AlphaTauri F1 team principal Franz Tost believes George Russell is ‘already stronger’ than Lewis Hamilton and will be Max Verstappen’s toughest opponent in the 2023 F1 season alongside Charles Leclerc claims to be
George Russell finished fourth in the drivers’ standings, with a 35-point lead over team-mate Lewis Hamilton, in a year in Mercedes F1 plagued by pooping and aerodynamic troubles that affected the ground-effect car W13. Finished the first campaign with the Blackley team in the top three
George Russell also produced results in the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix, giving Mercedes its first and final win of the 2022 season.
However, while George Russell outpaced Lewis Hamilton in the first half of the season, seven-time world champion Hamilton took an active role in helping engineers unravel the intricacies and mysteries of the Mercedes Q13 team. had contributed to
Nevertheless, Franz Tost sees George Russell joining Leclerc as Max Verstappen’s biggest challenger.
“The kind of dominance that Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have shown this year is pretty rare,” Franz Tost told Speedweek.
“In 2023 we expect a three-way battle between Max, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who is already stronger than Lewis Hamilton.”
Franz Tost expects Red Bull Racing’s prospects to suffer some from its top position in the F1 constructors’ standings and the reduced wind tunnel testing time imposed by cost trap violations in 2021. ing.
“Even if the team has some of the best technicians, the FIA penalty will definitely have a negative impact on Red Bull Racing,” said Franz Tost.
“But I believe Red Bull Racing can fight for the world championship title once more.”
Next year Franz Tost will manage a new line-up at AlphaTauri F1. He will join rookie Nick de Vries in place of Pierre Gasly, who is moving to the Alpine F1 team, and will be Yuki Tsunoda’s teammate.
Yuki Tsunoda is entering his third season in F1, but Franz Tost is hoping for a strong campaign for the 22-year-old Japanese driver.
“Yuki Tsunoda developed quite well and was able to improve and was quicker than Pierre Gasly in the last qualifying,” said Franz Tost.
“It’s up to him how much he can improve. I already expect him to have a strong 2023.”
“At the beginning of September it became clear that Gasly would move to Alpine,” Tost said when asked how well he thought Pierre Gasly would get along with Esteban Ocon at the Alpine F1 team.
“He’s very experienced now, but Alpine has a strong partner in Esteban Ocon who knows the team and the car well. Let’s see how quickly he gets integrated there.”
Category: F1 / Alpha Tauri / Lewis Hamilton / mercedes / George Russell
