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With the 2023 F1 season set to commence in less than two months from now, let's take at what the grid looks like ahead of the new season.
Max Verstappen and Red Bull will head into the new year with momentum in their stride, having dominated the rest of the field in 2022. The team's 2022 challenger, the RB18, was the most consistently pacey car from last year, leading to frequent victories for the Milton-Keynes-based team.
Verstappen was especially brilliant in 2022, managing to wrap up the season with four races remaining. He also smashed Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel's record for the highest number of race wins in a single season, winning 15 times.
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The team snatched both F1 titles with ease in 2022.
The 2014-2021 F1 constructors' champions Mercedes saw a dramatic fall from grace. Their 2022 challenger, the W13, was riddled with porpoising, a phenomenon caused by a change in the sport's aerodynamic philosophy.
As a result, the Brackley-based squad only managed to win one race last year but saw a resurgence in form towards the end of the year. The German team is expected to be one of the frontrunners this year, given their tendency to bounce back from adversity.
Ferrari emerged as the early favorites, with Charles Leclerc winning two of the opening three races in 2022. However, the team soon crumbled to a string of reliability and strategic issues, helping Red Bull thwart them in the F1 title race.
There are a whole load of exciting changes for the upcoming season, with new younger drivers replacing the older ones.
F2 champion Oscar Piastri has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren and will be driving alongside Lando Norris for the Woking-based team this year. Meanwhile, Nicholas Latifi has been replaced by American driver Logan Sargeant for the new season.
Elsewhere, Nyck de Vries managed to secure a seat alongside Yuki Tsunoda at AlphaTauri with his impressive points-scoring debut in Monza.
The sport said goodbye to Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel, who has been replaced by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly has been picked by Alpine to replace Alonso on the French team, forming an all-French lineup for the former Renault side.
Haas driver Mick Schumacher has been replaced by fellow compatriot Nico Hulkenberg for the 2023 season, much to the disarray of Schumacher fans.
There is no doubt that the upcoming F1 season will be full of action and drama. It will be interesting to see how teams develop their cars in the new year.
Full 2023 F1 lineup confirmed
Here's a list of all the teams and drivers taking part in the upcoming season:
It will be interesting to see how all teams and drivers fare in the new season later this year.
