The longest Formula 1 off-season for many years draws to a close. As a reward, race-starved fans will be treated to the most grands prix ever held in a single calendar year in 2023.
It all roars into life this weekend with the Bahrain Grand Prix – at the same venue where teams and drivers toiled for three straight days in the only pre-season test.
The Bahrain International Circuit will hold the season-opening race for the third season in a row, before handing over to Jeddah next year. The last two encounters set the bar high.
Lewis Hamilton narrowly beat Max Verstappen in a thrilling start to 2021’s season-long grudge match between the pair. Last time Charles Leclerc denied the Red Bull driver, who then suffered a shock retirement in the closing laps.
Heading into the new season, champions Red Bull appear to be in ominous form. Will they start off 2023 as dominantly as they ended last season?
Red Bull’s to lose?
Some teams have restructured their boardrooms this off season. Others have signed big name drivers to multi-million dollar contracts to inject a needed burst of energy into their team. But when you’re sitting at the very top of the sport, you know you do not need to change a single thing to enjoy more success.
That is the luxury that Red Bull enjoy as world champions. Still in the afterglow of their best season in history, the team could have easily lost focus, dropped their guard and found themselves sucker-punched by their rivals. But on the basis of testing, they may have found yet another gear over the winter.
The RB19 retains much of the form of its all-conquering predecessor, evolving into a more refined, sleeker vision of last year’s car – like an anime villain acquiring its ultimate form. Three days of strong, confident running, topping the times without even the hint of a problem will have furrowed brows in Maranello and Brackley, with Verstappen not even taking part in the final day when the fastest laps were posted.
Last season’s race was the second time in as many years Verstappen came off second-best in a scrap with his championship rival at this track. Indeed, this is one of only five circuits on the current calendar he is yet to win at. The odds are that will change in a few days time unless it turns out someone has a few tenths slashed up their sleeves – be that one of Red Bull’s nine rivals, or Sergio Perez.
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