Motorsport: What to expect from the 2023 Formula One season

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will square off once again in 2023. Photo / Supplied

The 2023 Formula One season has the potential to shake up the established order and Kiwi pundit Bob McMurray is predicting an interesting year.

The 2022 championship started with fans thinking it might be a tight contest between Red Bull and Mercedes after Max Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton for the drivers’ title in 2021. It was not to be.

Verstappen and his Red Bull car were supreme, clinching the world title with four races to go.

Hamilton blamed his car for not being able to win a race. However, teammate George Russell made the podium eight times, including a win at the Brazilian Grand Prix in a supposedly underperforming car. Russell also finished fourth overall to Hamilton’s sixth.

McMurray, who spent 33 years with the McLaren F1 team and is a long-time F1 observer and commentator, thinks interest will be high.

“It’ll be interesting to see how [the rookies] go, that’s for sure. It’s going to be tough for them, though,” he said.

“As for winning the championship, this year is going to be as unpredictable as ever. You can’t go past Red Bull, expect Mercedes to come back and you can’t take Ferrari out of the picture either.

“We might have three teams vying for a championship, which hasn’t happened for a long time.”

McMurray says Ferrari shouldn’t have replaced Mattia Binotto with Fred Vasseur as team principal.

“I don’t think he was responsible for the actual mess-ups during the season because other people caused the issues, and they should have possibly gone. You can’t keep changing the man at the top when others are making the mistakes. It hasn’t work well for them the past four or five bosses, has it?

“This year, there are more rule changes, so other teams will close the gap, so that’s going to help the racing.”

The most talked about and contentious entry into F1 in 2023 is Oscar Piastri. The 21-year-old spent 2022 in pitlane as Alpine’s reserve driver after winning three back-to-back championships, including the F2 title.

Alpine said he was going to be their 2023 F1 pilot, as did McLaren. F1′s contract recognition board came down on the side of McLaren, and he will join Lando Norris in a two-pronged youngster attack on the 2023 F1 title.

Of the three rookies, Nyck de Vries has the best outlook. Last year’s Formula E champion put on a good display at the Monza Grand Prix where he replaced Alex Albon at Williams and got into the points.

The race for the 2023 title starts in Bahrain on March 3-5.