The 2023 Formula 1 season finally came to an end this weekend after two back-to-back races in Las Vegas and in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen grabbed the victories in both of the Grands Prix, while Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc snatched second place in both. Leclerc’s strong performance in the two weekends wasn’t enough to edge Ferrari ahead of Mercedes to second in the constructors’ championship, but he propelled himself up to tie Fernando Alonso for fourth in the drivers’.
His teammate Carlos Sainz was riddled with bad luck to end the season, while Lewis Hamilton and George Russell of Mercedes were able to do just enough to solidify their standing in second among the rest of the teams.
The Vegas Grand Prix weekend did not get off to a hot start: a loose drain cover severely damaged the Ferrari of Sainz, and the entire first practice session had to be canceled. The limited running on the first day was frustrating for teams and fans alike, but the rest of the weekend seemed to go off without a hitch. It was one of the most action-packed races since the Singapore Grand Prix in September. Verstappen took the victory, but Leclerc held the lead for some of the laps and never strayed too far from the Red Bull. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez’s strategy proved to be better than the Ferrari strategy, and he passed Leclerc to move into second in the final few laps. In an all-or-nothing move in one of the final corners in the final lap, Leclerc passed Perez back and crossed the line less than half a second before him. If Ferrari opted to run a two-pit stop strategy, Leclerc could’ve found himself on a fresher, grippier set of tires that could’ve propelled him to the win ahead of the two Red Bulls. Sainz fought his way up to P6 after starting P12 due to a ten-place grid penalty, earning valuable points for the team as they geared up to fight Mercedes in Abu Dhabi.
Other teams accomplished surprising results in Vegas. Esteban Ocon of Alpine finished fourth, his best result since P3 in Monaco at the beginning of the season. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll bounced back after a horrific stretch of races and earned P5 less than a second ahead of Sainz. Hamilton and Russell were P7 and P8 in front of Aston’s Alonso, and Oscar Piastri of McLaren rounded out the top 10. Williams had an incredible qualifying run, with Alex Albon in P5 and Logan Sargeant in P6, but they were unable to find the pace when it was time to race. Both fell out of the points, finishing P12 and P16 respectively.
Abu Dhabi was more of the same for Red Bull. Verstappen finished first, while Perez just missed out on a podium position due to a time penalty. Russell was close to the top of the pack for the entire race, and gained the final podium slot behind Leclerc to edge Ferrari in the constructors’ championship. Leclerc let Perez by to let him try to build the gap that would allow him P3 and take points away from Mercedes, but it was too late of a decision for Leclerc and Ferrari. It was one of many bad strategy calls from Ferrari this season, which arguably cost them second in the championship. Russell’s podium was his second of the season, and first since Spain in the beginning of June.
McLaren scored 18 points on the day, even though their fight for fourth with Aston Martin was all but over going into the weekend. McLaren has outperformed Aston Martin since the end of the summer break, and actually outscored most of the teams besides Red Bull in the second half of the season. The Williams team claimed seventh in the championship over AlphaTauri, even after Yuki Tsunoda’s P8 finish and “Driver of the Day” performance. Albon and Sargeant finished P14 and P16 for Williams, further demonstrating how bad the FW45 chassis race pace is. Haas finished last in the championship after a dreadful season and abysmal upgrades throughout the year. After the monetary damages they sustained last year and the little resources they had to work with, their last place finish is not surprising.
The season ended with Verstappen winning his third straight drivers’ championship and Red Bull’s second straight constructors’ championship win.
The title defense in the 2024 season will start on Feb. 29 in Bahrain, and the teams will try to build the best car they can after the unfathomable dominance of Verstappen this season.
