
The ominous alarm bell ringing after F1 launch season
OPINION: With F1's 2023 launch season now at an end, the releases and stances of each team have been varied in their messaging. While that offers an insight into which teams are happier than others, one has remained conspicuous in its relative silence. And, for its rivals, that silence might be something to worry about...
As bouncers ushered out the final guests from Alpine’s new car after-party in London in the early hours of Friday morning, it marked the official end of Formula 1’s 2023 launch season.
In little more than two weeks, from the simple new livery press release Haas sent out on 31 January, to Alpine’s Printworks event in Surrey Quays, via New York, Grove, Zurich, Woking, Silverstone and Maranello, it’s been quite a rollercoaster. We’ve had surprises, disappointments, annoyances, intrigue, a couple of shambolic moments, a few laughs, plus Zinedine Zidane along the way.

Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.
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