Overview of changes in Formula 1 in 2023

The new F1 season is about to begin. In the upcoming days, the teams will unveil the cars that will line up on the grid starting from February 23rd for the tests in Bahrain. This year, Ferrari is aiming to win both championships, Mercedes wants to reclaim its position at the top, while Red Bull won’t back down and will do everything to defend its title. While waiting for the show to begin, here’s everything you need to know about the changes that await the ten teams.

New circuits

The first news to note is the return of two Grand Prix races to the calendar. The one in Las Vegas, which had already taken place in the 80s, is coming back with a new track. It will take place at night, on the city streets with the Casino and luxury hotels as the backdrop.

Most recently, the Qatar Grand Prix, which was held for the first time in 2021, is making a comeback this season after being absent in 2022 in order to prepare for the World Cup of football. This event is not ready to disappear, as the country has signed a ten-year contract with F1.

The sprint races

Here we are shifting gears, if the format stays the same, the championship goes from three to six sprints. These races will take place during the Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, United States (Austin), and Brazil Grand Prix.

The sprints will also be an opportunity to test the activation of DRS one lap earlier. If the test proves successful, this could become the case for all Grand Prix races in the championship.

Note that any damage suffered during a sprint race will not be counted towards the budget limit, unlike in previous seasons, allowing drivers to possibly take more risks, although the psychological limit remains not to lose position for Sunday’s long race.

The pilots

Nothing to report from the stables, they will be the same as last season. On the drivers’ side, however, there is a small reorganization. Sebastian Vettel, who retired, Mick Schumacher and Nicolas Latifi, who couldn’t find a seat, will be absent from the grid. Daniel Ricciardo, replaced at McLaren, has finally been drafted by Red Bull as a reserve driver.

Fernando Alonso leaves Alpine and joins Aston Martin. He is replaced by Pierre Gasly who will form a “made in France” duo with Esteban Ocon. Haas has chosen Nico Hülkenberg to replace Schumacher.

The 2023 season also welcomes three newbies. Oscar Piastri joins McLaren and Logan Sargeant joins Williams for their first season in the premier competition. Nyck de Vries, who replaced Alexander Albon at the last Monza Grand Prix, will start this year as a full-time driver after signing with AlphaTauri.

Technical changes.

After the 2022 revolution, the watchword this year will be stability. However, a few adjustments are still worth noting from both a technical and security standpoint.

Lift kit for increased ground clearance.

Due to the porpoising observed on ground effect monoplace cars, the ride height will be increased by 10 mm in order to limit the phenomenon. The impact of this measure is very significant since the ground effect being reduced, the grip will inevitably be affected in turns, thus reducing speeds and possibly favoring driver errors.

Modified safety hoop

After Zhou’s impressive accident at Silverstone, the safety roll bar will be reinforced as a whole in its upper structure. Its height will be increased by 50 mm, thus positioned at the highest at 95 cm from the ground. The curvature at the top of the structure will also now be mandatory, reaching 20 mm in order to better distribute the forces in the event of the car flipping over. Finally, more extensive tests will be carried out by the FIA to assess the impact of a car flipping over on the roll bar structure.

Increase in the weight of F1 cars

The weight of the single-seaters reached 798kg in 2022, making them the heaviest Formula 1 cars in history. This year, a small diet is necessary as their weight should not exceed 796kg.

Bigger rearview mirrors.

During the summer, larger rearview mirrors had been tested by certain teams. Therefore, it will be effectively implemented starting from 2023 as the length of the mirrors will be increased by 5 cms.

Tests to come in anticipation of new features in 2024.

Rain kit for wheels.

The FIA is also working on a solution to reduce water spray and thus improve visibility. The core of this device would be to be able to install a part on the cars in order to cover the rear wheels in case of heavy rain. Prototypes are being studied and could be proposed as early as the halfway point of the 2023 season, although 2024 seems more realistic.

New qualification format

Finally, the qualifying format could indeed be modified. The Revised Qualifying Format will make its debut at two yet unknown events. Tire compounds will be mandatory for each stage of the qualifying sessions: hard tires in Q1, medium tires in Q2, and soft tires in Q3. During these RQF events, each driver will only be allowed to use 11 sets of dry tires, 4 sets of intermediate tires, and 3 sets of wet tires, compared to the 11 sets of each used in the traditional qualifications.