Now it’s official: we are witnessing a record dominance in the history of Formula 1!

Now it’s official: we are witnessing a record dominance in the history of Formula 1!

Alexander Kozhevnikov November 26, 2023, 18:10 Moscow time

Red Bull won 21 of 22 races in the 2023 season and Leclerc did not know how to save Ferrari.

Although we didn’t have any special surprises before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in qualifying (at least with a plus sign), the race promised to be interesting. At the very least, because we were waiting for the season finale, and this is always a somewhat emotional and touching moment. Formula 1, at the end of the race, takes a long break before the 2024 season, so I wanted to enjoy literally every moment of the last Grand Prix of 2023.

However, there were some failures in qualifying. For example, on Saturday Carlos Sainz could not even get out of the first qualifying segment and Lewis Hamilton did not manage to reach third. It is noteworthy that Ferrari and Mercedes approached the last stage of the season in a direct fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. Both for those who failed in qualifying and for Checo Pérez, who was traditionally ninth on Saturday, the start was important.

Related materials

In American football there is a combination called “Max Verstappen.” The Hamilton Club uses it!

The fight at the opening didn’t last long.

And this beginning turned out to be quite calm. Verstappen maintained the lead, Leclerc twice tried to attack Max in the fight for the lead, but the Dutchman harshly repelled the Ferrari driver’s attacks, after which Charles fell beyond the second gap. Behind, Norris managed to overtake Russell in the fight for fourth place, and then Lando overtook his teammate in the fight for the top three.

By the seventh lap, the peloton had stretched out quite a bit and most of the riders were lining up in a DRS train. The situation on the track finally stabilized and froze until the first pit stops, except that Russell attacked Oscar Piastri in the fight for fourth place and successfully dealt with the Australian.

On lap 15, the first wave of pit stops began, Norris had a problem while changing tires, so George Russell took the lead. Hamilton damaged his front wing in the fight with Gasly, so he found himself attacked by Ocon after the pit stop.

Some drivers decided to extend the first segment, including Yuki Tsunoda, who at some point became the leader of the Grand Prix. On lap 23, Tsunoda finally stopped for another hard run and returned to the track in 12th place.

Halfway through the race, Pérez finally caught up with Piastri and easily overtook the Australian, finishing in fifth place.

Related materials

5 famous mothers of Formula 1 racers: from karting star to social media queen

Tactical fighting appearance.

After the first wave of pit stops, the race went into a calm phase, there were practically no fights on the track. After the second stops, the Leclerc-Russell-Norris group became denser, but the positions of this trio did not change.

The most interesting thing at the end of the race was the correspondence fight between Ferrari and Mercedes for second place in the Constructors’ Championship. With 12 laps left in the race, the main battle was for ninth place between Hamilton and Sainz, on which the distribution of places in the team classification depended. As a result, Hamilton managed to cope with Sainz on newer tires and reached ninth place, moving the team to second position.

Perez handled Lando Norris, but was investigated by referees for an aggressive first contact attack. The judges were ruthless and sanctioned Checo with a five-second penalty, which could well have played into Mercedes’ hands in the fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Related materials

The Ferrari driver crashed his car before the F1 final. This mistake will cost the Scuderia dearly.

Leclerc tried to take second place in the Constructors’ Championship, but…

Perez physically passed Russell on the track with four laps remaining and was quick to get away from the Briton, aware of his five-second penalty. Leclerc let Pérez go ahead two laps before the end so Checo could try to separate himself from Russell by five seconds. However, in the end, the Red Bull driver let Leclerc and Russell continue ahead: the Monegasque’s plan to save Ferrari’s second position did not work.

Max Verstappen won a landslide victory, the 19th of the season and the 54th of his career. Lando Norris closed the top five, while Piastri, Alonso, Tsunoda, Hamilton and Stroll also made it into the top ten. In the end, Sainz did not score any points, having to make two pit stops in the final laps, one of which was mandatory: the team did not change the type of tires during the race.

Mercedes, despite all of Leclerc’s calculations and attempts, came second in the Constructors’ Championship, and Charles Leclerc eventually took fifth place in the individual standings, losing to Fernando Alonso.

The 2023 season ended the same as it began: with a victory for Red Bull. The Austrian team has won 21 of 22 races, 19 of those victories coming from Max Verstappen, who is now preparing to break the records of Schumacher and Hamilton. Formula 1 is taking a long break until spring and I would like to hope that the 2024 season will be more exciting than the one that ended.

Related materials

Did Hamilton ask to join Red Bull? Has the former champion really lost faith in Mercedes?