Duel of irreconcilable former champions and 8 more intrigues from the second half of the Formula 1 season
Dmitry Zakharchenko August 24, 2023, 13:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Ferrari and Aston Martin share just five points and Ricciardo has a chance to redeem himself after two years of failure.
The four-week break in Formula 1 is coming to an end: this weekend the Dutch Grand Prix will be held in Zandvoort, the fourteenth stage of the 2023 season. There are 10 races left until the end of the championship and we offer a summary of the main intrigues of the remaining stages.
Who will win Red Bull?
All 12 stages contested this year were run by Red Bull and the Austrians’ winning streak includes 13 races. No one has been able to beat the Red Bulls since last November, when the Mercedes drivers recorded a one-two finish in Sao Paulo. Sooner or later, the series of triumphs must come to an end, but it is impossible to predict who will be in front when it does, whether Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and/or Aston Martin. Or will Red Bull become the first team in history not to lose a single Grand Prix in a year?
So far, the Austrians are ahead of everyone:
The collapse of Red Bull’s rivals and 5 more main results from the first part of the Formula 1 season
Who will be the best of the rest?
The question of the championship is already practically closed: Verstappen has secured the lead four stages ahead and is confidently chasing his third consecutive title. Thus, the main intrigue of the tournament is the fight for the title of “best of the rest”. In it, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are separated by a single point and, judging by the last few races, the Mercedes driver is more likely to be ahead. Behind this pairing are Leclerc, Russell and Norris, but they are 50 points behind and only in the case of a very successful series will they be able to compete with the former champions.
Hamilton, Alonso and Leclerc at the Canadian Grand Prix
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Battle between the top 3 of the constructors’ championship
In the Constructors’ Championship, the fight for second place is less intense: Mercedes, which overtook Aston Martin after the Spanish Grand Prix, leads the Stroll team by 51 points. Much more interesting is whether Ferrari will be able to outpace Aston Martin and finish the season in the top three of the team standings. For the Scuderia, any place short of first is a failure, but a loss to rivals just behind would be a blow to the pride of all of Maranello.
We understand the further fate of Charles:
What options does Leclerc have besides a Ferrari? Yes, he can’t escape the Scuderia!
What will Sergio Pérez show?
At the start of the season, Cheko had two victories and joined the fight with Verstappen. However, it was not possible to keep up with Max, the Mexican burned out and after the accident in Monaco he made some more mistakes. Second place in the championship for Helmut Marko means nothing in itself: Pérez must show that he can again be a reliable second number and, if necessary, help Verstappen. Sergio is under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2024, but none of Max’s teammates are immune from relegation to Alpha Tauri.
Sergio Perez and Helmut Marko
Photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Will Alonso return to the podium?
In the first eight races, Alonso was on the podium six times, was Verstappen’s closest rival and could have won the Monaco Grand Prix had he immediately switched to intermediate tyres. However, after the Canadian leg, Aston Martin’s pace dropped and since then Fernando has never been in the top three. According to the Spaniard, he has no hope of winning this season, but deep down he probably believes that he will still be able to compete among the leaders. Or has the potential of the AMR23 been exhausted?
Will the former champion have a chance of achieving his 33rd victory?
Will the Aston Martin and Honda union ruin Alonso’s career? Not everything is so clear!
What is McLaren capable of?
McLaren’s breakthrough amid massive chassis upgrades was one of the highlights of the end of the first half of the season. At Silverstone and the Hungaroring, the Woking car was second fastest and took podium finishes. In Spa the picture was a little less rosy, but there too Piastri managed to compete with Verstappen, although only for a short time. One way or another, the car clearly has considerable potential, but what results the team will be able to achieve with it remains anyone’s guess.
Piastri and Verstappen race in Spa
Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images
Will Ricardo get up?
After two frankly unsuccessful seasons at McLaren, Ricciardo decided to take a career hiatus, but it didn’t last long. The Australian took the place of Nick de Vries, who failed in Alpha Tauri, and has already contested two races: in the first, Daniel outperformed Tsunoda in a completely unknown car, and in the second, he ruined everything already in Qualifying. Whether this will be the start of Ricciardo’s great return to the grid, or whether his best days are behind him, the remaining 10 races should prove it.
They had never seen Daniel like this before.
my God
“Funniest shit I’ve ever read.” An erotic novel was dedicated to the F-1 pilot: he is in shock
What will happen to Haas?
Haas is one of the most mysterious cars in the bunch. In the qualifications, thanks to the efforts of Hulkenberg, he regularly reaches the final (in Miami, the VF-23 was the fourth fastest, in Montreal – the second). But at a distance, the drivers instantly run out of tires and the pace drops to catastrophically low values. If the engineers manage to fix the problem, the American team will easily establish itself in seventh place in the Constructors’ Championship and move out of the group of outsiders. And if not, Gene Haas will have to rethink whether he should transfer his descendants to someone else, the Andretti family, for example.
Haas has been in trouble for years
Photo: Francois Nel/Getty Images
Will Sargent make it to Albon?
Sargent’s debut in Formula 1 is not easy. Logan regularly makes mistakes, is unsteady for long stretches and has struggled to keep up with Alex Albon so far. At Williams they support the newcomer and are willing to give him more time. But will the team agree to leave it for one more year if there is no clear progress in the second part of the championship? The frontrunners for Sargent’s job are Mercedes reservist Mick Schumacher and F2 title contender Frederick Vesti, and Logan still isn’t convinced his services won’t be needed.
Grove’s legal battles:
Stories
The Formula 1 team can lose 100 million dollars because of a former employee
