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The 2023 F1 Australian GP will be the third race of the season as the circus heads Down Under.
The race comes at a pivotal time as the first two events have already set the course in motion for Red Bull's domination this season. Having said that, there is always a surprise or two in store in Australia.
An odd result, an early race crash. weather playing mischief: these aspects have always featured prominently at Albert Park over the years. Having said that, what can we expect from the weekend? What are our picks for the 2023 F1 Australian GP?
Well, let's take a look as we share our predictions for the race.
#1 Max Verstappen wins the 2023 F1 Australian GP
It's hard to go against Red Bull, especially if we keep in mind the kind of performance advantage that the team has shown in the first two races. Once we get that part out of the way, the second thing that needs to be determined is who would be the driver that takes the chequered flag first.
Will it be Max Verstappen or will it be Sergio Perez?
Even though Perez was quite impressive in Jeddah, it would be a bit foolish to count out Max Verstappen. The Dutch driver has dominated his teammate for a chunk of their partnership and it would be unwise to pick against him at this stage.
As a result, we're picking Max Verstappen to win the 2023 F1 Australian GP.
#2 Charles Leclerc scores a podium
Much has been said about Ferrari's sudden drop in pace in Jeddah. The team put that down to not running a low downforce setup similar to what it did in Bahrain.
There is arguably more to that story than Ferrari let on. The team was around six-tenths down on Red Bull in race pace in Bahrain and was expected to do better in Jeddah.
However, the opposite happened. The gap in the race was more than a second per lap. While a lot of it was put down to Ferrari's setup, the answer could be something else as well. The team suffered PU issues early in the season and could have run it conservatively in Jeddah to get to the chequered flag safely.
At the 2023 F1 Australian GP, with more confidence in the PU now, the team could try pushing it a bit more. If that happens, Charles Leclerc could leapfrog the Aston Martin and Mercedes duos to secure a podium.
#3 McLaren scores points
McLaren have shown a tendency to be quite adept over a lap this season and then somehow completely collapse as the weekend progresses. In Bahrain, it was Lando Norris qualifying in P11 while in Jeddah it was Oscar Piastri securing a P9. However, the team couldn't secure a decent result in either of those races.
If McLaren can have a straightforward 2023 F1 Australian GP and supplement a strong qualifying session with an incident-free race, a points finish could be on the cards.
The track is also not too conducive for overtaking. If there is evidence of the cars struggling in the race, McLaren can still hold on to their position and not get overtaken easily.
#4 Four DRS zones won't have much of an impact
The fourth DRS zone has been a topic of debate primarily because Albert Park appears to have somehow lost the raceability factor in the last few years.
The races have been a bit of a damp squib more often than not, much to the chagrin of the fans. The fourth DRS zone was proposed last season as well but was taken off after the first free practice session.
It is back, however, for the 2023 F1 Australian GP and there is hope that this could help with the overtake. As much as one wants to be optimistic, the fourth zone might not help much.
This comes down to the track characteristics that lend themselves to races that feature long DRS packs with next to no overtaking. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact the fourth DRS zone has, but don't hold your breath on a revolutionary change in racing.
#5 We could see a surprise points scorer
One thing that Alex Albon brilliantly showed last season was his propensity to throw an oddball here and there. This is a characteristic the Australian GP has also had over the years.
The track can be a bit of a pain when it comes to pulling off overtakes, but at the same time what this does is give an opportunity for radical strategies. Albon ran one last season where he did almost the entire race distance on a single set of tires and pitted with a lap left, ultimately finishing 10th.
We're predicting a surprise points scorer at the 2023 F1 Australian GP as well.
