Dominance, Shock & Drama: Formula 1 in 2023
Updated: Aug 27
At the end of 2023, the leading organisation of motorsport, the FIA, held its twenty-eighth prize giving ceremony where the world champion Max Verstappen claimed the legendary trophy. As the 2024 season is just around the corner, it is important to reflect on the action and storylines that have come before. So here is a recap of the 2023 F1 season…
In 2023, Formula 1 was completely and impressively dominated by the six-time constructor’s champions Red Bull Racing and in particular, the now three-time world champion Max Verstappen. Of all of the 22 races, Verstappen won a stunning 19 races and made a record of having 10 victories in a row. His teammate Sergio Perez (who finished second in the standings) won 2 races in the early half of the season. Carlos Sainz was the only person to stop Red Bull’s winning streak when he and Ferrari claimed victory in Singapore.
Verstappen’s dominant season saw him obliterate a list of records (including the most wins in a season, most wins in a row – 10, most podiums, most laps led, most sprint wins, largest championship winning margin and the most wins from pole). Verstappen’s efforts now put him third in the list of drivers with the most wins behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull faced some mild competition across the season, although going wheel to wheel with a few other teams and drivers. Lewis Hamilton, in his tenth year with Mercedes, finished third in the standings and helped his team finish second in the constructors’ championship – recovering well from a dreadful 2022 season. In 2023, Mercedes decided to ditch the no-sidepods idea and created a car which delivered consistent results. George Russell had a season of ups and downs which included a dramatic race in Singapore where Mercede’s strategy put Russell in a prime position to win the race just before he hit a wall and crashed out. Hamilton had achieved a collection of consistent podium finishes and was close to maintaining second place in the standings before his dire disqualification in America. This is the second season running where Hamilton did not win yet his stunning pole position in Hungary made him one of three non-Red Bull drivers to start on pole across the season.
The other two were the Ferrari drivers – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. For most of the season Ferrari had the second fastest car which led to exceptional performances in Singapore and Monza, yet they were not able to achieve much with it. Sainz peaked with his win in Singapore, finishing just ahead of his old teammate Lando Norris, but struggled to come to terms with the SF-23 car. Leclerc, the 2022 runner up, experienced yet another season riddled with bad performances – the most devastating being the failing to start the race in Brazil and the dramatic disqualification with Hamilton in America.
McLaren made a shocking comeback on the weekend of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone when they finished P2 and P4 with their flagship driver Lando Norris and the new rookie Oscar Piastri. In the opening race of the season, McLaren finished the race with Norris in P17 whilst Piastri did not finish. By the end of the season, however, they were the closest rivals to Red Bull with Norris getting close to beating Verstappen in Brazil and Japan. They finished a remarkable P4 in the constructors. Piastri went on to be crowned ‘rookie of the year’ at the FIA prize ceremony after achieving big results including a sprint race victory in the returning Qatar Grand Prix.
Another big shock was the return of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to the front of the field with his new team Aston Martin after Sebastian Vettel retired from the sport. In the opening race in Bahrain, Alonso finished third behind the Red Bulls after carving his way through the field when he pulled a skilful overtake on Lewis Hamilton in a swooping left hand turn. Alonso had some further impressive moments – a second place on Verstappen’s home turf in the Netherlands after a stormy race and he was close to beating Verstappen to pole in Monaco. His teammate, Lance Stroll, had a polar-opposite season to Alonso yet Aston Martin finished fifth in the standings – a valuable two place rise from 2022.
The other teams experienced quite a lot of trouble over the season. Alpine had two podiums both in third place – Esteban Ocon in Monaco and new recruit Pierre Gasly in the Netherlands – however Gasly achieved another impressive podium in the sprint race in Belgium. After many double DNFs, Alpine miserably finished in sixth after having high expectations for 2023. Williams Racing finished seventh in the constructors’ championship for an impressive result. After at the bottom of the pile in 2022, a set of promising upgrades in the mid-season and a string of good results in the latter half led to the phenomenal three place rise. Alex Albon returned to Williams and had some respectable results – a highlight being P8 in Britain. His rookie teammate Logan Sargeant, who worked his way up through the Williams Academy, faced lots of challenges in his first year in Formula 1. Lots of DNFs, crashes and damage didn’t make his season as impressive as Piastri’s. Sargeant is however the first American driver to make it into F1 since 2007; he scored his first points in his home race at the Circuit of the Americas.
AlphaTauri was the talk of the paddock this year due to its driver lineups and its situation as the sister team to Red Bull Racing. AlphaTauri started the season with Yuki Tsunoda (who stayed with the team for a third season) and ex-Formula E champion Nyck De Vries. Although his talents in Formula E demonstrates his skills as a driver, De Vries did not take to an F1 car and his lack of quality performances were a concern to Red Bull bosses. For the Hungarian Grand Prix De Vries was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo, who experienced half a year on the sidelines after parting ways with McLaren. Ricciardo shocked the Red Bull bosses with his Silverstone test drive of Red Bull’s car – the RB19. Ricciardo delivered some great results including a seventh place finish in Mexico. However, a nasty crash in a practice session in the Netherlands put Ricciardo out of action for two months. During this time he was temporarily replaced by rookie Liam Lawson who shocked the paddock with his points scoring in Singapore. Ricciardo and Tsunoda return to AlphaTauri for 2024 in the hopes of reaching the second seat at Red Bull when contracts finish.
Alfa Romeo scored a measly 16 points over the course of the 2023 season. After having some points finishes in the early races, the season only went downhill for the team. Both drivers, Valterri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, failed to finish races often. This season was also the final season that Alfa Romeo will be in the sport. Sauber F1 team, recently rebranded to Stake F1 team, have their sights on 2024 to develop their team before working with Audi when they arrive in 2026. Haas F1 team also had a terrible season. After a promising start with the return of Kevin Magnussen in 2022, Haas only scored 12 points in 2023 with new signing Nico Hulkenberg. They finished last in the standings, yet they return in 2024 for more.
2023 was set to include the greatest number of races on record (proposed 24) before the cancellation of the Chinese and Italian (Emilia Romagna) Grand Prix due to Covid problems and weather problems respectively. Instead, 2023 saw the inaugural race on the Las Vegas street circuit. F1 had been to Vegas before in the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix however this event was one of the largest sporting events in 2023. The circuit took over the fabulous city and held an exciting race as cars sprinted down the famous Las Vegas strip at top speeds. The event did cause some controversies: F1’s construction and handling of the event became a huge inconvenience for residents and business owners. Not only that but the track itself hadn’t been fully prepared – leading to Carlos Sainz’s dangerous experience in the first practice session when he drove over a pothole which split his seat and car. Practice sessions resumed in the late hours of the night with no crowds – a bizarre experience. However the chaotic Las Vegas Grand Prix was thrilling and exciting – being filled with action, overtaking and high speeds.
After a dominant and record breaking season, Formula 1 returns in just a few months for the 2024 season. Over the winter break there have been no contract changes – meaning the same rivalries continue again. Can the other teams find an answer to Red Bull’s dominance? Will Lando finally get his first win? Will Verstappen’s dominance continue? Only time will tell.
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