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Mercedes made a disappointing start to their 2023 campaign as Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were left well off the pace of Red Bull in Bahrain; Speculation has followed over Hamilton’s future with the team; watch the Saudi Arabian GP on Sky Sports F1 next weekend

Mercedes have insisted they will not “panic or look for scapegoats” after a disappointing start to the 2023 Formula 1 season in Bahrain last weekend.

Following a torrid 2022 campaign which saw their eight-year streak of constructors’ titles ended by Red Bull, Mercedes had been bullish during the winter over a return to contention this year, but that optimism faded as they were outperformed by not only the dominant reigning champions but also Ferrari and Aston Martin.

Recriminations followed with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton publicly questioning the team’s decision to ignore his advice over the design of their 2023 car, and team principal Toto Wolff describing the Bahrain GP as “one of the worst days in racing”.

With speculation raging about Hamilton’s future with the team, along with other key members of staff, the team released a letter addressed to their fans on Saturday morning in an apparent attempt to calm the situation.

The letter said: “Bahrain hurt. It hurt each one of us, who head into every season determined to fight for world championships. It hurt the team as a whole, after pouring so much hard work into a car that hasn’t met our expectations.

“The situation we face right now isn’t the one that any of us wanted – but it’s the one we have. That’s the reality of it. And the simple questions are: what can we do about it, and what will we do about it?

“We won’t panic or make knee-jerk reactions. In a spotlight as fierce as F1, people are quick to point fingers, or look for scapegoats. But you know us better than that. Inside the team, we talk about having the courage to fail, the character to be accountable and the strength to see failure as an opportunity.

“We have been open and searingly honest about where we find ourselves. And we are working urgently and calmly to build our recovery plan, focusing on what needs to happen short term, medium term, and long term to win. We already have developments in the pipeline for the next races – and there will be more to come. But this won’t be the work of a moment; there are no silver bullets in F1.”

Hamilton, who finished fifth in Bahrain ahead of team-mate George Russell in seventh, has repeatedly expressed a desire to remain with Mercedes in F1 beyond the end of the season, when his current contract expires.

Both the 38-year-old and Wolff had previously suggested agreeing an extension would be a formality, but the team’s apparent failure to provide him with a championship-contending car for a second straight season has led to speculation over whether he could choose to retire or look for a move elsewhere.

There is also great interest in how Mercedes will proceed with the development of their W14 car after Wolff suggested in Bahrain that the team had accepted their current concept will not work.

The statement continued: “We will keep our heads held high – and take this journey step by step, together. We are Mercedes. We know the standards we aspire to, and nobody is flinching when we look at the mountain we must climb. It won’t be easy – but where’s the value in something easy?

“These are the times when character is forged; the times when a team becomes greater than the sum of its parts, tackling difficult problems and conquering them. We’re together through thick and thin – from Toto, Lewis and George, to every single woman and man in the factories in Brackley and Brixworth. And we love that challenge.”

Hamilton and Mercedes will be back in action next weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, with every session live on Sky Sports F1, starting with first practice on Friday at 1:30pm.

As Formula 1 returns for the 2023 season, we’ve explained the key phrases you will hear while following Sky Sports F1’s coverage of the sport’s biggest ever season.

The exciting, innovating and high-speed sport can be complex and confusing for existing fans, never mind new ones.

So, ahead of the opening race of the 2023 season in Bahrain this weekend, here are some F1 terms that can be confusing but crucial during a Grand Prix weekend.

Pole position

What you might hear – “Fernando Alonso is on pole position.”

What you might think – Where’s the pole?

What it actually means – The driver on pole position is the one who set the fastest lap time during qualifying. Usually, that will mean the driver on pole starts the Grand Prix at the front. However, during a Sprint weekend, the pole-sitter will start the Sprint on Saturday at the front, but the finishing order from the Sprint decides the starting order for the Grand Prix on Sunday.

DRS

What you might hear – “Yuki Tsunoda has got DRS.”

What you might think – DRS could be a medical term or the decision review system, like cricket.

What it actually means – DRS stands for drag reduction system, which allows drivers to move a flap in the rear wing of their car that decreases the air resistance, giving the car up to 7.5mph more speed. The system is designed to deliver more overtaking, but can only be activated when a car is within one second of the car ahead.

Slipstream

What you might hear – “Oscar Piastri is in Alex Albon’s slipstream.”

What you might think – Is this a new type of streaming?

What it actually means – When a driver is directly behind another car, they can go faster because there is less air resistance, in the same way you might hide behind your friend so they block the wind getting to you. Getting a slipstream should enhance a driver’s chances of pulling off an overtake. Team-mates may also intentionally give each other a slipstream in Qualifying to help set the fastest lap.

Chicane

What you might hear – “And here they come through the swimming pool chicane.”

What you might think – Are they racing in the water these days?

What it actually means – A chicane is a sequence of corners that sees two changes in direction in quick succession. The swimming pool chicane is one of the sport’s most famous chicanes, as the cars thread their way through a remarkably tight section around Monaco’s swimming pool.

Oversteer/understeer

What you might hear – “Logan Sargeant prefers his car to oversteer.”

What you might think – I’m only used to one type of steering.

What it actually means – Depending on the setup of the car and how it is driven, a driver may either oversteer or understeer. If a car oversteers, the car is very sensitive to the driver turning the steering wheel, often leading to the rear of the car sliding – it looks cool, but can be slower, worse for the tyres and lead to accidents.

Understeer happens when the car won’t turn as much as the driver would like. This can lead to the car running wide and also going slower. The perfect car would have no understeer or oversteer, but this is not a perfect world, so sometimes the drivers and teams must choose between the two evils.

Going purple

What you might hear – “Max Verstappen is currently fastest, but Charles Leclerc is going purple.”

What you might think – Charles Leclerc must be angry.

What it actually means – When a driver completes a sector of a track faster than anyone, the timing screens will go purple for that sector. A purple sector would tend to indicate that a driver is on a highly competitive lap, which has a chance of being the fastest of the session or race.

Undercut/overcut

What you might hear – “Lewis Hamilton has undercut Carlos Sainz to take the lead.”

What you might think – Hamilton has done some sort of boxing move.

What it actually means – During a race, Hamilton has come into the pits earlier than Sainz, who he was behind on track. That allows him to go faster on fresh tyres, meaning by the time Sainz has pitted a lap or two later, he would come out of the pits behind Hamilton.

The overcut is the opposite of this and can happen when newer tyres make a car slower, so the driver that pits later comes out ahead. This would be likely to happen on a cold day when the tyres take a while to get up to a higher temperature and become hot and grippy.

Locking up

What you might hear – “Lando Norris has locked up going into turn one.”

What you might think – Norris has been imprisoned – perhaps for speeding.

What it actually means – Norris has tried to slow his car down by braking, but there is not enough grip and his tyre is sliding across the tarmac. Lock ups usually create a puff of smoke and cause a car to run off line, while significant damage can be done to the tyre.

Apex

What you might hear – “Sergio Perez has missed the apex there.”

What you might think – Is this racing or climbing?

What it actually means – The apex is the point of the corner that the car should go through for no time to be lost – so if Perez missed the apex, he might have gone wide, losing time.

Backmarker

What you might hear – “The blue flags are going to need to come out soon as the leaders catch the backmarkers.”

What you might think – Who are they marking?

What it actually means – Backmarkers are the slower cars at the back that will often be lapped by the leading cars. A blue flag is shown to a backmarker to tell the driver to get out of the way as the faster car comes through. Backmarkers can sometimes interfere with racing between the leaders.

Degradation (Deg)

What you might hear – “The deg on that Ferrari today has been really bad.”

What you might think – Did I hear that correctly?

What it actually means – Degradation happens as tyres wear – or become damaged – during a stint, and there are two main types of degradation. ‘Blistering’ happens when the tyre overheats and bubbles up on the surface and ‘graining’ when the tyres slide across the tarmac, crumbling apart like a ball of mozzarella might. ‘Deg’, as drivers will often refer to it, can have serious consequences – see the video above!

Marbles

What you might hear – “Look at all the marbles on the track.”

What you might think – Has someone dropped their marble collection onto the track?

What it actually means – As the tyres fall apart – or grain – the bits of rubber can gather on the track, creating a surface which feels to the drivers like they are driving on marbles. There is not a lot of grip if you drive on marbles, but after the race, drivers will drive onto the marbles to pick up rubber and add to the car’s mass to ensure the car weighs enough to comply with rules.

Bottoming out

What you might hear – “George Russell has gone wide and bottomed out on the kerb.”

What you might think – It sounds a little rude.

What it actually means – F1 cars are really low because the closer the ground, the more speed drivers can take through corners. Often, the bottom of the car scrapes along the ground, bottoming out and creating sparks.

Delta

What you might hear – “The soft compound of tyre has a delta of half a second to the hard compound.”

What you might think – Isn’t delta part of the Greek alphabet?

What it actually means – You’d be correct. Delta is part of the Greek alphabet, but also means difference. So in the example above, the softer tyres are quicker than the hard tyres by half a second per lap. Delta might also be used to describe the difference in pace between different drivers or cars.

Parc ferme

What you might hear – “The cars are in parc ferme conditions”

What you might think – It’s hard enough understanding F1 without needing to speak French!

What it actually means – It is French for secure park. After qualifying, an expensive car park is created with no maintenance allowed to take place on cars before the race without the permission of the FIA – F1’s governing body. FIA officials scrutineer the cars to ensure no changes are made that shouldn’t be.

The F1 Academy is an all-female racing championship for younger drivers; the inaugural 2023 season will feature five teams, each entering three cars to make up a 15-strong grid; the season finale will serve as a support event at the US Grand Prix in October

The race calendar for the inaugural 2023 season of the F1 Academy has been announced, with a total of 21 races over seven rounds, including a season finale which will serve as a support event at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.

The brand-new all-female championship is for younger drivers and will feature five teams – ART, Campos, Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema – each entering three cars to make up a 15-strong grid.

The 15 competing cars will take to the track for the first time on April 11-12 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for an official test session, with the season getting under way on April 28-29 in Spielberg, Austria.

Spain will host two events in May, in Valencia and Barcelona, with summer stops in the Netherlands (Zandvoort), Italy (Monza) and France (Le Castellet), before the season-ender in the US on October 20-22.

There will also be 13 more days of testing throughout the season, to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Bruno Michel, general manager of the F1 Academy, said: “Our goal was to be able to race on as many Formula 1 Grand Prix tracks as possible, with circuits that could be a great challenge for the drivers.

“The teams know these layouts very well, so they will be able to help their young talents get to grips quickly.

“We had announced that F1 Academy would be racing alongside Formula 1 at one event, so it’s fantastic to be part of the F1 Grand Prix package in Austin, where we will also conclude the first season, in front of the F1 paddock and the American crowd.”

Race Weekend Format

Each race weekend will consist of two free practice sessions of 40 minutes each, followed by two qualifying sessions of 15 minutes each.

All events will have three races: Races 1 and 3 will be 30 minutes long, and Race 2 will be 20 minutes. Qualifying 1 will set the Grid for Race 1 and Qualifying 2 will set the grid for Race 3.

The first eight finishers in Qualifying 1 will start Race 2 in reverse order, cars finishing in ninth position and below will start in the position they qualified in that session.

The drivers who take pole position for Races 1 and 3 following the final classification of the Qualifying sessions will be awarded with two points.

In each race, one point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap time, providing she was in the top 10 positions of the final race classification.