Most Iconic Moments and Storylines from the 2023 Formula 1 Season

In a season marked by record-breaking domination, unexpected podiums, and fascinating races, the 2023 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP is undoubtedly one for the history books.

1. Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT: Domination

It is without a doubt that the 2023 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP was Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT’s time to shine truly. Claiming 21 victories out of the 22 Grand Prix that took place, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez proved the superiority of the RB19 race car across the globe. The team sealed the 2023 F1 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP in Suzuka on September 24, with five races left until the end of the season. Max Verstappen also claimed his third consecutive championship title two weeks later at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar. Sergio Perez finished the season in second place, placing Red Bull at the top in all aspects.

With an exceptional car, well-designed strategy, and motivated drivers, Red Bull’s dominance was clear from the start of the season in Bahrain until the Finale in Abu Dhabi. The RB19 displayed consistent speed, endurance, and performance through all sections of the race weekends, carrying the team to unparalleled victories.

The 2023 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP was a record-breaking season for the team. Red Bull Racing surpassed McLaren Racing’s 1988 record of 11 consecutive by achieving a 14-race winning streak. The team also surpassed Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team’s 19 wins in a season by two races. Moreover, Max Verstappen topped Sebastian Vettel’s nine-race winning streak in 2013 by claiming ten phenomenal wins from Miami to Monza.

2. McLaren’s 1.80 Seconds Pit Stop

In a season full of record-breaking performances, the McLaren Mercedes team did not fall short. The team completed a 1.80-second pit stop on Lando Norris’s car at the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023, breaking the record previously held by Red Bull Racing of 1.92 seconds in 2019.

3. Ending the Streak: Carlos Sainz Wins in Singapore

During a season which seemed to be simply Red Bull Racing’s time to shine, one driver was able to break through their lengthy winning streak. Carlos Sainz emerged victorious at the FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX 2023 with Scuderia Ferrari, marking his second career win in F1. After starting in Pole Position, and after a stressful few finals laps, with Lando Norris’s McLaren, as well as both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes tagging closely behind, the Spaniard drove to victory under the lights in Singapore. 

This win marks the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix victory of the 2023 season. It is also the only race this year where neither of the Red Bull drivers finished on the podium.

4. Second Place Constructors' Battle to the End

While first place was already decided earlier on in the season, the fight for second place in the 2023 F1 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP was far from over. With only a four-point difference splitting the two apart in favour of the former, Mercedes and Scuderia Ferrari were prepared to fight for the place during the last race of the season in Abu Dhabi. With only one driver from each team starting in the top ten, competition between the two was sure to be close.

Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari struggled to stay in significant point-scoring positions, ultimately ending in them receiving two and no points respectively. George Russell and Charles Leclerc, however, remained at the front, with only a few places in between at all times. Towards the end of the race, Leclerc was running in second, while Russell was in fourth place behind Perez, who had been issued a five-second penalty for an incident with Lando Norris. Second place depended entirely on whether Perez would be able to increase the gap between himself and Russell to over five seconds and nullify the negative effects of the penalty or not. Leclerc also attempted to let Perez past him to diminish this gap.

Ultimately, despite Perez’s best efforts, the gap remained under five seconds, ending the race with Leclerc in second, Russell in third, and himself in fourth, and granting Mercedes second place in the 2023 F1 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP by a three-point difference to Ferrari.

5. Alonso Back on the Podium

Fernando Alonso started the new season on a roll, putting himself in third place and back on the podium during the opening race in Bahrain. This was the first time since 2021, and 2014 before that, that the two-time world champion stood on the podium. The triumph did not end there, as he finished in the top three seven more times before the end of the 2023 season. 

These podiums came as a pleasant shock to many viewers throughout the season; Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes, which finished seventh in the 2022 F1 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP, surprised the competition with a race car that was able to compete with front-runners since the beginning of the season. Like the team itself, Alonso finished fifth in the 2023 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.

6. French Festivities

Unexpected podiums didn’t end with Fernando Alonso. Alpine Renault drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly both found themselves on the third step of the podium eventually, after fighting through the midfield for most of the season.

Ocon finished in third place at the FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2023. After a dry-wet race, track position and strategy were in the Frenchman’s favour as he crossed the line to claim the last podium place. This was his third career podium, and his first time finishing in that position. 

Gasly also caught some podium action, this time at the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN DUTCH GRAND PRIX 2023. The Frenchman, who was running in fourth place at the end of the 72-lap race, inherited the podium position from Sergio Perez, who was given a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. This was his fourth career podium.

7. Remarkable Rookie: Piastri Wins the Sprint in Qatar

On the same night that Max Verstappen was crowned three-time consecutive world champion, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri took the chequered flag to win the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023 SPRINT ahead of Verstappen and Norris. 

Starting from pole position, Piastri was able to get a clean getaway at the start. Several safety cars and racing incidents shuffled the order of drivers around significantly, causing the Australian to eventually lose first place to George Russell in the Mercedes. However, he was able to recover the position through a DRS-assisted overtake a few laps later. He continued in that place until the end of the race, finishing approximately two seconds ahead of Verstappen behind.

8. McLaren’s Podium Finishes

The 2023 season was filled with top-three finishes for the McLaren Mercedes team. From only one podium finish in 2022 to nine podium finishes in 2023, the MCL60 carried Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to phenomenal race finishes on several occasions. After several years of scarce podium finishes and starting the season by finishing last in the opening race in Bahrain, the team was able to secure second and third place across many different circuits throughout the season.

The number of podium finishes of McLaren drivers this year alone is equivalent to the team’s podium finishes from 2019 to 2022 combined. The team collected the second-highest number of podium finishes this season, ahead of Mercedes and behind Red Bull Racing.

9. Viva Las Vegas

Formula 1 returned to Las Vegas in 2023 for the first time since the 1980s. A night race set across the vibrant backdrop of the Vegas Strip, teams and spectators alike were excited for the event.

Despite its beautiful set-up, the track caused some issues for drivers during the first practice session. Carlos Sainz’s car was damaged less than 10 minutes into FP1 as he drove over an unsealed drain cover. The team was required to use an extra energy store unit than the amount allocated at the start of the season, resulting in a ten-place grid penalty for the race on Sunday, despite not causing the damage himself. The Spaniard qualified second on Saturday, putting him in 12th place in the race. At the same time, both practice sessions were suspended on Friday to revise the track’s safety and seal all drain covers, causing some dismay among spectators.

Penalties aside, the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN SILVER LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX 2023 was action-packed. From brilliant battles to unbelievable overtakes, this race is easily recognized as one of the more exciting events of the season. The top three, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, and Sergio Perez, enjoyed close racing and thrilling competition to the finish line, as Leclerc overtook Perez just seconds away from the end of the race.

10. Alphatauri: Drivers, Drivers, and Drivers

AlphaTauri Honda RBPT underwent some significant team changes this season. Starting the season with Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries, the latter replacing Pierre Gasly following his move to Alpine Renault. By the end of the season, however, that second AlphaTauri seat would be occupied by three different drivers. 

AlphaTauri expressed dissatisfaction with de Vries’s performance, opting to replace him with Daniel Ricciardo, who was the third driver at Red Bull Racing at the time, from the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX 2023 onwards. 

Shortly after Ricciardo’s start with the team, an incident between himself and Oscar Piastri in the McLaren during a practice session for the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN DUTCH GRAND PRIX 2023 left him with a broken wrist.

To fill up the seat during Ricciardo’s recovery, the team brought on Liam Lawson, a reserve driver at AlphaTauri and Red Bull. Lawson drove for AlphaTauri from the Netherlands to Qatar. His best finish during his time in the race car was in Singapore, where he finished ninth and claimed two points. 

Ricciardo was back in his seat from Austin to Abu Dhabi, finishing the season in 17th place.

Images

Barni, Cristiano (Photographer). Monte Carlo, Principality of Monaco. 25-28 May 2023. F1 World Championship. 80th Grand Prix of Monaco. Race day. #31, Esteban OCON, FRA, Alpine F1 Team, celebrating third place on the podium [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/monte-carlo-principality-monaco-2528-may-2310430109

Barni, Cristiano (Photographer). Sakhir, Bahrain. 03-05 March 2023. F1 World Championship 2023. Bahrain GP. #14, Fernando ALONSO, ESP, Aston Martin Formula 1 team, 3rd in the race, celebrating on the podium [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sakhir-bahrain-0305-march-2023-f1-2271013563

Barni, Cristiano (Photographer). Spielberg, Austria. 29 June-02 July 2023. F1 World Championship. Austrian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, fighting for the position [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/spielberg-austria-29-june02-july-2023-2327295747

Hirano, Jay (Photographer). Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, Singapore, 17.September.2023; Carlos Sainz Jr, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton during Formula One Singapore Grand Prix [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/marina-bay-street-circuit-singapore-17september-2363052425

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - March 17, 2023: Nyck de Vries, from The Netherlands, competes for AlphaTauri. Practice for the 2023 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/jeddah-saudi-arabia-march-17-2023-2276535591

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). LAS VEGAS, UNITED STATES - November 18, 2023: Sergio Perez, from Mexico, competes for Red Bull Racing. Race day for the 2023 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/las-vegas-united-states-november-18-2391641973

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). LUSAIL, LOSAIL - October 08, 2023: Max Verstappen, from Netherlands, competes for Red Bull Racing. Race day for the F1 round 18 2023 [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lusail-losail-october-08-2023-max-2375282711

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). LUSAIL, LOSAIL - October 08, 2023: Oscar Piastri, from Australia, competes for McLaren F1. Race day for the F1 round 18 2023 [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lusail-losail-october-08-2023-oscar-2375282627

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). LUSAIL, LOSAIL - October 08, 2023: Oscar Piastri, from Australia, competes for McLaren F1. Race day for the F1 round 18 2023 [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lusail-losail-october-08-2023-oscar-2375282695

Motorsports Photographer (Photographer). STAVELOT, BELGIUM - July 28, 2023: Oscar Piastri, from Australia, competes for McLaren F1. Qualifying for the 2023 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix [digital image]. Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stavelot-belgium-july-28-2023-oscar-2350429941

References

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