2023 F1 - Who's excited???

[rinconryder]

I did a search to see if this had been discussed recently and as best I can tell the last time F1 was discussed was in 2018???!!! Maybe I am missing something but I found that shocking. Started watching Drive to Survive last year and got pretty hooked in - just binged the entire season 5 although it was a pretty boring race season. Hopefully Ferrari can avoid the mistakes of last year and hold Red Bull's feet to the fire. Would love to see Mercedes be competitive again of course and maybe Alonso can mix it up with the Aston Martin....

I just think the technology and symphony of machinery is so cool to watch. Anyway, just wanted to get a thread going as the new season is nearly upon us.

[dave thompson]

I'm ready for the season to start! It will be, IMO, a very interesting series of contests, particularly for the Benz team, who I hope can get their foot off their d**k, Ferrari with a new team boss and marching orders. I'm not fond of Red Bull, I think they're bullies.

[m_sasso]

Testing days are over, first race this coming weekend. The top three as usual look fast, want to see Alonso make a showing this year.

[Upcountry]

I'm eager to see Nico back on the grid...
The shuffle between Alpine/Mclarren/AlphaTauri will make for an interested battle, with those teams seemingly on a similar level thus far.
Based on early tests(and the end of last season), it seems as if Mercedes will be back to the top level, so there should be a good three way battle more so than the last two seasons where its been two teams clearly a step above.

[zap]

Originally Posted by rinconryder

I did a search to see if this had been discussed recently and as best I can tell the last time F1 was discussed was in 2018???!!!

ummmm thread in 2021 when Sir Lewis Hamilton won the world championship

Can't wait for this years first race.

[lavi]

I'm only cheering for Bottas cuz....bikes.

I know. Many drivers ride bikes for fitness and fun.

[theboucher]

Hoping for good racing all season long!

[Mike V]

I hope racing is good because I’m starting to like WEC more.

[monkeybanana86]

I am staying up watching the Netflix doc season 5 right now. Great series.

[carpediemracing]

Looking forward to it. Unfortunately, as a non-Max fan, the Red Bull car seems to be top notch. My son in particular is not keen on Max so...

I'm curious to see if Mercedes can pull some genius level tuning to get their car close, but I'm not optimistic. My son, who will be 11 soon, grew up watching F1, and he connected with Hamilton (he made a cameo in Cars 2), so we follow him.

Because there is a building near our house with a Haas F1 sign on it (they are a Haas dealer) we have a spot in our hearts for Haas. I hope they are in the mix again. My son thinks Hulkenberg is hilarious for his "I'm hanging like a cow" comment when on Renault that one year.

Feedback from testing says that Alpine is on fire? But I'm not sure if that's just a diversion or if it's real. My son likes Alonso as well, with some memorable moments that he always cites (2010 Spanish GP?, also a more recent Belgian one).

McLaren did a Lego car at the beginning of last year, and my son regularly builds and rebuilds his, so he is happy when Lando Norris does better.

Finally Ferrari. They obviously like their design philosophy to stick with it, and if their engine can hold up... And my son likes Leclerc.

Drive to Survive is a bit much to expose to my son (especially since he was about 5 when it first came out) but at some point I'll let him watch it, swear words and all. Obviously there's a lot of bleeping in F1 radio highlights, and I'm okay with that, but there's no such version of Drive to Survive.

[johnniecakes]

I am looking forward to this weekend as the F1 season starts. I don't think testing tells us too much, with different engine modes, fuel loading and new aero bits it's really hard to tell who is quick. Probably the top 3 will be be at the top. I have soft spot for Haas and Williams, hope they can mix it up a bit more this year. As a Hamilton dis-liker I hope George can outpace him. Time for some new drivers at the top fighting it out.

[thermalattorney]

I'm excited for the new season in general. I'd like to see more competition for the constructor's championship. It's a bit worrying that Mercedes and Ferrari/Hass are sticking so close to their '22 designs. I'm hoping that Alonso find more success with Aston Martin.

Last season started interestingly enough, but Verstappen & Red Bull's dominance ended up being boring. Especially when a few of those wins were the result of other teams stepping on rakes *cough* Ferrari *cough*. It was cool to see Checo assert himself.

While it's cool to have another US race, the Vegas GP is gonna suck.

[openwheelracing]

Always exciting at the start of a season.

I'd like to see Redbull give Checo more support but I am sure that won't happen.

It would be great to see Black/Silver Arrows side by side with RB and Ferrari again.

[scooter01]

FYI side note:
Drive to survive season 5 has been released on Netflix

[BdaGhisallo]

Originally Posted by openwheelracing

Always exciting at the start of a season.

I'd like to see Redbull give Checo more support but I am sure that won't happen.

It would be great to see Black/Silver Arrows side by side with RB and Ferrari again.

How many more years will it be before Red Bull is fielding a Max & Lando line up?