The reigning world champion team, which had taken the front row on the grid and then achieved a double with Max Verstappen's victory ahead of Sergio Pérez, seems to be one step ahead of its competitors and can drive the nail on the fast street circuit of Jeddah.

"Red Bull have already folded the championship, I think nobody can fight with them this season. I expect them to win all the races this season," said fatalistic George Russell (Mercedes) after the first GP of 2023.

"After a good start in Bahrain, I don't expect it to be easy in Jeddah, which is a completely different circuit and where you need the car to be fast," said Verstappen, the two-time defending world champion. "However, with the very fast corners, I think we will have a competitive car on this circuit."

The Dutchman, victim of stomach ache in recent days, "feels better" but "had to delay his flight by a day" and will not be present in the paddock until Friday, the day of the first free practice, he said Thursday on Twitter.

Ferrari will be expected at the turn in Saudi Arabia after a very disappointing first GP marked by the retirement of Charles Leclerc and the fourth place of Carlos Sainz.

But the weekend does not look good since the Monegasque driver will be penalized ten places on the starting grid after the replacement of an electronic component at the Bahrain GP.

The Aston Martin attraction

The Prancing Horse brand is already seeing the spectre of reliability problems that had spoiled its 2022 season reappear.

© ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP/Archives

"We saw in Bahrain a first glimpse of the strengths and weaknesses of our car, and the areas for improvement. We are doing a lot of teamwork to get the best out of our car (...) and I am confident that we can have a better weekend here," said Frédéric Vasseur, the Italian team boss.

One of the attractions of the weekend will be the behaviour of the Aston Martins, who have impressed since the beginning of the season. The podium of Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso (41) and the sixth place of Canadian Lance Stroll, despite injured right wrist, in Bahrain had confirmed the good impressions encountered during pre-season testing.

"In Jeddah, the challenge will be completely different from Bahrain where we had two weeks to familiarize ourselves with the circuit. But I think we will have to wait for Australia to know better what the overall performance level of the car will be," said the "Bull of Asturias".

As in 2022, Mercedes seems far from being able to compete with Red Bull after eight years of undivided dominance. While both drivers scored points in Bahrain, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and Russell seventh, they will struggle to fight for victory, even if their boss Toto Wolff is combative.

"A plan to get back to the top"

"Our performance in Bahrain was not what we hoped for. Since then, we have had discussions to put in place a plan to get back to the top. In the short term, by not neglecting any detail in the search for performance. And in the long term by focusing on the development of the car," explained the "Silver Arrows" team-manager.

On the French side, Alpine, who had a first GP contrasted with the beautiful recovery of Pierre Gasly, ninth after starting last, and the retirement of Esteban Ocon after several errors, will also try to bounce back.

© ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP/Archives

"We know the A523 has potential. We have not yet been able to make the most of everything and we have work to do to achieve this. It's a long season, we started with points and we have to keep pushing as a team," said Otmar Szafnauer, the boss of the French team.

Compared to last season, marked by a big accident of Mick Schumacher in qualifying, modifications have been made to the Jeddah Corniche circuit to improve visibility and safety for drivers.

© 2023 AFP