The chequered flag fell on a season that has been dominated from start to finish by the reigning World Champion, with Max Verstappen securing yet another trip to the top step on the podium at the Yas Marina Circuit. Find out which other drivers ended the year on a high in round 22 of the 2023 F1 season:
Top of the class:
Yuki Tsunda – Qualifying: 6th | Race: 8th
Losing two places usually doesn’t get you a place on this list, but Tsunoda’s performance deserves to break this trend. Yuki’s best qualifying of the season was matched with a strong race on Sunday.
The team’s ill-advised gamble on a one-stop meant that the Japanese driver led the race, becoming only the second driver from the country to lead a race. He also valiantly fought back against Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the last lap to claim 4 points and his first Driver of the Day award.
Though AlphaTauri fell 3 points short of overhauling Williams for seventh, there wasn’t much more Yuki could do to bridge this gap as the team clawed their way back from the back of the pack with late-season upgrades.
Max Verstappen – Qualifying: 1st | Race: 1st (+FL)
Securing a 19th win of the season and becoming the first driver to lead 1000 laps in an F1 season is an astonishing record no matter how you look at it. Max has been simply on another level to anyone else in 2023 – and as he’s carrying seven consecutive wins into 2024 it looks highly likely he’ll break his own record of 10. A record he bagged mid-season.
Sure he’ll look at Singapore with a vendetta, but the Dutchman has barely put a foot wrong in the last two seasons, and even with the RB19 having some surprise struggles at a venue they’ve won at every year this decade, he made Sunday’s race look a breeze. Almost like he was holding back so he could actually race someone.
All eyes turn to 2024 to see if anyone, even his own teammate, can mount some form of defence against Max, undoubtedly we are witnessing greatness that could stretch for years.
George Russell – Qualifying: 4th | Race: 3rd (promoted from 4th)
2023 certainly wasn’t the sophomore season George was expecting at the Silver Arrows, taking only his second podium finish of the season, but this was one weekend where he dominated teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Russell took P4 in qualifying. Just shaded by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, but more encouragingly, was in striking distance to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc as Mercedes and Ferrari were locked in a tight battle for P2. George was also 3 tenths quicker than Lewis, though their qualifying battles have been much closer than on race day.
Mercedes’ race pace helped George battle well on Sunday. Despite failing to fend off Perez for the last spot on the podium, George kept close enough to the Mexican in front to demote the Red Bull driver two spots owing to his penalty for causing a collision with Lando Norris. This was important as the three extra points gained ensured Mercedes came out on top in the Constructor’s fight.
Honourable mention of the weekend goes to Charles Leclerc, a second consecutive P2 finish at Abu Dhabi, which followed a strong qualifying on Saturday. Ultimately it wasn’t enough for the team but his position was arguably the best the Scuderia could have achieved this weekend.
The struggle bus:
Carlos Sainz – Qualifying: 16th | Race: DNF
The Spaniard has finished 2023 off quite poorly through a mixture of bad luck in Las Vegas, but also self-inflicted mistakes at Yas Marina. A hefty shunt in FP2 meant Carlos had to run a compromised spec for the rest of the weekend.
Lacking confidence in his repaired SF-23 and engine power, Sainz was knocked out in Q1 and wouldn’t even challenge for points on Sunday though this was down to poor team strategy this time.
Falling from P4 to P6 in the standings due to not scoring in the final round feels like a harsh punishment for the only non-Red Bull winner in 2023, it will especially hurt because he slipped behind Charles due to his podium finish.
Lewis Hamilton – Qualifying: 11th | Race: 9th
Ever since the Austin DSQ it felt like Lewis gave up on the car, P3 was secured in the standings but the fight for P2 was dashed by this loss of points. This was highlighted at Abu Dhabi where he fell to a second consecutive Q2 exit for the first time since 2014, and only gained 2 places in Sunday’s race.
It was a good job his consistency across 2023 and Russell’s performance on Sunday was the decider in their fight with Ferrari as the botched last-lap move on Yuki Tsunoda could have been costly.
A dishonourable mention goes to Sergio Pérez, P9 in qualifying kind of summed up his season, mediocre at best. The Mexican may have won two races early on but lost significant harmony with the RB19 on Saturdays throughout the rest of the season, with Sundays becoming a recovery drive. Still with such a margin over the field P2 should be a minimum – and though he did actually finish the race there on Sunday, a needless clash with Norris cost him two places with a five-second penalty.
This may not have been a classic season for F1 standards, but 2024 provides hope for battles at the front. With Mercedes and Ferrari seemingly getting a grip of the regulations, McLaren’s ominous recovery and even Aston Martin providing hurdles at the start of the year, these next 14 weeks of winter could be vital. We hope to have you back with us next year!
