concept over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend has been likened to a “civil war” by a respected Formula 1 technical expert.

With both drivers six tenths slower than Max Verstappen’s lap for pole position at the Sakhir circuit, team boss Wolff admitted that the team had began 2023 with the wrong concept and vowed significant changes would be coming to the W14 car. That comment came as Hamilton, the seven-time World Champion, claimed that the technical team had ignored his guidance to help Mercedes out of their issues.

He said: “Mercedes have got a really tricky choice now because they already have a development programme in hand. So we know that there’s a new floor coming for the next race. We don’t know how big a step that is, but if you were to change anything on the car the floor would be the thing that you would change first. So we’ve got that in the pipeline already and now you’ve got Toto and Lewis saying that we’re going to develop a completely new concept for this car to make it win races.”

‘Mercedes civil war’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-...des-civil-war/


Mercedes 'civil war going on' after 'snappy' Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff comments
Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff have both separately given an honest verdict on Mercedes' car.
16:15, Tue, Mar 14, 2023
By Lewis Winter
Daily and Sunday Express

Mercedes have a "civil war going on" following comments made by Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff about the concept of the team's car this season, it has been claimed. Both individuals have separately stated that significant changes are needed to the W14 car.

But F1 technological expert Craig Scarborough believes the comments made by the two high-profile team members suggest there is a civil war happening at Mercedes. Scarborough reckons the comments are aimed at the engineers back at their Brackley base, despite their history of success in the past.

‘Civil war’;

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...14-car-F1-news


Eddie Jordan: Toto Wolff criticism of Mercedes F1 direction ‘disingenuous and crass’
14 Mar 2023 1:00 PM
Oliver Harden
PlanetF1.com

Former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan has blasted Toto Wolff for his “disingenuous and crass” criticism of the decisions of Mercedes’ technical staff over the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend.

Jordan said of Wolff: “He’s the CEO, he’s the boss. The buck stops with him. This is happening under his watch. To blame or criticise anybody in his design team is actually disingenuous. It’s really crass.”

‘Disingenuous and crass’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/eddie-...genuous-crass/


Mercedes boss Toto Wolff stung by Eddie Jordan after Bahrain GP comments - 'Be a man'
Toto Wolff gave his Mercedes team a reality check after a disappointing weekend in Bahrain.
14:38, Tue, Mar 14, 2023
By Charlie Gordon
Daily and Sunday Express

Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan has laid into Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for his striking comments before the Bahrain Grand Prix. Wolff ordered sweeping changes to this year's design after several months of hard work failed to see the Silver Arrows close the gap on their rivals in Sakhir.

Jordan, who has embarked on a media career following his F1 ownership stint, did not take kindly to the comments. "He’s the CEO, he’s the boss," he told the Formula For Success podcast, via PlanetF1. "The buck stops with him. This is happening under his watch.

"To blame or criticise anybody in his design team is actually disingenuous. It’s really crass. I hate to hear that, because he must be a man.

'Be a man';

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-a...d-prix-f1-news


Mercedes to make one-car development call
Saturday 11th March, 2023 - 2:45am
By Ian Parkes
Speedcafe

Toto Wolff has revealed Mercedes is to make a call on whether to develop the car of Lewis Hamilton or George Russell going forward this F1 season.

But in terms of adopting an altogether different philosophy from the design that underwhelmed in the season-opening race in Bahrain last weekend, Wolff has indicated Mercedes’ eggs will have to be placed in one basket.

Asked as to whether it was now pretty clear which development route Mercedes should take, Wolff replied: “It is pretty clear where we should be going. We just need to make the data work. The most important is really establishing a solid baseline, saying this is where we are and there are no surprises in the direction.”

‘One-car development call’;

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/03/11...eorge-russell/

Alpine hoping to unlock A523’s potential at ‘unforgiving’ Saudi Arabian GP.
Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal of the BWT Alpine F1 Team is hoping that his side can further unlock the A523’s potential this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after enduring a mixed start to the season in Bahrain.
March 14, 2023
By Nick Golding
The Checkered Flag

Reflecting on the season-opener, Szafnauer believes his side certainly have “work ahead of us”, in a bid to discover what the A523’s “maximum” is.

“We left Bahrain with mixed feelings. On one side, we were satisfied to come away with points given Pierre raced from the back of the grid to ninth place and his drive required good decisions, a well-executed strategy and strong race pace; all of which we showed. On the other side, we made too many mistakes across the weekend, and we can all do a better job to improve on those.

Heading into this weekend’s Saudi Arabian GP, Szafnauer is aware that the Jeddah Corniche Circuit can be very “unforgiving”, given that it is the fastest street circuit on the calendar. Despite how challenging the venue is, Alpine do boast a strong track record, with Ocon having never finished lower than sixth. Gasly, too, has gone very well in Saudi Arabia in the past for Scuderia AlphaTauri, suggesting that this weekend could be a strong one for the French duo.

‘Unlock A523’s potential’;

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2...di-arabian-gp/


Alpine targets one-lap pace gains in Jeddah
12:50 Tue, 14 Mar 2023.
by Phillip Horton
Motorsport Week

Alpine says it needs to improve the one-lap pace of its A523 if it is to extract the full potential from its 2023 Formula 1 challenger.

“It’s important that we remember that we are one race into the season and we have 22 to go,” said Alpine Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer. “We’ve only been to one circuit with the car in full capacity so there’s much more to come and much more to learn and develop.”

“Our race pace looks better than single-lap pace, so we know low fuel is a key area for us to improve. Esteban did a good job to reach Q3, while Pierre has more to learn to get the tyres into the right window to maximise everything over one lap.”

‘One-lap pace gains target’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...ins-in-jeddah/


ALPINE IS READY TO ‘BOUNCE BACK’ IN JEDDAH
Alpine is set for a good weekend in Jeddah after starting poorly in Bahrain
March 14, 2023
Grace Robinson
FormulaNerds

Alpine is wanting to “bounce back” in Jeddah after a season opener which saw the team beaten down with penalties.

Otmar Szafnauer, after an eventful Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, has made his hopes for Jeddah clear. After Bahrain, the team have only two points thanks to Pierre Gasly who battled his way through from 20th to ninth. On the other side of the garage, Ocon got penalty after penalty and ended up retiring from the race.

Both drivers, especially Ocon, wanted to start the season much better and Jeddah has the potential to be more fruitful for the team. The Alpine team has great belief in their 2023 challenger and they wanted a chance to extract everything out of it.

‘BOUNCE BACK’;

https://www.formulanerds.com/news/al.../?nowprocket=1


Gasly sees much more to come at Alpine after “disappointment” of opening race
RaceFans Round-up
Posted on 15th March 2023, 0:0114th March 2023, 23:47
Written by Ida Wood
RaceFans

Gasly: Alpine had “not everything clicked together” for Bahrain. Gasly qualified last at Bahrain, while team mate Esteban Ocon made it to Q3 and started ninth on the grid. However their fortunes switched during the race, as Gasly charged up to ninth while Ocon retired following several penalties and errors by driver and team.

Nonetheless the team’s new driver believes “there’s so much more to come from myself and from the team as we have not reached 100% yet. That is why we also left Bahrain with some disappointment as not everything clicked together and it’s important we piece everything together to make sure we extract the maximum performance,” said Gasly.

‘More to come’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/15/...nd-up-15-03-5/


Ocon expected to bounce back in Jeddah after Bahrain bust
14/03/2023 at 17:12
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer expects Esteban Ocon to bounce back in Jeddah next weekend after "a string or errors" by team and driver undermined his race in Bahrain.

"Pierre raced from the back of the grid to ninth place and his drive required good decisions, a well-executed strategy and strong race pace; all of which we showed," commented Szafnauer in his team's Saudi Arabian GP preview.

"On the other side, we made too many mistakes across the weekend, and we can all do a better job to improve on those. I believe Esteban’s race was a one-off, a culmination of a string of errors, some on his side, some operationally, and his side of the garage will undoubtedly bounce back in Saudi Arabia.”

"A string or errors";

https://f1i.com/news/468594-ocon-exp...rain-bust.html


Pierre Gasly viewing Saudi Arabian GP as ‘opportunity for redemption’
March 14, 2023
By Nick Golding
The Checkered Flag

Pierre Gasly sees this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as “an opportunity for redemption”, after enduring a woeful qualifying at the season-opening race in Bahrain.

“I enjoy racing in Jeddah. It’s one of the best street circuits as it’s so quick with no real slow corners and it’s a great challenge, physically, for us drivers. Qualifying there is usually very exciting, and I’m determined to do better than I did in Bahrain, and I see this as an opportunity for redemption on Saturday.”

“I’ve scored solid points in Saudi Arabia in 2021 and 2022, so it would be good to keep that trend going this year. I had a great day at Enstone last week in preparation on the simulator and I look forward to showing our potential.”

‘Opportunity for redemption’;

https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2...or-redemption/


F1 rumours: Ferrari’s Laurent Mekies mulling over Alpine, Liberty Media and FIA offers
13 Mar 2023 3:14 PM
Sam Cooper
PlanetF1.com

Alpine are reportedly attempting to take Laurent Mekies away from Ferrari with the long-time employee said to want out of Maranello. Mekies began his career in Formula 3 before joining Arrows and moving to F1. He was at Minardi when the team was taken over by Red Bull and stayed on as chief engineer at Toro Rosso.

Should Mekies decide to leave then there is no shortage of suitors. Formu1a.uno reports that Alpine, Liberty Media and his former employers the FIA have all made offers to the French engineer. However, it is likely Mekies would have to serve some form of gardening leave before taking up a new role.

‘Mulling over Alp’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lauren...lpine-ferrari/

Is McLaren’s rotten start to the F1 season cause for panic?
The car has issues beyond reliability. The team appeared to be caught on the backfoot with the regulation changes when the floor edge was raised to address porpoising.
12:49 Mon, 13 Mar 2023.
The Athletic

During preseason testing, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown lowered expectations for the team that was in the hunt for fourth last year and finished fifth, revealing it had missed some development targets during the winter. Indeed, its drivers fared poorly in qualifying: Norris barely got out of the first round and wound up starting P11; Piastri started P18.

McLaren has reason for optimism, however. “This car will evolve pretty much race by race with some major upgrades that will come,” team principal Andrea Stella said in Bahrain. The first set of those “major upgrades” should reach the car ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, the fourth race on the calendar, at the end of April.

‘Reason for optimism’;

https://theathletic.com/4296731/2023...use-for-panic/


McLaren confirm early-season F1 upgrade plan
Monday 13 March 2023 10:30
Sam Hall
GPFans

Andrea Stella has confirmed McLaren's upgrade plans for the coming races after a difficult start to the season in Bahrain. sked if the team had any immediate plans to bring developments to the track, Stella said: “There are some minor upgrades that will come already in Saudi and in Australia.

"There are little things that are coming for the next couple of races – not necessarily very noticeable but they should add some performance here and there. Then, there will be the first of the major upgrades in Baku.” The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku comes after a three-week spring break, a period that opened up after the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix.

‘McLaren's upgrade plans’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...aren-upgrades/


Why McLaren still has high hopes for F1 2023
12:52 Mon, 13 Mar 2023.
Motorsport.com

The danger of relying on an upgrade package is that when the new bits do come they don’t make a dramatic difference relative to rivals who are also making progress. However, for the time being McLaren is prepared to take the heat of a sub-par performance.
“I think we’re where we thought we’d probably be,” says technical director James Key. “I mean, it’s really tight, to be honest with you, with a slightly better or worse lap it could have gone one way or the other in quali.
“We knew we were several tenths off where we needed to be, and there is good reason for that. It’s not just sitting back and taking it easy over the winter, everyone’s worked incredibly hard.”

‘High hopes’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/w...2023/10443035/


Why Norris says McLaren is not yet a top F1 team
13:05 Fri, 10 Mar 2023.
by Taylor Powling
Motorsport Week

Pressed on whether the Baku updates could be determined as the real dawn of McLaren’s season after a difficult start Norris responded: “I hope so. But at the same time, the season will start now, it’s as simple as that.”

“As much as we want to believe that it’s starting later, it’s starting now. We’re behind where we should be and where we want to be. What we’re going to be having in Baku should be what are starting the season with if we want to be a top team, it’s where we should’ve started the season with those kind of parts that are coming.”

‘The season will start now’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...a-top-f1-team/


McLaren sets June date for using new F1 wind tunnel
09:56 Fri, 10 Mar 2023.
by Phillip Horton
Motorsport.com

“We are hopeful to have the car in the wind tunnel – the new car – in June,” said McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella.

“The wind tunnel is already online for calibration [checks], it’s already commissioned, but there’s a process of calibration, installation of the methodologies, to measure the pressure and velocity field, the forces – this takes some weeks, that’s where we are.”

‘June date’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...nnel/10441984/


Departing Ferrari F1 figure tipped to join McLaren
Mar 13 2023
By Scott Mitchell-Malm
The Race

Ex-Ferrari head of vehicle concept David Sanchez will join a rival Formula 1 team, tipped to be McLaren, after serving a period of gardening leave. Sanchez worked at Ferrari in senior technical roles for a decade but resigned recently in a decision he has said was considered “for quite some time”.

It was revealed last week by Italian media that Sanchez had resigned and been placed on an extensive period of gardening leave. Sanchez has now confirmed he has decided to leave to join “another F1 project”.

‘Gardening leave’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/depar...-join-mclaren/


McLaren: Piastri destined to become 'one of the best drivers in F1'
13/03/2023 at 14:47
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has been impressed with what he's seen so far from rookie Oscar Piastri, believing that the Aussie will develop into "one of the best drivers on the grid".

"Oscar is new to F1 but he is proven winning material in junior categories. He has been doing very well so far – we are very pleased," said Stella in Bahrain.

"The level of talent, the level of progress we have seen day by day, during testing, is very encouraging, and kind of confirms that he is a strong prospect for the future."

‘Impressed’;

https://f1i.com/news/468536-mclaren-...ers-in-f1.html

Vasseur ‘not worried’ about Ferrari exodus.
"I'm having a hard time understanding why the team became a target after just one race," said the Frenchman.
06:08 Wed, 15 Mar 2023.
Grandpx.news

Frederic Vasseur says he's "not worried" about some high profile departures at Ferrari.

In the days between the opening Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, Italian sources have reported about disarray behind the scenes in the wake of Mattia Binotto's departure as team boss.

What he is more concerned about is the negative media coverage of his reign so far.

‘Ferrari exodus, ‘not worried’!’

https://grandpx.news/vasseur-not-wor...errari-exodus/


Ferrari boss hits back at criticism as team becomes “target” after just one grand prix
Ferrari have endured a nightmare start to the 2023 F1 season, with Charles Leclerc having now been handed a 10-place penalty for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
22:53, 15 Mar 2023
By Fraser Watson Sports Trends Writer
Mirror.co.uk.
Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur has hit back at the criticism of his team and claimed they have become a "target" for the media.

“I’m having a hard time understanding how it is possible for the team to become a target to hit after just one race,” he told AutoHebdo. "We know what went wrong in Bahrain, but there’s nothing that can’t be improved. The correlation between the track and the simulator is good, we are aligned.”

“I’d be tempted to smile if these statements had no impact on the team,” he added. “Personally I have no problems, I know what I want to achieve and I will do it. I hear from John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna every day, I know what they expect from me.”

‘Tempted to smile’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...-prix-29470335


‘Doesn’t bother me’: Frederic Vasseur finally breaks silence on Ferrari meltdown.
Multiple members of Ferrari staff are looking to depart the team after a poor start to the season.
14 March 2023
by Jack Devonport
Formula1News

With regards to staff departures, Vasseur has admitted that this was always likely to happen after he replaced former team principal Mattia Binotto. “It’s inevitable,” he said.

“There are people who were very close to Mattia and who prefer to leave, which doesn’t bother me. And there are others who have feared for a moment for their future.”

‘Inevitable’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/doesnt-bo...rari-meltdown/


'Welcome to the new Ferrari, same as the old one' - Charles Leclerc handed Saudi GP penalty
Ferrari's reliability issues appear to have continued into 2023 and could impact their hopes of challenging Red Bull
15 March 2023 • 6:25pm
By Tom Cary, SENIOR SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
The Telegraph

Leclerc will serve the penalty due to an electrical issue with his car’s power unit. The Monegasque driver also retired from the season opener in Bahrain two weekends ago while running third, because of what Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur described as an issue with the control electronics although Ferrari are adamant the issues are separate.
“It’s something that we never experienced in the past,” Vasseur insisted of the latest problem. “I hope now it’s under control, that we have a deep analysis on this. But unfortunately, we have to take the penalty in Jeddah.”

‘Same as the old one';

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-...eclerc-handed/


Vasseur confirms penalty for Leclerc
15/03/2023
NEWS STORY
Pitpass

Charles Leclerc faces a grid penalty of at least 10-places for this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following his issues in Bahrain.

In the hours ahead of the season opener, Ferrari replaced the Energy Store and Control Electronics on the Monegasque's car, only to see him retire from the race with an electrics-related issue.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to take the penalty in Jeddah, because we have only a pool of two control units for the season." confirmed Fred Vasseur.

‘Penalty confirmed’;

https://www.pitpass.com/74674/Vasseu...ty-for-Leclerc

Verstappen to overcome illness as Alonso out to dismiss FLUKE claims - What to expect at the Saudi Arabian GP.
F1 returns to Saudi Arabia for the second round of the championship with fears Max Verstappen and Red Bull are set to run away with both titles.
Thursday 16 March 2023 11:01.
Ewan Gale
GPFans

Red Bull domination to continue - With Verstappen ill entering the weekend, there could be a weakness to exploit but for the RB19, while the track surface and characteristics do offer a new proposition, it is hard to look at the gap to rivals in Bahrain and bet against this car winning again on Sunday.

Aston Martin out to prove Bahrain no fluke - The aforementioned differences between Bahrain and Jeddah could catch Aston Martin out in the pecking order and a battle with Ferrari is likely needed to confirm the hype around the Silverstone-based outfit.

Ferrari and Mercedes in a lurch - Leclerc's engine penalty will add 10 places to his qualifying position on Sunday, but concerns over the fragility of the SF-23 and its integral components will continue given last year's difficulties. Team principal Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton have both been abnormally outward with criticism of either the team or the car, suggesting cracks are beginning to show with the lack of progress from last year.

‘What to expect’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...di-arabian-gp/


Ferrari warn rivals they have ‘mega room for improvements’ ahead of Saudi GP
16 Mar 2023 10:45 AM
Jamie Woodhouse
PlanetF1.com

With Ferrari having not got the best out of the their SF-23 in Bahrain, and updates arriving for Saudi Arabia, team boss Fred Vasseur warns there is a lot more to come.

Vasseur warned that the Scuderia still have a lot more performance to unlock in their challenger, having not been able to get the balance of the SF-23 right in Bahrain, and he hopes that upgrades brought to Jeddah will make the SF-23 stronger still.

“We struggled a bit with the balance over the weekend, it means that we have mega room for improvements on this path with our package,” said Vasseur, as per Motorsport.com.

‘Ferrari warning: ‘Mega room for improvements’!’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrar...r-improvement/


Formula One: Verstappen favourite again in Saudi Arabia, but all eyes on Alonso
16th March 2023, 03:57
The Straits Times

JEDDAH – Max Verstappen may start as favourite, but Fernando Alonso will have widespread support this weekend when the Formula One season resumes at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
“I think that we found, in Bahrain, that we were strong in things that maybe we won’t have in Jeddah, or in Melbourne,” Alonso explained.

“So, if we are strong again, in these two races, I think we are going to have a very good year. I am curious about these races – very different circuits, with high-speed corners and very low degradation. It’s going to be very different.”

‘All eyes on Alonso’;

https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/f...eyes-on-alonso


How to watch the F1 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix online: stream from around the world
Published 16 March 2023
By Tom Bedford
whattowatch.com

The second F1 race of 2023 is here, with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix taking place on March 19. This guide will help you figure out where to stream it.

‘How to watch’;

https://www.whattowatch.com/news/how...ound-the-world


New TecPro barrier added at scene of Mick Schumacher’s 270kph crash
2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Posted on 16th March 2023, 13:0416th March 2023, 13:07
Written by Will Wood

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix organisers have added a TecPro energy-absorbing barrier to the wall at the scene of Mick Schumacher’s huge crash in qualifying last year.

The installation of the barriers is one of a series of changes made to the Jeddah street circuit for 2023, the third race to be held at the venue in the last 15 months, after drivers raised concerns about the safety of the track. Among the many modifications includes moving barriers back by several metres at turns eight, 10, 14 and 20 to improve sight lines as drivers navigate the high-speed sweeping corners. The last left-hander of turn 22 at the start of the final sector has been sharpened significantly, slowing cars for the following corners of 23 and 24.

‘New TecPro barrier’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/16/...-270kph-crash/

Perez expects Ferrari will give Red Bull a “very strong” challenge in Jeddah.
Sergio Perez expects Red Bull will face much stronger competition from Ferrari in Saudi Arabia this weekend compared to the season-opening race.
2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Posted on 16th March 2023, 17:50
Written by Will Wood and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

“I think it’s a very different circuit here,” said Perez. “The requirements are very different, the degradation is not as severe as Bahrain. We certainly believe that Ferrari is going to be very strong around this place. Certainly the Astons, Mercedes are going to be a lot closer to us because the requirements are very different here.”

“Looking after the tyres, I think we got it right in Bahrain,” he said. “A few teams probably didn’t optimise their cars or their strategy with the tyres as much as we were able to. But here is just very different, because here the requirements are extremely different.”

‘Ferrari will give Red Bull a “very strong” challenge’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/16/...nge-in-jeddah/


Perez aiming for Saudi pole and win
17 March 8:55AM
Author Michael Butterworth
Co-author Dieter Rencken
RacingNews365

Sergio Perez says he is aiming to take pole position and convert that into a win in this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"That's certainly my target; to try to be on pole position and try to win the race," Perez told media, including RacingNews365.com.

‘Be on pole position and try to win’;

https://racingnews365.com/perez-aimi...i-pole-and-win


Leclerc remains confident that 'something special is definitely possible' in Jeddah despite 10-place grid penalty
16 March 2023
Formula One - Official Site

Charles Leclerc is set to take a 10-place grid penalty at this weekend's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. And while he knows it's not been an ideal start to the season, following his DNF in Bahrain, the Ferrari driver is still confident that a special result in Jeddah is very much possible.

“It’s the way it is. It’s the beginning of the season. Of course it’s not the ideal start that I wish I had at the beginning, starting in Bahrain, but what can I do about it? Now we need to focus on what is ahead, what we can do to be a better team, to do better,” said five-time race winner Leclerc.

'Something special is definitely possible';

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...q54IPePbx.html


Future penalties likely for Leclerc as he believes old parts are “not re-useable”
2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Posted on 16th March 2023, 17:32
Written by Keith Collantine
RaceFans

“We had two control unit problems in Bahrain, which means that we need to take a penalty,” he told Sky. “We understand these problems but as a result I obviously need to take a penalty because I don’t think they are reusable. We don’t have the confirmation yet, but I don’t think so.”

“I think it might fit our car a little bit better on paper,” he said. “But we never know because Red Bull also have a very flexible car and they can change the car quite a lot from Bahrain to here and be extremely competitive here too.”

‘Old parts are “not re-useable”!’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/16/...ot-re-useable/


I knew Mercedes’ latest car wasn’t right the first time I saw it – Hamilton
2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Posted on 16th March 2023, 16:0316th March 2023, 17:55
Written by Keith Collantine and Claire Cottingham
RaceFans

The seven-times world champion admitted he was immediately struck by the team’s decision to persist with a different concept to the rest of the grid. While rival teams have largely converged on two different approaches to the latest F1 regulations, Mercedes continue to pursue a unique arrangement featuring extremely narrow sidepods.

“I knew that we weren’t in the right place when you saw the car for the first time, it looked still so much different to those of our competitors,” he said. “It’s always nerve-wracking in that moment, but it looked nice – obviously the colour looks nice but I honestly don’t care what colour it is as long as it’s quick. But we will hopefully mould it into a winning car at some stage.”

‘The first time I saw it…’;

https://www.racefans.net/2023/03/16/...time-i-saw-it/


George Russell offers Mercedes hope for Saudi Arabian GP despite ominous Red Bull belief
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will be up against it at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix as Mercedes look to compete at the front of the grid with pace setters Red Bull
21:24, 16 Mar 2023
By Fraser Watson Sports Trends Writer

George Russell has given Mercedes fans a glimmer of hope for Saudi Arabia by tipping his team to fight for a podium placed in Jeddah. But he was also optimistic that the nature of the Jeddah track could see him or Hamilton finish in the top three with the Red Bull duo: "It's a very different weekend in Saudi," he said. "The track is very different and the tarmac is really different which has a much bigger effect than some people may think.

"Realistically, the performances are going to swing more than two tenths – plus or minus – for any team, so if you go with that approach then the fight could well and truly be on for the last step of the podium with Ferrari and Aston. It may not but, clearly, Red Bull had a lot of pace in hand and I see them on for another one-two finish this weekend."

‘Mercedes hope’;

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formu...rabia-29479829


Alonso hits back at Red Bull ‘copy’ theories
17/03/2023, 06:10
Grandpx.news

Fernando Alonso has lashed back at suggestions Aston Martin is racing a 'copy' of Red Bull's title-winning Formula 1 car. "I don't care about the comments at all," two-time champion Alonso, third in Bahrain, told Spanish media in Jeddah.

"All the teams struggle with the budget limit now, trying to improve here and there," he explained. "So when they see another that improves two seconds or a second, they have to look for how it is possible. But in a way it's good, because it is praise for the work we have done."

‘How is it possible?’;

https://www.grandprix.com/news/alons...-theories.html


Alonso: Friday running in Jeddah 'like a test day' for teams
16/03/2023 at 17:58
Phillip van Osten
F1i.com

Fernando Alonso says Friday's running in Jeddah will be like a "test day" for teams as everyone experiences for the first time with their new car a different track than Bahrain.

"There is a challenge in front of us, here in Jeddah and in Australia to see how the car operates," Alonso explained Thursday in Jeddah.

'Like a test day';

https://f1i.com/news/468740-alonso-f...for-teams.html

Verstappen delivers devastating marker in Saudi Arabian GP first practice.
F1's return to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit saw the two-time champion lead team-mate Sergio Perez and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso with a lap time of one minute, 29.617secs - an effort 1.4s down on Perez's pole position lap last year.
Friday 17 March 2023 14:34
Ewan Gale
GPFans

Verstappen struggled with understeer in his RB19 when he took to the track for the first time 22 minutes into the session, yet despite recovering from a stomach bug and his difficulties behind the wheel, the Dutchman set the benchmark.

Alonso continued Aston Martin's strong start to the year with what seemed an easy ride into third, behind Perez, who complained of having 'no front end' in his Red Bull.

Lance Stroll is still on the road to recovery after breaking his wrists during pre-season but was only two-and-a-half-tenths slower than Alonso in fourth.

‘Devastating marker’;

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/10...ctice-results/


(FP1) First Practice Results – 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
17th March 2023
by Emer Hedderman
FormulaSpy

Results (Classification):
1. Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing -1:29.617
2. Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +0.483
3. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.698
4. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.960
5. George Russell Mercedes +1.154
6. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +1.170
7. Carlos Sainz Scuderia Ferrari +1.307
8. Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.332
9. Alex Albon Williams Racing +1.413
10. Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri +1.493

‘Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Here are the complete results from the first free practice ahead of this weekend’s 2023 F1 World Championship race in Jeddah’;

https://formulaspy.com/f1/fp1-first-...and-prix-81631


AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from first practice for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
17 March 2023
Becky Hart.
Special Contributor.
Formula One - Official Site13:23

‘AS IT HAPPENED’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...kdCbhc4ys.html


Everything that happened in Saudi Arabian GP FP1
17th March 2023, 14:48
By Josh Suttill
The Race

The two Red Bull drivers led the Aston Martins in the opening Formula 1 practice session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Key moments:
> Verstappen fastest in his first session of the weekend
> Perez beats Alonso to second with late improvement
> Ferrari drivers take new engines

‘Everything that happened’;

https://the-race.com/formula-1/every...rabian-gp-fp1/


Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in opening Jeddah session
17th March 2023, 14:41
by Phillip Horton
Motorsport Week

World Champion Max Verstappen opened Formula 1’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend comfortably clear at the top of the timesheets.

Verstappen missed Thursday’s activities due to a stomach complaint but fronted proceedings during the opening one-hour practice session on Friday afternoon.

In the daytime session Verstappen clocked several times quick enough for top spot, the fastest being a 1:29.617s, ensuring he held a margin of almost half a second to Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez.

‘Red Bull 1-2’;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2023/...eddah-session/


Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in Saudi Arabian GP FP1
Max Verstappen dominated FP1 for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix as he led a Red Bull 1-2 from teammate Sergio Perez
March 17, 2023
By Nigel Chiu

Max Verstappen was fastest in the opening practice session for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from teammate Sergio Perez. Verstappen, who arrived late in Jeddah due to a stomach bug, showed no signs of slowing down as set a 1:29.790 with 25 minutes remaining on the C4 soft tyres.

Then, the Dutchman went even quicker at the end of the session with a 1:29.617 on a set of soft tyres that had done multiple laps. Perez was 0.83 seconds off the pace, with Fernando Alonso a further 0.215 seconds behind in a session that was ran in the daylight, whereas qualifying and the race will be at night.

Lance Stroll left it late to move up to fourth, but was 0.960 down on championship leader Verstappen. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were both over one second slower than Verstappen in fifth and sixth for Mercedes.

‘Red Bull 1-2’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...rabian-gp-fp1/