With the new F1 season already underway, I thought now would be a great time to bring back a post that I did last year in making some somewhat bold predictions for the upcoming year. Yes, I’ve left it a bit late, but at the time of writing there’s only been three free practice sessions and pre-season testing so I’m not really cheating. But in a way that means they (maybe) hold a bit more weight because I’ve waited to see some actual racing instead of just some pre-season testing. Plus, if this goes anything like last year’s one, then it’ll age pretty poorly very quickly. I did predict that Mercedes were sandbagging all the way through pre-season and it was all mind games from Toto Wolff before Lewis Hamilton would go on to win his 8^th title after all, oh how naïve I was. So, with the dawning of a new season, it’s time for a fresh bunch of predictions of what I think will happen in the 2023 Formula 1 season!

Williams rise, Tauris fall

Williams had a pretty poor season last year, and AlphaTauri didn’t do much better. This year the cars are expected to be closer after a season of the new regulations, and while that means more teams will be competing at the front and the midfield, it will also make the teams at the back of the grid closer. Williams showed some promise at times last season with Alex Albon doing most of the heavy lifting picking up 4 points in what was a naff car, and the AlphaTauri wasn’t that much better. With each team getting a new driver with American hero Logan Sargeant heading to the British outfit and Nyck de Vries making the jump from the Mercedes family to the Red Bull feeder team there will be a lot of attention on both, and I think Williams will end up better. I personally think that Albon and Sargeant is a stronger pairing than Yuki Tsunoda and de Vries, and I can see both Williams drivers finishing in the points regularly. If Pierre Gasly struggled in the Alpha last year, then I can’t really see either driver pulling off any miracles. I hope I’m wrong, as I really like Tsunoda, but I just can’t see it. With the rumours of Red Bull selling the team always looming too, I think that AlphaTauri’s days are numbered in F1.

Not much in it at McLaren

To say that McLaren had a disappointing season last year would be a massive understatement. Yes, Lando Norris ended up on the podium in Italy, but apart from that the team didn’t really do much. The team then decided that the way forward would be a new driver pairing and went behind Daniel Ricciardo’s back to snap up fellow Australian Oscar Piastri. To say that this caused a bit of drama in the world of F1 and motorsport as a whole would be the understatement of the century. As a result, we now end up with Lando and Oscar driving the papaya cars and honestly, I think they’ll finish very close to each other in the standings. Early signs aren’t fantastic, and it looks as if it’ll be another year in the midfield for McLaren and while I think Lando will end up higher in the driver standings than Piastri, it’ll be close. Piastri is pure talent and he’s taken to every formula series like a duck to water. His championship winning seasons in F3 and F2 were pure dominance and I think he’ll take this to McLaren. I’m not saying he’s going to win the championship or maybe not even finish in the top 10, but I can see him driving the wheels off that car and really taking it to Lando.

8 different race winners

Oh boy… this is where the predictions take a bit of a wild turn. This will either make me look like an absolute genius or a muppet of a man. With the new regulations we were told that all the cars on the grid would end up closer together. While that sort of happened, there was still a very obvious gap. Now we’ve had a whole season with the new regulations and teams have had more time to develop their cars and adapt, with a certain team in green looking very impressive early on. I think this will lead to more race winners as more teams have their cars up to scratch thus making the season a bit more interesting than on which lap is Max Verstappen going to take the lead and be 17 seconds ahead of second place that last year felt like at times. I know it’s ironic me saying that as an old school Hamilton fanboy but variety is the spice of life after all. So, all the waffling aside, I think the winners of at least one race this year will be: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and a maiden winner. And that will be…

A maiden win for who now?!

Lance Stroll. If you read my predictions last year, you’ll know that I’ve said that Stroll will get his first win in the upcoming season for the last few years so that when he does I’ll look like a Welsh Nostradamus, so that partly why I’m backing him to win. But this feels like if he’s going to do it anytime then it genuinely could be in 2023. The Aston Martin looks rapid this year and Stroll has proven before that he can perform in a good car. Just look at the pink Mercedes when Aston Martin were Racing Point, he genuinely performed well. While podiums have been few and far between for Stroll, he has done it and has put his car on pole before. Maybe I’m just a bit bias because I like him, but I think this is the year we see Lance get his first win in F1 and O Canada will ring out at the end of a race for the first time since 1997. Plus, maybe it’ll draw more interest to the South Wales Lance Stroll fan club that I’m claiming to be the founder and only member of (I’ve designed stickers that everyone who joins can have). Go get ‘em Lance!

Alpine wind their neck in

Alpine and shooting themselves in the foot at every opportunity went together like Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton last season. Everybody makes fun of Ferrari for their gaffs last year, and rightly so, but if they were a competent team then Alpine would’ve taken that title by a country mile. From engine failures to drivers not listening and racing each other aggressively to fumbling Fernando Alonso completely to the whole Oscar Piastri twittergate saga, it was beyond embarrassing. They’ve now got an all-French line-up with Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly in the seats for this season and I think this year will be much more stable than last. Because in all honesty, there’s no other option. They find themselves in a very exciting position where they have two proven drivers, their own engine with Renault, a great team principle in Otmar Szafnauer, and an opportunity to build themselves as France’s and develop a loyal following in the way that Ferrari have with Italy and the British teams have with British fans. They’re at a crossroads between becoming a competent team and genuine competitor or a meme for the wrong reasons, and nobody wants to become a meme for the wrong reasons.

4-way race for the title

This is probably my boldest one yet, but I think going into Abu Dhabi there will still be four drivers that could end up as World Champion. I’m not saying for a second that they’ll end up within a point or two of each other, and I think that the leader will be a good 15 points ahead of fourth, but I genuinely think it’ll be a four-way battle for the championship. Those drivers will be: Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso. The reasonings behind it are fairly simple. Max Verstappen is the Erling Haaland of F1, a robot who is designed only to win that’s loved by his fans and loathed by his haters. Charles Leclerc showed last year that he can compete with Max when Ferrari decide to have competent strategy and under Fred Vasseur the team will out a real challenge to Red Bull this year. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will be absolutely desperate to put last year behind them and by the looks of it have a much better car that should see them win races. Fernando Alonso hasn’t lost any pace at all despite being 41 and the Aston Martin car is fantastic this year, plus he’s the best driver on the team despite me waxing lyrical about Stroll a few points ago. I just really hope we have a competitive battle for the title this year and not a landslide title victory that we’ve seen 

And the winner is…

The scene is set, one of four can win the title in Abu Dhabi. A proper old school style shootout for crowning glory. We get to the last few corners of the race, where David Croft says the following lines that will be etched into history:

“Four men came to Abu Dhabi, but only one could go home with the World Drivers Championship. In the closest and craziest season in recent memory there was one who simply showed up the most when it mattered thanks to himself and some mega team efforts. It’s finally going to be his time at the top, his time to be champion. The fans are going berserk in the stands, there are huge celebrations on the pit wall, and if you listen closely, you can hear ALL OF ITALY, ALL OF MONACO, AND ALL OF THE TIFOSI IN ABSOLUTE PANDEMONIUM! FERRARI ARE BACK AT THE TOP OF F1! HE SAILS ROUND IT’S CHARLES LECLERC, CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!!”

Maybe this is more hopeful than anything, but I think this will be Charles’ year. Red Bull will end up winning the constructors, but I think Leclerc takes the title. The team went through a bit of a reshuffle in the summer that was well overdue. The main areas that needed to be changed within the team were the team principal and head of strategy, both of which were changed in the off-season. It’ll be very fine margins, and there won’t be much in it at all between himself and Max Verstappen, but I think this is the year where Charles just sneaks it. Now I’ve said that watch Verstappen win every race this year and leave me with egg on my face.

Bonus predictions: Franco Colapinto wins F3. He’s a fantastic driver and if he can get a reliable car this year then I can’t see anyone else winning the title.

Theo Pourchaire wins F2. Yeah alright I predicted this last year but if the car was more reliable then he would’ve been much closer. He’s still different gravy

Andretti F1 Team get announced for 2025 at the Las Vegas GP. Again, I know I predicted this last year, but I think there’s some genuine wheels to this now. Andretti are desperate to get a team in Formula 1 which the fans would love. The biggest stumbling block at the moment is the other teams against them entering, but hopefully some kind of agreement can be reached and Andretti can come in, and imagine announcing it at Vegas. Tell me you don’t want that