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As the 2023 F1 season draws closer, every team and driver is gradually gearing up. In 2022, some of the biggest rule changes were made in F1, which changed the aerodynamics of the cars and promoted closer racing. This also shuffled the entire grid at the start of the season, making for a fascinating watch. In the upcoming season, each team will be aiming to settle down and get accustomed to the aerodynamic changes imposed by the FIA.
Almost all the race venues, drivers, and teams are set for the 2023 F1 season. Some of them have even disclosed when and how they will reveal their new cars. Fans will now have to wait as the teams begin to work on the new season and aim to get the best out of their cars. Here are all the details we know so far about the 2023 F1 season.
2023 F1 season driver line-up and teams
In the middle of 2022, Sebastian Vettel announced that he would end his brilliant career and leave the sport. This sparked up the silly season as teams began to sign new drivers from each other. Drivers like Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly were the only ones who shifted from one team to another. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo, Mick Schumacher, and Nicolas Latifi find themselves without a drive for next season, however, the young drivers might make a return in the future.
Though most drivers were already on the grid last year, we see some new faces like Logan Sargeant, Nico Hulkenberg, Oscar Piastri, and Nyck de Vries. While Hulkenberg is a returnee, all others are brand new and will be starting their F1 careers for the first time.
2023 F1 season race venues and dates
Last season, there were 22 races in total as Miami was added to the calendar. In 2023, the sport planned to add another venue to increase the total number of races to 23. Amongst these races, six sprint races will take place in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the United States (COTA), and Sao Paulo.
The new track will run along the streets of Las Vegas in the United States. After the sport gained massive interest in the west, the heads of F1 decided to have more races in the United States. Also, it was recently announced that the Chinese GP has been removed from the 2023 calendar due to the COVID-19 surge and restrictions in the country.
Surprisingly, some fans are slightly against the tightly packed calendar. The sport's CEO Stefano Domenicali, however, has promised that the sport will not add more races.
Though the first race will commence on March 5th, the first pre-season testing sessions will be held between February 23rd and 25th in Bahrain. All the new 2023 challengers will have eight hours of running each day.
Rule changes for 2023 F1 season
Even though most of the rule changes were implemented in 2022, all the teams faced a major aerodynamic issue called 'porpoising'. This is a phenomenon where cars will oscillate vertically on the straights. This was because the FIA brought major changes to the floor of a car. This caused a lot of issues as the cars were unable to go fast and the overall bouncing effect was taking a toll on the drivers.
Hence, for next season, the FIA will be introducing an Aerodynamic Oscillation Metric (AOM) to ensure that the cars are not bouncing too much. This will be recorded from an accelerometer already present inside the car. This will record the number of vertical oscillations and determine whether the car is qualified to run or not. The ground-effect floors of the cars will also be raised by 15mm to minimize the porpoising.
After the horrific crash of Zhou Guanyu in the 2022 F1 British GP, the FIA is also planning to revise the roll hoop design to make it stronger.
Lastly, the rear-view mirrors are also getting bigger to improve rearward visibility. Some of the teams have already tested the larger mirrors in last season's free practice sessions.
Launch dates for 2023 F1 cars
One of the most exciting pieces of content for fans is the new cars and their reveals. Hence, the teams create a lot of hype around their machines for the new season and reveal the launch dates. With the new year yet to begin, only three teams have revealed the launch dates for their cars. As of now, AlphaTauri will reveal their car first, followed by Aston Martin and Ferrari.
These car reveal events are always special as fans get to see the new cars and listen to their favorite drivers once again as they gear up for the new season.
