With the testing done and the first race only days away, fans are wondering what this year’s pecking order will be? Here is our F1 Post Test Analysis
Are we simply going to see the same hierarchy, or will this offer another shake up? Well, while testing does allow us to get a glimpse into what the year will look like, it is never a true reflection. Whether it may be sand bagging or just teams running different programs. Be what it may, the true test comes this weekend. Till then this is my pecking order.
Same but Different
Williams will remain as the tail ender. While they seem to have made some improvements to their car, it isn’t enough to overcome their 2022 deficit to the other teams. Under the right conditions Albon might be able to drag the car to Q2 but that’s about it,, unless there are some extremely unusual conditions.
The shocker is McLaren, by their own statement it seems they have gone backwards after the last season end. They believe they can development the issue out though the season but that means they start on the backfoot. Banking on development is risky as all teams will e on the same path. As always, catch is the hardest part of F1.
The middle fields seem pretty levelled out with a lot to play for and development will be the decider. Haas and Alfa may have the edge on McLaren with Alpha Tauri probably less of a risk. That leave Alpine gunning to retain fourth, but that could be blocked by Aston Martin as well as Mercedes.
Best of the Best
Ferrari are easily second-best team, which leads us to wonder, where their 1 second step up in wind tunnel testing has gone to. More concerning is that they seem to have lost the quali advantage to Red Bull. Speaking of which the energy drink racing team is looking to being the dominant team once more this year. Ferrari still seems to have poor tire management which will hurt them.
The dark horse this year is Aston Martin who, if testing proves true is looking to be the 3rd fastest team. This is not only a major step forward but also a game changer. Alonso did what he does best and wowed us with some incredible test time. Not only were his time great but he did a lot of laps which gives the team confidence in reliability. Mercedes will be running against them to claim third, The German outfit seems to have ironed out the bounce but not the other underlying issues with their car. They have stuck religiously with the zero sidepod design. Only time will tell if this is the right philosophy.
The first race cannot come quick enough, so we can finally have a true reflection of the pecking order. The stage seems set for a very exciting season. We hope that Ferrari has indeed ironed out the issues from last year. More so, hopefully with a new team principle Fred Vasseur, they will at least have improved on their strategy calls and overall team decisions.
We will find out all come this weekend…
