2023 F1 Austrian GP: Top 3 teams that need a strong result

The 2023 F1 Austrian GP is promising to be an interesting race weekend with far too many variables in play. Weather is expected to play a role on all three days. To add to this, the weekend will feature the new sprint format as well.

When you take these things into consideration, what you get is a race weekend where surprises could be in store.

Heading into the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, some teams are either short on form or suffering from bad luck. These teams will be looking to string things together and nail the perfect weekend to get back on track. Who are these teams? Well, let's take a look.

#1 Ferrari

The final result might not show it, but Ferrari was able to put together a very competitive race weekend in Canada. In terms of overall race execution? It was poor.

The team messed up qualifying once again, and that compromised the final race result that could potentially have been much better. Having said that, there were positives as well, and those cannot be ignored.

The race in Canada saw a remarkable change from Ferrari in terms of how the car was able to maintain a strong race pace. Not only that, the acknowledgement from Helmut Marko that Leclerc could be a challenge is a further indication that Red Bull noticed something in Ferrari that many were unable to.

Having said that, it's hard to deny that Ferrari's race operations have been poor for a while now. The race weekend is expected to be heavily compromised by the weather playing a role.

In all of this, the Italian team will be looking to make an impact and string together something impressive. It's been a few races where Ferrari has fallen off compared to Mercedes and Aston Martin. The 2023 F1 Austrian GP could be the race where it all changes.

#2 AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri now finds itself right at the bottom of the championship standings, and that is a result of the team's former driver Alex Albon stringing together a magical result in Canada.

To make things somewhat melancholic, the team in Faenza will not be called 'AlphaTauri' next season. Helmut Marko has confirmed that the name will be changed next season.

Now, the team would not be looking forward to bidding farewell to the 'AlphaTauri' name by finishing last in the championship. Especially, if we remember the kind of success the team's had over the past few years with its latest name.

Winning the race in Monza with Pierre Gasly in 2020 is always going to be a romantic memory for the team. It will be looking to bid farewell to its present name in the best way possible.

To do that, it all starts at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP. This is Red Bull's home race, and it's hard to deny that the parent team has been a bit miffed at how the operations are being run in Faenza.

With a few upgrades coming in and a chaotic race weekend in the offing, AlphaTauri will be hoping for a strong weekend this time around.

#3 Haas

The performance in Canada was nothing short of an embarrassment for Haas. Hulkenberg skyrocketed the car to the front row, and from that point onwards, it all went south.

It started with Hulkenberg getting a 3-place grid demotion to P5 for the race, and then what followed was a tragic race at best. Neither driver scored points, with Hulkenberg, in particular, disappointed that his giant-killing qualifying performance continued to go down the gutter.

Coming to the 2023 F1 Austrian GP, there are a few things that Haas could look up to for inspiration. The first is the fact that rain is going to mix things up once again and could help a wet weather specialist like Hulkenberg.

To add to this, the team secured its best-ever championship haul in Austria last season. If nothing else, this should bring a sense of optimism to the camp as well. The team has been slowly losing momentum in the last few races and will be looking at the 2023 F1 Austrian GP to secure a point or two.

Edited by Akshay Saraswat