F1 2023 Your guide to the grid
THE CHANGES TO LOOK OUT FOR
QUALIFYING TYRES
As an experiment at the start of a move towards using fewer tyres, at two weekends in 2023 - locations to be confirmed - teams will be told which tyres to use for each section of qualifying: the hard tyre in Q1, medium in Q2 and soft in Q3. Usually, they have a free choice - and in the event of wet weather that choice will be reinstated. At those two weekends they will be allowed to use 11 sets of dry weather tyres - usually 13 - though the maximum sets of intermediates will remain at four, and wets at three. At the 21 other races, the normal allowance will apply.
BLACK IS THE NEW SILVER
There has been a 2kg reduction in the minimum car weight this year to 796kg. But with teams keen to shave off as much weight as possible to maximise speed some have even taken to not painting panels on their car. Mercedes’ ‘Silver Arrows’ this year will therefore be black - the colour of the raw carbon fibre.
SPRINT EVENTS
In 2023 there will be six of the popular sprint races, an increase from three last year. These will be in Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the US (Circuit of the Americas in Texas) and Brazil.
STRONGER ROLL HOOPS
Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was sent sliding along the track upside down at Silverstone last season with his head just millimetres from the track after the roll hoop - at the top of the chassis to protect the driver’s head - broke off. Now, the roll hoop must be rounded to reduce the chance of it digging into the ground if the car flips over.
THE END OF PORPOISING?
One of the issues that dogged last season was porpoising - essentially, the cars bouncing up and down caused by airflow underneath the car. To counter this, the floor edges on the 2023 cars have been raised by 15mm and the height of the diffuser has been raised too, which should speed up airflow underneath the car and create greater downforce and thus improved grip. It should improve driver safety and help the cars to go around corners faster.
GEARBOX
Semi-automatic, eight forward and one reverse Modifications to gearboxes were previously only allowed to resolve reliability problems, or to save costs at the start of each season. Now, in a minor change, they are also allowed if a particular part becomes unavailable. Approval must be given by the FIA, the change must not allow any performance advantage and all teams must be given a summary of the change.
PADDOCK WORKING HOURS
With an eye on staff welfare, the number of hours worked by F1 team members across a weekend will be reduced in the coming seasons. On Fridays, the restricted periods where crew cannot access the garage will begin an hour earlier, with another hour to be knocked off in 2024.