Imbued with a year’s experience of Formula 1’s ground-effect revival, most teams would be forgiven for expecting greater convergence throughout the field in 2023. And, largely, that maxim was true. Four teams ultimately battled to be the second-best on the grid, with Ferrari and Mercedes joined in the melee for podium finishes by a much-improved Aston Martin and a resurgent McLaren. There was also a four-team battle for seventh in the constructors’ championship as Williams found form, AlphaTauri turned around a dismal start, and both Alfa Romeo and Haas found points-scoring opportunities harder to come by.
Red Bull, however, bucked that trend. The fine lines between the teams behind in the performance stakes ensured that Max Verstappen could breeze to the 2023 title uncontested, and Red Bull claimed 21 of 22 victories. With the RB19 proving the most potent weapon in this year’s arsenal, its successes will undoubtedly inspire next year’s designs to a fuller extent and many of its visual hallmarks made their way onto the majority of the 2023 field over the season. A varied approach to sidepod design, which has been inextricably linked to the performance of the floor, had converged by mid-2023 towards the downwashing arrangement used to great effect by Red Bull. Much like in 2003, when most of the F1 field arrived at the Melbourne opener with cars heavily inspired by the all-conquering Ferrari F2002, you can expect a field of Red Bull facsimiles – all with their own twists as the other teams seek to improve their fortunes next year.
Beyond floor
