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The 2023 F1 season resumes this weekend in Azerbaijan after an unexpected four-week break. It was a bit of a surprise break just three races into the season and it was imposed because of China dropping out of the F1 calendar.
The first three races have been decent where there have been a lot of questions answered about the relative performances of different cars.
Aston Martin has been a surprise and so has been the constant presence of Fernando Alonso on the podium. Red Bull seems to be running away with the championship yet again and it's hard to see how any other team can compete for wins in any of the next few races.
Having said that, F1 is still a process of continuous improvement. After the first race, when the pecking order is established, the next part involves getting better at every GP. This is why the 2023 F1 Azerbaijan GP is crucial for a lot of teams. It comes after a break of four weeks and will be the perfect assessment of the work that has been done in the meantime.
While every team will be looking forward to resuming their campaign, a few will be especially desperate to get the ball rolling.
Which are these teams? Let's find out.
#1 Mercedes
Mercedes have been honest enough to admit that something is not right with how things have been going at Brackley and a change was needed. As part of those changes, James Allison is back at the helm and will be spearheading the team's return to the front. Having said that, it would be unfair to ignore the fact that the German team have gotten better with each race this season.
After being nowhere in Bahrain, the team has slowly but steadily made strong progress and secured a P2 finish in Australia. However, that has to be treated as nothing more than a stepping stone for a team desperate to get back to winning ways. With the team expected to bring upgrades to Baku, the race has to be another step towards the front, nothing less. Mercedes will be desperate for another strong showing this weekend, especially after their P2 result in Australia.
#2 Alpine
In terms of performance, Alpine is the fifth fastest car on the F1 grid in the first three races. In terms of results, it is in shambles. The team could have easily had six point-scoring finishes after the first three races. However, it only has three.
Esteban Ocon has had two races utterly destroyed by collisions (neither of them his doing), while Pierre Gasly himself suffered majorly with his crash in Australia.
For Alpine, the performance is there. The car has a strong foundation and all that needs to be done is to build on it. By setting its sights on Mercedes with the upgrade package, Alpine is dreaming big. If there is a clean weekend in store, a good result could be in the offing and that is exactly what the French team will be hoping to achieve.
#3 Ferrari
Ferrari are in turmoil as news of Laurent Mekies leaving the team for AlphaTauri is starting to make the rounds. Since Fred Vasseur took over, there has been a significant talent exodus from the team. Some were initiated by the team while others by the engineers and senior members themselves.
Sometimes one has to break everything down to build it back up. However, in that scenario, it takes a lot of time. Are Ferrari going through that phase? If we go by what Fred Vasseur continues to claim, that's simply not true.
Ferrari are still trying to contest for the F1 title this season and are working hard for it. However, if we look at the results, there has been a worrying decline. The first F1 race of the season in Bahrain would have been a podium but that wasn't scored due to reliability issues. Since then, there has only been a decline in every which way. The team had the slowest of the top four cars in Australia and things only became worse when both Ferrari drivers did not score a point.
At Baku, the team will be looking to regain some momentum and put together a better result. The kind of results on display for now are only going to mount pressure and a better showing is the need of the hour.
