F1's one big improvement in 2023
Red Bull might be dominant, but the F1 field behind them has become far more competitive.
When Lando Norris secured 2nd place in the British Grand Prix by holding off a late charge from Lewis Hamilton, he added McLaren to a unique club. They became the 6th team in 2023 to score a podium finish.
That’s right, podiums this year have now been graced by drivers from McLaren, Alpine, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari, and of course, Red Bull.
The statistic is significant because it reflects how much closer things are in F1 right now.
You might not think it given Red Bull has won 10 out of 10 races this year, but the gaps behind them are closing up. The rest of the field is now more competitive and unpredictable.
Last year, podiums in all races except one were only made up of Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes cars.
That stranglehold is no longer. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has cemented himself as a regular podium finisher in 2023, while Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and McLaren’s Lando Norris have achieved one each too.
After the British Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen joked that it was confusing for him to have “someone else” finishing 2nd every week.
“I think [it] is because it's so close behind that if you get your car in a little bit of a better window, it works on one particular track,” he said.
Verstappen may have been joking about having different people behind him, but he isn’t wrong.
If you look at which team finished behind Red Bull at each race, you’ll find that Aston Martin has done it five times, Ferrari and Mercedes have each taken the honour twice, and McLaren did it once. Quite a lot of diversity there.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff remarked on Friday at the British Grand Prix that Ferrari, Aston Martin, themselves, and occasionally Alpine were “all in a very tight bunch”.
“If everybody runs the same tyre in that previous session, we’re all within tenth or two,” he added.
In a lovely twist of fate, Wolff’s point was underscored during qualifying in Britain, when only a quarter of a second separated the six cars of McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari.
Why this matters
A convergence of performance behind Red Bull has two main benefits for F1.
Firstly, it makes everything more competitive, which entertains fans who tune in every week. It’s much more engaging to see erratic changes in the running order from race to race.
For example, Mercedes had the second-quickest car in Australia and Spain, but Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin leapt ahead in Austria, relegating Mercedes down to 5th-quickest.
This trend should be on full display this weekend in Hungary because it’s a slow-speed track, which is the complete opposite of the high-speed tracks used in the last two races in Austria and Britain.
On paper, the slow-speed circuit should play more to the strengths of Aston Martin and Alpine while disadvantaging McLaren, as their car, according to Lando Norris, is “pretty terrible” in slow corners.
Secondly, when teams are so close like this, it makes the performance of the driver so much more critical.
Small gaps suddenly matter a lot more.
Take qualifying in Austria. During Q2, the difference between Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell was only two-tenths, yet it was enough to see Russell knocked out while Hamilton progressed.
Superb drivers also shine when teams are bunched together.
There’s been no better example in 2023 than Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso, both of whom have noticeably outperformed their less-experienced teammates.
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