The 2023 Melbourne Grand Prix weekend is underway, with the teams hitting the track for the first two practice sessions earlier on Friday.
With Qualifying for Sunday’s race set to get underway at 4pm (AEDT) on Saturday, we’ve broken down the four major storylines that have made the start to the season one of the most intriguing in recent memory.
See the key points below:
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin
Pre-season testing in late February had everyone talking about the sudden increase in pace of the Aston Martin cars and the prospect of 41-year-old Fernando Alonso finally back behind the wheel of a car capable of fighting at the front of the field.
The first round of the season in early March was held in Bahrain and it was Alonso who had heads turning with his immediate showing of speed, topping the time sheets in Practice 1 and 2 and then qualifying to start the race in 5th position.
To the delight of the entire F1 world, the veteran of 350+ F1 race starts drove with all the passion of a man half his age to finish in P3, behind the Red Bull cars of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and ahead of the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz (P4) and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton (P5).
Teammate Lance Stroll also put in an impressive drive, finishing P6 ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, showing the true power of these Aston Martins.
The second round in Saudi Arabia saw Fernando Alonso again able to bring his Aston Martin home in 3rd place behind the dominant Red Bull cars, but Stroll's car suffered a mechanical issue and was forced to retire.
Aston Martin (formerly Racing Point) is traditionally a team locked in the middle of the pack, so to have their cars on the podium for the first 2 races is a huge surge forward.
Red Bull’s dominance and internal rivalry
Red Bull Racing made the perfect start to the season in Bahrain with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking out the top two spots on the podium to lead both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships from the jump.
To be expected, the Red Bull cars were again a dominant force in Round 2, with Perez securing victory and Verstappen coming all the way from 15th to finish 2nd.
Yet the 1-2 finish was clouded by Verstappen, with the star seemingly defying team orders to secure the fastest lap of the race and the championship point that comes with it, pulling him ahead of Perez in the driver standings.
Through the years we have seen similar theatrics like Fernando Alonso vs Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel vs Mark Webber, and most famously, Ayrton Senna vs Alain Prost in the 80's and 90's.
With Verstappen chasing his 3rd World Drivers Championship and clearly Red Bull's #1 driver, he is clearly the favourite for the 2023 Drivers’ Championship title.
However, the 31-year-old Perez would also fancy his chances at winning his first world title, particularly while at the wheel of the fastest car on the track.
Everything else to one side, a single point for a fastest lap at the start of the season won't count for much if Perez can't stand up to the heat of the contest as the season continues.
Are we looking at the beginnings of a great battle for the 2023 Drivers Championship, or will Perez fold under the pressure?
Mercedes and Ferrari: Where are the other two 'Big-3' teams?
With Red Bull starting the season with a clear dominance and Aston Martin has emerging as a surprise front runner, what has happened to the other two teams considered to be regular title contenders?
Ferrari were fast but inconsistent in 2022, winning multiple races and looking strong, but the Italian team made multiple bungles, derailing their chances of being a serious title challenger.
Over the season break there were many changes to the way the team was structured, including a replacement of the Team Principal, yet these changes haven’t yet truly paid off.
While Carlos Sainz has finished 4th and 6th in the first 2 rounds, his teammate Charles LeClerc was forced to retire from the race in Bahrain due to mechanical failure, before finishing a lonely 7th place last weekend in Jeddah.
Meanwhile, Mercedes look set to completely overhaul their approach after admitting their current car design is not up to scratch.
This is a mid-season change of directions that is rarely seen in F1, meaning that their driver line-up of George Russell and Sir Lewi Hamilton are stuck spending the 5-6 more rounds fighting for mid-pack points before adjusting to the new car when it arrives.
Despite these difficulties, the team brought home strong finishes for both cars in both opening races, currently sitting equal 2nd in the Constructors Championship, alongside Aston Martin.
With the incredible performance of the Red Bulls so far, it seems that only unforeseen mechanical dramas or a mishap between their drivers would see Ferrari, Mercedes or Aston Martin battling for a race win.
Oscar Piastri’s troubled start with McLaren
Australia's Oscar Piastri had a troubled start to his F1 career with a DNF for McLaren due to electrical issues in the first round in Bahrain.
McLaren was again luckless in Saudi, with Lando Norris suffering damage during qualifying, meaning that he would start the race from close the back of the grid.
Meanwhile, Piastri looked stellar in qualifying, securing starting the race from 9th in just his second F1 weekend.
Unfortunately, he a turn one incident with another car forced him to stop for a new front wing early, taking away any chance of seriously competing in the race, resulting in a P15 and P17 finish for McLaren.
McLaren are currently in a world of pain, announcing big shake-ups that will see key personnel being moved on and some new appointments for next year.
Despite his best efforts, Oscar Piastri has been dealt a luckless start to his F1 career, working with a team and a car which currently appear nothing short of uncompetitive.
Yet with the skills the young Aussie boasts, Piastri is more than capable of an improved performance and better luck in his maiden home Grand Prix.
