Are Aston Martin ahead of Mercedes? Five key questions after F1 testing
Could Aston Martin break into the top three?
There is huge hype surrounding Aston Martin after a strong pre-season test in Bahrain.
The Silverstone-outfit turned plenty of heads over the three days, with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner joining the growing number of rivals impressed by their car’s early performance.
Fernando Alonso’s eye-catching pace over both short and long runs had rivals concerned, leaving a shared belief in the paddock that the AMR23 is a genuine step forward compared to its predecessor.
After struggling to a disappointing seventh in the championship last year, there are suggestions Aston Martin may not have only jumped to the front of the midfield queue, but could even find themselves breaking into the top-three ahead of Mercedes.
"In Saturday's Bahrain GP [long runs] such as it was, it would have been Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso on the podium ahead of the Ferraris and the Mercedes,” said Sky Sports F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz.
“Aston Martin had Red Bull worried from Day One, Adrian Newey (Red Bull's chief technical officer) mentioned them in the teams he's concerned about, the car is essentially good, it has some nice ideas.”
While Alonso expressed caution over Aston Martin’s pre-season form, there is a real sense of exuberance at the team.
Will Red Bull dominate again?
Red Bull enjoyed the strongest test of anyone in Bahrain. Their evolutionary RB19 ran reliably, looked great on track, and produced the fastest time of testing in the hands of Sergio Perez.
The RB19’s lap times over both low fuel runs and race simulations looked consistent and threatening, leading reigning world champion Max Verstappen to declare his new contender is “definitely an improvement” on its predecessor.
Given the RB18 was the dominant machine of 2022, racking up a remarkable 17 wins from 22 races, Verstappen’s warning shot to Red Bull’s rivals will certainly have got alarm bells ringing.
Considering the phenomenal form Verstappen is in, the Dutchman’s increased confidence is ominous.
The firm consensus in the paddock is that Red Bull remain the class of the field heading into the new campaign.
Red Bull's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko told Sky Germany: "Times, as we know in testing, are relative. We don't know what the competition was like on fuel, so if they were heavier than us, then our time is relative. But it has been shown that we are reliable, that we are fast, at the front.
"Above all that, what makes us very optimistic is that both of Perez's and Max's long runs were clearly at least faster than those of the competition."
Are Ferrari better placed for a title push?
Ferrari are confident they have fixed the reliability issues that dogged their failed 2022 campaign, and the Italian outfit enjoyed a smooth test with their brand-new SF-23.
However, Ferrari appear to be lagging behind Red Bull. Qualifying was the one area Ferrari excelled in last year, largely thanks to Charles Leclerc’s brilliant laps on a Saturday, but Red Bull look to have taken a step forward with their new lightweight chassis.
Leclerc’s best effort was 0.7s off Perez’s benchmark and Ferrari also seem to have a deficit to Red Bull in race simulations. Worryingly, Ferrari’s tyre degradation - a weakness at times last season - was not good when running heavy fuel.
Nevertheless, Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur was optimistic on the eve of a campaign in which F1’s most famous team hopes to finally end their long title drought.
“Whenever we managed to put everything together the performance seemed to be there, but we are clearly still in the process of getting to know the car so it's too early to say anything,” Vasseur said. “The mood in the team is perfect and we are in a good shape to start this long season."
What about Mercedes?
Overall, there were positives to take away from the test for Mercedes. Aside from a stoppage on the second day due to a hydraulic failure, their modified W14 was reliable and racked up solid mileage.
Mercedes confirmed they were no longer battling the porpoising and ride issues that riddled their troubled W13 on an encouraging opening day.
But things went south on Friday as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left mystified by balance limitations and a “strange” loss of downforce that prompted an overnight investigation.
The car was in a better place on the final day as Hamilton produced Mercedes’ best time of testing to end up 0.3s adrift of Perez, though the seven-time world champion conceded his team still have a “mountain to climb”.
There is belief within Mercedes that they will eventually fight for victories and maybe even the title this season, but at least for now, the eight-time constructors’ champions are playing catch up.
Until a significant upgrade arrives a few races into the season, Mercedes may be starting the campaign looking over their shoulders at Aston Martin.
How much trouble are McLaren in?
For the second year running, McLaren endured a torrid Bahrain test. The team seems unprepared and on the back foot heading into the new season.
Even before the on-track action began, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella publicly conceded the team were not entirely happy with their 2023 car. At the test itself, CEO Zak Brown then admitted McLaren had failed to hit development targets.
Things weren’t any better on track as McLaren faced a challenging pre-season. A lack of aerodynamic efficiency caused a headache, while the team continually found themselves needing to strengthen their front winglets between runs.
The temporary repair work set McLaren back and resulted in the team completing the lowest mileage of the 10 teams, with a frustrated Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri managing just 312 laps between them over the three days.
It looks like McLaren have slipped back in the midfield pecking order, with the Woking outfit set to face a tough start to the new season.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
