We're a week away from lights out in Bahrain! Away from point scoring and guessing who's fastest and slowest, I've made 5 predictions about what could happen on and off track in 2023!
F2 drivers, F1 legends and a "bunch of rockstars" all feature in my predictions!
1. Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan will make his F1 race debut
📸 Alpine reserve Jack Doohan.
Pierre Gasly, Alpine's new driver alongside mainstay. Esteban Ocon, is perilously close to a race ban at the moment. We could see Australian star Doohan debut as early as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the second round of the year.
Doohan impressed in his rookie F2 year, finishing 6th overall, winning on 3 occasions and mustering up 6 podiums in total. He made his FP1 debut in Mexico, appearing again in Abu Dhabi's session and end of season test.
While Alpine searched for a replacement for Fernando Alonso, Doohan was driving well enough in 2022 that he was touted as a potential contender for the second seat, and even had a separate test, rumoured to be alongside Nyck de Vries, Antonio Giovinazzi and others in a shoot out for the seat.
2. We’ll see Sebastian Vettel race
📸 4 time world champion and F1 legend, Sebastian Vettel.
Sebastian Vettel has raced in F1 299 times. 300 is a nice while number isn't it? Seb will be back in F1 at some stage, that we can be sure of, but how good would it be to see him race one more time?
The German has spoken of his desire to potentially race again at Suzuka, and it would be incredible to see. Come back please Seb!
3. Haas will score their first podium
📸 181 race starts for Nico Hülkenberg, no podiums...could this year be the year for him?
'Hülkenback' is fully complete as the German has joined Haas for a full time seat with the American set up. 181 starts so far, no podiums despite a few good chances, perhaps this year is the year as Haas have showed major progression over the last year.
Kevin Magnussen has 1 podium from 142 starts, and impressed last year after his late callback to F1. He managed a stunning 5th place in last year's Bahrain opener and could well have been further up.
Could this be a great year for Haas?
4. Someone will lose or vacate their seat mid season
📸 Jolyon Palmer hustles a Renault.
British driver Jolyon Palmer was one of the last full time race drivers to vacate their seat mid season when he departed Renault after 16 races of the 2017 season, being replaced by Carlos Sainz who joined 'on loan' for the remainder of the year and into 2018.
Could we see it again the year? Who do you think it could be? Who would replace them?
5. A record number of F2 drivers will partake in the mandated rookie sessions
📸 Logan Sargeant benefitted greatly from his 2022 FP1 sessions as he's been promoted from F2.
Logan Sargeant was one of many number of F2 drivers alongside names like Liam Lawson, Jack Doohan and Theo Pourchaire who featured in FP1 sessions in 2022, with Sargeant perhaps the biggest beneficiary as he made it into F1 as a result of his performances in those sessions and in F2.
F2 is stacked with talent this season, so I'd expect to see the likes of Red Bull juniors Isack Hadjar, Dennis Hauger and Ayumu Iwasa feature as well as Alfa Romeo's Theo Pourchaire, the aforementioned Alpine reserve Doohan, Mercedes' young Dane Frederik Vesti and maybe even F3 driver Franco Colapinto, a Williams junior, all among the names to potentially feature in the FP1 sessions in 2023.
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Haas F1 Team, Alpine F1 Team, Aston Martin F1 Team.
Comentários