![]() ![]() And make no mistake, 41-year-old Fernando Alonso is as unrelentingly sharp and pitilessly competitive as he was when he won his two world championships, only with the benefit of an extra decade-and-a-half’s experience. The team may have lost a multiple world champion in the shape of Sebastian Vettel, but have acquired another in his place. Aston Martin can exploit that advantage using the first new-build factory F1 has seen since 2004, where the expanded workforce will benefit from smoother interaction and the latest equipment (though not all of that will be at their fingertips immediately). The sting of missing out on sixth in the championship by the narrowest of margins will have eased when they remembered that, under F1’s performance-balancing rules, it meant they could spend more time on development than six of their rivals. Their haul of 30 points over the final six races was much closer to the likes of Alpine and McLaren (48 and 52 respectively) than Alfa Romeo, Haas, AlphaTauri and Williams, who mustered just 10 between them. Aston Martin failed to do this at first, with their cars oftening failing to reach Q2 in the early stage of last season.Īlonso’s arrival will boost Aston MartinBut near the end of the year they made serious progress with the AMR22, honed into more competitive shape by former Red Bull aerodynamics chief Dan Fallows. Many teams saw the total reset caused by the 2022 technical regulations as their opportunity to leap towards the front of the field. Yet if it is to beat the might of Red Bull and challenge the speed advantage the Ferrari has, they’ll need more than that to get the job done.Īdvert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-freeĪston Martin Aston Martin launched their AMR23 with “a touch of swagger” With plenty to work on, including the engine, the floor, and the weight of the car, morale appeared high at the team. ![]() In contrast to the start of last season, Hamilton says they remain realistic heading into the upcoming campaign but stressed Mercedes have used all of their resources to work out how it misjudged the new regulations last season. ![]() With the black livery appearing to be the biggest visual change on the W14, there will need to be significant improvements to get back to consistent winning ways in 2023. Mercedes made 14 podium appearances in 2022 and gave Ferrari a run for their money in the battle for second place towards the sharp end of the season.ĭespite losing their strategy director James Vowles to Williams, Mercedes seemed quietly confident at their launch. Finally in Brazil George Russell snatched a maiden win for the car, with Hamilton completing a one-two which seemed a far away dream a few months earlier. Mercedes showed good pace at Zandvoort, Hungary and Singapore. Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton appeared frustrated, some even suspected he had lost confidence in the team, something he fiercely denied.Īs the season went on, Mercedes remedied some of the W13’s most taxing problems, including the troublesome porpoising and issues with the engine, and began to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari on the team’s stronger tracks. Hamilton has faith in Mercedes’ W14The eight-times world champions were plagued with problems last season, from a porpoising W13 to fundamental strategy mistakes, not forgetting some good old-fashioned bad luck. But if we are talking about who will have a more successful 2023, Mercedes are top of my list. It would be easy to assume that Red Bull will be the front-runner in F1 for the foreseeable, and you may not be wrong for thinking so. ![]() Mercedes Mercedes have reverted to a black livery in pursuit of performance, but the changes go much further ![]()
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