F1 analyst for Sky Sports and former Aston Martin's strategy engineer Bernie Collins observed that in 2023, the development race got more "cutthroat" than ever before.
We are approaching the third season under the same technical regulations with a budget cap, and all Formula One teams are more closely matched than ever.
Throughout the 2023 season, we have seen multiple changes in the pecking order when different teams introduced new upgrades. Speaking with Speedcafe on KTM Summer Grill, Bernie Collins said:
"It's been a year where the development race has been more cutthroat than it has been in other years. We see McLaren at the start of the year, really poor performance compared to what I certainly expected from them in the opening races."
McLaren completely missed its targets at the beginning of the season. On the other hand, the team somehow finished as the second-best on the grid.
"There was really aggressive upgrades, really bringing the car forward, which is, at the end of the year, it's pretty much always on the podium."
Aston Martin's team principal, Mike Krack, admitted the development their team became a part of in 2023 was "much harsher" than they were used to.
And it showed on the British team's results. Aston started the season as the second-best team and finished as the fifth-best in the Constructors' Championship. Collins continued:
"Then, the opposite appearing to be true of, like, Aston Martin, where they started the year so strongly and then it appeared that the upgrades weren't working and through the middle of the year had this massive slump."
The current state of Formula One is particularly exciting because it could be any of the top five teams that will win the Championship in 2024 and none of them can be written off. Collins added:
"So the development race in these regs seems to be really tight, and it seems to be really close between teams getting the car right, and in the right working window, or the car totally not working at all."
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