Since kick-off with the Bahrain Grand Prix in March, the 2023 Formula 1 season has unfolded in the best ways possible. With the largest-ever event calendar of 23 races – 22 now since Emilia was postponed - fans have been given loads of excitement and unexpected surprises.
With the season officially reaching its halfway point, it’s time we do a recap on all the important things of note about the season and the action that has occurred. If you’re an F1 fan that needs a quick recap on the 2023 season or are someone who chose just now to immerse themselves into the world of F1 racing, keep reading!
Going into any season for any sport, there’s always excitement surrounding who will be playing or representing what team. Drivers retire, switch teams, or get replaced every year, and some moves catch us by surprise.
Ending his Formula 1 career after 16 seasons and 4 championship titles, Sebastian Vettel retired at the end of the 2022 championship. His spot with Aston Martin was replaced by Fernando Alonso who has given Aston Martin some hope for their first title ever. He’s already made the podium 6 times this season – currently standing in third place overall behind both Red Bull drivers – and holds onto hope that Aston Martin will be the team to bring him back to his winning ways.
Replacing Alonso after his leave from Alpine was supposed to be Oscar Piastri – who controversially joined McLaren – but was instead replaced by AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly. Gasly’s seat with AlphaTauri was filled by Formula 1 rookie Nyck De Vries. De Vries, a talented Dutch driver who was successful in Formula 2 & E, had underwhelming results in the first ten races due to being a rookie and damage done to his car. His struggles with AlphaTauri resulted in him being relieved of his driving duties and has been replaced by Daniel Riccardo since last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo’s seat at McLaren was filled by Oscar Piastri who chose them over Alpine for his rookie season. It seems, however, that McLaren hasn’t provided him with a competitive enough car, leaving him standing in the middle of the pack. Taking this year’s rookies into account, Piastri has had an impressive season so far.
The third rookie to make their Formula 1 debut this season is American racer, Logan Sargeant. Driving for the Williams team, he’s had a very quiet start to the season while learning to face the harder challenges that Formula 1 has to offer. Despite this, he continues to push through and learn from each race. With time he should find his rhythm and look to score some points for the constructor’s standings.
As of right now, it’s no surprise that Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen is leading the standings with 281 points and has won 9 out of the 11 races competed so far. He has been dominating the season and is expected to continue his winning streak. With the season officially reaching the halfway mark, Verstappen and his Red Bull partner Sergio Perez have racked up the points to put Red Bull far ahead in the Constructor standings, as well.
Aside from Red Bull and Verstappen dominating the season thus far, we’ve seen Mercedes display a mix of improvements and declines, while Ferrari fans encountered frequent disappointments in the first half of the season. Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have demonstrated that they’re a promising pair, but the team’s technical development has held them back this season. Some say they’ve been playing it safe or too conservative, keeping them from being front runners. If they want the top spots, then they’ll have to bring back Ferrari’s traditional ferocity to give their fans some hope.
Aston Martin is no stranger to success, but they’ve been running on some low-key seasons in the past. However, this year they’ve proved to be serious competitors with two-time champion Fernando Alonso leading their driver line-up. Alonso has been landing on the podium almost every race weekend, and they have been outperforming both Ferrari and McClaren.
Potential breakthroughs and comebacks are still possible, let’s just hope that they happen sooner rather than later.
Additional Grands Prix
This season is one of firsts with a calendar expansion and an additional new raceway. This year’s world championship was set to have a record amount of 23 races, but will only conclude to have 22 after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was cancelled in May due to flooding in the area.
In November, the Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled to make its debut appearance, taking place on a new street track that is along the Las Vegas strip. Formula 1 has raced in Las Vegas before, at Caesars Palace, but the all-new track will see the series race around the most iconic landmarks in the city.
While the Las Vegas Grand Prix is the only new venue added this season, the Qatar Grand Prix will be returning to the roster after it was absent last year due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Add Ons
So far this season we’ve got to enjoy the extra bit of action on Grand Prix weekends with the added sprint races. This season there are new sprint races incorporated at select events to add to the traditional race weekend format.
The sprint races consist of 100km races that are designed to give fans more entertainment and the drivers additional championship points. This season the sprint races will be standalone from the rest of the weekend, making Friday’s qualifying only apply to Sunday’s race. Sprint qualifying is now held on Saturday morning and will replace a practice session.
So far we’ve seen the sprint races at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix be a success. The remaining four sprint races will be at the Belgian, Qatar, United States, and Brazilian Grands Prix.
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