The 2023 Formula 1 season ended as it started — and reflected how it was for the entire year.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen completed the most dominant season in the history of the sport, winning his 19th race of the year in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen won a staggering 86% of his races in Formula 1, breaking the record for highest winning percentage in a season and also nabbing the record for most consecutive wins in the middle of the year with 12. Verstappen finished his historic campaign with 575 points, 290 points more than Sergio Perez in second place.
There was more on the line than just Verstappen’s race, though. The most notable battle heading into Sunday’s grand prix in the desert was for second place in the Constructors Championship, with Mercedes and Ferrari both having a chance at it. Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz qualified just 16th on Saturday, and it may have cost the Prancing Horse — he finished 15th on the day, and with Charles Leclerc finishing in second but George Russell coming in at third after a Sergio Perez time penalty, Mercedes was able to keep their position in second by three points over Ferrari to end the year. There was also a small chance that Aston Martin could have taken fourth place in the Constructors Championship from McLaren, but Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished fifth and sixth respectively to ensure that did not happen.
Here is how the final race of the 2023 F1 season shaped out:
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- George Russell (Mercedes)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull) [+5 seconds]
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- Alexander Albon (Williams)
- Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
- Logan Sargeant (Williams)
- Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
- Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
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