re: 2023 Formula 1 season Thread

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If momentum holds from this year, I can see Lewis sneaking out a 1st place finish next year.

However, if Ferrari gets their strategy and shite in order, they will be a great block and tackler for RB, along with Mclaren

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I have a feeling Mercedes and Ferrari are going to all but catch up to Red Bull in tech. We're going to get a much better idea how much of this year was Max and how much was the car.

I think we'll see both Hamilton and Leclerc with multiple wins, but I still expect Max to have the most wins and take the driver's chanpionship.

I don’t care if Max wins every race. I just want him to actually have to race people to get there.

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if Ferrari gets their strategy and shite in order

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I have a feeling Mercedes and Ferrari are going to all but catch up to Red Bull in tech.

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If the rumors about Red Bull not developing their car at all the second half of the season so they could work on next year’s car are true, why would anyone believe this?

Adrian Newley got a jump start on this car. That is bad news for everyone else. And I don’t see anything changing until the regs update in 2026.

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If the rumors about Red Bull not developing their car at all the second half of the season so they could work on next year’s car are true, why would anyone believe this?

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I've been very open that I'm very new as an F1 follower, so I could just be very wrong.

From what I've read the biggest difference (among many, I know) that led to the performance gap was that the Red Bull team saw something in the floor design that none of the other teams caught. They basically caught lightning in a bottle. Other teams are going to figure that out going into next year.

Is it just to be expected that Red Bull is going to stumble open another massive difference maker like that and no other team will again? Sure, it's absolutely possible, but it's much more likely they don't and as a result other teams fill that gap from this year.

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If Max was not racing, this would have been one of the greatest seasons ever. Kudos to Max but if you mentally blocked him out there was great racing. I hate to call it watching the midfield because that’s not what it really was.

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I don’t fully buy in to greatest racing ever if Max had sat.

Keep in mind you are looking at points with Max racing. If he never races then the new winner gets max points vs 2/3/4 points and so on. Then each team would use a different team strategy to maximize their top driver which likely produces different results than current. It would have been a completely different deal. Many decisions different. All kinds of factors.

Max won and dominated and that was awesome from a purely technical and racing driver POV. Yes, racing. Some of the moves Max made to pass were something you don’t see often in F1 (passing for lead) and in some cases he had to come from far back. That was fun to watch how great a driver he is.

If all are bunched up it can create way more first corner top 5 wrecks. And thats not fun as it takes out good cars.

Every year is different and I enjoyed Max dominating because it showcased him as a driver too. The last race first few laps he demonstrated how to defend without burning your tires up. Could have stretched lead at start but didn’t want to wear tires. Thats hard to do knowing you can go faster but must manage tires. Takes skill. Time after time he showed his driving brilliance.

RBR was held back for years due to the crappy Renault toaster oven engine. Now that Honda has equaled the playing field, newey can really shine.

Excellent interview with Albon. Not going to lie, I wasn't a fan of his at RBR (They race me so hard), but he's really grown on me.