It’s Christmas in February for Formula One (F1) fans as the teams reveal their liveries (team sponsorship motifs) for the 2023 season. To date, HAAS, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Red Bull, Williams, McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin have released their new designs and colours, with Mercedes launching the new W14 Feb. 15, and Alpine on Feb. 16.
Alpha Romeo’s launch was about as standard as they come. Drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas unveiled the new sleek black and red car. An improvement over their red and white standard of last year, it’s reminiscent of the 2022 car Ferrari ran; a little sibling’s emulation of the prancing stallions. Based on the still limited testing data available to the public, Alfa Romeo’s new C43 car looks the most adapted to what was learned in the 2022 season, employing a more dramatic sidepod design established by Red Bull.
Williams’ traditional royal blue livery on their new FW45 is as stunning as ever and a nice constant in the racing team’s year of changes. Williams, famously known as the flashy blue car at the back of the grid, is in the strongest position to rebuild their lost legacy as a race-winning organization. Williams also has two competent drivers: Alex Albon has shown he can score points and defend his position, and promising new second driver, Logan Sargeant, has had a consistent career in F2 and F3. With their new team principal, James Vowles in charge, the old British champions are well-positioned, and have the right keys in the right locks to open the door to a successful rebuild.
The biggest story so far was Red Bull’s announcement at the launch of their new RB19 that they would be partnering with Ford to help build and supply Red Bull’s engines alongside Red Bull Powertrains. The decision to switch engine partners and bring the return of Ford to F1 is a telling one. It shows the growing popularity and expansion of the sport in North America. Ford has a long history in F1 and Red Bull, being the owner and engine manufacturer for the old Jaguar team that Red Bull would eventually purchase back in 2004. Alongside Ford, Red Bull showed off current two-time driver’s world champion, Max Verstappen, second driver, Sergio Perez, and put to good use the social media phenom that is Daniel Riccardo, their 2023 reserve driver
Monday brought two more car launches: McLaren introduced their new MCL60 with some key updates. The papaya orange that has been McLaren’s dominant colour in the turbo-hybrid era continues, but with more black, resembling last year’s fan favourite Singapore Grand Prix livery. Tech wise, there is a lot up in the air for McLaren, as 2022 was a major setback for the team. On paper, 2023 should be a nice start at gaining back some missing stability. Lando Norris is a consistently fast and energetic driver with a dependable car, and Oscar Piastri has the potential to be a sensational talent.
Aston Martin came out of the gates with their flashy AWR23 decked out in British racing green — an aggressive look that takes the best of all the top three cars of 2022: A Mercedes-esque front wing, deep scallops in the sidepod rears to scoop hot air into the rear wing (similar to last year’s Ferrari F1-75), and a Red Bull-inspired rear wing. This is no surprise as Aston Martin’s new technical director, Dan Fallows was previously at Red Bull until this year. The biggest “wow” moment of Aston Martin’s reveal was the virtual tour of the team’s still incomplete £200 million new facility. Owner, Lawerence Stroll and his team hope to establish a new long-lasting racing and manufacturing regime.
Ferrari’s biggest unveil on their SF-23 was mainly the red dominant livery and classic-style “Ferrari” adorning the rear wing which was a favourite of the Tifosi. Unsurprisingly, the SF-23 is not a leap from last year’s F1-75. It was one of the best cars last year and took the team to second place, so the car was never the problem. This year, Ferrari has to take care of the reliability issues and strategic blunders that cost them the championship last year.
The week gave F1 fans a taste of what they’ll be seeing on the track and how to identify their favourite teams. With pre-season testing on Feb. 23-25, it’s a last deep breath before plunging into the high octane races in what’s going to be, technologically speaking, an exciting F1 season.
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.