The year of Formula 1 has once again crowned Max Verstappen, stronger than ever with Red Bull. In terms of disappointments, we find at the forefront a disappointing Alpine team.
FAVORITES
The supremacy of Max Verstappen
We are not going to be very original but the domination with which Max Verstappen has dominated the debates this season still leaves us speechless. 19 victories, including ten in a row (Vettel held the previous one: 9 victories in a row), 21 podiums out of 22 possible, 75% of the laps leading the race (i.e. 1003 in total) and almost 300 points ahead of his poor teammate Sergio Pérez, quickly drifting away. The nugget of the Red Bull team is an extraterrestrial whose reign over F1 is not over.
Read alsoFormula 1: Max Verstappen, journey of a prodigy raised the hard way
Read alsoFormula 1: Max Verstappen, a world champion for whom Red Bull pays a high price
The rebirth, even short, of Fernando Alonso
To be honest, we had feared that two quite anonymous seasons at Alpine had extinguished the sacred fire in Fernando Alonso. That the horns of theAsturian bull» were worn out by sailing far from the podium. And then the start of the 2023 season reassured us: no, Alonso is not dead (for F1 that is). By joining Aston Martin, the 42-year-old Spaniard regained all his passion and panache in the space of half a season, which notably allowed him to climb the box eight times while finishing 4th in the Championship. Far, very far obviously from Red Bull. But if his team had had a little more resources, who knows if he would not have finished a notch above and offered some tasty battles to Verstappen.
Also read Formula 1: “Fernando Alonso is a beast”, the confessions of his former engineer
The blossoming of Oscar Piastri’s talent
The 22-year-old Australian’s career in Formula 1 got off to a bad start, to say the least. Or rather it had taken a bad turn before even having started, with the story of the imbroglio surrounding his contract with Alpine and the announcement of the French team presenting him as a future replacement for Fernando Alonso during of summer 2022. Some pilots might never have recovered from such an episode. Not Oscar Piastri who took the time to grow at McLaren. Discreet during the first grand prix, he was able to patiently take the pulse of the competition to gradually gain strength and clinch his first podium on September 24 in Japan. Before, two weeks later, winning the sprint race in Qatar. Two highlights among several others which suggest that the Australian, not content with having strong convictions, does not lack talent. To be confirmed in 2024.
Read alsoFormula 1: Oscar Piastri extends until 2026 with McLaren
CLAW STRIKES
The lack of suspense and often spectacle
Even if a few grand prix were exceptions to the rule, this 2023 vintage will not go down in history. Above all, when there was a spectacle, it was more for the places of honor than for the first one, which a certain Dutch driver monopolized with perfect selfishness. Afterwards, obviously, it is not possible to always have seasons where the title is decided during the final round of the last grand prix. But this season has confirmed the domination of the Verstappen-Red Bull tandem in such an ostentatious way that we don’t really see what could change the situation in 2024. So we probably have to resolve to get enthusiastic about great overtaking. by Charles Leclerc over Sergio Perez for second place…
The fall of Alpine
«I really want to see the team continue its progress in 2023. Our trajectory and momentum is upward and it is important to continue this momentum. Fourth place will again be the minimum objective, but we must do it with much more ease this time. By that I mean more finishes and points, but also fewer retirements.» Last February, Laurent Rossi had no shortage of ambitions for Alpine, of which he was then general manager. Twenty-two races later, Rossi lost his position (to Philippe Krief), and the French team saw its illusions and the top 4 manufacturers disappear. Only 6th in the standings, Alpine mainly collected retirements – with a record of six for Esteban Ocon alone, the “Mr. Guigne» from the paddock in 2023. A real mess which does not encourage optimism for the future of the French team which, before hoping to tickle Ferrari and Mercedes, will have to already succeed in coming back from McLaren.
Read alsoFormula 1: Pierre Gasly regrets “results below expectations” for his first season with Alpine
Read alsoFormula 1: Laurent Rossi leaves management of Alpine
Sprint races
The season did not reach the heights of suspense with the announced coronation of Max Verstappen who stepped on the competition. A domination which was also confirmed in the sprint races which this year will have had only one impact: reducing a little more the brilliance of the Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday. In addition to extending the season calendar, the American owners stubbornly impose these “B” races which are sometimes uninteresting and which do not even have unanimity among the ranks of the riders. “ I love that. It’s fantastic !“, quipped Max Verstappen at the end of the season, disappointed by the format: “This doesn’t really excite me. In qualifying, I just feel like once qualifying is over you’re a little bit lost. I feel like we only need one weekend qualifier where you really put everything on the line and that’s awesome. In the morning too, I put myself in 1st place but I tell myself that it’s a Saturday, there aren’t many points for the race anyway. And apart from that, we’ve done this race, everyone knows more or less what’s going to happen tomorrow between all the cars in terms of pace, so that takes away a bit of the excitement.»
