What We Know About Each Championship Contending Team’s Performance In 2023

After the first 3 races of the 2023 Formula One season, it can be hard to tell how the remainder of the year will go. There are many uncertain teams, drivers, track layouts, and staff moves. However, this is what we do know.

Red Bull: To say that the 2023 season has started well for Red Bull is an understatement. 3/3 in wins, 3/3 in pole positions, and 2/3 for fastest laps. Both Verstappen and Perez were able to secure a pole to win during the first two races of the season, but things haven’t all be so amazing for the Austrian team. A mechanical failure during the 2023 Saudi Arabian Qualifying saw Max Verstappen starting the race from the back of the grid. The Dutchman was able to fight back all the way up to P2 before crossing the checkered flag. In Australian Free Practices we once again saw how difficult driving this rocket ship can be after Perez spent most of his time in the gravel outside turns 1 and 3, and in the garage. There is no doubt that the Red Bull is the quickest car on the track, however, it doesn’t look like it is the easiest to drive.
Prediction : 1st

Aston Martin: When the 2022 season came to an end, hopes were high for the Aston Martin F1 team. 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel was hanging up his helmet, but on the way out AMF1 was able to pick up multi-time champion Fernando Alonso. Throughout the season we have seen strong showing after strong showing from the Spanish driver, but son of team executive team chairman, Lance Stroll has struggled to keep up the pace that his new teammate has. Fernando was ecstatic about car performance after the Bahrain GP, and with 3 podiums to his name after 3 races, the standard has been set high for the team going through the rest of the season. The car doesn’t look miles ahead of Mercedes, however, at the hands of Fernando, we have seen the overtakes in Bahrain, and the pace-to-pace comparison in Australia. Even though he was outscored this past weekend in Melbourne by Lewis Hamilton, I believe that they are still looking good for a championship push.
Prediction: 3rd

Mercedes: 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, and young superstar George Russell is a dynamic lineup for the Mercedes F1 team. We have seen strong showings in each of the last two races, with a P2 finish from Lewis in Australia, and a temporary P3 from George in Saudi Arabia before the trophy was taken back to Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin garage. In the opening lap of the race this past weekend, we saw George Russell take the lead after qualifying P2, while Lewis Hamilton was able to squeeze out Max Verstappen to take over P2. A poor timed pitstop, red flag, and engine issue brought Russell’s race to a premature end, however, during this race we learned a lot about what Mercedes COULD be. Lewis was able to keep Alonso at bay, even with the DRS, and George was able to fight his way up the field after coming out of the red flag in P7. This car does not look slow. If the upgrades that we are expected to receive after the Imola GP are as strong as we think they are going to be, I expect to see a lot of weekends like this past one.
Prediction: 2nd

Ferrari: It isn’t easy to write about Ferrari’s championship hopes after the few weekends we have seen. Carlos Sainz currently sits at P5 in the drivers’ standings with 20 points, while last year’s championship runner-up, Charles Leclerc sits in 10th with 6 points. (Behind the likes of Nico Hulkenberg with 6, and Lando Norris with 8). After the lap one incident in Melbourne which put Leclerc out of the race, speculations arise if Ferrari can manage to finish this season in P4. Carlos made easy work keeping Pierre behind for the Australian Grand Prix, but with the touch of DRS, he was never really able to break away until Gasly went into tyre saving mode. The Mclaren in the hands of Lando and Piastri seem like a car that can get consistent points, and if Esteban and Gasly can end their civil war, it seems like Ferrari faces an up-hill battle.
Prediction: 4th

I think seeing how close the chasing teams in the sharp end of the grid came close to Redbull at this very early stage of the season, l am beginning to have doubts that Redbull would win the championship with ease this season. Of course, the Melbourne track had characteristics that brought all cars closer to their nearest rival all the way down the grid. And Redbull would gap everyone at all high downforce tracks. But the emerging trend is suggesting that they may suffer defeats at a number of low to medium-downforce tracks where the development efforts of the car behind may bring these cars well into contention at these tracks.

And there is the fragility that we are seeing from the Honda powertrain. To be fair, the competition is also having powertrain fragility with Russell's Mercedes engine bursting into flames and Leclerc Ferrari's engine giving up the ghost at the previous race. This is one area that does not rely on wind tunnel time. hence we would expect Redbull to battle through these engine issues just the same as the competition.

Aston Martin has a whopping 1200-hour wind tunnel time; almost double that of Redbull which has about 756 hours. And about 240 hours more than Mercedes who has about 960. I fancy Aston Martin to finish at least 2nd at the end of the season. If they don't then would have underperformed and squandered their advantage.

That said, 960 hours is enough for Mercedes to win one of the championships if they can unlock the full potential of the W14. I think it is way too early to speculate on how this seasson is going to pan out.

Is there anywhere where wind tunnel 'time used' and 'time remaining' for each team is posted?