Mid-Season Formula 1 Review and Preview

Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari SF-23 leads Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 and the rest of the field at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 30, 2023 in Spa, Belgium. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — The Formula 1 Summer Break has ended and it is now down to the final ten races of the 2023 F1 season. A season as to now has seen almost historical domination while also providing some intense moments further down the pack. Before the Dutch Grand Prix and Circuit Zandvoort, it’s time to look back at how teams are doing and what to look forward to for the rest of the season.

(Editor’s Note: The review is in order of the constructors’ championship points)

Red Bull Racing (503 points): Formula 1 is centered around cycles of one team’s domination like many sports. And in 2023, just like years past, Red Bull has found themselves hitting almost every single stride possible, especially with reigning two-time World Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen. Red Bull has won every single of the 12 contested Grand Prix completed this year, plus the season finale of 2022 at Abu Dhabi to get 13 wins in a row with no signs of stopping. Red Bull’s dominance has also broken a record that sees them with the most wins in a row, breaking the record set by McLaren in the 1988 season.

Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing, Third placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Racing Head of Car Engineering Paul Monaghan celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 23, 2023 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen has been the man to beat in 2023. Having won 10 of the 12 races this year, he is looking to break a record of his own, most consecutive victories, which he can tie at Circuit Zandvoort with nine wins in a row. However, Sergio Perez’s teammate has been looking to turn things around. What started as a promising points battle at the start of the year, trading victories with Verstappen looking to be a title contender, a stretch of multiple races put him behind the 8-ball and put the championship out of reach. Things have been looking up, and he has become more competitive, though the WDC might be out of reach.

Red Bull looks to continue their domination throughout the year as they and Verstappen continue to lengthen their lead on the WCC and WDC. How many more records can they set before the checkered flag waves at Abu Dhabi?

Mercedes (247): The once formidable Mercedes works team, having been on the back foot following the change in regulations going into 2022, has slowly but steadily turned things around for the better. A complete change in design philosophy has begun to help Mercedes as they have worked their way past their customer team of Aston Martin in the conductor’s standings. Throughout the season since the design change, they have made good work up the constructor’s order in an apparent fight between themselves and Aston Martin and in hopes to catch up more with Red Bull.

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Großer Preis von Belgien 2023. George Russell
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, 2023 Belgian GP. George Russell (Photo: Mercedes-Benz)

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have shown signs of brilliance throughout the year. Their best race came at the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de la Barcelona, behind Verstappen. While Hamilton is searching for his first win since the 2021 Suadi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah, he stormed to a fabulous pole at the Hungaroring to obtain his 104th career pole position. On the other hand, Russell has been relatively steady in 2023, helping his team gain maximum points to bring them back to glory.

For the rest of the season, Mercedes looks to continue improving their car, which seems to be working. They are fighting for more podiums and, hopefully, race wins in an ever-increasing mid-field battle to chase down Red Bull.

Aston Martin ARAMCO Mercedes (196): 2023 started incredibly promising for the Aston Martin team. While one WDC left, another took his place, as Fernando Alonso took the place of Sebastian Vettel and exceeded expectations to bring the team up to what was considered the best of the rest at the start of the year. However, developmental improvements seemingly favored other groups as the season wore on and they started to slip further into the pack. However, they have continued to be a points-paying team as the season has progressed.

Alonso started 2023 strong with podiums in six of the first ten races. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate that as more upgrades have been going to other teams.

And Alonso can’t carry a team by himself. While Lance Stroll has been a consistent points finisher in 2023, he hasn’t gained enough to keep up with his teammates, pulling them back as other teams surge.

For the remainder of the season, Aston Martin is hoping to turn things back around and continue to make it a fight against Mercedes and Ferrari. An announced change for 2023 as the team looks towards a switch to Honda when the new power unit regulations enter into frame for 2026 is something to look for in the future.

Ferrari (191): What was meant to be a bounce-back year after falling short in 2022, the Scuderia in 2023 started on the back foot in both the WDC and the WCC. With a new face at the helm in Team Principal, Fred Vasseur looked to turn things around and fight for the championship. But the current car started the year unable to fight at the front. However, as the season has progressed, the team has improved to fight for more podiums and occasionally taking the fight to Red Bull during qualifying sessions.

Charles Leclerc has been the lone driver to say that he has beat Verstappen in a race session outside of the other Red Bull of Perez in 2023, albeit in a Sprint Race, and has started to be a consistent fighter for podiums in this stretch of the year. Furthermore, Carlos Sainz has begun to turn up the wick with updates and has picked off his time of points-paying finishes.

Ferrari wants to continue improving their concept throughout the year and fight to a possible second-place finish in the WCC. They do, however, have company as it seems to be a 4-way fight shaping up for the best of the rest as the 2023 season gets down the stretch till the end.

McLaren Mercedes (103): What started as an almost absolute disaster for McLaren in 2023 has turned into a season of joy and being able to compete in just weeks. It is no secret that the season started horribly, with McLaren beginning at the bottom of the order. But an almost perfect execution of upgrades ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix turned things around, making the McLaren team turn into podium finish contenders.

Lando Norris and rookie teammate Oscar Piastri have started showing signs of strength and taking the fight to the top of the field in the past few races. Norris shined brilliantly at the British Grand Prix as he beat Verstappen off the line and led the British Grand Prix to loud cheers, and Piastri has had some sensational racing, showing he’s not a push-over of a rookie.

Looking down the stretch, McLaren hopes to continue to improve their cars and show that Norris and Piastri aren’t just contenders for the podium but also future Grand Prix winners.

Alpine Renault (57): 2023 was supposed to be the year Alpine stepped further into contention at the top of the WCC, but it has been far from that. Although they received a healthy investment and ownership stake led by Hollywood Stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, they still have yet to produce at the competitive level they thought they would. From comments from Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi threatening to make changes before the year’s end to following through with a leadership shakeup that sees team principal Otmar Szafnauer depart before the summer break, Alpine is in some rocky terrain.

Alpine Renault teammates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon embrace following Gasly’s podium at the 2023 Belgium Grand Prix Sprint Race (Photo: Alpine Cars)

The team of French drivers Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly for the French manufacturer looked to be a solid move going into 2023. While the highlight of Ocon snagging a podium on the streets of Monaco is a bright spot, there hasn’t been much joy to go around. Both Ocon and Gasly have either been at the bottom end of the points or just outside of the points this year, with a handful of issues out of their control keeping them down further than they hoped.

Alpine wants and needs the rest of the year to turn around. From their perspective, watching McLaren go from the bottom of the grid to fighting consistently for podiums stings a lot, and they need things to turn around for the rest of 2023 and into 2024.

Williams Mercedes (11): The return to prominence for one of the longest-running and successful teams on the grid is a slow but steady process. New team principal, James Vowles, who has gone from Mercedes to Williams, has been righting the ship and showing signs of progress for a team that had spent the past few years at the bottom of the grid.

Alex Albon has been the highlight reel of the season for Williams. He has fought to get into the third qualifying round and race in the points multiple times this season. However, American rookie Logan Sargeant is having typical rookie struggles.

The rebuilding phase for Williams will be a long road, but the improvements seen in 2023 give sight for hope, and perhaps more points are on the horizon.

Haas Ferrari (11): It has been another mediocre year for the American-owned team. There have been some moments that show some hope, but those are few and far between. Upgrades haven’t wholly gone their way, and a lot of the time, their hope comes from when there is mother nature in the area, just like when Kevin Magnussen shocked the paddock in taking pole at the Brazil Sprint Race back in 2022.

After taking some time off, Nico Hulkenberg replaced Mick Schumacher at Haas, joining Magnuessen in the Haas. Hulkenberg has some moments of intrigue, gaining most of Haas’ 2023 points, and Magnussen hasn’t had that great of a year yet. But Haas isn’t giving up on them, as they announced during the media day at Circuit Zandvoort that both drivers will be retained for the 2024 season.

With both drivers staying for next year, Haas must continue trying to survive and improve. With an almost revolving carousel of drivers in the past few seasons, a second year with the same drivers will hopefully help a lot. They need improvement before another American team enters F1 and steals their thunder.

Alfa Romeo Ferrari (9): It has not been the most fantastic year for Alfa Romeo. They have been a clear backmarker, barely making it into the points regularly. There hasn’t been much to write home about. They have done an excellent job staying out of trouble during the year and clicking away finishes, albeit out of the points.

Both Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have made it into the points in 2023, but not on the regular. The highlight of the year for them came at the Hungaroring when both drivers found themselves turning heads, taking advantage of the tire rules for that qualifying session. But that has been it for the year.

At this point, Alfa Romeo/Sauber is looking towards the new engine regulations come 2026, when Audi will take over the team and replace the Ferrari powerplant. However, that is a couple of years off, so survival is all they can do.

AlphaTauri (3): 2023 has been an incredibly disappointing season for the sister team to Red Bull. While the primary team runs away with the WCC, the sister team is on the other end of the grid, bringing up the rear. An ill-handling car has not helped in the slightest. The team has already taken out rookie Nyck De Vries in favor of former driver Daniel Ricciardo in hopes of turning things around for the future, but time will tell if it works.

While the previously mentioned ill-handling car can be a lot of the blame, it didn’t make a difference for De Vries. While he had started to turn it around and race closer to his teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, it was too late and led to the replacement. If the car runs, both drivers can be close to the points, but it hasn’t gotten there yet.

The rest of 2023 is a big team for AlphaTauri. They need to hope that significant developments are brought to the car, or they will continue to sink further down the WCC points.

Verstappen dominated the first half of the year, but we’ll see if anything changes in the second half.