August in motorsport usually means one thing - the Summer shutdown. But, as dreadful as 4 weeks without Formula One sounds, it gives us the chance to sit back and reflect on the first half of a season that's been under complete domination by one team and one driver.
For Red Bull and their reigning World Champion driver; Max Verstappen, the season so far has been absolute perfection, with both team and driver breaking long-standing records for consecutive wins. And, twelve races in, we're yet to see anyone other than Red Bull stand on the top step of the podium. In fact, it's only been Verstappen's teammate; Sergio Perez, who has managed to disturb the Dutchman's flawless season by taking the wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan, in the early stages of 2023. However, despite Perez's occasional "glimmer," his season has been plagued by mistakes and issues, letting Verstappen run away with the lead of the Drivers Championship, while depriving fans the chance to see a Championship battle go down to the wire.
Whereas Red Bull's dominance will come as no surprise to F1 aficionados, the improvement at Aston Martin may do, with a third place finish at the opening round of the season in Bahrain for Fernando Alonso, in his first season for the team. Over the course of the next few races, Alonso would continue his impressive form, finishing on the podium in half of the races raced to date. As for his teammate; Lance Stroll, things have been a little bit trickier, especially racing alongside the more experienced, Double World Champion of Alonso. But, a number of point finishes are held to Stroll's name, with his best being 4th in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix that broke the record for the most red flags in a race.
Another team that have made improvements since last season is Mercedes. After initially falling behind in 2022 with the new regulations, the team have turned it around with a pole position in Hungary, several podiums and several fastest laps of the race throughout the first half of the season. The Spanish Grand Prix was a race many passionate Mercedes fans will remember, where both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively. A collaborative effort from the team and drivers means they sit second in the Constructors Championship going into the Summer break.
Besides Hamilton and Mercedes, Charles Leclerc and Ferrari have been the only other driver and team pairing, that isn't Red Bull, to sit on pole for a race. In fact, they have managed it twice - in Azerbaijan and Belgium, alongside pole for the first Sprint, also in Azerbaijan. However, in what seems to be a regular spiel for Ferrari, the results are not converting and strategy/pit stops still seems to be plaguing the team from Maranello. A rocky start to the season for Leclerc saw a mechanical retirement in Bahrain and a crash in Australia, before improvements saw him end the first half of the season with a third place finish in Belgium. For teammate, Carlos Sainz, things have been more consistent with regular point finishes. Unfortunately for the Spaniard, he lacks the podium finishes that his teammate has, meaning he is slightly behind in the Driver's Championship. With only seven points separating the duo, there is definitely a battle on at Ferrari for the rest of 2023.
One team that has managed to completely turn their 2023 around is McLaren. After a rocky pre-season test and pointless start to the season, a fourth place in Austria for Lando Norris was the start of a turn around, thanks to the teams new updates. McLaren fans in Silverstone would also be in for a treat when both Norris and rookie driver; Oscar Piastri, qualified 2nd and 3rd respectively. After momentarily leading the race, Norris would go on to score the team's first podium of 2023, followed by another podium a week later in Hungary. Both McLaren drivers are ending the first half of the season with a resurgence. They're definitely ones to watch when the racing resumes.
Moving on to the mid-lower end of the field, we come to Alpine, in what's been a relatively "hit and miss" season to date. Although regular point scorers, you can't help but admit some of their more "memorable" races are those which have gone drastically wrong for the team. Take Australia, for example, after numerous red flags, the Alpine duo would have a hefty collision with one another, eliminating them both from the race. In recent races, such as Great Britain and Hungary, the team have become quite notable for their double DNFs. But, it's not been all doom and gloom for the team from Enstone, with a 3rd place finish for Esteban Ocon in Monaco, followed by another 3rd place finish, this time for Pierre Gasly, in the Sprint Race in Belgium. If the team can get on top of their mechanical issues, the French duo of Ocon and Gasly have some potential to cause upset after the break.
Talking of Pierre Gasly, as we know, he has previously felt the wrath of the Red Bull programme. And recently, another driver has been put through a similar humiliation. Nyck de Vries, a Formula E World Champion, was signed to Alpha Tauri for 2023. However, after a run of incidents, such as the clash with Kevin Magnussen in Canada, and a run of pointless races, more was expected of the Dutch driver and he found himself without a race seat for the Hungarian Grand Prix on-wards. So, in is Daniel Ricciardo, an ex-driver for the team who hasn't raced since the back end of 2022. After two races, he also lies pointless, finishing 13th and 16th at Hungary and Belgium, respectively. As for Yuki Tsunoda, the second driver at Alpha Tauri, he has managed to become more accustomed to the 2023 car than that of de Vries, with three 10th place finishes. It's no secret that Alpha Tauri's car is currently the worst one on the grid. And, despite sitting last in the constructor's championship, things are looking close between Williams, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Alpha Tauri. The second Red Bull team could surprise us yet.
Another team who's season could be better is Alfa Romeo, who have shown glimpses of speed at times. An 8th place finish for Valtteri Bottas in Bahrain, plus the fastest lap for Zhou Guanyu, was a positive start to 2023. But, from there, things went backwards, with a string of mainly pointless finishes, mixed in with the odd point scoring one, here and there. Their most notable performance came during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, where both drivers qualified in the top ten - 5th for Zhou and 7th for Bottas. Unfortunately for the team, a poor start to the race for Zhou left him crossing the finish line in 16th whereas teammate, Bottas, fell to 12th. This pretty much reflects the story of their season so far.
Like Alfa Romeo, Haas is another team that has shown glimpses of speed at times. And, although there are only three point finishes to the team's name in 2023, they have, at least, been consistent in finishing races. Nico Hulkenberg has been the team's strongest driver this season with nine points compared to teammate; Kevin Magnussen's, two. But then again, Magnussen has found himself involved in several incidents such as clipping the wall in Australia, tussling with de Vries in Canada and his engine catching fire in Great Britain. As for Hulkenberg, an impressive, yet rain affected, qualifying in Canada saw him place his Haas car on the front row of the grid in 2nd. However, a three place grid penalty awaited the German driver, dropping him to 5th and eventually finishing the race in 15th. As we go into the Summer break, they are currently tied on points with Williams in the Constructor's Championship.
And finally, what about Williams? It's been a strong start for the British team, already scoring more points than they managed throughout the whole of 2022, courtesy of driver Alexander Albon, who has scored points on three separate occasions, his best being a 7th in Canada, where he won Driver of the Day. As for Albon's teammate, rookie driver, Logan Sargeant, he's the only driver, bar de Vries and Ricciardo, to not score points so far in 2023, leading to rumours that he, too, could find himself replaced. Regardless though, Sargeant has had relatively clean races in this part of this season, with his only retirement coming in Canada. The American driver, however, may need to up his game if Williams wants to beat Haas in the Constructor's Championship.
So, how do the Championship standings look?
Driver | Points |
Max Verstappen | 314 |
Sergio Perez | 189 |
Fernando Alonso | 149 |
Lewis Hamilton | 148 |
Charles Leclerc | 99 |
George Russell | 99 |
Carlos Sainz | 92 |
Lando Norris | 69 |
Lance Stroll | 47 |
Esteban Ocon | 35 |
Oscar Piastri | 34 |
Pierre Gasly | 22 |
Alexander Albon | 11 |
Nico Hulkenberg | 9 |
Valtteri Bottas | 5 |
Zhou Guanyu | 4 |
Yuki Tsunoda | 3 |
Kevin Magnussen | 2 |
Logan Sargeant | 0 |
Nyck de Vries | 0 |
Daniel Ricciardo | 0 |
Constructor | Points |
Red Bull | 503 |
Mercedes | 247 |
Aston Martin | 196 |
Ferrari | 191 |
McLaren | 103 |
Alpine | 57 |
Williams | 11 |
Haas | 11 |
Alfa Romeo | 9 |
Alpha Tauri | 3 |
Looking at the current standings, it's hard not to believe that Verstappen and Red Bull already have it the bag for a third year running. But, with 10 races, plus 3 Sprint races left, there is still all to play for, with many drivers still mathematically in with a chance to win the Driver's Championship. And, if that doesn't convince you that this next half of the season will be one to watch, just have a look at the battles within the Championship. Alonso is coming under attack in 3rd, Leclerc v Russell v Sainz is shaping up to be entertaining and Ocon v Piastri is also brewing. And, what about Perez? Can he come back on a resurgence? Who knows. The first half may have been full of dominance and procession but surely, the real racing starts now.
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