Formula One 2023 Mid Season Review

How's everyone stacking up after twelve rounds of racing...? Here's my Formula One 2023 Mid Season Review.

Max and Redbull have unsurprisingly run away with the WDC and WCC. However, Perez’s slump in form throughout the middle of the season has led to many questioning the Mexican’s future with the team. While Christian is adamant that Perez will remain Max’s teammate in 2024, the return of Daniel Ricciardo to the grid leaves a lot to be desired. Talk of a team switch has been rampant and hasn’t necessarily been ruled out.

On to Alpha Tauri – who after scoring a total of 3 points so far this season, decided to unceremoniously dump their rookie Nyck De Vries mid-season, after he failed to score a single point, leading to the aforementioned return of Daniel Ricciardo to the f1grid, “on loan” from Redbull for the remainder of the season. While he has only been in the car for two races thus far this season, I think it’s safe to say that he has already taken over as the number one driver. Sorry Yuki, you may be the only points scorer for the team so far this season, but Danny Ric is now the main man.

To date, I think it’s safe to say that Mercedes have had a rather tumultuous season to date. While they are currently second in the constructor’s championship, it’s safe to say that for much of the season, they have been firmly placed in the mid field, only eclipsing Aston Martin in the last few races before summer break. While this is an improvement on their position of third for last season, I think its safe to say, that with a 51point difference, Aston Martin will be doing everything they can in the last part of the season to close that gap permanently.

Aston Martin have arguably been the biggest surprise of the 2023 season, challenging the likes of Redbull and Mercedes for a significant part of the season, with Fernando Alonso earning the team 6 podiums. However, since the introduction of new upgrades that were allegedly supposed to make them quicker in Austria, the team have had a significant decline in performance, with neither driver being able to claim a podium since. Now this isn’t to say that they haven’t been performing well, they have certainly eclipsed the expectations of many F1 fans and commentators, however they have proven they have the capability for much more and have been the only team thus far to challenge Max and Redbull, and I don’t doubt that they will aim to get back to this position over the next part of the 2023 season.

Arguably, the one of the biggest disappointments of the season is Alfa Romeo. At the end of the 2022 season, they were a team with great promise and had cemented themselves in the midfield, sixth and on equal points with Aston Martin. This, combined with strong performances at the end of the 2022 season led many to believe that in 2023 they would be in strong contention with the likes of McLaren and Alpine. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Heading into round 13, Alfa Romeo are ninth in the constructor’s championship with nine points in total, and unlikely to make any significant progress up the ranks at this point in the season, with strong performances being demonstrated from both of their nearest competitors, Haas and Williams who are both currently sitting on eleven points.

Haas’ 2023 season is so far on par with their performance in 2022 with the team currently sitting in eighth with a fairly unremarkable season thus far. In total the team has had three DNF’s, with their highest finish currently held by Nico Hulkenberg who managed to finish seventh in the carnage that was the Australian Grand Prix. To cap it all off, the team have only managed three Q3 appearances so far this season across both drivers. A dismal comparison to where the team were sitting at this point in 2022 with Magnussen and Mick Schumacher, who managed to get ten Q3 appearances collectively after 13 rounds last season. Hopefully, the second half of 2023 brings them further into line with last season’s performances.

Williams is arguably in the running for most improved this season, having already amassed more points after 12 rounds in 2023 than the entirety of the 2022 season. While rookie Logan Sargeant is yet to score his maiden F1 points, veteran Alex Albon has put in some incredible performances this season. Collectively, they have a total of five DNF’s, with their most recent being Sargeant in Hungary. A stark contrast to the collective ten the team amassed across the 2022 season. Here’s to hoping that the rest of the season is as successful as the first half, and that Sargeant can score those maiden points and secure his future on the grid.

McLaren, McLaren, McLaren. What a rollercoaster of a season they are having. From battling for p15 in the first few races, to getting a total of three podiums across both Lando and Oscar. Yes, one of those was a sprint podium, but I’m still going to count it. Collectively they have a total of thirteen Q3 appearances for the season, which is impressive given how they started the season. As it stands, they have eclipsed their closest rival from last season, Alpine, by 40 points thus far, and with the upgrades they have implemented and those still to come, I think it’s safe to say McLaren are on the up.

Alpine. Well, this French duo have certainly provided some entertainment over the season this far, given they keep breaking the cardinal rule of “don’t hit your teammate”. Their qualifying pace has been satisfactory, with a collective twelve Q3 appearances over twelve rounds. However, the teams reliability appears to be an issue, with multiple DNF’s for mechanical failures of some sort. This, combined with a lack of substantial upgrades, which could be attributed to their double DNF in Australia, has put them well below the standard they set last season, where they finished in 4th in the constructors championship, but presently sit comfortably in sixth position and well behind their nearest rival McLaren.

Finally, Ferrari… despite a change in leadership, it appears that the questionable strategy decisions and overall indecisiveness from the pit wall has followed them well into the 2023 season. While the teams reliability seems to have improved drastically from last season, they have fallen well behind their 2022 performance where they finished second, and are currently sitting in fourth, behind not only red bull, but also Mercedes and Aston Martin. But not all is lost. Over the first 12 rounds they have mustered a collective 21 Q3 appearances and 19 point conversions from that, despite a collective 3 DNFs.