Established order
With the sole exception of the 2020 Formula 1 season, in which Ferrari finished a disappointing sixth in the Constructors’ standings, the last few years in the history of Formula 1 have had one great certainty. The dominance of three teams – Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari – over the rest of the starting grid. From 2016 onwards only in the year of the pandemic was a team, in that case McLaren, able to enter one of the steps of the podium in the World Championship reserved for teams. A top three which was has been based on an economic, technological and political supremacy of the ‘three sisters’ that appeared totally unreachable for all the other teams on the grid.
Aston Martin surprise
The premises for this 2023 Formula 1 season were no different. The pre-season testing session at the Bahrain International circuit in Sakhir were eagerly awaited by everyone to understand how the values of the single-seaters could have changed compared to the end of last championship, but one certainty was easy to anticipate by insiders: the three top teams would continue to hold the role of favorites in the fight for the Formula 1 world titles and the other seven teams would fight for the platonic ‘best of the rest’ title. The impressive performances shown by Aston Martin – especially with Fernando Alonso – in terms of race pace, however, may lead to an unusual situation at the top. Also because, among the big names, Mercedes did not appear particularly competitive in the Sakhir long runs, while Scuderia Ferrari suffered from high tyre degradation.
Second force
Obviously the pre-season testing session leaves by definition a certain margin of error in the analysis of the performances. No one can know for sure the work done by the other teams, nor can it be ruled out that someone has decided to play hide and seek in order not to show their real potential. Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes, however, made some statements, reported by the German site Auto Motor und Sport, which on the one hand describes well the worries that are being experienced in Brackley and on the other points to a surprise team for the upcoming season, namely Aston Martin:
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“According to our calculations, the Aston Martin could end up in second place.” – said the Austrian manager. A sort of indirect warning also to Scuderia Ferrari, in view of the Bahrain Grand Prix which, on paper, should be a two-way deal between the Milton Keynes and Maranello teams. Fernando Alonso permitting.
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