Red Bull have made a fast start to the 2023 Formula 1 campaign, and they will be aiming to win their third consecutive race here in the Australian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have had back-to-back one-twos, with the former winning in Bahrain and the latter winning in Saudi Arabia. And after yet another solid session at FP1, the SBOTOP Australian Grand Prix 2023 odds are optimistic about their chances.
Meanwhile, McLaren made headlines this past week when they announced a “major restructuring” following a lacklustre start to this season with the hope of achieving great Australian Grand Prix 2023 results this weekend to get their campaign going.
Without further ado, here are some of the top talking points ahead of the race in Down Under.
Red Bull pick up where they left off
Red Bull are poised to win their second consecutive constructors’ title this early because their drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, remain in fine form. They are the favourites to win this weekend because the RB19 is already fast and they have upgraded it.
The team was sweating on Verstappen’s fitness, as the two-time champion was ill in the build-up to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. It seems that it didn’t matter, though, as he raced to second place from 15th on the grid in Jeddah.
And yesterday in FP1, Verstappen set the pace, firmly holding P1 with an advantage of almost half a second over Lewis Hamilton, who finished behind him.
Speaking ahead of the race, Max Verstappen opened up about what he went through these past few days, saying that it felt like he was “missing a lung”. But the good news is that he looks ready to go on Sunday.
Verstappen is seeking to put last year’s race behind him, which saw him record a DNF due to a fuel leak. The Albert Park is one of the few tracks at which the Dutchman has not won in his career.
Meanwhile, Sergio Perez sits just one point behind Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. If he performs well this Sunday, we could well have a title fight between these two teammates, making for an interesting rivalry.
Ferrari and Mercedes were tipped to be Red Bull’s main rivals this season, but Aston Martin have entered the fray following Fernando Alonso’s back-to-back P3 finishes.
Alonso is defying father time at 41 years of age, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep this up. He is third in the drivers’ standings, trailing only by 14 points behind leader Max Verstappen.
McLaren hit the reset button
It’s been a disappointing start to 2023 for McLaren, as they’re the only team that has yet to score a point after the first two rounds.
In Bahrain, Oscar Piastri picked up a DNF, while Lando Norris only finished 17th. And then their highest finish so far was when Piastri ended in P15 in Jeddah.
McLaren were hounded by reliability issues in Bahrain, while they were simply unlucky in Jeddah. Either way, it’s clear that the MCL60 remains a huge work in progress.
They decided to shake up the technical team by sacking long-time technical director James Key, and former Ferrari vehicle concept head David Sanchez will lead the way for their new executive team.
The Woking-based outfit is under significant pressure to make the MCL60 competitive because they have two budding stars in Formula 1.
Oscar Piastri showed glimpses when he was the first McLaren driver to get into Q3 this season in Jeddah. The young Australian will be eager to put on a brilliant performance in front of his home crowd this weekend.
History
Charles Leclerc took the pole position and won in last season’s Australian Grand Prix, but it turned out to be his last race victory in quite some time, paving the way for Max Verstappen to successfully defend his crown.
Leclerc was joined by Sergio Perez (P2) and George Russell (P3) at the podium, while Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Carlos Sainz Jr. did not finish the race.
Prior to Leclerc last year, Lewis Hamilton had taken all five previous pole positions, but he only won once in those instances (in 2015). Former Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas won in 2016 and 2019, respectively, while Sebastian Vettel won two in a row in 2017 and 2018.
Michael Schumacher and the late Lex Davison have the most wins on this track with four apiece, while Lewis Hamilton is the active driver with the most right now with two.
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