Mid-season analysis: Things we learned from the first races of the 2023 F1 season

We’re midway by way of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship and we have runaway championship leaders in type of double world champion Max Verstappen and five-time constructors’ champion Red Bull. F1Technical’s Balázs Szabó displays on the first half of the 2023 F1 season.

Sprint – For 2023, F1 has doubled the quantity of Sprints from three – as held in 2021 and 2022 – to 6. The Azerbaijan, Austrian and Belgian Grands Prix hosted the first three dash races of the season with the Qatar, the US and the Sao Paulo Grands Prix set to sport the remaining three particular dash format.

While the factors system for the Sprint in 2023 remained unchanged from 2022, there have been vital tweaks to the race weekends which embody the dash race. The Sprint now not units the grand prix grid, however it’s decided by the Friday’s qualifying session.

The Sprint grid is set by a brand new, separate shorter qualifying session – the Sprint Shootout – that takes place on Saturday morning. The first dash race was received by Sergio Perez whereas his workforce mate Max Verstappen proved quickest in the two different dash races.

In the Baku Sprint received by Perez, Charles Leclerc and Verstappen accomplished the podium. In the Red Bull Ring Sprint received by Verstappen, Perez completed second forward of third-placed Carlos Sainz. The Spa 100km sprint was received by Verstappen whereas the relaxation of the podium was stuffed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Interruptions – Max Verstappen took victory at the Australian Grand Prix, however the race in Down Under made historical past for the different causes because it broke the document for many purple flags, with three. The first purple flag was deployed after Alex Albon endured a heavy crash together with his Williams from sixth place. The purple flag was referred to as for once more when Kevin Magnussen crashed his Haas on the exit of Turn 2 close to the finish. In the finish, the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly got here collectively at the exit of Turn 2 and slammed into the wall.

Records – Williams have accomplished their 800th grand prix begin in the Hungarian Grand Prix. The workforce celebrated this milestone at the earlier race weekend in Silverstone with a showcar, simulator and with tweaks to its livery in Budapest.

Thanks to his eye-watering run of success, Max Verstappen has now a powerful tally of outcomes: 45 wins, 89 podiums, 27 pole positions and 27 quickest laps in his 175-race F1 profession.

With Max Verstappen victory in Hungary, Red Bull recorded 12 consecutive wins, besting the earlier document of 11, set by McLaren again in 1988. The document than broke once more in Spa when Red Bull received that race too. The Miton Keynes workforce achieved their one hundredth F1 win in Montreal, and with having received each race since then, they’ve now a complete of 104 victories.

Although Lewis Hamilton was unable to problem for the championship title for the second successive yr, however he managed to attain his 104th and first pole place his first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. It marked his ninth pole place in Hungary, a document for many poles at a single circuit.

Following a collection of tough years, Fernando Alonso scored his one hundredth podium at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, by ending third, turning into one of six drivers in the collection’ historical past to realize that feat. The Spaniard, who made the shock leap from Alpine to Aston Martin for 2023, has collected a complete of six podium this yr together with his finest end result achieved in Monaco and Montreal the place he completed runner-up behind Max Verstappen.

Qualifying – Although Red Bull’s dominance often will get extra outstanding in race trim, their qualifying tempo is spectacular as properly. Max Verstappen put his RB19 on pole in six races whereas his team-mate Sergio Perez lined up first on the grid on two events in Jeddah and Miami. Lewis Hamilton took a sensational pole place in Hungary whereas Charles Leclerc proved quickest in qualifying in Baku earlier than inheriting the pole place in Spa from Verstappen, who was dropped right down to P6 on the grid because of a gearbox penalty.

Surprises – Following his bicycle incident simply days earlier than the solely pre-season testing, Lance Stroll refused to overlook the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain. The Canadian raced with a damaged wrist and toe and completed sixth, registering his finest ever begin to his season since he joined the F1 discipline again in 2017.

In qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg secured the second beginning place in tough wet situations solely to then get demoted to fifth following a penalty.

Track limits saga – During the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, a quantity of drivers fell foul of monitor limits penalties with 47 lap instances being deleted in qualifying alone. The greatest sufferer was Sergio Perez, who misplaced all his three timed lap in the second qualifying phase, and thus failing to progress into Q3.

During the race, the FIA reported that there have been “well over 1,200 instances where a car was reported as potentially leaving the track”. Multiple drivers got time penalties after the race together with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.

Blanket-free tyres – It has been a sizzling matter since the begin of the season. Following criticism over the raceability of its full moist tyre in earlier seasons, Pirelli has produced a brand new full moist tyre in the hope of lowering the want for security automobile and purple flags in moist race situations. The new product doesn’t require pre-heating, and made its debut at the Monaco Grand Prix. Although the new moist climate tyres led to lap instances which might be 5 seconds faster, the visibility remained a big subject which nonetheless makes racing tough in wet situations.

Pirelli additionally wished to introduce blanket-free intermediate tyres in the second half of the present season, however that has now been postponed to subsequent yr. The anticipated introduction of the blanket-free slick tyres for 2024 has additionally been referred to as off and may make their debut in 2025 at the earliest.

Financial regulation – Formula One launched a price cap in 2021 with price range cap having been decreased to 135 million US {dollars} for 2023. Due to the dash occasions and the addtitional races, the price cap is about at $138.6 million, however it’s prone to strategy $140 million if there may be an inflation adjustment as properly.

ATA – Formula One’s sole tyre provider Pirelli debuted a particular tyre allocation at the Hungaroring. The new rule meant that the quantity of tyre units accessible for every automobile is decreased to 11, as a substitute of the 13 accessible for a standard race weekend. Each driver has three units of arduous tyres, 4 units of medium tyres and 4 units of gentle tyres. More importantly, drivers had only one necessary slick compound for every qualifying session. Teams should use the arduous compound in Q1, medium in Q2 and gentle in Q3. If qualifying is moist, groups have a free alternative of compounds as common.

The different tyre allocation had a big impact of the Friday operating of the Hungarian Grand Prix as drivers have been compelled to avoid wasting tyres throughout the first two free observe classes which closely restricted the on-track actions. The full impact of the restricted quantity of dry-weather tyres is but to see as the opening session of the Hungarian Grand Prix came about in damp situations, that means that drivers couldn’t even run slick tyres in the majority of the first one-hour observe.

After the Hungaroring, the ATA guidelines might be trialled once more at the Italian Grand Prix throughout the first weekend in September.

Fastest laps – In the first 12 races of the present season, 5 completely different drivers have managed to set the quickest lap and rating a degree with that. Double world champion Max Verstappen delivered the quickest race lap on six venues together with Jeddah, Miami, Barcelona, Red Bull Ring, Silverstone and Hungaroring. The different drivers to have set the quickest race lap at the very least as soon as this season are Sergio Perez, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Zhou Guanyu.

Tyres compounds – Pirelli has designed a brand new C1 compound for this yr with the earlier hardest compound having been renamed C0. The addition of the brand-new C1 compound that slotted in between final yr’s C1 and C2 compound has led a six-compound tyre vary. Interestingly, the C0 compound has not been used but – Pirelli nominated the second hardest compound, the C1 even for top degradation tracks like Bahrain or Silverstone.

For every grand prix, Pirelli gives three completely different compounds of slick tyre. The trio of C1, C2 and C3 was utilized in Bahrain, Barcelona, Silverstone whereas the trio of C2, C3 and C4 was chosen in Jeddah, Melbourne, Miami and Spa. The trio of the three softest compounds was chosen in Baku, Monaco, Montreal, Melbourne and Budapest. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix wa referred to as off because of native flooding, however this latter trio would have been utilized in Imola as properly.

Power models – Over the course of the 2023 season, a driver might use not more than 4 ICEs, MGU-Hs, MGU-Ks and turbochargers. Furthermore, drivers are restricted to 2 vitality shops and management electronics, and eight of every of the 4 parts that make up a set of exhaust methods (comprising primaries left-hand aspect, primaries right-hand aspect, secondary LHS and secondary RHS).

Up to the Belgian Grand Prix, three drivers have picked up an influence unit-related grid drop penalty. Charles Leclerc was first penalized in Jeddah for utilizing a recent management electronics earlier than receiving additional two penalties in Barcelona for one more new CE and a recent vitality retailer.

Sergio Perez exceeded his pool of energy unit elements in Melbourne, having used a brand new CE and ES, the third of every element. The already-ousted Nyck de Vries additionally acquired a grid drop penalty at the Austrian Grand Prix after his former workforce AlphaTauri outfitted his automobile with a recent vitality retailer and management electronics, the third of every element.

Rookies – Formula One welcomed three new faces to the grid for the 2023 season with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, AlphaTauri’s Nyck de Vries and Williams’ Logan Sargeant having joined the discipline to make an impression.

While Sargeant and de Vries have failed to attain factors in the first half of the season, Oscar Piastri has made an encouraging begin to his F1 profession. The Australian scored first scored factors in Baku, then in Monaco earlier than McLaren debuted a heavily-updated automobile in Austria.

The former F2 and F3 champion completed fourth at the British Grand Prix earlier than including one other additional worthwhile factors to his tally with a fifth-place end at the Hungaroring. He led the Spa F1 Sprint earlier than ending second and scoring seven factors. His weekend in Belgium ended, nonetheless, in tears after making contact with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in a Turn 1 incident which compelled him to retire from the final race earlier than the summer time break.

Mid-season change – Following his eye-catching efficiency eventually yr’s Italian Grand Prix the place he collected two factors on his debut as an alternative choice to Alex Albon, Nyck de Vries joined the F1 discipline as a full-time driver at the AlphaTauri squad. However, the former F2 and Formula E champion was relieved of his driving duties for AlphaTauri after underperforming in the first ten races. His seat was stuffed by Daniel Ricciardo from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards, who raced with the workforce in the 2012 and 2013 seasons, being identified at the time as Toro Rosso.

Cancellations – The unique 2023 F1 calendar included 24 races which might have set a brand new document in the historical past of the championship. However, two races have been referred to as off which signifies that this yr’s championship is being contested over 22 races.

The Chinese Grand Prix was initially because of be half of the calendar after final being held in 2019, nevertheless it was cancelled for the fourth consecutive yr because of the ongoing difficulties offered by the COVID-19 pandemic in the nation. Thereafter, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was scheduled to happen on 21 May as the sixth spherical of the championship, was cancelled on 17 May because of flooding in the space.

It’s far from the first time race cancellation has occurred, with round 50 races thought to have been dropped over the course of grand prix historical past.

The 1957 Dutch and Belgian Grands Prix have been cancelled for the oblique penalties of the Suez Crises, the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix was referred to as off for security causes. The 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix was additionally cancelled because of anti-government protests. The 2021 Australian Grand Prix was referred to as off at the 11t hour because of the outbreak of the Covid pandemic.

Constructors’ Championship – After having received all races up to now in 2023 and having clinched 5 one-two finishes, it’s no shock that Red Bull Racing are the runaway chief in the Constructors’ Championship, sitting atop of the desk on 503 factors. Mercedes are second on this record, however they’ve lower than half of the factors of Red Bull.

Aston Martin are nonetheless third in the groups’ standings, however their low-key performances in the final 4 races imply that fourth-placed Ferrari have closed in on them with solely 5 factors separating the Silverstone- and Maranello-based outfits.

McLaren have been on an actual march not too long ago, having collected two podium finishes at Silverstone and the Hungaroring. However, the Belgian Grand Prix noticed Oscar Piastri retire after a Turn 1 incident with Carlos Sainz whereas Lando Norris completed solely down in P7.

Williams, Haas and Alfa Romeo have been the solely three groups to fail to gather a single level regardless of the further point-scoring alternatives in the Sprint race.

By distinction, AlphaTauri managed so as to add a degree to their two-point tally due to the tenth-place end from Yuki Tsunoda. In reality, the Japanese has scored all of AlphaTauri’s factors in 2023.