One month until pre-season test: This is how it went in 2023

F1 News

This is the difference between the pre-season test and the 2023 season
22 January at 07:00
  • GPblog.com

Exactly one month to go and then we start the F1 winter test in Bahrain! So just how reliable are these tests? Are they representative when looking at an entire season? To compare, we look back at last season.

After three days of testing, over 21,607 kilometres were driven by all teams combined in Bahrain. McLaren managed to drive only 312 laps and AlphaTauri, with, then Nyck de Vries, was in first place when it came to most laps driven. GPblog.com predicted the following ranking after the test days:

1. Red Bull

2. Ferrari

3. Mercedes

4. Aston Martin

5. Alpine

6. Alfa Romeo

7. Haas

8. McLaren

9. AlphaTauri

10. Williams

Actual ranking

In the end, after 22 rounds, the season ended like this:

1. Red Bull (=)

2. Mercedes (+1)

3. Ferrari (-1)

4. McLaren (+4)

5. Aston Martin (-1)

6. Alpine (-1)

7. Williams (+3)

8. AlphaTauri (+1)

9. Alfa Romeo (-3)

10. Haas (-3)

Particularly notable are McLaren, Williams, Alfa Romeo and Haas. Those teams managed to make the most difference, either positive or negative, over the course of the season. Red Bull were the only team that managed to live up to expectations by finishing in first place.