As 2023 comes to an end, let’s have a look at some of the most impressive drivers in this year’s Formula One season.
Max Verstappen
Impressive is an understatement for winning all but 2 races in an entire season. Red Bull gave Max Verstappen a mighty beast of a car, but his performances in comparison to his teammates showed the pace of the Dutchman. Verstappen’s 2023 season is the most dominant ever F1 season by any driver in the sport’s history.
His ability to remain consistent paired with an Adrian Newey masterpiece allowed Verstappen to claim the driver’s title as early as October – on Saturday’s sprint race in Qatar. The only race he did not finish on the podium was Singapore, when the Red Bull did not have the pace it had at every other circuit. Verstappen finished the season with 575 – a new record that will be tough to beat.
Lewis Hamilton
For Lewis Hamilton to finish the season in P3 behind both Red Bulls claiming the top spot as best of the rest in an unpredictable car was a legendary statement by the 38-year-old. The W14 was a poor car, especially for Mercedes’ standards. Its pace in qualifying was never strong enough, and the race pace would only be on the right side during the last stints of races. However, Hamilton managed to claim pole in Hungary and 6 podiums throughout the season.
No explanation necessary. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/40a0Y1A0Ja
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) July 22, 2023
Despite calls for retirement from the media, the 38-year-old proved he still deserves a place in the sport and managed to secure P3 in the Drivers’ Championship in what was often the fourth-fastest car of the season. It’s an even more astonishing achievement when you consider Mercedes’ multiple slow pit stops and poor pit stops throughout most Grand Prix.
Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri did not earn the Rookie of The Year award at the FIA prize-giving gala for nothing. The McLaren driver drove an impressive campaign in his first-ever Formula One season. After what many thought would be a regrettable choice to leave Alpine for McLaren ahead of the start of the season, the Aussie appeared to have made the perfect choice. McLaren had a slow start to the season, yes, but they were able to turn their fate around. McLaren developed their 2023 car in the right direction, allowing them to be faster and more competitive than both Aston Martin and their engine provider Mercedes.
Despite having a teammate as strong as Lando Norris, Piastri was often able to match up to the Brit and sometimes produce better results. Piastri was able to get his first F1 win ahead of Norris when the Aussie won the sprint race in Qatar. Piastri concluded his season with 1 sprint win and 2 podiums. He claimed P9 in the drivers’ standings with 97 points, driving one of the most impressive rookie seasons after Lewis Hamilton’s 2007 rookie season.
Alex Albon
Williams have had their best season in two decades. James Vowles has done an incredible job in his first season as team principal, but he must have many thanks to Alex Albon. The former ‘Red Bull reject’ proved to the motorsports world that he deserves a place in F1 by making a backmarker team competitive again.
The Thai-British scored points on 8 weekends this year, accumulating a total of 27 points in a Williams! Albob also made 7 Q3 appearances. His efforts were a massive part of the reason Williams were able to claim P7 in the Constructors’ Championship after finishing dead last in 2022. Albon didn’t often have the right package under him, but he was consistent and took full advantage of his opportunities whenever he did have the machinery. In addition, he very rarely made mistakes during Williams’ tougher weekends.
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso is a driver that is proving that age is truly just a number. At the age of 42, he is still performing at a high level, and better than some of his younger counterparts, including his teammate Lance Stroll. At the start of the 2023 season, Aston Marting appeared to have given Alonso a car that was capable of keeping him in the title fight with Verstappen. With a competitive car, Alonso managed 5 podiums in his first 8 races in 2023. However, Aston Martin made a decline in terms of development that resulted in a massive drop of pace.
Despite no longer having the right machinery under him, the Spaniard was still able to perform well. He finished out of the points only once the entire season, and put up a fight against Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for P3 in the Drivers’ Championship. The 2-time champion managed to claim P4 as his own at the end of the season. Considering the fact that the Aston Martin lost pace, for Alonso to still be able to handle his own and more podiums to his tally and finish 132 points above his teammate shows the raw talent of the Spaniard.
Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson might have only made 5 appearances in the 2023 season, but his short stint was quite impressive for a rookie who was unexpectedly thrown into an F1 seat. After Red Bull announced that they would be parting ways with Nyck de Vries, it was Lawson that they chose to replace him with at Alpha Tauri.
Lawson finished P13 in Zandvoort which was his first race, earning well-deserved praise. After qualifying an impressive P12 in Monza, he finished that race P11. He then qualified P10 in Singapore – knocking out Verstappen -, P11 in Suzuka and P18 in Qatar, finishing P9, P11 and P17 respectively. This was an amazing effort by an unprepared driver. His impressive abrupt and short debut was enough to finish P20 out of 22 drivers in the final Drivers’ Championship standings.
