Ferrari was definitely sandbagging then, we'll see what Alonso can do.
F1 2023 Season
- Thread starter pauldyson1uk
- Start date
LEC out ? Ferrari being Ferrari...
Leclerc needed to take a dump?
Still pretty amazing from Alonso and AM, quicker than Sainz and Russel!
I really liked it in the photoshoot but I find in track footage the amount of bare carbon versus black paint looks a little less appealing. Almost like when you clean a black car poorly and leave swirls in the paint.
That was bit of anti climax in the end.
Wasn't a perfect lap from Alonso, but Leclerc and Verstappen were very fast.
Leclerc probably saving softs for the race, I doubt they can beat Red Bull today, and Red Bulls made one attempt less in Q2.
RB 1-2 like itsa nothing 
That’s the season then, see you in 2024
Yeah, probably smart from Ferrari in the end. They don't have the pace to improve on that
Bit disappointing so many gave up
A bit underwhelming qualifying ngl.
Wow I am shocked. Red bull 1 2
As expected!
Normal service resumes.
Expected this but still disappointed
Guys, this is not over yet. Don't forget that Red Bull usually have the quickest race pace and are very good on their tires too.
Expected result in the end, lack of tyres for everyone bar RB and Ferrari left Q3 to be a bit of a damp squib.
Q3 was crap. Alonso had a scruffy lap. RB 0.6 ahead of mercedes and 0.3 ahead of ferrari.
Thats not good for the season ahead.
Thats not good for the season ahead.
Red Bull in a league of their own, especially Verstappen. I think this might one of the most crushing domination seasons for a long time.
Have to give it to AM - massive improvement.
Have to give it to AM - massive improvement.
Underwhelming Q3 after such good Q1.
Didn’t quite understand why so many just went for 1 run in the middle. No new softs?
Yeah
Yep, deg between new and used was around 0.25
Since er... Checks notes... 2022.
In season development will make a lot of difference this year and the gaps are relatively close compared to last year. Given RB will have limited wind tunnel time I don’t expect it to be a much of a domination as last year.
RedBull just made it worse for everyone, perez just said both RBs were setup for race conditions not qualifying. Jesus.
Even worse. At least last year for a while there was some hope Ferrari might actually mount a good challenge, and won some poles. I'm talking Schumacher 2004 or Vettel 2013 domination.
I doubt anyone actually expected AM to push Red Bull for the title.
Can't fault them for nailing it under cost cap conditions - that being said - 
This.
RedBull I think didnt use new tires in Q1, saved an extra set for Q3.
Sargeant looked the most impressive of the rookies, Piastri and De Vries getting well beaten by their teammates
The gap is much further than last year, as at least then RB had some technical issues and it took them about a third of the season to pull away from everyone.
The lack of wind tunnel time could make a difference if one of the three challengers find a magic box with a lot more pace in, but RB are so far ahead it looks very unlikely.
This season will be the same domination as the latter half of last season.
Might just skip it and wait for DTS now lads.
Piastri has a much better team mate tbf and there is a reason de vries didn't get a drive until late in his career.
If you're using Q3 as the benchmark for gaps, then it's pointless as not everyone had two sets of tyres and a new set would probably give 0.2 secs lap increase. Q2 was a bit more representative. Gaps between 1-8 is much closer than gaps between 1-8 from last year. Total field gap last year was around 2 seconds, now it's down to 1 second so gaps are relatively close compared to last year.
If Leclerc had gone for a new set on a final run then he would have been up there fighting for pole.
I know it was expected but so dissapointed in Mercedes and mclaren