A lot of strategies go on behind the scenes in a dynamic sport like F1 – here’s everything you need to know about one such tactic Spy Photography

Formula One is a very competitive sport with cut-throat competition. The ever-increasing rivalry forces teams to look for ideas and strategies which will give them an extra advantage over other teams. This continuous search for new strategic ideas has given birth to a tactic called ‘Spy Photography.’ Although it is not a new tactic in the motorsport industry, its usage has increased rapidly in the recent past.

The tactic of ‘Spy Photography’ as the name suggests, is a technique wherein a team employs a secret photographer to take photos of their rival teams’ technical developments, as well as employ photographers around parts of the track to monitor tire degradation on their own cars, as well as rival’s cars. It is not limited to Formula 1 either as the World Endurance Championship and NASCAR heavily make use of photographers to aid in beating the competition. This strategy helps teams obtain information from their rivals that could be helpful for future races.

How are the teams shaping up ahead of the 2023 F1 season?

The new season of Formula One is less than three months away and teams already seem to have finalised their drivers’ lineup for 2023. The 2023 F1 grid will see a number of new faces while we will certainly miss four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, who decided to retire at the end of 2022 season. Let us take a look at the teams and drivers who are set to be a part of the 2023 F1 World Championship.

There will be three debutants in the F1 grid next season – Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Logan Sargeant (Williams). We will also see the full-time return of Nico Hulkenberg for the first time since 2019, who has replaced Mick Schumacher at Haas. Meanwhile, Aston Martin has roped in two-time World Champion, Fernando Alonso to fill the spot vacated by the retiring Sebastian Vettel.

McLaren has brought in Oscar Piastri after Alonso’s departure from the team. Yuki Tsunoda has moved on to Alpha Tauri while Alpine have signed Esteban Ocon to partner Gasly in the Japanese driver’s place. Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher and Daniel Ricciardo are unfortunately missing out and won’t be a full-time part of the F1 grid next season.

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