Here is a comparison of the F1 teams across the 2022 Pre-season testing and the 2023 seasons.
The F1 pre-season testing took place in Bahrain from 23-25 February and the teams got their fair opportunity to try out the new cars and other technical details. While some teams had a great outing in Bahrain, others have work to do before the lights officially go out on March 5. When compared to the Pre-Season test from last season, Williams have been the fastest of all teams while Alpha Tauri are the only team who registered slower timings than last season.
Meanwhile, Red Bull has set the bar high once again after the pre-season test run in Bahrain. The team registered the fastest timings over the three days of pre-season testing while their very own Sergio Perez set the fastest timing among all individual drivers. Teams like Mercedes and Ferrari have a lot of things to improve if they are to have any chance of challenging Red Bull this season. We are just a week away from the season-opener and it remains to be seen what unfolds after the lights go out at the Bahrain International Circuit.
How are the teams shaping up going into the season opener?
The new season of Formula One is just a week away and teams have had the taste of their new cars and drivers’ during the Pre-Season test in Bahrain. The 2023 F1 grid will see a number of new faces while we will certainly miss four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who decided to retire at the end of the 2022 season. The new season will officially begin on March 5 at the Bahrain International Circuit and all the teams will now be focusing on their final adjustments.
There will be three debutants in the F1 grid this season – Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Logan Sargeant (Williams). We will also see the full-time return of Nico Hulkenberg for the first time since 2019, who has replaced Mick Schumacher at Haas. Meanwhile, Aston Martin has roped in two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso to fill the spot vacated by the retiring Sebastian Vettel.
McLaren has brought in Oscar Piastri after Alonso’s departure from the team. Yuki Tsunoda has moved on to Alpha Tauri while Alpine have signed Esteban Ocon to partner Gasly in the Japanese driver’s place. Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo are unfortunately missing out and won’t be a full-time part of the F1 grid this season.
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