Formula 1 reflection: The good, the bad and the ugly

As the new year arrives, it is time to look back at what was a very intense 2023 Formula 1 World Championship on and off the track.

Also analyse what was good for the sport and the fans, what was not so positive, and what was downright negative and shouldn’t be repeated.

For me, the best thing about the season was how close the entire field was, especially in qualifying.

No one, not even Verstappen, could take it easy and run harder tyres in Q1 to save more Softs for Q3, because it was not unusual to have all 20 drivers inside the same second.

In Austria – granted, the shortest lap of the year – the entire field ended Q1 inside 0.8s and, if you took the two Red Bulls away, the other 18 drivers were separated by just 0.4s! Now, that’s what I call a competitive field.

There was not much splitting the teams in Austria. Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images

Of course it would have been nice for Red Bull to be challenged, but in the course of the season Aston Martin, Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren had the second quickest car in the field, so there was a big variety in the battle behind the best car.

And, occasionally, all of them managed to challenge Verstappen on occasions – Sainz winning for Ferrari in Singapore and rookie sensation Oscar Piastri winning the Sprint race in Qatar, without any misfortune hitting the Dutchman, therefore, on merit.

Another great thing was the quality of the battles at the front because, when the best drivers in the world fight cleanly, it’s a beautiful thing to see.

Fernando Alonso leads Sergio Perez in the final moments of the São Paulo GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.

There was great overtaking for top positions and if the Alonso-Pérez battle for P3 in Brazil won the Spaniard the FIA prize, it was Charles Leclerc’s last dash pass on the Mexican, on the last lap in Las Vegas, that took my breath away.

And, still on the positives, the fact Oscar Piastri showed his speed, consistency and racecraft that are way beyond his years, proved there’s another top driver on the way – so together with Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Russell, Albon and Sainz there’s a generation that may be in Formula 1 for the next 10 years, way after legends like Hamlton and Alonso have retired, to keep us entertained.

Having been spoiled by arriving in Formula 1 when Senna, Prost, Piquet and Mansell were all at the top of their game, I’m really happy we finally have an even bigger group of highly talented drivers that will give us great racing in the coming years.

F1 2023 was all about one man, Max Verstappen.

The bad was, of course, the domination by one team and one driver because, after a promising start, Sérgio Pérez’s challenge faded quickly and he never recovered. 

But that’s not Red Bull or Max Verstappen’s fault, because they just did their job and it’s up to the other nine teams to get their act together – the last thing the sport should do would be to try and cull the Austrian team’s technical advantage by making targeted changes to the rules to affect them.

Formula 1 is a meritocracy, so you get what you deserve and that’s how it should be.

It was also bad that Formula 1 waited for the last minute to cancel the Imola weekend, when for two days it was clear there were no conditions for the event to go ahead.

Also, especially bad, the Las Vegas schedule and putting the event one week before Abu Dhabi – making one quarter of the drivers and quite a few more people in the paddock ill, due to the time and temperature differences.

Fans were not happy to be ejected from their seats in Las Vegas. Photo by Simon Galloway / LAT Images

Ugly was the way Formula 1 dealt with the Las Vegas fans, forcing them out of the grandstands after putting together a track that was, initially, not up to the task and not even having the decency to apologise to them – believing such an apology would earn the sport a massive lawsuit.

But what has been really ugly all year is the ongoing war between Formula 1 and the FIA, with some ridiculous moments like with the ‘Investigation That Wasn’t’ into the Wolff family’s affairs. 

I understand the FIA’s need for a bigger payment from the sports profits to be able to police it properly, but the ‘elephant in a China shop’ approach favoured by the president is unlikely to be the best policy.

At the same time, the profits-at-all-costs approach that has been clearly taken by Formula 1 is losing us long standing fans, so a bit of decorum and an open discussion between all parties involved would do us all a lot of good. Here’s hoping! 

Photo by Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images

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The team at AUTO ACTION wishes all readers and race fans a merry Christmas and happy new year!

 On the latest podcast, Bruce, PG and Andrew talk about their three motor racing highlights of 2023, and to balance it out… The three lowlights as well, not lowlifes Bruce!