Ferrari, Mercedes and the illusion of Aston Martin fight Red Bull favoritism

   MADRID, 2 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Dutchman Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team start again as favorites to win the 2023 Formula 1 World Cup titles, a year for which Fernando Alonso has regained his enthusiasm with Aston Martin and hopes to be at the same level as Mercedes and Ferrari, which should be the options to break the monopoly of the Austrian team, with Carlos Sainz prepared to take a step forward.

It seems that the World Cup that starts this Friday at the Bahrain International Circuit will follow the same paths as last year, with a very dominating 'Mad Max' on paper. The two-time world champion dominated the first day of the official pre-season tests at Sakhir with his RB23, while on his second and last day of testing he came very close to a surprising Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo).

Verstappen is willing to turn the 'Great Circus' back into his 'garden', without giving the rest options from the start. In 2022 he raised the record for victories in the same season to 15, and beat Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) by 146 points. In addition, his superiority, together with the support of his reliable squire Sergio Pérez, allowed those from the energy drink to break Mercedes' dominance in the Constructors' World Championship, which they had won in the previous eight years.

His more strategic and cold character, without losing his somewhat 'crazy' essence behind the wheel, make him a driver with no apparent weaknesses, along with an RB23 that doesn't seem to be going to turn its back on him and that sets the bar for the rest. of applicants Only two teams start as serious candidates to conquer their throne, Ferrari and Mercedes, with the task of preventing Red Bull from repeating or improving the golden four-year period (2010-2013) with four 'doublets' (World Championship for drivers and constructors in the same year ) thanks to the retired Sebastian Vettel.

The 'Scuderia' is facing the umpteenth opportunity to show that it is the competitive team that has not been seen on the track since 2007, when its driver Kimi Raikkonen became world champion. His commitment does not stop and this season, with Fréderic Vasseur as team leader, he repeats the Leclerc-Sainz formula to storm the crown. In preseason, the Italians were consistent and showed some improvement in reliability that doomed them in 2022.

However, they themselves must be aware that this means nothing, since last year they started at a very high level, also with some promising tests, and then they fell flat with trivial mistakes. In a box without a number one driver or leader, Leclerc and Sainz start, a priori, with the same weapons to place themselves at the top. Both the Monegasque and the Spaniard ended up riding in the same tenth place in the Bahrain tests, always following Red Bull's slipstream.

Leclerc's candidacy 'fell' very early in 2022, so the new course is once again motivating and exciting, as long as Ferrari provides him with the necessary tools to be champion. A fight in which Carlos Sainz should also be involved, now more adapted to his SF-23 and to which his work and talent would have to provide solidity. Last year he already raised the number of podiums to 15, and celebrated his first victory in the division of honor.

His particular challenge will be to improve the performance of his teammate, as he already did in 2021, with an improved car and which he hopes to be more competitive in the start-up in Bahrain than in the tests, where it seems that they did not reveal all their strengths. The man from Madrid must show the best version of him, with the ambition to be on top and look at a title from which he is not so far away.

Mercedes will return to the charge as a contender for the title, no longer being the team that has caused 'fear' in the last decade. Far from being the benchmark, the goal of the German team will be to return, at least, to what it was, and 2023, a year with hardly any changes allowed in the single-seaters, could be their season. They finished 2022 in good shape and Lewis Hamilton wants to see himself again in the pools for what would be his eighth title, beating Michael Schumacher.

It doesn't seem like they are that far behind Red Bull, although the tests showed that they lack some speed. In addition, they suffered from the odd reliability problem that they hope will not be a concern during the season. George Russell, who threatened Hamilton's hierarchy last year with a good final performance, wants to remove the 'rookie' sign that haunts him, with the prestigious Constructors' World Championship as part of the team's goal.

Although the sensation of the preseason has been Aston Martin. The British have managed to create a diamond in the rough that Fernando Alonso, at 41 years old and in his 20th season, gets the most out of it for now. The AMR23 rubbed shoulders with the candidates for the title, faster even than the Ferraris in the race simulation at Sakhir, with quite an advantage over a 'middle class' from which they should be detached without problems.

They aspire to be that fourth car on the grid, with options to even celebrate a podium finish during the season. And having the two-time Asturian champion is undoubtedly a plus. As the driver with the most Grand Prix races (356), 32 victories and 101 podiums, Alonso keeps the illusion alive, with his motivation and hunger intact, ready to fight among the best.

The Sakhir track, which made its debut on the calendar in 2004, raises the curtain on the new season this weekend. Its 5,412 kilometers of circuit in the desert, where the 57 laps of the race will be held this Sunday -Pedro de la Rosa maintains the fastest lap (1:31.447)- will allow the start of a World Cup that seems exciting.

Leclerc and Sainz did a 'double' in the 2022 edition, in a circuit in which Alonso has climbed to the first drawer three times (2005, 2006 and 2010). Although Ferrari is the most successful team (7) on the desert track, it is the British Lewis Hamilton who has celebrated the most victories (5) at Sakhir. The compounds that Pirelli will use will be between C1 (harder) and C3 (softer), on a track where degradation will be key, with maximum temperatures of around 30º.

-Friday March 3.

Free practice 1: 12.30.

Free practice 2: 16.00.

-Saturday 4.

Free practice 3: 12.30.

Qualification: 16.00.

-Sunday 5.

Race: 16.00.