Fernando Alonso’s quest for a 33rd F1 victory one of the major storylines for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix

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Here are the major talking points ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix

Formula 1 turns the page quickly this week, as all ten teams shift their focus from the twisty Monte Carlo streets to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.

Here are the major storylines that will unfold this week.

Forget “33 soon?” How about “33 this week?”

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Fernando Alonso’s quest for a 33rd F1 victory has become something of a rallying cry.

Can the veteran driver break through in his home race?

Aston Martin themselves have been building towards this race, with the team calling on their supporters to “turning Spain green” in support of Alonso. “Bring your energy. Fly your flags, wave your banners, wear your green caps with pride. Barcelona is calling…We want you to bring your thing to the Spanish Grand Prix and help us turn Spain green for Fernando’s first home race with the team” reads the call to supporters on Aston Martin’s website.

As for the driver himself, Alonso has been pointing to Barcelona as the spot where he can finally break through. Following his finish in Miami, the veteran driver listed Barcelona as a spot where he could finally challenge the Red Bulls at the front of the field. However, following his second-place finish in Monaco, Alonso seemed to tamp down expectations somewhat when asked about Barcelona.

“Yeah, it will be but I don’t think that I will not put any pressure on my team or myself into next week. We saw today on race pace… yesterday was very close in qualifying but today in the race, we saw Red Bull again, very dominant. So we have to accept that things into next weekend will be maybe as we saw in any other race this year, where Red Bull is untouchable,” said Alonso.

“And we have to see in a normal circuit, what is the package of Mercedes and the upgrades that Ferrari will bring apparently to Barcelona as well. So we have to have the feet on the ground and as I said in Miami, it’s going to be a few weekends in the year that we will just be seventh and eighth and we have to accept that and some others that we will fight for podiums. So I will not get into Barcelona, thinking that I will win, and disappoint anyone. We have to have the feet on the ground,” added the veteran driver.

Still, his last win? It came just over ten years ago.

In the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

Alonso’s quest for that elusive 33rd win is perhaps the storyline this week.

Can Carlos Sainz Jr. bounceback in his home race?

Alonso, however, is not the only driver racing at home this upcoming weekend.

Carlos Sainz Jr. is coming home as well, to a race where he has experienced a great deal of success over his F1 career. His first Spanish Grand Prix came back in 2015, when he was with Toro Rosso, and he finished in P9, and Sainz has finished in the points every single time he has raced in the Spanish Grand Prix.

He is also coming off his best finish in Barcelona, having placed fourth a season ago.

In contrast to Alonso, who is coming off his best finish of the season last week in Monaco, Sainz is coming off a disappointing eighth-place result on the Monte Carlo streets, a result that left both him, and the team, frustrated in its wake. “I leave Monaco with a bitter taste, but next up is my home race and we need to keep focused,” said the driver in the team’s post-race media report.

Ferrari will be bringing some upgrades to the SF-23 to the track in Barcelona, and that has Team Principal Frederic Vasseur eying a more positive week in the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. “Looking at the weekend as a whole, our qualifying pace was good and we have to aim to repeat that next week in Barcelona,” said Vasseur after Monaco. “The field is so tight you have to put everything together and the slightest mistake is costly. We will have some updates on the car which should be a step forward in terms of performance, so let’s wait and see what we can do in Spain.”

Can Sergio Pérez make up for a lost week in Monaco?

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While Monaco saw a tremendous performance from Max Verstappen, as he increased his lead in the Drivers’ Standings with an impressive win on Sunday, the performance from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez was the polar opposite.

The “King of the Streets” saw his crown diminished starting on Saturday, when a crash into the barrier early in Q1 knocked him out of qualifying, and saw him start at the back of the field. Given the difficulties in overtaking in the Grand Prix itself, Pérez could only pick up a few spots of position on the track, ending his day in P16.

“It was the worst weekend I can remember in a while; everything went wrong and today we paid the price for a poor mistake from myself in qualifying,” said Pérez after the Grand Prix. “I am really sad about the performance, not just today but the whole weekend. I knew yesterday would be extremely costly and ultimately it was 25 points.”

Both Pérez and Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner are ready to turn the page to Barcelona.

“Unfortunately, it was a difficult weekend for Checo,” said Horner on Sunday after Monaco. “Despite his best efforts, there was very little he could do after yesterday’s qualifying. Knowing Checo though, he will learn from his mistakes and respond quickly in Spain.”

Pérez has enjoyed success in the Spanish Grand Prix, and is coming off his best-ever result in Barcelona, placing second in the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, where he also secured an extra point for the fastest lap of the day. Since joining Red Bull Pérez has a P5, and last year’s P2, in Spain.

Still, Pérez knows that if he wants to keep his dreams of a Drivers’ Championship alive, perfection might be the requirement. “I only want to move on from this race because it was a terrible weekend,” said Pérez after Monaco. “I still have hope in the Championship but I know I cannot afford another zero in a race, so I really hope I can be back to my normal level in Barcelona. I need to be perfect in the next few races, I need to get victories and get them soon. I am happy we are racing in a few days.”

Has Mercedes really turned things around?

After weeks of breathless speculation, Mercedes finally unveiled the long-awaited upgrades to the W14. Gone was the zero-pod design that shocked the F1 world when the Silver Arrows broke cover on that look a season ago. Instead the world saw a sidepod design similar to that of what Alpine or Williams are doing this season.

However, the sidepods were not the only changes the team brought to Monaco, as Mercedes unveiled a new front suspension system as well.

While Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff warned that there are no “silver bullets” in F1, and that dramatic improvement would not be coming overnight, it was a much more positive weekend for the team. Mercedes came away with both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the top five, and while Russell was frustrated Sunday night at perhaps costing his team a shot at a podium, it was a stronger weekend on the whole for Mercedes.

Hamilton, in particular, sounded upbeat as he looked back at Sunday, and ahead to Barcelona.

“I’m really happy with today’s result. We moved forwards in the race and that’s not an easy task here in Monaco. Coming into the weekend, I didn’t know where we would stand. To come out with fourth and fifth is great points for the Team,” said Hamilton in the team’s post-race media report.

“Barcelona, though, is probably the best test circuit we could ask for in order to learn more about our package,” added Hamilton. “I’m looking forward to seeing how the car reacts.”

Andrew Shovlin, the Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director, seemed equally positive about what might lie ahead for the Silver Arrows.

“We now shift our focus to Barcelona immediately. We’re looking forward to seeing how the car works around a more normal track; we’re expecting to have more work to do but it’s going to be useful to understand where we must focus our efforts,” said Shovlin.

“We’re in a good fight for second in the Constructors’ Championship and while that’s not our goal, it looks like we’re going to be able to have some fun racing with Ferrari and Aston Martin as we work on closing that gap to Red Bull,” added Shovlin.

The new-look W14 was solid in Monaco, which is a one-of-a-kind circuit in F1. But if the games are even more prominent in Barcelona, that could be a sign that Mercedes truly has turned the corner.

The Battle for the Midfield

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Moving our attention away from the top of the table, let’s look at the current cluster of teams in the midfield.

Fifth: Alpine (35 points)
Sixth: McLaren (17 points)
Seventh: Haas (8 points)
Eighth: Alfa Romeo (6 points)

Sunday was a massive result for Alpine, as Esteban Ocon’s P3, combined with Pierre Gasly’s P8, gave the team a haul of 21 points, boosting their lead over McLaren. While Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri both came away with double points, Ocon’s tremendous driver was a big boost to Alpine.

Behind them, both Haas and Alfa Romeo are coming off difficult weeks, and will hope for much different results in Barcelona.

Alpine is obviously eying a move further up the table, as CEO Laurent Rossi has declared in recent weeks that fourth place is not good enough. “I don’t enter a competition and reset my objective because it’s easier. The team managed to get fourth,” said Rossi the week of the Miami Grand Prix. “They have the means to get fourth, more so than others. I want them to be fourth. If they don’t, it’s going to be a failure.”

But can McLaren turn up the heat and pressure Alpine from below?