Welcome Drivers!

Testing in Bahrain is done and we got to see glimmers of positives and negatives from all of the teams. We have already gone through some of the things that we will mention in this post in our daily testing reviews. If you missed our these, check them out at the links below!

• F1 2023 Testing | Day 1

• F1 2023 Testing | Day 2

• F1 2023 Testing | Final Day

We are well aware that testing times don’t carry a lot of weight. With all of the teams running different setups, fuel loads, data gathering and tire tests it is very hard to arrive at conclusions on a team’s performance. There is also the possibility of teams “sandbagging” (Alpine potentially) where they purposefully lower their engine power or pull out of laps to avoid showing their true pace.

Regardless of this, we can’t help but update our power rankings based on some of the things we saw. Before that, lets go over some headline news around Formula 1.

News Around the Paddock

• Kevin Magnussen has come out and identified Aston Martin as the team he thinks will be a big mover in the midfield (we agree)

• Sergio Perez stated that Red Bull has a good base car and hopes the team will start much stronger than they did last year

• Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur said the atmosphere on the team couldn’t be better heading into the first race of the season

• Lewis Hamilton said that Mercedes has addressed the bouncing issues they had last season but there are still some underlying issues with the W14

• Lewis Hamilton also called out the new tire blanket regulations saying they were “dangerous” as it takes many laps to warm the tires

• Aston Martin did not rule out the possibility of Sebastian Vettel returning to race alongside Fernando Alonso at the Bahrain GP in place of Stroll

• Red Bull is reported exploring the sale of their sister team AlphaTauri with Helmut Marko saying it is up to the shareholders

• McLaren CEO Zak Brown said that the team failed to meet their development targets over the winter break

• Haas debuted their “mini pit wall” at testing in Bahrain and claimed it will save them $250,000 throughout the season

• Charles Leclerc has said the SF-23 is faster in the straights but slower in the corners than it predecessor

• Helmut Marko has said that Red Bull have found a solution with the RB19 that allows both their drivers to play to their strengths

F1 2023 Post-Testing Power Rankings

We think there could be some big changes coming to the midfield in 2023. Some teams impressed in testing while others clearly have more work to do before the season starts.

These are our second power rankings we released. Our first one was our pre-season power rankings covering ranking the teams based on how they finished 2022 and the offseason rumors we had heard. Click here to read our first post.

Below is our breakdown of the current pecking order in F1 after testing. We also give our thoughts on why each team landed where they did. We will come out with an updated power ranking after the Bahrain GP.

1. Red Bull (-)

If people weren’t convinced about Red Bull being the top team going into testing they certainly are now. Both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez were at the top of the timing sheets all weekend. While single lap times aren’t important in testing, there long runs were lapping quicker than any other team. They also appear to have low tire degradation and are still one of the fastest cars down the straight. Red Bull will be tough to beat in 2023.

2. Ferrari (-)

If there is a team that can keep pace with the Red Bull, it’s Ferrari. They were doing a lot of set up changes throughout testing but they were consistently lapping at the top of the time tables as well. They have gained speed on the straights, which is one of their weaknesses when compared to Red Bull last season. Ferrari will be battling with Red Bull for their first championship since 2007.

3. Mercedes (-)

The Mercedes W14 is a much improved version of the W13. They have got on top of their bouncing issues and appear to have a competitive car again. Most still believe they are a step behind the top 2 teams. Even Mercedes themselves have come out saying they don’t expect to be fighting for wins in the beginning races. We expect Mercedes to be in the hunt for wins all season and if they get their development right the have the potential to compete for championships.

4. Aston Martin (+2)

Aston Martin delivered the first surprise of the F1 season by showing excellent pace in the AMR23. Fernando Alonso took the lion’s share of running since Lance Stroll was unable to take part in testing due to a training accident. He was able to finish in the top 3 the first two days and had his long runs on the final day. Aston was very confident in the offseason and it seems like they have a car that can potentially compete for wins.

5. Alpine (-)

Alpine went under the radar throughout testing. They didn’t appear to have any major issues but they also weren’t out there setting quick laps times. They may be holding their cards close to their chest before the season starts. We expect them to be competing with Aston for P4 but we are keeping them at 5th in our power rankings as we did not learn much from them at testing.

6. McLaren (-2)

McLaren had a the most disappointing testing days relative to the top teams. McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted that they missed their development targets this offseason and during testing the were hampered by issues with their wheel covers. They ran the least amount of laps by any team. Definitely not the way they wanted to kick off the season and does not inspire a lot of confidence in what lays ahead for McLaren.

7. Alfa Romeo (-)

Alfa Romeo showed glimmers of pace throughout the days of testing. Zhou Guanyu finished P1 on the second day and Valtteri Bottas finished in 3rd on the final day. These were both hot laps near the end of the day, the most optimal time to set a quick lap. They also suffered some reliability issues with Bottas causing a red flag on the final day with a gearbox failure. Alfa suffered from reliability issues for a bulk of last season so this was not an encouraging sight.

8. Haas (+1)

Haas had a solid testing with both of their drivers being able to crack the top ten on lap times. We don’t have high expectations for the team this year. There is a large gap between them and the rest of the midfield teams and we don’t expect them to make the leap this season. They have two very experienced drivers which should serve them well when point scoring opportunities arrive.

9. Williams Racing (+1)

Williams was relatively impressive during testing. F1 rookie Logan Sargeant completed the third most laps and cracked the top 10 twice in three days. Albon impressed as well so we are confident that Williams has a good possibility of pulling themselves away from last place on the grid. They have made a step in the right direction and we think they can get to P8 this year if things go well.

10. AlphaTauri (-2)

AlphaTauri was not too impressive in their testing days. Their drivers are still very unproven and now there are rumors circulating that Red Bull is considering selling the sister team. While this doesn’t have anything to do with on-track results it does show a lack of confidence and synergy between the two teams at the moment. It will be another tough year for AlphaTauri as they seem to be behind the ball without the driver talent to overcome it.

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