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Formula 1 2023


Anton Chigurh

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new Head of Strategy for Ferrari, officially.

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Ferrari have moved their Formula One head of strategy Inaki Rueda out of the line of fire with Ravin Jain taking the high-pressure role on the pit wall for the season starting in Bahrain next week.

A team spokesperson said Jain, an Oxford physics graduate who joined the team in 2016, would be in charge of strategy at the track.

 

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Spoiler

Ferrari have moved their Formula One head of strategy Inaki Rueda out of the line of fire with Ravin Jain taking the high-pressure role on the pit wall for the season starting in Bahrain next week.

A team spokesperson said Jain, an Oxford physics graduate who joined the team in 2016, would be in charge of strategy at the track.

Rueda remains a part of the team with a factory-based sporting role at Maranello.

Strategy is one of the areas new team principal Fred Vasseur has been looking at since taking over in January to address some glaring and costly errors last season.

Ferrari started that season strongly, winning two of the first three races, but ended up distant runners-up to champions Red Bull.

They were let down also by reliability and driver mistakes but strategic blunders included a pit call in Monaco that cost Charles Leclerc a home victory after starting on pole position and a tyre gamble that backfired for qualifying in Brazil.

Vasseur, who has joined as replacement for Mattia Binotto, said this month that Ferrari would be making some marginal changes to the race team.

"Very often, when you are speaking about strategy, it's much more a matter of organisation than just the guy who is on the pit wall," he said.

"I'm trying to understand exactly what's happened on every single mistake and what's happened last year. And to try to know if it's a matter of decision, if it's a matter of organisation, or of communication."

Ferrari have not won a championship since the 2008 constructors' title and the pressure is on Vasseur to fix the errors and end the long drought for the sport's oldest and most successful team.

The team started pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday with Carlos Sainz behind the wheel for the first session at the Sakhir circuit.

 

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49 minutes ago, wood said:

Times, Tires, & Lap Totals ...

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Max is an animal. 157 laps in an F1 car when he hasn't been in one for three months? How the hell is he able to even lift his head after that sort of run?

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4 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

If you want F1TV, they are running the annual sale (or were as of yesterday). It's $64 a year for new subscribers. I think it's $80 normally.

If you already subscribed last year, what I do is just amend my email address each year to get the new deal. If you just add "+" and a modifier to your email, it reads as a new address, but gmail at least still routes it to your regular email. So "example@gmail.com" and "example+F1@gmail.com" both go to "example@gmail.com" but F1TV sees it as a new email address and gives the lower rate.

Finally pulled the trigger on F1TV Pro. Watching the afternoon session right now. PSA: Will Buxton is still as as much of an irritating dipshit as ever, How does this idiot still have a job in F1?

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5 minutes ago, wood said:

Finally pulled the trigger on F1TV Pro. Watching the afternoon session right now. PSA: Will Buxton is still as as much of an irritating dipshit as ever, How does this idiot still have a job in F1?

I never minded him tbh. But when I was watching a few minutes today, he was talking about Lewis and how even though George was cruising to 5th place finishes, it was Lewis who was sacrificing his season to get a deeper understanding of the car so that the team could improve. Gag.

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I never minded him tbh. But when I was watching a few minutes today, he was talking about Lewis and how even though George was cruising to 5th place finishes, it was Lewis who was sacrificing his season to get a deeper understanding of the car so that the team could improve. Gag.

Lol. @G650 and I even said as much at the time. Will certainly put a more dramatic spin on it, but I don’t know why this is some big conspiracy.
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Just now, Anton Chigurh said:


Lol. @G650 and I even said as much at the time. Will certainly put a more dramatic spin on it, but I don’t know why this is some big conspiracy.

Yeah it's been going on all off-season, with people talking about Lewis 'taking one for the team' by testing all the developmental parts throughout the season. If any other driver in the history of F1 gets the lion's share of developmental parts or even just gets them the week before the other driver, there's an outcry that he's being given special treatment.

When I was talking about Will above, I was speaking in general terms. I still haven't seen the bit with him talking about Lewis. I'd rather listen to Karun than Will, and that's really saying something.

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10 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I never minded him tbh. But when I was watching a few minutes today, he was talking about Lewis and how even though George was cruising to 5th place finishes, it was Lewis who was sacrificing his season to get a deeper understanding of the car so that the team could improve. Gag.

Bruh, have you ever heard Will Buxton before today lol.

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1 hour ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Max is an animal. 157 laps in an F1 car when he hasn't been in one for three months? How the hell is he able to even lift his head after that sort of run?

Is there a reason RB didn't put two cars out there? Quick glance, it looks like all the other teams did.

They got more than double the laps of any other car so I guess it evens out but I would think they'd want to test two different setups.

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Is there a reason RB didn't put two cars out there? Quick glance, it looks like all the other teams did.
They got more than double the laps of any other car so I guess it evens out but I would think they'd want to test two different setups.

They’re all using one car. Just all other teams did half and half using both drivers.
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The Athletic now has a F1 coverage, and have hired Luke Smith, Alex Davies and Madeline Coleman.

https://theathletic.com/formula-1/

here is their Day 1 testing article:

 

 

Spoiler

What we learned from F1’s first day of testing: Verstappen’s on top, Mercedes optimistic

Carlos Sainz of Spain driving (55) the Ferrari SF-23 on track during day one of F1 Testing at Bahrain International Circuit on February 23, 2023 in Bahrain
By Luke Smith and Madeline Coleman
2h ago

7


After 94 days away, Formula One roared back to life on Thursday with the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Over the three-day period, teams have their first and sole opportunity to complete extended runs with their new cars ahead of the 2023 season, which starts next week with the Bahrain Grand Prix. They’ll split their focus between ensuring all systems are running smoothly with the cars, embedding new drivers and personnel into the team, and pushing for outright performance.

Because the teams have only three days of testing — down from six last year and unlimited runs in years past — each lap matters more than ever.

As the cars hit the track, here are the main F1 talking points doing the rounds in the Bahrain paddock, and what we’ve seen so far.

Max Verstappen hits a bump as Red Bull starts strong

Red Bull dominated conversations in 2022, though not all of it was about the champagne moments. It may have won both the constructors’ and drivers’ titles thanks to the one-two punch of Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Pérez, but there were also low moments like the death of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, the cost cap controversy after exceeding the 2021 budget and a now infamous Brazil radio row between the drivers.

One of the biggest questions the Milton Keynes-based team will face is whether they can easily replicate the success from last season. This will depend, in part, on the work Red Bull’s rivals did during the winter. Ferrari faced a slew of problems that hampered its world championship battle, such as engine reliability, and Mercedes had a less competitive car plagued with porpoising at the beginning of the season. 

Verstappen and the team ran away with both championships in 2022, but between winning the constructors’ title and the reduction in aerodynamic testing time for a 12-month period (part of the cost cap breach punishment), the team’s development will likely be impacted. Team principal Christian Horner previously predicted that the reduction will “have a material effect on our performance.” 

Time will tell just how much they will be hampered with the impact likely not hitting until further along into the season. Preseason testing marked the first public appearance of the Red Bull RB19 after the team used a show car for its launch in New York. While there were no radical changes from the hugely successful design concept from last year, areas of evolution were clear, particularly around the nose and floor of the car in a push to improve aerodynamic performance. The introduction of a lightweight chassis has also been a key point of focus for Red Bull this season, the weight of the 2022 car being its biggest weakness.

“(The car is) a bit of an evolution from last year, right. I think last year was more a time where you were really adapting to the car, really understanding what you had to do,” Verstappen said Thursday. “Of course, with all the knowledge from last year, I think it’s already a much easier start for everyone to come back here. It’s nice to see the new car, how it has evolved from last year.”

During the first day of testing, Verstappen topped the morning charts, and despite a late surge from Fernando Alonso, the Dutchman held onto P1 (though you shouldn’t read too much into these times). The critical aspect to pay attention to is how many laps he did during his solo testing day: 157. This speaks more towards the reliability of the RB19. 

Horner did not say much about the early feedback following the morning session, though he did say Verstappen commented about a “bump at the end of the straight.” However, it’s something Horner thinks is “affecting all the drivers and all the cars.”  

Ferrari’s bouncing — and hoping to bounce back

One of Ferrari’s biggest issues last season was reliability, but the Italian team seems to be cautiously optimistic that it has addressed the engine issue. 

Although teams can’t make changes to their engines this year, reliability-related developments can be made. The SF-23 ran live on the track during the team’s launch in Maranello, but the proof that the Prancing Horse has fixed one of its biggest woes that cost them the championships will come in Bahrain (and beyond). Enrico Gualtieri, head of the power unit area, revealed in a team video that Ferrari analyzed all areas, including the assembly process, to determine the root causes, and there’s been “positive feedback” from the dyno.

Since taking charge as team principal in January, Fred Vasseur has been working on what areas of the team need addressing. Strategy calls were in the spotlight last year after some high-profile mistakes, leading to changes to the pitwall that emerged on Thursday morning. Iñaki Rueda, the head of strategy at Ferrari last year, has been moved out of his role and will work back at the factory this season. Ravin Jain, who served as a Ferrari race strategy engineer last year, has taken over as chief strategist at the track.

After the sun went down in Bahrain, another change at Ferrari became visible: the team has fitted LED lights on its wheel guns that change color once a tire change is complete. It’s a nice innovation to help the pit crew gain precious milliseconds and, importantly, know that a wheel has been safely attached.

Race pace was another sore spot for Ferrari in 2022 as tire degradation became more prevalent, and one question that arose during the middle of the season was whether aerodynamic development was to blame. Aerodynamic performance is something on the entire grid’s radar after the FIA increased the floor height by 15mm to reduce porpoising. Although porpoising wasn’t expected to disappear completely, the Ferrari did appear to be bouncing more than the other cars going down the straights.

Vasseur was unconcerned. “It’s not at all as it was one year ago — we had the car bouncing like a kangaroo,” he said. “Today we’ve had (bouncing) in some part of the track (where) it’s bumpy like it was before. But it’s a different issue.”

Mercedes encouraged by start, but staying cautious

After its initial optimism and bullishness in testing last year fell flat thanks to its troublesome W13 car, Mercedes has struck a notably different tone about its chances going into the new season.

Lewis Hamilton admitted at the launch of the car he was “more cautious” about Mercedes’ chances, wanting the team to focus on changing “pretty much everything” to offer more confidence behind the wheel. While the team finished last year strongly, scoring a 1-2 in Brazil, there is still a big gap to make up to Red Bull and Ferrari over the winter in terms of outright performance.

“We are on the slope that we wanted to be on in terms of our performance,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “But then you don’t know where the other ones are. And I think humility is most important.” For a team that had a hot streak of championships from 2014-21, the impression is that it is still playing catch-up.

But Wolff was encouraged by the start Mercedes made to testing, saying George Russell had reported the car “seems to be balanced in the right way”, a big issue with the W13. Even better news for Mercedes? “There’s no bouncing,” said Wolff, referring to the big Achilles heel of the car last year. “We have a very solid base now to work from and try to optimize the car.”

Could old rivals Red Bull and McLaren partner up?

McLaren CEO Zak Brown visited Red Bull Powertrains, the engine division for Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, in early February about a possible deal, a Red Bull representative confirmed to The Athletic. While nothing is concrete, the talks were part of Brown looking at opportunities come 2026, when its deal with Mercedes will run out.  

It’s a surprising move considering that four months ago, Brown said in a letter to the FIA that breaching the cost cap would “constitute cheating.” The note did not mention Red Bull by name, but the team was found guilty of having gone over the $145 million spending limit. Horner called the remarks “shocking.” 

McLaren will remain a Mercedes-powered team through 2025, but the engine regulations will change in 2026, which is also when the 100-percent sustainable fuels are set to be used. There have been rumors of possible talks between Honda and McLaren, and Brown was evasive when discussing McLaren’s future at the team’s launch event. “We’re very happy with Mercedes. We have some time to decide what we want to do in 2026 and beyond,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Red Bull is still using a Honda RBPT power unit. Come 2026, Red Bull Powertrains will be making the power unit in partnership with Ford, which has been absent from F1 since selling its Jaguar team to Red Bull in 2004.

There has been confirmation that at least six engine suppliers will enter F1 starting in 2026.

Teams still need convincing about possible F1 grid expansion

The first F1 Commission meeting between the series’ main players — team principals, rulemakers and senior leaders — of the year took place in London earlier this week following a busy winter.

Not only had many of the team principals changed teams amid a managerial merry-go-round, but there had been some big changes at the FIA, F1’s governing body.

This has included Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA president, taking a step back from day-to-day F1 matters, handing the reins over to single-seater boss Nikolas Tombazis. Although this was a planned change as part of the FIA’s restructuring, it did follow a series of controversies involving Ben Sulayem, and growing tension with counterparts at F1.

Ben Sulayem announced in January that the FIA would be opening the process to potentially expand the F1 grid beyond 10 teams in the future, appealing for expressions of interest. Andretti Global, headed up by American racing icon Michael Andretti, has been vocal in its ambition to join the field. It has a partnership secured with General Motors’ Cadillac, promising an all-American team with an American driver.

The reaction from F1’s existing teams has been lukewarm at best, given that adding a team to the grid means less prize money for everyone. Andretti said their stance was nothing but “greed,” while F1’s CEO and president, Stefano Domenicali, questioned whether being so antagonistic was the right approach when trying to get the grid onside. 

Teams have until April 30 to lodge a formal application with the FIA, and while Andretti remains the most public party, others are also interested behind the scenes.

“I don’t see a reason why a new team should not come in,” said AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost. But he stressed that any new entry “must bring something to the teams” who have invested, in some cases, billions of dollars in F1 over the last decade. “They invested this money expecting … to get it back sooner or later.”

Aston Martin coy on Stroll’s injury, but quick on track

Lance Stroll looks to be in a race against time to be fit for the Bahrain Grand Prix after getting injured in a cycling accident.

Although Aston Martin said it was a “minor accident” and that a quick recovery was expected, Stroll’s absence from the three-day test means he’ll have just five more days to be ready in time for the race weekend.

Mike Krack, Aston Martin’s team principal, said on Thursday that Stroll hurt his hand and wrist but did not go into further detail, citing privacy reasons. 

If Stroll is ruled out, then Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich looks set to make his F1 debut with Aston Martin. The 22-year-old signed as a reserve with the Silverstone-based team last fall, made his first practice session debut at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and participated in the postseason test. 

The news of Stroll’s injury broke just hours after Aston Martin announced a reserve driver agreement with McLaren that covers the first 15 races. The Woking-based team added Drugovich and Formula E champion Stoffel Vandoorne to their reserve driver pool, which also includes Mercedes’ Mick Schumacher. Vandoorne previously competed at McLaren alongside Fernando Alonso before being replaced by Lando Norris.     

Vandoorne is slated to compete in Formula E during the three-day testing period, and originally, Drugovich was only scheduled to test during the first day in Bahrain with the other two sessions listed as TBC.

Drugovich’s test day did not get off to the smoothest of starts as an electronics issue on his Aston Martin AMR23 car caused him to stop on track just nine minutes into the day. The issue was soon resolved once the car returned to the pits, allowing Drugovich to get back out and complete 40 laps before handing over to Alonso for the second session.

Although a floor breakage kept Alonso in the garage for around an hour in the afternoon, he was able to put in some really quick times once the sun went down and conditions cooled. He ended the day just 0.029 seconds off Verstappen’s benchmark, and while times must be taken with a pinch of salt, it nevertheless was an encouraging start to testing.

What do we know, anyway?

Red Bull and Aston Martin may have set the fastest times, but caution is required when it comes to reading too much into the early pecking order.

Teams typically have different run plans, adjusting lengths of stints, tire types and fuel loads to get the data they need to better understand their cars. It means taking any outright conclusions is a risky business.

“With the fuel load, it can be multiple seconds difference,” said Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. “With engine modes, it can be even one-second difference. You just don’t know.”

Even Red Bull isn’t taking much for granted. “It’s difficult to tell at the moment, but the car is running well, and I think that’s the most important,” Verstappen said.

All teams managed a decent level of mileage on day one. McLaren completed the fewest laps (92) but that’s still over one-and-a-half grand prix distances. It’s not a huge surprise given these cars are chiefly evolutions of the 2022 models, but it also suggests no team is in big trouble.

“If I have to guess something, it’s at least the midfield is going to be closer,” said Bottas. “At least from the times we saw and what we know of our engine modes and fuel load, I think it doesn’t look so bad.

“We are not like seconds away. So that’s the only thing that we know.”

 

Edited by NoName
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4 hours ago, G650 said:

jrhvu31tgyja1.jpg?width=614&auto=webp&v=

Just slightly different philosophies. 

3 hours ago, NoName said:

new Head of Strategy for Ferrari, officially.

linkedin experience:

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Ferrari have moved their Formula One head of strategy Inaki Rueda out of the line of fire with Ravin Jain taking the high-pressure role on the pit wall for the season starting in Bahrain next week.

A team spokesperson said Jain, an Oxford physics graduate who joined the team in 2016, would be in charge of strategy at the track.

Rueda remains a part of the team with a factory-based sporting role at Maranello.

Strategy is one of the areas new team principal Fred Vasseur has been looking at since taking over in January to address some glaring and costly errors last season.

Ferrari started that season strongly, winning two of the first three races, but ended up distant runners-up to champions Red Bull.

They were let down also by reliability and driver mistakes but strategic blunders included a pit call in Monaco that cost Charles Leclerc a home victory after starting on pole position and a tyre gamble that backfired for qualifying in Brazil.

Vasseur, who has joined as replacement for Mattia Binotto, said this month that Ferrari would be making some marginal changes to the race team.

"Very often, when you are speaking about strategy, it's much more a matter of organisation than just the guy who is on the pit wall," he said.

"I'm trying to understand exactly what's happened on every single mistake and what's happened last year. And to try to know if it's a matter of decision, if it's a matter of organisation, or of communication."

Ferrari have not won a championship since the 2008 constructors' title and the pressure is on Vasseur to fix the errors and end the long drought for the sport's oldest and most successful team.

The team started pre-season testing in Bahrain on Thursday with Carlos Sainz behind the wheel for the first session at the Sakhir circuit.

 

It’s about damn time they replaced Rueda. This guy’s younger than I would have expected. Hopefully that means he’s a wunderkind. He definitely doesn’t seem like the next bureaucrat in line, like so many Ferrari hires. 

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i like the flow vis paint shots

u5ukbi8fm6ka1.jpg

 

Albert Fabrega | Rear beam wings comparisons.

l1yrr4zs94ka1.jpg?width=768&auto=webp&v=

more wing stuff:

sww4dr8oc5ka1.jpg?width=509&auto=webp&v=

more rear wings:

 

1 hour ago, Burt Macklin said:

The Stroll rumors continue to grow. Drugovic  might be getting his shot. 
 

 

if he broke both wrists wonder how long he is out? not like you can shoot him up with something on race day and throw him out there...

pit wall difference:

oonoznfap6ka1.jpg?width=614&auto=webp&v=

 

 

 

Edited by NoName
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1 hour ago, NoName said:

i like the flow vis paint shots

u5ukbi8fm6ka1.jpg

 

Albert Fabrega | Rear beam wings comparisons.

l1yrr4zs94ka1.jpg?width=768&auto=webp&v=

more wing stuff:

sww4dr8oc5ka1.jpg?width=509&auto=webp&v=

more rear wings:

 

if he broke both wrists wonder how long he is out? not like you can shoot him up with something on race day and throw him out there...

pit wall difference:

oonoznfap6ka1.jpg?width=614&auto=webp&v=

 

 

 

This is the good stuff. Massive overreactions to the first day and a half of testing. AM challenging Merc and Ferrari would be one of the biggest leaps over an offseason in the last few decades. 

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20 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

This is the good stuff. Massive overreactions to the first day and a half of testing. AM challenging Merc and Ferrari would be one of the biggest leaps over an offseason in the last few decades. 

Hope springs eternal!

 

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11 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

I won't quit until I see comparisons for the HAAS pit wall differences from last year to this year, with big emoji fingers pointing to the differences.

im tempted to go share this on reddit because it's a true work of art

new:

image.png.63d03bdc1999051a77745535222578ae.png

old:

image.thumb.png.b355b02f62f82a28c43ec22a7a549bb1.png

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1 minute ago, Burt Macklin said:

A lot of reports this year’s Ferrari is still eating its tyres, so that’s fun. Can’t wait for Charles to stick it on pole by a couple tenths and then finish 3rd or 4th. 

I am not a FER fan but their strategy can't possibly be worse than last year, right?

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1 hour ago, utee94 said:

Since all these testing times are gospel, it's quite obvious that Merc and Lewis suck this year.  They are 

DDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMEEEEEDDDDD

GR will do ok. LH will score at the very bottom of the field because he's sacrificing his season to make the team better by better understanding the car.

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35 minutes ago, VABuckeye said:

Why?  I think Bottas is awesome.  Definitely a guy I'd love to have a beer or twelve with.

Exactly. I might go nuts if he scores a podium. 

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It would be cool if AM could actually threaten the big teams occasionally and if Alonso could snag a few more podiums. But even if they somehow start the year up there, it's a whole other story to maintain development pace with those other three and keep up with them over the course of a season.

Kimi won the opening race of the year in a Lotus in 2013. Sustaining that is tough.

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