AAA Red Bull Racing opponents wanted. This ideal announcement will not be written anywhere at the Australian Grand Prix, the third round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship, but, while not appearing, it will be so explicit that it will attract everyone’s attention.
The start of the season for the Milton Keynes team was amazing: two braces and just one point lost in two races (the fastest lap in the first outing of the season) and the certainty of having – and by far – the best single-seater on hand of the lot. At least in this first part of the season.
The RB19 appears to be a perfect war machine, so much so that it has allowed both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to win a race. Now we await the response of the opponents, Ferrari and Mercedes, however forced to come to terms and fight with different problems which, however, give the same terrible result.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
It is no coincidence that Aston Martins are ahead of the Red and Black Arrows. Above all that of an inspired Fernando Alonso as in the best days of his career in Formula 1, aware that he has (finally) made the right choice as regards the team to race with and determined to take advantage of everything his opponents will give him to take another once the limelight.
In all of this, both in Maranello and in Brackley, the engineers are at work, but for different reasons. Ferrari is trying to perfect its project, trying not to sacrifice it after just 2 races. In GeS it is believed that the concept that worked well in the first part of 2022 can still give satisfaction, while in Mercedes things are diametrically opposite.
The W14 has been judged bankrupt since the Sakhir tests and now the factory is working hard to create a real revolution. Goodbye to the “size-zero” concept of bellies. It is probable that the new version of the W14 will be – at least in the forms of the rear end – very similar to the current Red Bull. Toto Wolff recently admitted that copying the RB19 wouldn’t be a problem for Mercedes, as long as the concept works. Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell – like Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. in Ferrari – will be forced to grit their teeth once again waiting for better times…
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Melbourne: all the numbers of the Australian Grand Prix
First edition of the GP: 1985 (Adelaide) – 1996 (Melbourne)
record turn: 1’24″125 (Michael Schumacher, Ferrari F2004 – vecchio layout) – 1’20″260 (Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75 – nuovo layout)
Number of laps: 58
Circuit length: 5,278 meters
Race distance: 306,124 km
Pierre Gasly, Alpine A523
Photo by: Alpine
2023 Australian Grand Prix: here are the TV times (Italian time)
Sky Schedule (Live)
Friday 31st March
Free Practice 1: 3:30 – 4:30
Free Practice 2: 7:00 – 8:00
Saturday 1st April
Free Practice 3: 3:30 – 4:30
Qualifying: 7am – 8am
Sunday 2nd April
We are: 7:00
TV8 schedule (deferred)
Saturday 1st April
Qualifying: 2.00pm
Sunday 2nd April
We are: 15:00
Motorsport.com Schedule (LIVE Live)
Friday 31st March
Free Practice 1: 3:20 – 4:40
Free Practice 2: 6:30 – 8:10
Saturday 1st April
Free Practice 3: 3:20 – 4:40
Qualifying: 6.30am – 8.10am
Sunday 2nd April
We are: 6:30
