Round two of the 2023 F1 world championship takes place this weekend in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The record-breaking 23-race calendar has been embarked upon, and already there are a number of plot-lines developing as we head into the racing at the rapid street circuit.
Some different faces are up towards the top, and the midfield battle is looking already very competitive, but what are the key talking points going into this Grand Prix? We take a look at five now…
Will Red Bull dominate again?
Red Bull won the 2022 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and have started this campaign in ominous form with Max Verstappen taking victory in Bahrain ahead of Sergio Perez in second.
They look very nicely set up for a dominant campaign, though the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin will be aiming to close the gap as quick as they can in the coming weeks.
Many will be hoping that this weekend is going to provide closer action up at the front, but Red Bull certainly are already looking very strong indeed.
Can Aston Martin consolidate?
Aston had plenty of positive lines written and said about them going into the weekend in Bahrain and those all proved correctly placed, with Fernando Alonso getting on the podium and Lance Stroll performing impressively to finish P6 despite a double wrist injury.
Clearly, Aston have built a really handy car this season and now they’ll be eager to continue on their current rate of development and take the fight to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari over the course of the campaign.
Jeddah provides a different challenge to Bahrain, and so this will be an extra barometer of just where the AMR23 stacks up to its competitors.
Will Ferrari be stronger?
Ferrari didn’t have a terrible weekend by any stretch of the imagination in Bahrain, with them looking at least the second-quickest team and on for a good double result before Charles Leclerc’s retirement from the Grand Prix.
The car is quick and has potential, and they believe the fast nature of the Jeddah circuit this weekend should favour their car more than the track in Bahrain did.
Leclerc has to contend with a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend’s race but is optimistic that he can still get a good result on the board this weekend with the car underneath him.
Where will Mercedes stack up?
Mercedes looked to have only the fourth-best car last time out in Bahrain and, after a pre-season of cautious optimism, that came as an obvious blow.
They’re working incredibly hard to try and bridge the gap to those in front of them, but seeing Aston Martin – a Mercedes customer – outscore them in Bahrain will naturally have them asking questions about their W14 car, and already has had them wondering whether it’s time to totally change approach.
Time will tell this weekend whether they can get any closer to the leading teams on the grid.
Can McLaren bounce back?
Bahrain proved a tough weekend for McLaren with both cars suffering issues and they left the weekend without any points.
A familiar feeling after a difficult opening to the 2022 campaign as well, but Lando Norris has said he is confident the team is going to bounce back and make progress, and he’ll be hoping that they can do exactly that in Saudi this weekend.
There’s no doubt that the team is working hard to get the MCL60 where they want it, with upgrades on the way, and getting into the top ten come the chequered flag this weekend would certainly be a step in the right direction.
