Formula 1 Racing Recap
Formula 1 officially returned to the racetrack this past weekend for another exciting display of racing, and the man on top of the podium was more of the same as what happened in 2022.
After the lights went out, Max Verstappen breezed off the line and was unchallenged from the rest of the grid for the next 57 laps of the race, securing the victory. Red Bull appears to still be in a league of its own. Their long-run pace is miles ahead of the competition, while they have beaten out Ferrari for qualifying pace.
This type of dominance is not at all unfamiliar to Formula 1 fans, as every couple of years, Formula 1 regulations are overhauled and the aero packages, power units, size, and weight regulations are changed. This is very unique to Formula 1 and part of what makes it so interesting, as it is one of the only sports where the rules and regulations are constantly changed in ways that could potentially give one team an advantage over others.
Each generation of regulations has given way to dominance. Following the regulation changes in 2014, Mercedes F1 claimed eight straight constructers championships, and each race win was essentially a forgone conclusion come race weekend, as they were able to use rule and regulation changes to their advantage to secure eight consecutive easy victories.
Red Bull nailed the 2022 regulations, and as a result of this, they have won 18 of the last 23 races, reversing Mercedes’ dominance and launching what could cause a Formula 1 dynasty.
The other bad news for Formula 1 fans is that the spending cap makes it nearly impossible for competitors of Red Bull, like Mercedes and Ferrari, to catch up. The 2022 regulation changes implemented a spending cap set at $140 million.
While in past years, if Mercedes was this far behind the pace, they would be able to spend their way back up to the front, but with the spending cap these teams will not be able to do this and will be limited in what they can do to close the gap to Red Bull. On Sunday, Ferrari had some decent pace, with Charles Leclerc running in second place for much of the race until engine issues forced him to retire.
The most interesting bit of the Bahrain GP was the emergence of Aston Martin’s pace among the top teams. Aston Martin had a faster racecar than Mercedes. Fernando Alonso had the pace difference to pass Russel, Hamilton, and Sainz on his way to a podium position.
While the Word Championship fight may be snoozefest this year, Formula 1 fans can look forward to wheel-to-wheel racing between two F1 legends, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso