The 2023 season has not started off as planned for either Mercedes or Ferrari, with neither team managing to stand on the podium at the season opener in Bahrain.
Mercedes were expected to return to title challenging ways this season after a difficult start to F1’s new era last year, but this has unfortunately not been the case.
Despite Lewis Hamilton’s claims that he told his team exactly what the car needed last season, the Silver Arrows have stuck with their zero sidepod concept this year.
Having finished in P5 and P7 in Bahrain, team principal Toto Wolff has already admitted that Mercedes have made a mistake with the W14’s concept, making it highly unlikely that Lewis Hamilton will be challenging for a record breaking eighth world title this year.
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As for Ferrari, last season’s title charge was halted by a number of strategic errors and reliability issues, with a change in management seemingly the answer.
The Scuderia replaced former team principal Mattia Binotto with Fred Vasseur ahead of the 2023 season with the aim of eradicating these issues but this decision is yet to pay off.
Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix with and engine issue, leaving him fuming with his team for their failure to fix their reliability problems.
With both Hamilton and Leclerc unhappy with their teams, rumours have begun to emerge that suggest that the pair could swap teams next season.
Hamilton has openly admitted that he is a Ferrari fan and Leclerc is yet to extend his contract with the team, making this swap a real possibility.
The Monegasque driver has now squashed these rumours, claiming that he will stay with Ferrari for the foreseeable future.
“It’s the first time I’ve heard al these voices from outside since I’ve been at Ferrari. Maybe someone wants to destabilise us,” he suggested when speaking to Sky Italia.
“I’m in red and I think it’s quite obvious how much I love Ferrari and how much I want to win at Ferrari.
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“There’s not much more to say. For me it’s pretty clear.”
Following his retirement from the Bahrain GP, Leclerc has been forced to take an engine penalty ahead of the next race in Jeddah.
Dropping ten places from his P2 qualifying position, the 25-year-old will need to produce a stunning performance if he wants to have any chance of victory.