Alpha Tauri team boss Franz Tost believes that only three drivers on the grid will be able to fight for the world title next year in Formula 1; namely, Leclerc and Russell fighting for the F1 title in 2023. Hamilton is not a factor.

AlphaTauri team boss Franz Tost expects to see a three-way battle for the world title next year in F1 and does not believe Red Bull will still be as dominant as it was in 2022.

After a 2022 season largely dominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen (they will be officially titled this Friday, December 9) – with seventeen wins for the Milton Keynes-based team, fifteen of which were just for Max Verstappen – Franz Tost believes that the game could change next year.

The AlphaTauri team boss believes Red Bull Racing will still be strong in the 2023 season, but he also sees Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Mercedes driver George Russell joining Max Verstappen at the front of the grid.

“Russell is already stronger than Hamilton”

“Such superiority as Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing have shown this year is quite rare,” said Franz Tost in an interview with Speedweek.

“I expect a three-way battle between Max, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who is already stronger than Lewis Hamilton…”

Regarding the Red Bull penalty – which will see its wind tunnel time reduced by 10% next year after breaking financial regulations in 2021 – Tost believes it will obviously have an impact on the development of the car in 2023, but the Austrian has faith in the engineers at Milton Keynes.

“The FIA penalty will have a negative impact on Red Bull Racing, no doubt. But I trust Red Bull to be able to fight for the world championship again.”

On the subject of the budget cap, Franz Tost believes that compliance with the budget cap should not be a problem in 2022: “I don’t expect any overruns.”

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