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The second season of the current regulation set brought with it a year of milestones and new records, most of them courtesy of Max Verstappen and Red Bull.
But while the Red Bull RB19 was the best car on the grid, who were the best drivers?
The championship standings give us one answer but it does not account for fluctuating form, unreliability, or other incidents.
And so Speedcafe’s F1 team of Mat Coch and Ian Parkes have compiled their run down of the top 10 F1 drivers of 2023.
To settle any arguments, both created a list, with the F1 points system applied, which worked well in all but one case.
10. George Russell – Mercedes
Best result: 3rd
Podiums: 2
Poles: 0
Championship position: 8th
MC: George Russell did not make my top 10 because whilst his year wasn’t disastrous by any stretch, for me, he made too many mistakes in crucial moments. The most significant of those was his brush with the wall on the final lap in Singapore, which saw him fail to make the chequered flag when on course for a podium. There were also only two podium appearances overall versus six for team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and given that disparity, I felt he wasn’t on it enough in 2023.
IP: Russell slated the season as “the worst” of his career. He is perhaps being harsh on himself but in finishing eighth in the drivers’ standings, 59 points behind Hamilton, it is easy to understand his perspective. On reflection, though, he and Hamilton were equal in the qualifying head-to-head, 11 apiece, which is no mean feat, and clear he managed to extract performance over one lap from a car that was so difficult to handle at times. Several uncharacteristic errors, though, were costly, which is why he only just scapes into the top 10.
9. Liam Lawson – Scuderia AlphaTauri
Best result: 9th
Podiums: 0
Poles: 0
Championship position: 20th
MC: It is difficult to overstate just how much Liam Lawson accomplished in his five-race cameo this season. He hadn’t been in the frame for a shot at F1 before Daniel Ricciardo’s Zandvoort crash, but when presented with the opportunity he seized it with both hands. Just reaching the flag in the Dutch Grand Prix was a Herculean effort given his non-existent build-up to the race, and then to race to seventh in Singapore was extraordinary. It’s a travesty that Lawson is not on the grid for 2024.
IP: It may only have been five races but Lawson, only the second New Zealander in F1 for almost 40 years, did enough to suggest from the Red Bull hierarchy he will be handed a permanent race seat in 2025. He even had hard-to-please advisor Helmut Marko likening him to New Zealand hero Bruce McLaren, describing the 21-year-old as “tough but a very smart man in a fight”, and that he is “one for the future”. That’s for sure. He will have to be patient and bide his time, though, before joining F1 permanently in ’25.
8. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
Best result: 2nd
Podiums: 2
Poles: 0
Championship position: 9th
MC: A steady start to the year for McLaren was perhaps the best way to enter the sport for Oscar Piastri. It gave the Australian a chance to shake off the rust of a year out and left him in a position to capitalise once the car improved. From the British Grand Prix, when he got his hands on the B-spec MCL60, there was a strong and steady improvement. He won the Sprint in Qatar, making him one of only three drivers to beat Max Verstappen all year, a mighty accomplishment. What’s more, he has started to heap pressure on Lando Norris, too. And he managed it all in his rookie season. The sky is the limit.
IP: Piastri underlined why McLaren went through a Contract Recognition Board hearing in the summer of last year to secure his services after previously being on the books at Alpine. His performances after the arrival of upgrades in Austria, and especially Singapore, vaulted him from the back to the front. By his own admission, race and tyre management let him down on occasion, but his maturity, calmness, his ability to quickly learn, and his all-around speed hugely impressed all inside McLaren, marking him out as a potential champion of the future.
7. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
Best result: 2nd
Podiums: 6
Poles: 5
Championship position: 5th
MC: There is little doubt in my mind that Leclerc is the fastest driver over a single lap in Formula 1. The challenge is stringing that together over a race, which was not a strength of his Ferrari this year. As a result, though he started from pole on five occasions, he never converted any into a race win – not that there were many opportunities. Therein lies the issue for me. When the opportunities were there, such as in Singapore, he could not match team-mate Carlos Sainz. The year again highlighted some frailties in Leclerc’s arsenal, as seen during his title tussle with Max Verstappen in 2022.
IP: The fact Leclerc finished level on points with Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ standings, yet only lines up seventh on this list epitomises the turbulent nature of his season which at times was excellent, others bitterly frustrating. Engine failure in Bahrain, grid penalty in Saudi Arabia (as a result of the PU issue), and crash on lap one in Australia set the tone. It was not until the upgrade in Japan that he acquired an SF23 to his liking, but even after that his rollercoaster campaign continued – and not of his making – as there was a DQ in Austin, and a failure to start in Brazil, yet he was third in Mexico and runner-up in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi. A flavour of what might have been.
6. Alex Albon – Williams
Best result: 7th
Podiums: 0
Poles: 0
Championship position: 13th
MC: Taking a step back from Albon, 2023 was an important one for Williams. That Albon was a somewhat regular points finisher is a good omen going forward, while the Thai-licensed driver looks to have grown nicely into the role of team leader. He had performances, such as that in Canada, which left boss James Vowles suggesting they were world championship quality – and Vowles should know, after being part of the all-conquering Mercedes operation at its peak. The past season saw Albon mature and develop as a driver, and single-handedly scoring seventh for the team in the constructors’ championship.
IP: For sheer consistency across the course of the season, particularly in a Williams that was never upgraded after the August summer break, Albon hit the mark, both in qualifying and grands prix where others failed. He often hauled the car into the top 10 in qualifying as the car’s straight-line speed proved formidable, whilst his race craft and positioning sense kept him ahead of quicker cars, allowing Williams to clinch that seventh spot in the standings after finishing last in four of the previous five seasons. He also finished the year as the only driver to out-qualify his team-mate in all 22 races.
5. Lewis Hamilton
Best result: 2nd
Podiums: 6
Poles: 1
Championship position: 3rd
MC: Mercedes did not give Lewis Hamilton the greatest car in 2023 and yet he was still able to show why he is a seven-time champion. In Austin, he mounted a challenge for the race win – though we all know what ended up happening there – and remained a constant threat to the podium when the car worked. The highest compliment of his year, however, is the fact Sergio Perez failed to wrap up second in the drivers’ championship until the penultimate race, despite having a far superior car. Hamilton made the most of what he had available without ever being devastatingly brilliant. Nonetheless, he deserves a spot in the top half of the top 10.
IP: It was not vintage Hamilton, far from it, ending a second successive season without a win to his name. But he still managed to clinch a comfortable third in the drivers’ standings, and with his performances subject to the vagaries of a car in which he all too often lacked confidence, primarily due to the rear being unstable given the forward positioning of the cockpit compared to the cars of his rivals, notably Red Bull. There were still six podiums and 20 top-10 finishes, and despite a subdued conclusion to the season across the final three races, there was enough to suggest throughout the year overall that if given the right car next season he will be a more consistent challenger.
4. Carlos Sainz
Best result: 1st (x1)
Podiums: 3
Poles: 2
Championship position: 7th
MC: I said on the Pit Talk podcast that of the two Ferrari drivers, I’d take Carlos Sainz in 2023. The Spaniard was consistent, and a match for his more highly-rated team-mate Leclerc. That’s a strong endorsement in the first place, but when you then add in his performances in Italy and Singapore, he takes a step up in my book. His drive in Marina Bay was exceptional, showing not only is he a quality driver but an intelligent one, too. We’ve always known Sainz was good, but 2023 suggested to me that we haven’t seen just how good yet.
IP: Sainz is the one driver about whom Mat and I fundamentally disagree – he was second on Mat’s list, and seventh on mine, hence his fourth position here. He was out-qualified 15-7 by Leclerc, and scored only three podiums to the Monégasque’s six. Yes, one was that win in Singapore where he delivered an outstanding defensive drive, as was the case two weeks previously in Italy. Beyond those two races, however, it is hard to recall a time when he caught the eye in a season that petered out after Singapore, arguably as a result of the upgrade on the SF23 in Japan that resulted in the car going away from him and more towards the other side of the garage.
3. Lando Norris
Best result: 2nd
Podiums: 7
Poles: 0
Championship position: 6th
MC: It is incredible to think that Norris proved to be one of Verstappen’s strongest competitors in 2023 given where McLaren started the year. When Norris got his hands on the updated McLaren in Austria, he quickly capitalised with fourth in Spielberg and second in Britain. The results did not slow, and were it not for a few driver errors, likely caused by the pressure exuded by Piastri in the other car, they could arguably have been better. Looking to 2024, and as was the case at the end of 2021, you get the feeling it is a case of when, rather than if, Norris scores that elusive race win.
IP: You have to brush aside the first eight races of the season when McLaren deployed a MCL60 behind in development over the winter. It meant the team’s real challenger did not materialise until Austria. From that race on, if the championship had been held over the final 14 grands prix, Norris would have finished second to Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. Throughout that period, the blot on his copybook was a number of his qualifying performances, notably making mistakes in Qatar and Austin especially when he should have clinched pole, as well as in the final race in Abu Dhabi after which he pointedly stated he had done “a s**t job on Saturdays”. There were, however, six superb runner-up finishes in grands prix behind Verstappen.
2. Fernando Alonso
Best result: 2nd
Podiums: 8
Poles: 0
Championship position: 4th
MC: It was arguably the best year of Fernando Alonso’s career since he drove for Renault in the mid-2000s. Fast out of the gates, the canny Spaniard scored six podiums in the opening eight races for Aston Martin to give the team a dream start. The season got tougher but the two-time champion was stoic in his support of the squad. He was patient and protective when he needed to be, but wasn’t shy in offering criticisms when warranted either. He was the complete package, a version of Alonso not seen for many years. There was a blemish in Monaco when he should have won but for a poor strategy call, and a couple of driver errors later in the season, otherwise, there is very little to poke holes at for the 42-year-old.
IP: The old master was back, delivering a display over the year that showcased his talents and belied his age, certainly at the start of the campaign when Aston Martin surprised everyone by delivering a car second only to Red Bull. Despite the mid-to-late-season slump, Alonso still dragged the car into the points to finish fourth in the drivers’ standings. He described the year as the best in his career alongside 2012 – whilst with Ferrari – when he missed out on a third title by four points to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. Given Alonso’s memory for detail, who are we to argue?
1. Max Verstappen
Best result: 1st (x19)
Podiums: 21
Poles: 12
Championship position: 1st
MC: As difficult as it is to swallow now, what Verstappen and Red Bull achieved in 2023 will be remembered as perhaps the greatest achievement in F1 history. It is a big call, but it was a big year. From 22 races, the Dutchman won 19 and was only off the podium once. He completed every lap of every race. It was a simply brilliant display that was difficult to watch and arguably detrimental to the growth of the sport. But we should all step back and applaud what Verstappen achieved – just as we did with Hamilton and Michael Schumacher during their periods of domination. The difference is, 2023 eclipsed them all. And then some.
IP: Yes, Alonso turned back the clock, but you cannot dismiss the achievements of Verstappen who re-wrote F1’s record books with a sublime season that will be incredibly difficult to match, never mind beat for as long as the sport exists. The obvious argument is that Verstappen had the best car, and the RB19 will go down as one of the best – if not the best -in F1 history, but set against the benchmark of team-mate Perez, the Dutch driver eclipsed the Mexican in every facet. Even when Perez had the upper hand in the Azerbaijan GP, winning the sprint and race to suggest he would be a challenger to Verstappen, the latter switched to another level as he learned all he could about his car in different settings and modes whilst lagging behind in Baku. From the next race in Miami, where he beat polesitter Perez from ninth on the grid, he never looked back.
