Veteran Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz has given three reasons as to why he thinks Red Bull will be “nigh on unbeatable” in 2023, meaning the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes will need complete perfection to topple the Austrians.
Red Bull were sensational in 2022, with the Milton Keynes-based side having claimed 17 victories from the 22 races completed, helping them cruise to their first Constructors’ Championship since 2013.
Based on Kravitz’s opinion, Red Bull will be the favourites to claim back-to-back crowns, with the side boasting a three-part “secret weapon”.
The first reason why Kravitz is expecting Red Bull to be so strong is because it’s expected that they’ll enter the season at the minimal legal weight, thanks to a “lightweight chassis” that isn’t believed to have been used last season.
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“Red Bull will start with the lightweight chassis that they introduced and designed and we think never raced towards the end of the year [2022],” Kravitz said.
“They’ll start with that as a base.
“They will develop that, so it will be underweight and they can ballast it up to meet the weight limit.”
The second reason why Kravitz is expecting Red Bull domination, is because the side will have likely done all their “academic work” prior to having been punished for breaching the 2021 budget cap.
With this in mind, Kravitz doesn’t expect the Austrians penalty to “bite” until the end of the season, by at which point they may have already sealed both championships once again.
“Benefit two, they will have done all the academic work and design before the restrictions they had on the accepted breach agreement of their cost cap restrictions came in, their penalty for that,” he explained.
“So they’ve done all the work before that even comes in and towards the end of this year and next year it will start to bite.”
That leads nicely on to the final part of their “secret weapon”, double World Champion Max Verstappen.
In Kravitz’s eyes, Verstappen is currently the “best driver on the grid”, given that Lewis Hamilton hasn’t demonstrated winning form since 2021, due to Mercedes having faltered last season.
The Dutchman’s remarkable form will be pivotal to Red Bull claiming the crown once again and being “unbeatable” in 2023.
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“And number three, they have the best driver on the grid in terms of form at the moment,” Kravitz declared.
“Even considering Lewis Hamilton. As we haven’t seen the championship form of Lewis yet because he hasn’t been in the championship [fight] since the end of 2021, which we know what happened then.
“Max Verstappen is bang in form and I think that is the third part of a secret weapon that should make them nigh on unbeatable.”