2023 Promises Bright Season for Max Verstappen & Charles Leclerc Days Before the Lights Go Out

The 2023 season of Formula 1 is about to start very soon, with the pre-season testing scheduled to start on February 23 for three days in Bahrain. And during this testing, there’s good news lined up for both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. The news, on the other hand, will not be specific to them, but will undoubtedly benefit them the most.

As they led the pack with their powerful machinery over the year, both Max Verstappen and Charles suffered from a common problem. The problem was understeer, leading to heavy graining in the rear tires in both the RB18 and F1-75. 

Pirelli boss Mario Isola, who already gave hints at tire improvement for the 2023 season, acknowledged the situation for the last year’s tires. Having studied the early races of the last season, Mario Isola said, as quoted by Motorsport.com, “But the aero package was completely different. That was the main difference compared to the current cars, and that is what is probably going to generate the understeer.”

“Most of that understeer is due to the aero package. But we can react, designing for next year a slightly different front tire to balance the car, and we are testing it now with the current cars.”  The introduction of new Pirelli tires for the 2023 season will cause less graining, which is beneficial to both Charles and Max.

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And while Red Bull in 2022 recognized that the tires would favor understeer early in the season to improve and take advantage of the fronts, Ferrari suffered more because of their mechanical and setup problems and less because of the tires.

More good news for Charles Leclerc ahead of testing

Ferrari has announced the date for the unveiling of its car for the 2023 season, the Ferrari 675, as February 14. But way ahead of the launch, there is speculation that the new car is already a whole second faster than the 2022 car, the F1-75!

The Maranello-based outfit, under its new team principal, has made headlines with this positively reported outcome. However, the news will not be confirmed until the car steps out onto the track. As happened with the Mercedes’ W13, things can change really fast once the car runs on the track.

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Nevertheless, with some slight changes under the car, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will take any good news after a disappointing season. The 2023 regulation brings significant variations in terms of the use of the overall aerodynamic load. The improvement might happen across the grid, but coming out of Maranello first does make the Tifosi happy.