Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has speculated there could be more than only the top three teams of last season in the Formula 1 title fight in 2023.
Last year marked the beginning of new technical regulations in one of the biggest overhauls to occur in the sport’s history.
Consequently, after successive seasons with a relatively competitive field and surprise winners, a large performance deficit emerged between the elite teams and the rest.
Ferrari, Mercedes and Horner’s title-winning Red Bull outfit dominated the top three positions across the 22 races to take place in 2022, with the appearance of McLaren’s Lando Norris on the podium rostrum at Imola the only time their stranglehold was broken.
Despite the huge chasm between the leading trio and the rest, Horner has predicted that a rare period of stability in the regulations could witness Alpine and McLaren bridge the gap, while the long-serving team boss has also earmarked Aston Martin as a surprise pick to make solid inroads.
“You never know, Alpine made progress in the second half of the year,” Horner told Auto Motor und Sport when quizzed on the sides who could break out of the midfield order this season.
“Aston Martin… we keep hearing big numbers coming out of their expectations, so you don’t know what the running order will be. McLaren might even get it together this year.
“Inevitably the grid should, with stable regulations, start to close up.”
Questioned further on the two teams most likely to challenge Red Bull for the two championships it comfortably claimed last season, Horner expects Ferrari to produce another competitive package and Mercedes to rebound from an uncharacteristic off-year that saw them secure only one victory.
“Of course, Ferrari had a very good car last year, they’re going to come out fighting hard this year.
“Mercedes I’m sure will recover from the annus horribilis last year. So let’s see, the competitors are going to be very strong,” he added.
Grid convergence is likely – but don’t expect a midfield outfit to upset the top order
While Horner claims that stability in the regulations will witness convergence occur right from the start of the new season, the colossal gap that was present throughout 2022 calls into question whether any perennial midfield-running team has the potential to usurp the big hitters within the course of one winter.
Although the introduction of a cost cap two years ago finally placed every constructor on an equal financial footing and limited the spending of the top teams, there still remains a gulf between the infrastructure at the disposal of the sport’s elite and those aiming to join them.
As such, Aston Martin is in the process of constructing an all-new factory facility on the sight of their existing Silverstone set-up as the British marque aims to follow through on their long-term ambition to become F1 World Champions.
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Woking base is undergoing renovations to improve its wind tunnel, with the team’s CEO, Zak Brown, cautiously predicting it will take until 2025 for the British team to be a consistent front-running threat again.
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