Title sponsor Orlen gone?
Slow starter Alfa-Sauber is still looking for a team boss
Engine noises are slowly being heard again in Formula 1! Alfa-Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl (47) has introduced himself to his team, but has not yet presented a team boss. After all, the racing team has revealed when the new car will be presented.
Published: 3 minutes ago
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Updated: 2 minutes ago
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The new CEO of Alfa-Sauber Andreas Seidl (centre, came from McLaren) introduced himself to his new team on January 10th.
Roger BenoitFormula 1 expert
The fans are slowly getting hot – as are the teams: the three-day test drives in the desert of Bahrain will begin in a month’s time – that’s all there is before the start of the World Cup at the same location on March 5th! On Friday, Alfa-Sauber was the last team to reveal the day of the presentation of the new car (C43): It is February 7th. According to rumours, the Polish mineral oil giant Orlen with reserve driver Robert Kubica (38), the only Sauber GP winner in Canada in 2008, will no longer be there. So the actual Sauber Ferrari should only compete under the title sponsor sham Alfa Romeo Racing.
Presentations of the new cars 2023
3.2. Red Bull-New York
6.2. Williams-Online
7.2. Alfa-Sauber – Zurich
11.2. Alpha Tauri—New York
11.2. Haas-Silverstone
13.2. McLaren – still open
13.2. Aston Martin-Silverstone
14.2. Ferrari – still open
15.2. Mercedes-Silverstone
16.2. Alpine-London
3.2. Red Bull-New York
6.2. Williams-Online
7.2. Alfa-Sauber – Zurich
11.2. Alpha Tauri—New York
11.2. Haas-Silverstone
13.2. McLaren – still open
13.2. Aston Martin-Silverstone
14.2. Ferrari – still open
15.2. Mercedes-Silverstone
16.2. Alpine-London
What’s new in 2023?
Relatively few. Minimum weight falls from 798 to 796 kilos. Mirror width increases from 15 to 20 centimeters. Underbody 15 millimeters higher at the edges. Pirelli offers six compounds instead of five – only two are used per GP. The heating time for the tire covers is reduced from three to two hours. Harder crash tests for the roll bars. The reaction to the Zhou crash at Silverstone.
Fans hope for CEO Seidl
On January 10, the new Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl (47, came from McLaren) introduced himself to the more than 500-strong team in Hinwil. “Unfortunately you have to be patient with the announcement of the new team boss!” Well, it’s about time that the last “secret” before the new season is revealed.
Apart from Krack (Aston Martin) and Binotto (dismissed by Ferrari and replaced by Vasseur), hardly any names haunt the factory halls. One can only hope that he solves the problems that arise on the race track better than his predecessor and doesn’t chatter away about the whole season in public with nice words! Because the last 13 races with only four World Championship points were a disaster without explanation for the happy World Championship sixth. Seidl and the team boss finally have to operate more openly.
Zhou is now a Dior model
In terms of drivers, Alfa-Sauber is positioned as in 2022. Valtteri Bottas (33), who spent most of the winter in Australia and New Zealand, is already dreaming of being there when Audi starts in the Zurich Oberland in 2026.
Teammate Guanyu Zhou (23) is now a “model” at Dior and took the first pictures in Shanghai. Can the Chinese confirm its uptrend? Too many world championship points were practically stolen from him by the unreliability of the car! In 2022, thanks to the weight advantage, the team started the season like a rocket with clearly the lightest car. Yes, one even dreamed of a podium finish (last in 2012). But at the beginning of the summer things were only going downhill. Now the rather slow start to 2023 should be used in the other direction!