Spanish GP: Real F1 2023 pecking order revealed at Circuit de Catalunya this weekend? | F1 news

Formula 1 heads to Barcelona for the Spanish GP this weekend, and it could be a pivotal point in the 2023 season.

Circuit de Catalunya is probably the most familiar to drivers and teams, having regularly hosted testing sessions over the years. Several teams will carry out upgrades to their cars this weekend, either for the first time or certainly for the first time in representative conditions.

“Barcelona is the best judge of the platform – it’s about the platform and the aircraft,” Sky Sports F1Martin Brundle said.

So as the development war heats up, could we see the true pecking order for F1 2023 start to emerge?

Expect Red Bull to continue to lead the way

Traditionally, Barcelona has not been the happiest hunting ground for Red Bull. The team has won there only four times – in 2010, 2011, 2016 and 2022 – and last year’s victory was helped by Charles Leclerc, who suffered a Ferrari engine while leading.

But Red Bull are unbeaten so far in 2023 and still haven’t had another car within 20 seconds of their own to qualify for a GP.

The changes to the Circuit de Catalunya also appeal to the strengths of the RB19. The slow chicane in the final sector will not feature this weekend as F1 returns to the track’s original final two corners, with fast right-handers helping Red Bull’s slingshot to the long pit straight, where its straight-line speed advantage can be maximised.

“It’s a Red Bull weekend,” former Williams and McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya said on the latest Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“It’s 100 per cent a Red Bull track. It’s a fast track and Aston Martin’s highlight is the slow corners and they got rid of the slowest corners in the last sector.”

Sky Sports F1David Croft added: “I don’t see how anyone at the moment [gets ahead of Red Bull]. It’s very fast on the straight and very fast in fast corners.”

Red Bull will also reportedly receive updates this weekend, adviser Helmut Marko told the Austrian outlet. oe24 that the team “will try something new in Barcelona”.

So while Red Bull is expected to remain at the forefront, how will things develop at the back as Aston Martin, Mercedes and Ferrari get rid of their updated machines?

Mercedes seems to be getting a real read on the W14 updates

The big plot point heading into Barcelona is how Mercedes’ W14 upgrades will actually work.

Originally planned for the Emilia Romagna GP in Peru, Mercedes presented its new body structure, floor and front suspension in Monaco. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished fourth and fifth in Monte Carlo, although the unique nature of the street circuit made it difficult to judge their actual performance. As Brundle said, “It’s like racing a washing machine.”

However, Hamilton, Russell and team boss Toto Wolff felt there were immediate positive signs from the upgraded W14 and will look to confirm its true potential this weekend.

“We were in the mix with Aston Martin and Ferrari. On a positive note, that might be encouraging because we’ve never been really good here,” Mercedes boss Wolff said after the Monaco GP.

“But we really have to be careful, we have to go to Barcelona and collect more data, that’s a new starting point. I don’t expect us to take out Aston Martin and Ferrari there either. It’s more about understanding, okay, what does this car do now and how it needs to be set up. “

Mercedes find themselves just one point behind Aston Martin in the battle for second place in the manufacturers’ championship, despite having the fourth-fastest car so far on pure speed in 2023.

Aston Martin approaches Red Bull or gives up?

Aston Martin have had the second fastest car so far this season, with only Max Verstappen’s brilliance and bad luck with the intensity of the rain costing them pole position and possibly the race win in Monaco.

Fernando Alonso heads to his home race – and the site of his last win in 2013 – with five podiums in six GPs for the surprise team of 2023. Aston Martin presents the second half of the update that was originally scheduled to take place at Imola at the Spanish GP.

The question is whether these updates will reverse the progress of Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari and see them move closer to the championship leaders or fight for a podium finish at all.

“We have to see on a normal track what the Mercedes package is and the updates that Ferrari will obviously bring to Barcelona as well,” Alonso said.

“So we have to have our feet on the ground and like I said in Miami, there’s going to be a few weekends a year where we’re only seventh and eighth and we have to accept that and some others that we’re fighting for the podiums.

“So I don’t go to Barcelona thinking I’m going to win and let anybody down. We have to keep our feet on the ground.”

Ferrari’s major upgrade to improve Sunday’s form?

Ferrari is introducing a major update to its inconsistent SF23 car, having had to delay its introduction following the cancellation of the Emilia Romagna GP.

Although Leclerc has managed to fight for pole position and claim it in qualifying, the Monegasque and Carlos Sainz have struggled to gain confidence in the car and have criticized the “knife edge” they will be driving in the coming race days.

Ferrari has already brought a new floor and diffuser to the car, and this weekend’s update includes a new body structure.

“This week we have a better view of the pace of the race,” team principal Fred Vasseur said. “Barcelona is more important and we get a better picture of the situation.

“I hope we take a step forward in Barcelona, ​​but that is not the end of the car’s development.”

Will Alpine make five teams fight for the podium places?

The atmosphere around Alpi has changed in the last month. At the Miami GP, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi labeled the performances “unworthy” and “amateur-like” and threatened swift changes if the team’s form did not improve.

But Alpine’s upgrades have lifted its form as the team sealed a double points finish in the US before Esteban Ocon scored a stunning podium finish at the Monaco GP and Pierre Gasly took a season-best seventh.

And the French outfit are on the rise to enter the battle for the final podium places behind Red Bull.

“I fully expect to be in front of Mercedes and Ferrari in the next race,” sporting director Alan Permane said, while also confirming another update will take place at Alpi in Barcelona.

“Max is too far away and when Checo is on, so is he.

“Fernando will be very difficult, but I don’t see why we can’t compete with Ferrari and Mercedes, what we have done here (Monaco) and also in Miami.

“They were ultimately faster than us, but we were in the race with them. That’s what we were aiming for.”

F1 returns to the “traditional” circuit

This weekend is also the first time since the season-opening Bahrain GP that Formula 1 has run as a “normal” race track.

The 2023 season has started with Grands Prix races on street tracks – in Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku, Miami and Monaco.

But now drivers and teams have a traditional F1 weekend to look forward to; three practice sessions on a predictably evolving track where they can set up their car for qualifying and race day.

The old saying is that if your car works well in Barcelona, ​​it will work well anywhere. If this trend continues, this weekend may well provide an indication of how the rest of the season will play out.

Sky Sports F1 live coverage of the Spanish GP

Thursday June 1
2 p.m.: Drivers’ press conference

Friday June 2
8.50am: F3 exercises
10.00 am: F2 exercises
12:00 p.m.: Spanish GP Practice One (episode starts at 12:30 p.m.)
13.55: F3 qualifying
14.50: F2 qualifying
3:45 p.m.: Spanish GP practice two (session starts at 4 p.m.)
17.15: F1 Show: Spain

on Saturday June 3
9.25am: F3 Sprint
11:15 a.m.: Third practice of the Spanish GP (session starts at 11:30 a.m.)
13.10: F2 Sprint
2:15 p.m.: Qualifying for the Spanish GP
15:00: Qualifying for the Spanish GP
18:15: IndyCar – Detroit GP qualifying

Sunday June 4
8.50: F3 Feature Race
10.20: F2 Feature Race
12:30 p.m.: Grand Prix line-up for Sunday’s Spanish GP
At 14:00 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4 p.m.: Checkered flag Spanish GP reaction
17.45: Indy NXT – Detroit GP
8 p.m.: IndyCar – Detroit GP

Will Red Bull’s winning streak continue in F1 2023 at the Spanish GP? Watch all the action live on Sky Sports F1 from the 2nd to the 4th. June Get Sky Sports