Medland: 'The F1 2023 season buzz has already begun — thanks to 9hr tyre test'

Even after the amount of times I’ve written about the ever-expanding Formula 1 calendar and the dangers of team members burning out — of just not being able to give 100% every day of every race — I can never bring myself to leave Abu Dhabi after the final grand prix of the season.

When there’s testing to take place in the days following the finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, the FOMO (fear of missing out) is just too real even at the end of such a long and gruelling season – particularly the Brazil-Abu Dhabi double header to wrap things up.

And as testing sessions go, this week’s running in the UAE was a good one, as it provided a look into the future.

Around 36 hours after the chequered flag fell on Max Verstappen’s victory on Sunday night, two drivers from that grid were in very different machinery.

After two collisions with Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon in the sprint, Fernando Alonso said in Brazil that he was already looking forward to driving the green car. And that’s exactly what he got to do on Tuesday as Aston Martin had removed all of its partner stickers from the car, leaving just a plain green livery carrying the number 14.

The reasoning was that Alonso was still contracted to Alpine, and therefore not allowed to promote Aston Martin’s sponsors over those of the French constructor.

Not that Alonso cared. All he was interested in doing was getting in as much mileage as possible in order to get a feel for his new car and to start integrating himself into the team. In fact, he was so eager that he was the first car out when the session started at 9am local time and similarly ensured nobody got to the end of the pitlane before him after the first stoppage of the morning.

The sight of Piastri leaving the garage for the first time felt like a long time coming, even if the fact it meant the end of Daniel Ricciardo’s F1 career for now also simultaneously made it far too soon. At least Lando Norris tried his best to fill the Ricciardo role by drifting into the pit lane to start his running, but it was pretty much the only time he caught the eye as focus was on his new team-mate.

One stoppage for Piastri threatened to provide a photograph to go with any stories of struggle as he climbed out midway through the morning but it was a brief interruption to a day when his biggest surprise was how much the cars still bounce in a straight line, having been used to 2021 machinery.

The smile on his face once running was over wasn’t quite as wide as Gasly’s, but then Piastri is a little less easy to read in terms of his emotions. Instead, I could only take him at his word that he was even enjoying media interviews after running ended because he was fresh after months off from them.

That might soon fade, but as Alonso showed, drivers don’t need the exuberance of youth to be as optimistic as Piastri and Gasly were. Nico Hülkenberg was similarly encouraged to get a taste of his new team at Haas, operating with the sort of professionalism you’d expect from a driver who has been without a full-time drive since 2019 and recently rediscovered the hunger to commit to a return.

Just hearing all four of them talk about their first impressions, the positives and negatives, and outline their plans for the coming weeks and months, was enough to immediately switch the focus to 2023. It might have been a tyre test, but effectively this was the first date for a number of new couples who have already promised themselves to each other for next season.

They’ll all have that nervous excitement that comes from a new relationship, fuelled by the completely unknown potential but also the initial questions that they’ll have been left with after Tuesday. Much has been made of Vettel’s last dance two days earlier, but this was the first dance of 2023 and the likes of Alonso, Gasly, Piastri and Hulkenberg were getting that initial impression of how long it will take for them to be moving in time with the new environment they’ve signed up to.

The test was only a sneak peak of what is to come, and brand new cars will mean there’s something different to get acquainted with next February, but who knew that nine hours of tyre testing could provide such a platform to really boost anticipation for next season so close to the end of this one?