Fernando Alonso has played down his own chances of victory at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, with the Aston Martin man predicting a one-two finish for Red Bull in Barcelona. Alonso has emerged as the dominant Red Bull team’s closest threat in the early months of the 2023 season, finishing on the podium at all but one of the six races held so far. His best start to a season since his penultimate year at Ferrari in 2013 has raised expectations that his decade-long wait for a grand prix win could end soon. Alonso’s last F1 triumph came at his home race in Barcelona, but with Red Bull making a perfect start to the season – and Ferrari and Mercedes introducing potentially game-changing upgrades – he does not expect a win to come this weekend. He told the official F1 website: “It feels good. Obviously there is a special energy every time in Spain when I come here and I see all the fans. “I don’t think, realistically, we can fight for the victory. Let’s be clear. “Red Bull … [Read more...] about Fernando Alonso makes worrying Red Bull prediction for Spanish Grand Prix
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Ferrari ditch sidepod concept with Red Bull philosophy copied
Ferrari will reportedly move away from their unique sidepod design and towards something more resembling Red Bull’s in Spain. There has been no stopping the dominant Red Bull outfit across the opening six rounds of the season, Max Verstappen having picked up four victories to team-mate Sergio Perez’s two, while Ferrari have only one podium finish to show for their efforts. It is a far cry for the title challenge which the Scuderia had been targeting going into F1 2023, but a major shift in approach is seemingly now on the horizon in a bid to take Ferrari closer to that conversation. Autosport are reporting that as part of an upgrade package for the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari will move on from its unique ‘bathtub’ sidepod concept, and instead introduce a design more heavily influenced by the Red Bull concept, though not resembling a ‘direct copy’. Race days have been a particular area of concern for the Scuderia so far this season, with tyre management difficulties carrying … [Read more...] about Ferrari ditch sidepod concept with Red Bull philosophy copied
Can Red Bull go the entire F1 season unbeaten? Max Verstappen has his say
Can Red Bull win every race of the F1 2023 season? Max Verstappen thinks it is possible, but detailed why it is also unlikely. Reigning Constructors’ champs Red Bull and defending World Champion Verstappen have made a dominant start to their respective title defences in F1 2023. With six rounds of the season gone, Red Bull have hoovered up all six victories on offer, four of those going the way of Verstappen. And the latest outing in Monaco failed to offer any suggestion that Red Bull will be within reach anytime soon, Verstappen’s final margin of victory over Fernando Alonso standing at 28 seconds. Even rain which arrived to cause chaos around the two-thirds mark of the race could not halt the Verstappen charge. It was after the season-opener in Bahrain that Mercedes’ George Russell tipped Red Bull to win every race this season, and that is a prediction which could still yet prove to be true. But will it come true? Verstappen was asked for his take on the matter ahead of … [Read more...] about Can Red Bull go the entire F1 season unbeaten? Max Verstappen has his say
Lando Norris casts verdict on McLaren’s ‘big signing’ from Red Bull
Lando Norris spoke highly of McLaren’s incoming recruit Rob Marshall, and can say “with confidence” that the team is moving in the right direction. Early in 2023 McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown tasked team principal Andrea Stella with an internal review after the team made a disappointing start to the campaign, carrying on from a development programme in the season prior which had left Brown dissatisfied. The end result was a major overhaul of the technical staff structure within the team, while James Key left the technical director role with immediate effect. And now important new pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place, ex-Ferrari vehicle concept chief David Sanchez preparing to join McLaren at the start of next year, and while another important acquisition has now been made. While Sanchez will take on the ‘technical director of car concept and performance’ role at McLaren, Rob Marshall will make the switch from Red Bull, their chief engineering officer calling … [Read more...] about Lando Norris casts verdict on McLaren’s ‘big signing’ from Red Bull
Ferrari poised for Red Bull-style F1 sidepod switch
The Italian outfit is bidding to turn around a disappointing start to the campaign where it has especially struggled with the race pace of its new SF-23 car. But as it gets ready to introduce a raft of updates for this weekend's race at Barcelona, sources have revealed that one key area of change will be in its sidepod concept. The team has made good use of an inwash solution since the launch of the ground-effect cars in 2022, and continued to pursue it for this season despite most of the grid adopting the Red Bull downwash style. However, having seen Red Bull's clear advantage this season, the squad now appears ready to change its philosophy as part of a push to get answers to its problems. While the new sidepods may not appear to be a direct copy of the Red Bull version, it is understood that they will mark a notable change of direction from what Ferrari has run up until now. The change may suggest that the team has concluded that the tyre issues it is suffering in … [Read more...] about Ferrari poised for Red Bull-style F1 sidepod switch
Red Bull: Mid-season aero reduction might impact Aston Martin’s F1 2023 bid
In the hands of Fernando Alonso , Aston Martin has been the surprise package of the 2023 F1 season, with Alonso sitting third in the standings behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez . The two-time world champion also kept Aston Martin one point ahead of Mercedes in the constructors' championship with five podiums in sixth races. Last weekend, only a stunning final sector allowed Verstappen to keep Alonso from pole. In a mixed-weather race, the Spaniard looked to retain an outside chance to beat Verstappen until a wrong tyre call cemented Verstappen's advantage, keeping Red Bull's clean sweep of 2023 race wins intact. According to Red Bull advisor Marko, Aston Martin's impeding reduction in CFD and wind tunnel time could impact its ability to keep up the pressure in the second half of the season. "If Aston Martin stay second in the championship there will be a reset of the amount of wind tunnel time around the middle of the championship," Marko told Motorsport.com. … [Read more...] about Red Bull: Mid-season aero reduction might impact Aston Martin’s F1 2023 bid
Ferrari’s new Red Bull-style F1 sidepods revealed in Spain
As reported by Motorsport.com earlier , Ferrari is abandoning its long-running in-wash style sidepod concept for a Red Bull-style downwash design. As our exclusive images show, the new Ferrari sidepods are a total revamp of what the SF-23 has run with so far. The new version does away with the bathtub central section that has been a hallmark of the Ferrari cars since the start of 2022. Instead, they feature a more horizontal upper surface that helps feed the airflow down into the diffuser area. This is based on the Red Bull concept, which the Milton Keynes-based squad has utilised to boost the performance of its RB19 and is an idea copied by many other teams. Ferrari's downwash ramp variant is similar to the likes of Alpine , Aston Martin and Mercedes , in that it features the water-slide gulley atop the bodywork in order to drive airflow down to the rear section of the floor and coke bottle region. This is no surprise though, as Ferrari has plenty of experience … [Read more...] about Ferrari’s new Red Bull-style F1 sidepods revealed in Spain
F1: Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers to take grid penalties | RaceFans
Honda has announced it will introduce a new specification of engine this weekend, meaning all four of its drivers will incur grid penalties. Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free The Japanese engine manufacturer is running its new V6s for the first time ahead of its home race at Suzuka in two weeks’ time. All four Honda-powered drivers have already exceeded their maximum allocation of power unit parts. Therefore Max Verstappen , Alexander Albon and Pierre Gasly will each have a five-place grid penalty. The situation is worse for Daniil Kvyat , who is having more power unit parts replaced and will have to start from the back of the grid as a result. As well as a new engine, Kvyat will have a fresh turbocharger, MGU-H, MGU-K and control electronics. 2019 power unit parts used prior to the Russian Grand Prix No. Car Engine Driver ICE TC MGU-H MGU-K ES CE 10 Toro Rosso Honda Pierre Gasly 6 5 5 5 3 3 27 … [Read more...] about F1: Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers to take grid penalties | RaceFans
Sergio Perez renews F1 2023 approach amid rising Max Verstappen points gap
Sergio Perez has revealed his focus is now on maximising each individual race weekend after falling 39 points behind Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen in the F1 2023 standings. The Mexican made his best-ever start to a season this year, winning convincingly in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan to emerge as a potential threat to two-time World Champion Verstappen. Perez spoke optimistically of his title chances after winning the second race of the campaign in Jeddah and boldly declared: “I really believe that I have the full support of the team as much as Max does and I will have every single opportunity to win the Championship as much as he does.” He went on to suffer an embarrassing Q1 elimination at the following round in Australia and suffered the same fate last weekend in Monaco, where he started last after hitting the barrier at St Devote in the first stage of qualifying. Perez endured a bruising race in Monte Carlo and finished 16th after being lapped twice by Verstappen, who … [Read more...] about Sergio Perez renews F1 2023 approach amid rising Max Verstappen points gap