Predicting the 2023 F1 world champion seems a little difficult this time of year, since the newly designed cars have not yet even hit the truck for testing. 2022 is over and the dynamics that had evolved are a thing of the past. A lot of drivers, mechanics and team principals have changed teams and most importantly teams have spent a considerable amount of time, money and engineering resources into developing the 2023 cars , trying to solve the existing problems, optimize things and parts that did not perform the best way last season and of course adapting to the technical regulations of the new season. The FIA gives a new set of rules every year of the formula (hence the formula 1) the designers must follow to design the cars. These changes are not as major as the ones implemented the previous year when the whole philosophy of the car was changed, but still can play a significant role in how much a team can better the performance of the car or lose ground to its competitors. However, designedtowinf1 blog will try to make a strong prediction on who the 2023 F1 world champion will be and moreover what the pecking order of the championship will be.

• 1. Lewis Hamilton

The time has come. Lewis Hamilton will become an 8 times F1 World Champion. Mercedes had a bad car in 2022 and still managed to perform really well in a lot of races. Tthey even achieved a pole position in Hungary and won in Brasil. The important thing is that Mercedes had a completely different philosophy than the others and intends to keep that philosophy heading into 2023 having more time in the wind tunnel to optimize the car since they finished 3rd. The car is going to be fast and when all other teams are going to try to copy red bull and ferrari in order to better themselves, Mercedes is going to do what it does best, find a different way to go that no one has thought of and be fastest than anybody. Lewis Hamilton will have the better car, if not by the time the championship starts, then after 5-10 races Mercedes will have shorted everything out and be ahead of everybody else. Some will argue that Russel is going to challenge Hamilton, but in 2022 , we saw that Hamilton was clear of George when everything was working fine. That is going to be the case in 2023. Lewis will do anything to just find these extra hundredths of a second to outperform his teammate like he has done numerous times in the past.

• 2. Max Verstappen

Red Bull will not be able to produce the better car this year. They have by far the lesser wind tunnel and compared to Mercedes they have 17% less wind tunnel time. They managed to marginally beat mercedes in 2021 when they had the same amount of wind tunnel time and even then lost the constructors championship. This time they will not be able to keep up. Still I expect Max to give a hard battle and produce some star drives and some wins. He will finish 2nd managing to keep George Russel behind.

• 3. George Russel

George is expected to have a difficult year. He will win races ,he will try to go for the championship but the pressure is going to get to him. Some serious mistakes will keep him behind Hamilton and even Verstappen since he will not be able to keep up with the Dutch Champions consistency and aggressive style.

• 4. Charles Leclerc

This is not the year. Once again Ferrari is going to start strong. However, they do not have what it takes to keep the car running in the front for the better part of the season. Mistakes, limited development gains and maybe even some reliability problems and even the internal competition between Charles and Carlos will make it once again difficult for Charles to go for the championship.

• 5. Carlos Sainz

Carlos has been showing pace and effort, he has been trying to evolve but he always seem to struggle with something. He is prone to crushes and sometimes spins and it is very rare for him to overachieve at any given situation. Last year it was Charles bad luck that did not let the difference between the two ferrari drivers get bigger. However in 2023 he is expected to perform well and maybe a win is again on the table, but he will not make it to the fight for the championship. He is going to beat Checo however and only come one position short of his teammate.

• 6. Sergio Perez

Checo had a good season in 2021 and a great season in 2022. However, things are going to get tough in 2023 with 3 teams fighting for the championship. With a car slower than mercedes he will be behind Lewis and Russel and behind Max. Charles will probably be ahead since his raw pace will lead him to some wins and a few good positions more than Checo. It just does not seem possible for Checo to outperform himself in a year of extreme competition when he did not manage to do it when he had the fastest car.

• 7. Fernando Alonso

Alonso is going to showcase his special abilities once again managing to lead the midfield and sometimes fight with the frontrunners for podiums. He will not have the car to fight for wins but this is going to be his best year in a decade giving him even more motivation to push the team to move forward the next year.

• 8. Lando Norris

Lando will fight for the best of the rest title but he will not be able to succeed since his opposition will be Alonso. Probably this is going to be a better year than the previous one but still frustration over the fact that Mclaren has lost the magic touch and cannot find a way back to the front will be evient. There is a serious chance that Lando will not even be able to score a podium like he did in previous years.

• 9. Esteban Ocon

Alpine had a good car last year and a ferocious development program that kept the car to a pretty tight form throughout the year. It is expected to have a solid car this year as well but they lost one of the most important development factors of the team for the past two years, Fernando Alonso. This is a serious drop in Alpine’s dynamic. Esteban will be consistent and win several points but nothing more.

• 10. Pierre Gasly

Generally speaking it is hard to say who is better, Pierre or Esteban, and one can argue that Pierre is more experienced because of his tenure in Red Bull. However, Esteban has been with the team for some years now and that is going to give him a slight advantage. Pierre will be very close but will probably concede to Esteban for 2023.

• 11. Oscar Piastri

Oscar is going to need some time to adapt and he will not be able to follow Lando’s pace for most of the year. He will though show his talent and perform really well. Point scoring will be his main target for every race along with understanding the logistics of the F1 world when it comes to qualifying, managing expectations and racing.

• 12. Lance Stroll

Lance is a talented and even experienced driver, since he has been to F1 for some time now and he occasionally has showcased the qualities of a true racer. The last two years however he seemed to struggle with the car but most importantly his motivation. Going up against Alonso won’t be of help with respect to that aspect. He will perform really well in some races though and Aston Martin is expected to gain some ground this year.

• 13. Valterri Bottas

Valterri and Alfa Romeo had a strong start last year and were nowhere for the rest of the year. Big changes are happening within the team but they need time before achieving serious gains. 2023 is expected to be a continuation of the previous year. They will have a solid car but not one that can consistently get in the points. Valterri will finish above Zhou but this will not help the blow of not being able to compete serious for a guy that used to challenge Lewis Hamilton for poles and wins a couple of year ago.

• 14. Yuki Tsunoda

Alpha Tauri seems to always try and pursue a different path from Red Bull even when that means that they will not be able to advance further in the midfield. Competition is going to be very strong and Alpha Tauri is one of the few teams that has not provisioned any new investments. It is really hard for a team with limited resources to stay in a competitive position. Yuki is going to do good but this year is going to be very critical for him. Any signs of inconsistency or limited motivation can show since performancewise he will not be able to do a lot with the car.

• 15. Nyck Devries

Fist year for Nyck in F1 but the expectation are there since he is already 28 and needs to show that he has what it takes to stay here. He is expected to be close with Yuki which will be a good sign. How many mistake he does will play a big role to his image though because he is an experienced champion of Formula E and is expected to know how to deal with qualifying, racing, pressure and competition.

• 16. Alex Albon

Alex will struggle once again with the car. Williams has not yet found what it wants to do in the Dorilton capital era. Jost Capito’s exit was probably a surprise showing that the management waited more than it expected for results. However , there has not been established a clear path that can lead them away of the last positions of the field. Alex will get in the points in some races like last year but thats it.

• 17. Logan Sargeant

Logan is a really talented driver and will have a solid team to help him in his first year in F1. He is expected to get into the points at some races showcasing that he deserves his place in F1.

• 18. Guanyu Zhou

This will not be a good year for Zhou., The car will not be great but it will be adequate for some point scoring at some races. However Zhou will struggle to perform at a consistent level. He is a good driver but not great. It is really difficult for him to outperform the car and that will show more this year when there are 3 rookies and he is not one.

• 19. Nico Hulckenberg

Haas has been making serious mistakes all these years and has a very faulty attitude when it comes to blaming people, from drivers, to designer to pit stop crews. They had a solid car last year and couldn’t do anything with it and most importantly they could not develop. This is not expected to change this year. The car will be not adequate considering how competitive the field is becoming. Nico will be very happy to be back racing and try his best but he will not get the results he wants.

• 20. Kevin Magnusson

Kevin was actually slower than Schumacher in quite a few races last year. He just managed to perform in the races that mattered. He will be slower than Nico and more prone to mistakes, crushes and clashes , especially now that he will be on the back of the field again.