LIFE in the FAST LANE

This season’s top FI cars are more menacing and competitive than ever

- NICOLAS STECHER

In the 2022 season of Formula One the apex motorsport ushered in the most extensive vehicle changes in its history, revolutionizing the sport with a hard spending cap ($140-million per team for 2022, with various adjustments for 2023), and ostensibly leveling the field for parity. This goal of equalization was largely realized as one of the most exciting down-to-the-wire seasons created shifts across the grid-with Ferrari edging itself above Mercedes-AMG Petronas for the first time in a decade, Alpine Renault finally cracking the top four, and Alfa Romeo moving up three slots thanks partly to the addition of AMG veteran Valtteri Bottas jumping in the driver's seat.

For 2023 the rule changes are much more subtle, meaning constructors can add to last year's machines instead of reimagining them from the ground up. After several races, some major talking points materialized, headlines drafted in smoldering rubber. Although as everyone knows in Fi teams can make major in-season developments to their racecars that can potentially shift a season around dramatically-or see them lapped by more nimble competitors. Here we run down four of the most promising teams on the Grand Prix circuit, their new cars, and what we can expect from 2023.

Scuderia Ferrari

Between last season and the current one, few teams have experienced as dynamic vicissitudes as the legendary Scuderia from Maranello. To start the year, last season’s F1-75 racecar blew the competition away looking like the fastest car on the grid by far. In-season improvements from Red Bull and AMG-Petronas tightened the competition, with the former leapfrogging Ferrari and knocking them to a second-place Constructor’s finish. So which direction is the team headed in 2023?