These are the six “beggars” of Formula 1

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The brutal result of the start of the World Cup in Bahrain has already brought the naysayers onto the scene: you can already congratulate Red Bull-Honda and Max Verstappen (25) on the title.

Well, it’s not that far yet. But the rather pathetic form of Mercedes and Ferrari naturally tempered the optimism of many fans. Fortunately, Aston Martin-Mercedes gave a great sign of life. These four teams will eat everything in 2023. The rest can only hope for rain, chaos, the unreliability of the opponents and their own beautiful moments. The duo Alpine (with three Ocon penalties) and McLaren-Mercedes with eight pit stops (Piastri changed the wheel twice) was especially pathetic.

The performance of Alfa-Sauber and Williams-Mercedes was solid, Haas-Ferrari is only one lap fast and Alpha-Tauri is a shadow of the past. This is the short summary of the “beggars”.

The opening winner has always been second at the World Cup since 2017

Statistics anyone? The winner of the first race of the season has always finished second in the World Championship since 2017. Red Bull celebrated a double victory in Bahrain for the first time – a year after the double failure in the desert. Verstappen won on the 22nd route – just like Prost. Hamilton (31) leads ahead of Schumi (23). Verstappen has now scored 20 points in a row – Hamilton (48) is also in the lead there. Gasly raced from 20th on the grid to 9th – never before has a Frenchman taken up so many positions. Only Alfa-Sauber has never led a free practice in the past twelve months. Alonso (41) is the only Formula 1 driver who has started a 20th season. The Spaniard now has 99 podium finishes – only Hamilton (191), Schumi (155), Vettel (122), Prost (106) and Raikkonen (103) have more.

Wire fences from Switzerland

Switzerland has been providing protection in the GP circus since 2018. The Geobrugg company with the production facilities in Romanshorn TG supports the FIA ​​with the wire barriers – in 2023 they will be installed on 15 of the 23 tracks. Start this week in Jeddah. What are these fences supposed to be against? The first attempt is a steel ball with 780 kilos and 65 km/h, which is shot head-on into a fence. Its weight is equivalent to a GP car flying into a fence at the end of a run-off zone. The second attempt is a car with 1000 kilos and a speed of 120 km/h, which crashes into the fence with a steering angle of 20 degrees. In both attempts, the ball or car must be stopped within three meters.

Only route employees are allowed to stay in this “no-go zone” (often also used as service road). The Guiding Principle of Geobrugg – Safety First! Protection solutions have been produced since 1951. High-strength steel wire mesh is also used in case of natural disasters such as stone chips, landslides, avalanches or coastal erosion. They also ensure safety in mining and tunneling. Worldwide, more than 350 specialists are involved in Geobrugg. The FIA ​​has the right partner for that.

Source : Blick