Formula 1 in 2023: Will Red Bull stay on top? Can Lewis Hamilton challenge for the F1 title again?
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Updated 10/10/2022 at 07:05 GMT
Max Verstappen is F1 world champion for the second successive season and for now Red Bull look like they can stay on top for years to come. But Formula 1 never stays the same from one season to the next, so could closest challengers Ferrari and Mercedes bounce back in 2023? Eurosport looks to the next campaign and wonders what is next for the drivers and teams.
'We are on a high as a team' - Verstappen hails Red Bull with F1 title in reach
While there is still the Formula 1 constructors’ championship to be decided in the coming weeks, Max Verstappen is already the individual champion. We look ahead to next season’s talking points.
Will Red Bull stay on top?
Mercedes' view from the top appeared impregnable, and they only lost the 2021 drivers’ championship because of a misinterpretation from a race director, but the fact is that despite their continued success and dominance, Red Bull were able to push harder year after year, and seized on the new car design for 2022 to become the clearly superior team.
With such a huge margin of victory this season which could yet be extended further, to the observer it looks easy to claim that Red Bull will continue to win. And indeed, given the spells of dominance in Formula 1 often stretching for years, it’s a fair guess to make.
At just 25, Verstappen is perhaps not even close to his prime, and the Red Bull team’s car is the best on track. Unless they get serious punishment for the spending cap dispute, there are no convincing reasons that they cannot continue to keep Ferrari and Mercedes at bay.
Can Lewis Hamilton recover?
When a driver starts to decline in his thirties, the chance of a resurgence never seems great. Reflexes dull to the point that ultimately no amount of experience can be a sufficient counter. While Fernando Alonso occasionally troubles those in the top three, Sebastian Vettel has decided to retire, and Valtteri Bottas has not exceeded expectations at Alfa Romeo.
However, seven-time world champion Hamilton has talked of extending his stay at Mercedes beyond the coming season in 2023, and he has able support and competition in the shape of George Russell.
For Mercedes, they need several factors to go their way. They have to hope that their backroom boffins and experts can put right the weaknesses that have led to Mercedes' troubling lack of pace, and also compete not just with Red Bull at the head of the pack, but also an imperfect Ferrari team that have nevertheless outperformed them.
There is no clear way back for Hamilton and Toto Wolff. Next season could decide not just whether Hamilton wants to remain in the sport, but also whether he should.
How will new drivers settle?
With so few places available, and with some drivers given places perhaps not entirely on the merits of their ability, drivers jostle for rides every year and expectations and demands are high.
Similarly, experienced drivers like Fernando Alonso remain in demand for their consistent ability, and his surprise departure for Aston Martin has kicked off a string of changes.
Daniel Ricciardo has departed McLaren, while Sebastian Vettel’s retirement takes away another competitor. AlphaTauri’s new man Nyck de Vries’ performances for Mercedes and Williams demonstrated that he was superior to the outgoing Nicolas Latifi, and 21-year-old Oscar Piastri will have to show why he has been elevated from the reserves so quickly. Pierre Gasly will now step in at Alpine, squaring the circle.
Of course, the changes may not yet be complete, but all the new requirements of joining a new team and working with existing drivers and staff throws up as many challenges as it does opportunities.
Safety changes need to continue
Jules Bianchi’s death marks the last time a Formula 1 driver has died while competing, but events in Japan this weekend demonstrated that safety cannot be taken for granted.
Pierre Gasly came perilously close to colliding with a tractor as race staff attempted to remove Carlos Sainz’s stricken Ferrari, and while the AlphaTauri driver should not have been travelling at such speed in risky conditions, the fact is that the risk would have been significantly reduced if the tractor was not on the track in the first place.
Formula 1 champion Jenson Button argued that there is no need for the tractor to ever be on the track. With cars still travelling at high speed by any other viewpoint, it is hard to disagree with him. For now, it is not possible to be certain whether the rules were correct but simply not followed, or if regulations need to be rewritten.
The success of drivers’ safety improvements is not a reason for complacency and this serves as a reminder that ongoing attention and care is needed for next season and beyond.
Rule changes offer a chance to catch Red Bull
Changes to ground clearance, front wings, roll hoops and other regulations for the next season mean that the time between 2022’s conclusion and 2023’s start should allow teams to get back to the drawing board.
Of course, these alterations are nowhere near the fundamental shift made for the beginning of last season, so we should not expect to see a return of problems like porpoising that plagued Mercedes, Ferrari and others.
Mercedes, of course, will be hoping that the time they have used to improve their design will give them the chance to get back to the top of the pack next season, but Matteo Binotto at Ferrari and Christian Horner at Red Bull have similar resources to throw at any problems and improvements that they discover.
The new season will however throw up new ways of testing the limit, spirit and letter of the laws, and could therefore throw up some surprises along the way.
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