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Toto Wolff insists his Mercedes Formula 1 team is "sticking together" amid comments from Lewis Hamilton that it 'didn't listen' to his input on the 2023 car
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After making rapid progress towards the end of a troubled 2022 campaign, Mercedes was hopeful of closing the gap with Red Bull and Ferrari but instead has found itself further adrift in the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Mercedes came out of the 2023 season opener as the fourth-fastest team after Hamilton was powerless to resist Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso on his charge to the podium behind both Red Bulls. Team-mate George Russell was similarly beaten to sixth by Lance Stroll.
Having dialed out crippling porpoising issues with help from the raised floor rules for 2023, Mercedes hoped it would finally be able to unearth the full potential of its design philosophy.
But when Bahrain qualifying confirmed that Mercedes had regressed instead, team boss Wolff admitted the Brackley outfit would have to abandon the W14's design concept, saying he "didn't think this package is going to be competitive eventually."
After the race Lewis Hamilton told BBC 5 Live that the team 'didn't' listen' to his input on the 2023 car, saying: "Last year, there were things I told them, I said the issues that are with the car.
"I've driven so many cars in my life, so I know what a car needs, I know what a car doesn't need. And I think it's really about accountability.
"It's about owning up and saying: 'Yeah, you know what? We didn't listen to you. It's not where it used to be and we've got to work.'"
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Despite those hints of frustration from the seven-time world champion, Wolff insisted the team is sticking together and its strong relationship with Hamilton is intact.
"The Lewis situation is you heard him on the radio. He is an integral part of the team, picking the team up and we are all sticking together and I don&rsquo;t think that is going to change just because we had a start that was really bad," Wolff said.
"We have won eight constructors' championships and six drivers&rsquo; championships with him and that relationship holds.&rdquo;
Hamilton's Mercedes deal is running out at the end of the year, but Wolff says he is not yet worried about losing the eight-time world champion.
"As much as being transparent as to how we need to turn the car around, it is not the point to talk about the driver situation in 2024," he replied when asked if he has a plan B in case Hamilton decides to walk away.
"It is far too early, we need to all push in then same direction, the drivers, the engineers, all the management rather than throwing in the towel. We have never done that and we will not do it.&rdquo;
"We just need to really dig deep and deeper than we have every done and provide both drivers with a car they are able to fight with."
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Torger Christian Toto Wolff

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton

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By Filip Cleeren

McLaren technical director James Key says that the team's current problems result from a late change of aerodynamic philosophy triggered by the 2023 Formula 1 rule changes.
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Last summer the teams and the FIA agreed to a rise of 15mm in the floor edge height as part of an attempt to address porpoising.
Having tried the new spec in the wind tunnel, McLaren decided that it would be difficult to recover performance with the 2023 car with the package it was running.
Thus, in September, the team decided to take a different route, one that offered much more potential.
The call was made too late to ready the full new package for Bahrain, which is why the team is instead aiming to make a big leap when it is introduced in Baku.
"Where this happened actually is when we took the 15mm floor step," said Key.
"So we all agreed that as porpoising protection, which was very sensible given at the time last year that was still quite a major issue. It began to improve for everyone as things improved during the year.
"That sounds very small, but these floors are huge and incredibly sensitive. Look at how much downforce it generates, massive. So when we did it on our car, it actually gave us a much bigger loss than anticipated. It seems to have affected different teams in different ways.
"And to a certain extent, it seems to be related to the floor edge geometry that you're running at the time."
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The call was made too late to ready the full new package for Bahrain, which is why the team is instead aiming to make a big leap when it is introduced in Baku.
"Where this happened actually is when we took the 15mm floor step," said Key.
"So we all agreed that as porpoising protection, which was very sensible given at the time last year that was still quite a major issue. It began to improve for everyone as things improved during the year.
"That sounds very small, but these floors are huge and incredibly sensitive. Look at how much downforce it generates, massive. So when we did it on our car, it actually gave us a much bigger loss than anticipated. It seems to have affected different teams in different ways.
"And to a certain extent, it seems to be related to the floor edge geometry that you're running at the time."
"Which is a big change, because they're very big projects, and very complex projects.
"So I think the timing of the reg, and the fact that we took a particularly large hit, and then that it clearly wasn't going to come back easily, meant that we had to change direction quite late."
Key insists that the reason why the team didn't rush to get the complete new package to the first race in Bahrain was because it wanted to ensure that it was fully developed and understood.
"It wasn't like we were dawdling around and thinking what to do, and actually why don't we do this," he said. "It was sort of forced upon us by a recognition that the new regs weren't going to recover with what we knew from last year.
"That led to a completely refreshed and revamped approach to that area of the car. It takes a while to develop these things. We tried to get it for race one, it wasn't mature enough.
"It would have performed a bit better. But with these floors, you've got to maintain stability, good correlation and everything else to guarantee that it's going work, and it was a little bit risky for race one."
Asked by Motorsport.com if it was frustrating to have made the call so late, Key said: "Absolutely, I mean, it is frustrating because, to be honest, the route we're on now seems to be pretty prolific, it's doing what we hoped it would do. There's still some work to do.
"The development rate on that is so much higher than what we had. Had the reg been earlier or had we clocked the fact that actually you need to do a different thing with this four weeks earlier, we wouldn't be talking about it right now, to be honest.
"So it's a bit it's a bit of a shame, but we are where we are, and we're just going to recover from it."
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McLaren

2023 Bahrain Grand Prix

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By Adam Cooper

New McLaren Formula 1 team principal Andrea Stella has revealed the reliability problems that blighted drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Topflight debutant Piastri became the first driver of the new season to retire after attempts to rectify an electrical issue aboard his MCL60 by fitting a new steering wheel failed.
By staying out longer than rivals on his starting soft tyres, the Australian had risen to 12th when he pitted at the end of lap 12. But the ineffective reset forced his early bath.
Stella has revealed that the attempted reset by replacing the steering wheel had not worked because the fault was located further down the steering column.
He explained: "The electronic damage was further down the line around the steering column. So, the steering wheel wasn't the problem. It was a problem with the harness probably. We are investigating. Not fixable in a short time."
Norris reckoned he was hobbled as soon as Turn 1, when his car developed a pressure leak with the engine pneumatics. Although this affected the gearbox more than it sapped power.
That forced him to pit every 10 laps so mechanics could refill the system by connecting an airline to the left-hand sidepod.
Given the limited pre-season testing, it was decided that Norris should persevere with the fault to bank data. He finished 17th and two laps down on winner Max Verstappen.
Stella continued: "There was a pneumatic pressure leak on Lando's car. We discovered this leak relatively soon in the race.
"Then we knew that it was possible only to do 10, 11 laps each time before having to refill.
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"We decided to stay in the race, we decided to try and stay at least within one lap from the leader within the last 10 laps.
"Then if there's a safety car, try and see if there was an opportunity. We did six stops."
Despite the turmoil, Norris reckoned the early pace of the MCL60 had allayed fears McLaren was dramatically off the pace, with the Briton vying for points before hitting trouble.
Giving his account of the unreliability, Norris said: "I had a good start, a good launch.
"I made up a few positions. Then we just had problems from Turn 1 onwards basically. A pneumatic problem and various other issues, which just brought us out the race more and more. We had to keep pitting every 10 laps and that was it."
Asked by Motorsport.com to single out any positives, Norris joked: "I think the best thing was the mechanics had a lot of pitstop practice. That's the biggest positive of today."
He then added: "I think the pace was actually OK-ish today as well. We could have scored a point today, at least. It's a shame we had the problems."
Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Adam Cooper

Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri

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By Matt Kew

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his team needs to change its car concept if it wants to get back to the front of Formula 1.
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After a disappointing qualifying for the season-opener in Bahrain, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualifying sixth and seventh, Wolff said the reality of his team&rsquo;s lack of performance had hit home.
With the squad having pushed on with the same car concept as last year, while many rivals had gone down the Red Bull downwash solution, Wolff said it was time to admit his outfit had got it wrong.
Having launched its new W14 with the belief it could eventually be made into a winner, Wolff said his tune had now changed and it was time to pursue other options.
Asked by Motorsport.com if he agreed with Hamilton&rsquo;s assessment earlier in the weekend that Mercedes would not hit its targets with the current concept, Wolff said: &ldquo;I don't think this package is going to be competitive eventually.
&ldquo;We gave it our best shot all over the winter, and now we just need to all regroup and sit down with the engineers, who are totally not dogmatic about anything.
&ldquo;There are no holy cows and we need to decide what is the development direction that we want to pursue, in order to be competitive to win races.
&ldquo;It's not only like last year, where you are scoring many podiums and eventually you get there.
&ldquo;I'm sure we can win races this season. But it's really the mid and long term that we need to look at, and which decisions we need to take.&rdquo;
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Wolff suggested a deep analysis of Mercedes&rsquo; long-term plan would need to be made after this weekend&rsquo;s Bahrain GP.
But he was clear that even if the team elected to pursue an all-new concept, it would not give up on trying to push forward as much as it could with the W14.
&ldquo;We are racers, and we are racing, and we will never give up fighting every single session to be on top,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;If you look at the pecking order, today, you say, well, it's not realistic. But I'm looking at what can we find next week? What can we add to the car? What is the change of direction that we can implement? And how quickly is that, so that maybe we can turn the ship around this year?
"It's just first qualifying of '23. That's why I don't want to discount anything for this year, while being totally realistic that it [the car] needs a lot to change a lot.&rdquo;
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By Jonathan Noble

Fernando Alonso hogged the headlines at the end of Friday practice for the Formula 1 2023 opener, but looking a little closer it wasn&rsquo;t hard to spot the standout performers. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are in a threatening position going into the Bahrain Grand Prix, but can Aston Martin led by Alonso take on the charging Red Bulls?
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Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin backed up their promising Formula 1 2023 testing form with the quickest time in the opening practice running for the Bahrain Grand Prix, but pre-season favourites Max Verstappen and Red Bull are lurking close behind.
In fact, judging by the times logged in the late-FP2 race data gathering exercises and based on information supplied from sources from the paddock, right now it seems Red Bull remains the red-hot favourite for victory in the first race of the season. Behind, Ferrari&rsquo;s potential remains clouded, while there&rsquo;s fears of a sobering start to 2023 at Mercedes.
Here&rsquo;s everything we learned on Friday at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
The story of the day
As is typical in the Bahrain event&rsquo;s split day/night timetable, FP1 took place in the sunny and hot conditions that aren&rsquo;t representative of the sessions that matter this weekend: qualifying and the race.
Several teams, including Ferrari and Mercedes, therefore eschewed even running the soft tyres, which Red Bull&rsquo;s Sergio Perez used to top the times on a 1m32.758s, in FP1. Verstappen trailed in third, surprisingly feeling that he couldn&rsquo;t replicate his very positive car balance feeling from testing.
Alonso was second behind Perez, his best effort late on the softs coming in 0.438s adrift. The most-high profile moment of the session was Carlos Sainz&rsquo;s high-speed spin into the huge runoff area behind the Turns 9/10 plunging double left complex in his Ferrari.
Motorsport.com ventured trackside during the opening session and, from our vantage point inside the Turn 4 exit, it was clear the Red Bulls were the only cars not regularly struggling with rear-end instability as they planted the power out of the tricky, fast right-hand open hairpin at the end of the track&rsquo;s second straight and DRS zone.
The Ferrari drivers looked solid most of the time, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were regularly snapping left as they fought to avoid going beyond track limits on the exit. Intriguingly, so did Alonso &ndash; the Spaniard catching a big sideways moment just before the halfway mark. But this didn&rsquo;t appear to impact his pace once he switched to the softs.
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That speed didn&rsquo;t stop when the lights came down for FP2, and indeed Alonso went 2.289s quicker than he managed in FP1 to top the second session with a 1m30.907s. That resulted in a gap of 0.169s to Verstappen in second. Just behind, Leclerc was only 0.12s slower than Verstappen in fourth overall for Ferrari &ndash; as Sainz finished FP2 in 14th with an SF-23 he says "doesn't feel the same as it did in testing" and "is not exactly responding, as I expect or as it did in testing".
As is customary at the end of FP2, the teams switched from qualifying simulation efforts to their long-run data-gathering programmes. In this running, Lance Stroll was spotted taking his left hand off his steering wheel in the other Aston. He used that palm to help rotate the wheel sufficiently, while helping support the right hand he injured in a mountain bike accident 13 days ago and revealed on testing&rsquo;s eve.
Another standout feature of the second session was 13 drivers ending up being covered by a one-second margin, with the Mercedes drivers down in eighth and 13th in the middle of this gaggle. That close spread has raised expectations a big driver or indeed a whole team could have a shock qualifying exit in the opening elimination segments on Saturday.
Verstappen&rsquo;s 15-lap stint just about led the way on the race pace averages ahead of Alonso. In it, the Dutchman produced a consistent run and ended up lapping quicker than he started
Data that Motorsport.com has seen suggests on their respective quickest FP2 laps that the Mercedes drivers were losing significant time to Alonso in the fast, sweeping corners of Turns 6 and 7 at the start of the second sector, as well as in the rapid, uphill left of Turn 11 at the end of the back straight.
While Alonso&rsquo;s Aston performed strongly here, it has been suggested the Red Bulls were running in a lower engine mode on Friday, which means it could yet threaten Aston&rsquo;s performance in these corners (as Verstappen nearly did in any case) come qualifying.
It has also been suggested that Ferrari is yet to show its full potential on engine power too, and while there could also be more to come from Mercedes in this area, the team&rsquo;s drivers were still notably struggling for rear-end grip in FP2. The Black Arrows squad feels it still has work to do to improve its handling balance overall.
Behind the leading teams, Nico Hulkenberg produced an eye-catching qualifying simulation on his return to F1 action for his new team, Haas. But rival squads reckon the veteran German driver was likely running lighter on fuel when he set his 1m31.376s soft tyre flier.
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How Aston Martin and Red Bull stack up on race pace
For the first time in 2023, we must remind you of the usual caveats when looking at long-run pace averages: that fuel loads tend to vary considerably and engine modes go up and down from team to team. As we&rsquo;ve already covered, the same applies to single lap pace too.
Therefore, on first glance, the times produced on the C3 softs long running by Alonso and Aston during the late FP2 race simulations appear very competitive.
This compound is expected to be the favoured race tyre (the previous construction was used for leader Leclerc&rsquo;s opening two race stints in the 2022 race), given the teams racked up the miles on it during testing last week &ndash; when it was the middle compound in Pirelli&rsquo;s whole range for the season. A switch for most to end the race on the hards is predicted at this stage to be the optimum tyre strategy.
Verstappen&rsquo;s 15-lap stint just about led the way on the race pace averages ahead of Alonso, as can be seen below. In it, the Dutchman produced a consistent run and ended up lapping quicker than he started &ndash; suggesting his rubber was holding on well despite the coarse Bahrain track surface that makes this event a performance outlier for all teams (another important caveat this weekend).
There are here two important factors to consider that, as things stand, pile expectations of Red Bull making good on its pre-season promise despite the unexpected balance shifts across lower-fuel running to higher on Friday, per Verstappen.
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First is that Alonso&rsquo;s final times in his 13-lap soft tyre stint were nearly two seconds slower than the pace he started off producing. And while his long run was still impressive overall, pack pace could yet compress in Sunday&rsquo;s race.
There, Mercedes expects to be closer to Ferrari, which is also predicted to maintain its form from 2022 &ndash; qualifying strongly and then struggling more on longer stints, with Leclerc&rsquo;s leading softs time in FP2 clocked shorter than any other team on this compound bar Haas. Nevertheless, the Scuderia was striking a downbeat tone as the paddock action wound down on Friday night.
But it is an unseen factor that surely cements Red Bull&rsquo;s place as favourite for Bahrain GP success &ndash; even though the usual practice smoke-and-mirrors games could throw up a shock. This is based on the understanding that correcting Verstappen&rsquo;s long run for the set high fuel load he was clearly running and he is thought to be &ldquo;in a league of his own&rdquo; on race pace, per a rival team member.
"In the long run, with all the changes we made, I was quite surprised that it was the pace we had" Max Verstappen
Hamilton&rsquo;s comments reinforce this, with the seven-time world champion saying &ldquo;[compared] to Red Bull, it looks just looking at the long runs, they were a second lap faster&rdquo;. And indeed, even Perez&rsquo;s average on the softs came in at 0.471s slower each time by compared to his team-mate.
What they say:
Max Verstappen: &ldquo;FP1 was really bad. I just couldn't get a balance, which was a bit odd because in testing whatever we tried &ndash; ok, some things were maybe not amazing &ndash; but not that far out. So, a few things to understand. Even the start of FP2 was a bit difficult. But then for the final run, even though [I was] not really having a good reference and confidence up until then in the car, the lap was not too bad in the short run. And also, the car felt a bit more connected.
&ldquo;And then in the long run, with all the changes we made, I was quite surprised that it was the pace we had. Overall, the car is not too bad in the long run. I just need to find my rhythm again with the car and just the way the car is driving from short run to long run.&rdquo;
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Fernando Alonso: &ldquo;At the moment we are just concentrating on ourselves. Still a lot of things to improve in the car. The balance was not completely perfect today.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s another step into the right direction. The car still feels good. We need to wait and see. At the moment there is not much focus on times because we have to improve a few things on the car in terms of set-up.
&ldquo;I'm not thinking that high [about pole potential] to be honest. Actually, I don't know exactly what position will be a good one for us.&rdquo;
Charles Leclerc: &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think we have the performance maybe for pole. But we can be in the mix and whenever we have races that are a bit more difficult we should be here and try and take every opportunity so that&rsquo;s what we&rsquo;ll try to do this weekend.
&ldquo;[On race pace] That&rsquo;s where I think we have most work to do but again, it is very difficult to know what the others are running. We know what we running and there&rsquo;s a bit of margin but we need to wait and see for Sunday. But there&rsquo;s still things to improve.&rdquo;
Lewis Hamilton: &ldquo;We found out we're a long way off. So, we kind of have kind of knew that a little bit in the test. But it's a big gap. I'm trying everything I can out there. But just, it is what it is. And so, we've just got to try at work at it.
&ldquo;I think I got the car to the best place I can get it setup wise. So, we'll continue to tweak little bits here and there. But yeah, it's going to be small bits here and there, which is milliseconds. It's not going to be the closing of the gap of a second.
&ldquo;We're kind of either where we were last year, [or] if not a little bit further behind.&rdquo;
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By Alex Kalinauckas

Is the Aston Martin Formula 1 team really in the top-three mix after Bahrain testing, potentially pitched somewhere between Ferrari and Mercedes?
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That was the view of rivals and pundits who crunched the numbers after the three days of running at Sakhir.
The car looked good from the start, but it was a race distance undertaken by Fernando Alonso late on the final day that caught the eye, the Spaniard running a medium/hard/medium tyre combination that saw him get faster and faster.
It was a strong conclusion to a test that began badly when the AMR23 stopped on track and triggered a red flag right at the start of Thursday&rsquo;s opening session due to a typical test day electrical niggle.
After that pretty much everything went to plan, at least in terms of the job list, which had the obvious focus of honing the AMR23 while also allowing Alonso to get to know the car and team better.
If there was a negative it was the absence of Lance Stroll, who as Alonso himself was keen to flag would have provided vital feedback on what&rsquo;s changed from last year&rsquo;s car.
The loss of that reference and the need to get reserve driver Felipe Drugovich up to speed on race preparations in case he has to be called upon for this weekend meant that it was not quite an optimum programme, but it wasn&rsquo;t far off.
&ldquo;We had our plans of what we wanted to do over the three days,&rdquo;said team principal Mike Krack after the test ended. &ldquo;We had a little bit of an issue giving the first red flag of the test, and everybody looks at each other, &lsquo;Oh, this is not a good start.&rsquo;
&ldquo;I think we did a bit more than 350 laps over the three days, which is quite good. So from that point of view, we are quite happy that we managed to complete all what we wanted to complete.
"You always want to do much more than you can do in in three days. You have a huge list of requirements, of requests from all kinds of departments, and you have to prioritise them. The list does not become shorter. Each time you have done something, another topic comes up.
&ldquo;So you can never say that you are finished. You are always having questions. But this is also the nice bit about F1, that you always have to explore other directions, new Ideas and stuff like that.&rdquo;
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Performance as always is the key parameter, and while Aston didn&rsquo;t figure very high on headline times &ndash; Alonso was ninth overall with a lap set on Saturday with the C4 tyres &ndash; it was that final long run that was significant.
Despite the evidence on the timing screens, Krack urged a note of caution, suggesting that the AMR23 was flattered by circumstances, and especially the fact that a well-rubbered track had helped Alonso&rsquo;s final run.
&ldquo;The race simulation was certainly not bad,&rdquo; he acknowledged. &ldquo;But we must also not forget that the track conditions were really good. You had a lot of rubber because there were other teams doing new tyres a lot of times, also with soft rubber.
&ldquo;And this is helping when you do a race simulation. So again, it is nice to have good long runs, but still you need to really put them into the right context, and let's not start dreaming.&rdquo;
Krack may have tried to add an asterisk to the performance, but nevertheless the consensus around the paddock was that Aston is in the ballpark.
&ldquo;Yeah, but these dynamics that you can sometimes get, like someone says it's very good,&rdquo; Krack noted. &ldquo;And then someone says it's good, and it's very good&hellip; It's like when the word goes around the children at school. So we I think we need to keep our feet on the ground.
&ldquo;Our expectations are always high, and this time of year, everybody wants to do well and talk others into some roles. We are realists. We have clear objectives, that is improve compared to where we were last year and then we will see."
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Krack may be keen to downplay expectations, but there&rsquo;s no question that Aston Martin has made a big step in the last 12 months.
Last year&rsquo;s AMR22 was designed with flexibility built-in to allow a change of concept should it turn out that there was a better alternative to the original choice, and that&rsquo;s exactly what happened.
The car improved over the season and was very competitive in most of the later races, but there were still some compromises around that original concept choice.
The AMR23 has been developed under technical director Dan Fallows and his fellow new recruits, including former Mercedes aero man Eric Blandin. As such it pretty much represents a clean sheet of paper design, an attempt to make a significant leap forward in one go.
The team was determined to start 2023 with the best possible package for the obvious reason that development will eat into the cost cap, so why not throw everything you can into the launch spec?
&ldquo;That's something that the group around Dan has really approached in a different way with the AMR23, to have an aggressive approach,&rdquo; said Krack.
&ldquo;Because in the cost cap world you cannot afford, what we have tried to achieve last year, that you have to improve really, really over the year, because the race intensity is high.
&ldquo;The money you have to develop the car is really not high. So you have to start with a good baseline. And I think that was one of the objectives.
"The main things in F1 are always the same, where do you improve? So you have to work on aerodynamics in the first place, you have to provide good feedback to the drivers, so that they that the car is predictable, that it&rsquo;s benign.
&ldquo;So these are all areas that you concentrate on. And then you have to have a good mechanical platform.&rdquo;
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Alonso&rsquo;s priority was to explore the limits of set-up, try avenues that there won&rsquo;t always be time to sample on hectic race weekends, and generally get to understand the car.
&ldquo;The positive thing here with Fernando was he tried several things, basically to fill his toolbox,&rdquo; Krack explained.
&ldquo;He tried things where maybe sometimes he would say, this is not the right thing to do now, but it is something that he wanted to have the information on, because he knows that maybe in Melbourne he might need something like this, or in another race track, you might still need something like that.
&ldquo;So it was about understanding what you have at your disposal from a car point of view, a set-up point of view. And it's something that over the days he really developed. And I think he has a better answer now, or a better feeling of what he has to do.&rdquo;
Alonso is pumped up, fully motivated, and thus far very happy with his decision to jump ship from Alpine and join Aston. He acknowledged that it had been useful few days, with a lot of work done.
&ldquo;The car felt good all three days,&rdquo; he said after the test. &ldquo;We've been experimenting a little bit with very different routes on set-ups. And we found always positives, these new routes.
&ldquo;So there is a clear indication that we need to change philosophy and many things on this car, compared to last year's car. And that, obviously is a concern in a way because we will need couple of races to optimise everything.&rdquo;
Crucially the car seems to do what it is supposed to do, which gives Alonso something to work with.
&ldquo;I think so far the car was responding well for the set-up changes,&rdquo; said the Spaniard. &ldquo;It was doing what we were expecting. The only thing is that the baseline set-up from last year is pretty much useless, because we operate in a very different window with this car.
&ldquo;So that's very challenging now for the engineers, but they were very brave, very creative with different ideas in the last few days, and we found new ways to set up the car. We have very talented people in the team, so I trust them, and we will get more and more productive."
Fallows and Blandin have added some extra knowledge on the design side, but the core of the race team is still compromised of guys who go back to Force India days, and who have always been adept at extracting the maximum potential from the package they had.
Now they may have their hands on the most competitive car they&rsquo;ve had in years, and all concerned know how to make the most of it having waited a long time for the pieces to fall into place.
&ldquo;First of all, we are a very good and very experienced team, Team Silverstone," said Krack. &ldquo;T it is not the first year that we are that we are doing this.&nbsp;
"People have learned a lot from last year. People are very humble, as a team, we are humble people, we are not coming with big with big words, we have never been.
&ldquo;From that point of view the expectations are, let's try to improve, and then we see what is the outcome &ndash; because you cannot predict it anyway."
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Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso

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While the regular Formula 1 race team drivers are household names, the test and reserve drivers play an important role behind the scenes. But who exactly are they? Here's our team-by-team listing.
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What's the difference between an F1 reserve driver and a test driver? Additional drivers within Formula 1 teams don't all have the same job title. The terms 'third driver' and 'reserve driver' are both in regular use, although some teams combine this role.
The third driver is better described as the test driver. Teams rope them in to help the regular drivers and engineers improve the car. Every now and then, a third driver may take charge of a test day or Friday practice to build a better feel for the car. Demos or other PR stunts often fall to the third driver too.
A reserve driver, on the other hand, is on standby during grand prix weekends to fill in in case one of the regular drivers cannot drive for some reason. So they are present at most grands prix, watching the action in the pitbox. Outside the race weekend, the reserve driver is also regularly at work in the simulator.
Red Bull Racing Reserve drivers: Liam Lawson, Dennis Hauger, Zane Maloney Third driver: Daniel Ricciardo Simulator driver: Rudy van Buren Red Bull has not skimped on behind-the-scenes helpers for Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Young talents Liam Lawson, Zane Maloney and Dennis Hauger are all on the payroll as official reserve drivers for both the primary team and AlphaTauri. The trio will alternate during grand prix weekends, giving them a valuable glimpse into how things operate, with an eye to the future.
In November, Red Bull announced Daniel Ricciardo's return to the team as a third driver. The Australian wanted a break from the limelight after his troubled spell at McLaren and was able to join his old employer. The good-humoured driver will be responsible for numerous PR activities, but will also step into the simulator to support the regular drivers.
Finally, Rudy van Buren is the Red Bull F1 simulator test and development driver. The Dutchman plays an important role behind the scenes and spends many hours in the team's simulator. With testing opportunities in F1 limited, Van Buren's role is very valuable. He is mainly involved in developing the car and 'track support': trying out set-ups and potential updates for the regular drivers during GP weekends and making suggestions accordingly.
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Aston Martin Test and reserve driver: Stoffel Vandoorne Reserve driver: Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin is opting for a strong in-house reserve bench in 2023. In recent years, the team has been able to call on the reserves of engine partner Mercedes in case of emergency. In November 2022, Stoffel Vandoorne was confirmed as test and reserve driver. The Belgian comes over from Mercedes, where he performed this role for many years. At the ambitious Silverstone-based team, Vandoorne will have an important role in the simulator and development programme.
The team has also set up its own driver development programme for 2023. Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich was the first recruit. The Brazilian will start work as the F1 team's reserve driver and will attend a number of grands prix in 2023 to gain experience. In addition, an extensive test programme in a previous year's Aston Martin is on his schedule.
Drugovich subbed for the injured Lance Stroll in 2023 pre-season testing, and looks set to replace him in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
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Alfa Romeo Reserve driver: Theo Pourchaire Top French talent Theo Pourchaire has already been part of the Sauber Academy, the Swiss F1 team's talent programme, since 2019. In October it was announced that he would become the team's official reserve driver. This will strengthen the youngster's ties to the F1 operation.
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Ferrari Reserve driver: Antonio Giovinazzi Test driver: Robert Shwartzman After three seasons at Alfa Romeo, Antonio Giovinazzi was sidelined by the Swiss team at the end of 2021. The Italian returned to Ferrari as a reserve driver. He also fulfilled this role for Ferrari partner teams Alfa Romeo and Haas in 2022. He appeared for the latter in the free practice sessions of the Italian and American GPs.
Robert Shwartzman has been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy for several years. Driving under the flag of Israel, the young Russian has already completed several F1 sessions for Ferrari and Haas. He has also conducted several test days using an old-model car.
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McLaren Reserve driver: Alex Palou and Mick Schumacher (all season), Felipe Drugovich, Stoffel Vandoorne (first 15 races of 2023) Test and development driver: Will Stevens Test and development driver: Oliver Turvey McLaren will employ its own reserve drivers again in 2023. In recent years, the team has relied on engine partner Mercedes for any emergency substitutes. Next season, Alex Palou is the official reserve driver. He is also active in IndyCar.&nbsp;
Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher will also be made available as a stand-in, after a deal was reached with the German squad.
The Woking team has also reached an agreement with Aston Martin to have access to its two back-up drivers Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne over the first 15 races of the season if required.
Behind the scenes, the British squad employs several other experienced drivers: Will Stevens and Oliver Turvey. The duo spend a lot of time in the team's simulator, where they work closely with the engineers and regular drivers. During grands prix, they test all kinds of changes and improvements in real time in Woking. This helps the drivers at the track find the best set-up and strategy.
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Mercedes Reserve driver: Mick Schumacher
The Mercedes F1 Team leaned on Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne as test and reserve drivers in 2022. The pair will start working elsewhere in 2023. De Vries will become a full-time driver at AlphaTauri after his strong showing at the Italian GP. Vandoorne will become Aston Martin's permanent reserve. Mick Schumacher was named as successor following his departure from Haas.
Alpine Reserve driver: Jack Doohan
Behind the scenes, top talent Oscar Piastri had been groomed by Alpine in recent years for a future as a regular driver. However, the Australian wasn't confident about the future and decided to sign a contract with McLaren. Jack Doohan has been named as the team's reserve driver for 2023, a role he will dovetail with a Formula 2 campaign.
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AlphaTauri Due to its close ties with Red Bull, AlphaTauri doesn't have a reserve driver of its own. The small team from Faenza can call on the big brother's pool instead. Promising youngsters from the Red Bull training programme are also given the opportunity to gain mileage at AlphaTauri.
Williams The legendary Grove-based team had Logan Sargeant as a test driver in 2022. However, the young American will be promoted to the second race seat alongside Alexander Albon for 2023. Williams does not employ its own reserve driver. In recent years, they've been able to call on the reserves of engine partner Mercedes when necessary. Whether that will also be the case in 2023 is not yet known.
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Haas Reserve driver: Pietro Fittipaldi
Pietro Fittipaldi has filled the role of reserve driver at Haas for the past three seasons. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, team boss Gunther Steiner revealed that a continuation of the partnership would be possible if it fits within Fittipaldi's racing plans, which has since been confirmed.
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By Casper Bekking

McLaren is bracing for tough start to the 2023 Formula 1 season due to a draggy MCL60, and Andrea Stella has explained why aerodynamic efficiency remains its weakness.
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At McLaren's 2023 launch, even before a wheel was turned, the team realised it was in for a rough start to the new season because it found it had missed its aero targets.
Last week's three-day Bahrain test has gone reasonably well, but it also confirmed the team's expectation that just like last year it would start 2023 with a car that is too inefficient, and therefore generates excessive drag for a given downforce level.
Succeeding a 2021 car that was actually known for its excellent straightline speed, the 2022 MCL36 was also known to be rather draggy, which forced the team to make trade-offs between top speed and optimum downforce levels.
It led to aerodynamic efficiency to be one of the priorities to address for this year, but soon after putting together the launch spec of the new MCL60 McLaren realised it had gone in the wrong direction and left a lot of performance on the table.
It will have now to wait until its first major upgrade package can be put on the car - which is planned for the Baku round at the end of April - to catch up.
Stella, who has replaced the departed Andreas Seidl as team principal, says there isn't one reason why McLaren has struggled with efficiency for two years in a row, but that it ties in with the overhaul of the Woking headquarters' infrastructure.
"I wouldn't say there's a specific deficit in some areas, it's various reasons," Stella explained.
"We keep mentioning the technology, the lack of the wind tunnel. We keep mentioning that from a workforce point of view, we do have to expand the aerodynamic group, we went through a phase of contraction, we have now changed this tendency.
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"If you see some top teams, if you see Red Bull, they have kept developing, they have expertise for a long time. And now they are in condition to respond to changes or regulations, improving year by year.
"I'm afraid that just continuous improvement and growth [is needed], and we have to improve in all areas."
Stella does not want to use F1's cost cap as an excuse for why McLaren hasn't come out of the 2022 rules reset as well as it would have liked, nor is the MCL60's inefficiency linked to the subsequent 2023 floor tweaks.
"I wouldn't say the budget gap is necessarily a limitation for us," he said.
"It's an excuse that I don't want to invoke because McLaren is now in a situation in which we do have resources that we can invest, these investments have already started, we have been able to optimise within the cost cap.
"It takes time to achieve the standards required from a technological point of view, from an expertise point of view, from a number of people point of view, to compete at the top in Formula 1.
"It is not an effect of changes in regulations. We didn't take a step backwards. We just didn't develop fast enough."

By Filip Cleeren and Jonathan Noble

Aston Martin Formula 1 team boss Mike Krack has hinted that Sebastian Vettel could be in the mix as a surprise replacement for the injured Lance Stroll.
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Krack insisted that Stroll remains the Plan A and that no alternatives would be considered until it is clear that the Canadian can&rsquo;t drive in next week&rsquo;s Bahrain GP.
Official reserve driver Felipe Drugovich remains the obvious favourite to get the seat given that he tested the car in Bahrain this week.
However, should Stroll's problems prove to be longer term and stretch to the second race in Saudi Arabia, Vettel would have more time to undertake proper preparations and, for example, try the AMR23 in the simulator. Vettel retired at the end of last season with 299 grand prix starts to his name.
Krack confirmed that he has spoken to the four-time world champion since news of Stroll&rsquo;s cycling accident and wrist injury became public, although he declined to confirm whether or not the German showed an interest in returning to the cockpit.
&ldquo;I have had a couple of phone calls with Sebastian,&rdquo; said Krack when asked by Motorsport.com if they had spoken in recent days. &ldquo;But this has been also last year, and this will continue in the future.&rdquo;
Asked if Vettel had indicated an interest in driving, he replied: &ldquo;I will not tell you.&rdquo;
When asked if the longer lead time to the Saudi Arabian race would allow Vettel more preparation time, should Stroll not be fit, Krack appeared to leave the door open.
&ldquo;I mean, this is very, very hypothetical,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;First of all, our plan is to have Lance in the car. And then we continue to see because we have Bahrain first before we speak about Jeddah. We have not made the final decision. That's the point.
&ldquo;Don't forget one thing. He had a very, very thorough plan in mind for his retirement. And, you know, I think this is also something that you have to respect. So let's see what's happening.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
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Krack admitted that Stroll&rsquo;s situation remains unclear: &ldquo;I honestly don't know at this point. He&rsquo;s our Plan A obviously, we want to have Lance back in the car, but we have to wait, what he says and what the doctors are saying in the right moment.
"There are certain delays or certain limits that you have to give to the FIA, and then we will respect this. We'll have to see how the situation is developing over the next day. It's like in football, you have players that are a little bit injured, and you wait for the last moment, and then you decide if they can play or not.
&ldquo;The Plan B we have to decide. We have some Plan Bs, but we have to decide the Plan B when the Plan A is not possible. It's very simple. Can he drive or can he not drive?&rdquo;
Krack confirmed said Stroll has not been in the Silverstone team's simulator, but the plan is for him to try it: "Not yet, he will go. It's the first step.&rdquo;
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Sebastian Vettel

A word of caution for those wishing to view the latest Formula 1 offering from Netflix's Drive to Survive documentary series, which releases today.
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The beginning of season five starts with a quick recap of the 2021 season finale which, for some Formula 1 fans, might prove a bruising experience given the controversial events from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
But that shouldn't detract from what is another must-watch series, with the opening segment of the 2022 season providing a nice palate cleanser as buddies Mattia Binotto and Gunther Steiner enjoy a getaway in the Italian Dolomites in a Fiat 500, visiting the now former Ferrari principal's vineyard.
It sets the tone for the entire season, deftly balancing the tension and rivalries that make F1 so compelling with light-hearted moments that show a more human side of the protagonists. The opening episode quickly shifts gears and focuses on the Bahrain GP curtain raiser and the 'new dawn' of F1 with the new-for-2022 technical regulations.
More comedic relief follows when Mercedes' radical zero-pod concept attracts a lot of attention - and more than a hint of scorn - by rival drivers. While their reservations soon prove justified by Mercedes' on-track struggles, focus shifts to Ferrari which does seem to have the tools to finally deliver the demanding tifosi another crown, a story arc that is followed in later episodes, even if we know by now it wasn't a happy ending....
It quickly becomes apparent that Netflix and production company Box to Box Films have stuck to their guns. After all, why change a winning formula that has helped elevate F1's popularity to unseen heights?
The fly on the wall aspect of its camera crew, which follows different drivers and teams every weekend, again delivers some candid insight and comedic gold dust and makes fans feel like they're in the moment. Sharing the heartbreak of Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher's struggles in their bespoke episodes is in contrast to the banter as Kevin Magnussen lives his best life on his unlikely Haas return.
Narrative context continues to be provided by talking heads - the excellent Will Buxton is as quotable as ever - and plenty of drivers and team bosses take centre stage in front of the camera.
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Having refused to take part in previous seasons due to a disagreement over the creative licence DTS takes with F1's actual storylines and its portrayal of drivers, reigning world champion Max Verstappen has now lent his cooperation after clearing the air with the show's producers.
Verstappen's contributions are limited to basic soundbites and platitudes, but the importance of having the current world champion on board doesn't need explaining. And the Dutchman can rest assured, the words he offers aren't twisted by Netflix.
The show is even self-aware enough to point out its status as an entertainment product and not a documentary, with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff likening it to Hollywood blockbuster film, Top Gun.
One of the series' main points of criticism, its tendency to mix on-board radio comments and pit wall reactions with unrelated action footage, continues in season five, although its transgressions feel less egregious than in previous years and mainly help propel the episodes forward.
After the explosive conclusion to the 2021 season, 2022 offered less unfettered drama and you could be forgiven for thinking that the show would go to greater lengths to conjure up storylines. But all in all, it hasn't really done that. Most of last year's major talking points are covered with broad but quite fair strokes, even if they are just a bit flatter than 2021's rollercoaster.
One complaint is that Zhou Guanyu's Silverstone crash is milked for all it's worth, with endless replays and dramatic pauses before revealing the outcome - Romain Grosjean's 2020 Bahrain GP crash playbook followed to a tee.
Few segments are particularly revealing for die hard F1 fans, but it's those little extras that make DTS worth watching for them. We don't need to dip behind the scenes to be reminded of how bad Mercedes' issues were, but Red Bull team boss Christian Horner openly revelling in its downfall and speculating on whether Lewis Hamilton will retire or not is a cheeky bit a colour, picking up the thread of a hostile rivalry that dominated season four.
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We previously knew about Wolff's fury in team principal meetings as he tried to convince his colleagues to address porpoising in 2022 while facing fierce resistance from his Red Bull nemesis, but seeing parts of it included in the show makes us want to break out the popcorn and snigger along with amused bystanders Andreas Seidl and Jost Capito. After all, the years of Mercedes dominance haven't made Wolff's counterparts particularly sympathetic to his plight.
The popcorn stash gets raided again when we get to follow Ferrari's many strategy meltdowns and Red Bull catches flak for its cost cap breach. Or when the battle for Oscar Piastri's services between Alpine and McLaren comes to a head, letting us listen in on private talks between respective team bosses Otmar Szafnauer and Zak Brown. Future Bond villain Fernando Alonso gets our nomination for actor in a supporting role, throwing a spanner in the works at Alpine with his sudden move to Aston Martin. "I'm still the bad guy," the Spaniard grins to the camera.
Hyping up the glamour of the inaugural Miami GP will certainly indulge Liberty Media, but DTS doesn't shy away from fan service either. AlphaTauri's bromance between Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda is scooped up rather generously and series star Steiner again grabs a lot of screen time. This time, though, we also get to see a more weighty, human side behind the Haas team boss' mischievous jokes and f-bombs. They're just like the rest of us, these F1 team bosses. We even get to see Szafnauer iron his own shirts!
Having said that, it is rather puzzling to see Ricciardo get a much bigger send-off than four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel. The German barely features and doesn't really receive the farewell from the show befitting his glittering career.
The 2021 season was a tough act to follow and some of season five's weaker episodes don't quite scale the same heights as last season. The exclusive footage that DTS thrives on is just about juicy enough to make this season a must-watch again, even if some elements will inevitably be grating to F1's most ardent apologists.
Casual and new fans, the main focus group after all, won't care about those details though, and they're in for another ride.

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