Fernando Alonso humbles Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz in wheel-to-wheel combat, then profits from Charles Leclerc’s engine failure to win the opening race of 2023. The two-time Formula 1 world champion’s Bahrain success marks his first victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.Aston Martin sporting director Andy Stevenson earns his payContinue Reading
Despite a one-off clash in the Italian Grand Prix, Norris and Piastri enjoyed a harmonious relationship in 2023, with Norris the de facto team leader in his fifth year with the Woking squad while Piastri came in as a rookie. The scoreline reflected their different experience levels, with Norris scoring overContinue Reading
While the Spaniard logged eight podiums, Stroll’s best result was a fourth in the high-attrition Australian Grand Prix.However, after struggling to come to terms with the AMR23 for much of the year, Stroll finished the season on a high with solid fifth places in Brazil and Las Vegas.Stroll says thoseContinue Reading
Vasseur arrived at Ferrari last winter to replace Mattia Binotto and while he arrived too late to have a significant effect on the 2023 car project, his reorganisation efforts did start showing promise across the second half of 2023.While the team struggled to make big upgrades to its SF-23, partlyContinue Reading
One of this year’s biggest questions in deciding the top 50 was whether Perez deserves to be on the list. He’d started 2023 well, with two wins and two second places in the opening four races to hint at giving Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen more than a notional titleContinue Reading
After losing his full-time F1 drive with Renault at the end of 2019, Nico Hulkenberg had to make do with a handful of super-sub outings for Racing Point/Aston Martin until Haas came knocking.In qualifying, Hulkenberg immediately exercised his one-lap superiority over team-mate Kevin Magnussen and got as far as Q3Continue Reading
After two solid but inconclusive seasons in Formula 2, a move to Super Formula was exactly what Lawson needed to fully convince Red Bull of his qualities as a genuine F1 prospect, and he stunned the Japanese establishment with a historic debut win at Fuji.That was the first of threeContinue Reading
Second in qualifying at Suzuka of all places – the first time Oscar Piastri had visited the fearsome track – summed up why McLaren was so impressed with the rookie, who scored two podiums (and should have had another at Silverstone but for a safety car) and that excellent winContinue Reading
On qualifying performance, George Russell was 11-11 in the head-to-head against Lewis Hamilton, but the younger Briton was often outgunned by his more experienced Mercedes team-mate in the races. Overall, Russell termed 2023 as “one of the worst seasons of my career” as Mercedes failed to make the strides itContinue Reading
Carlos Sainz made the difference for Ferrari on its best chance to win all year in Singapore. His driving style – following front-end understeer naturally through a corner – was a boon for tyre preservation late in the lap there, and for Monza’s traction demands, where he was also brilliant.Continue Reading