For these reasons, Red Bull’s jubilant march will continue next season as well – one F1 driver was completely superior compared to the others | Sport

The F1 season culminated on Sunday in Abu Dhabi, as usual with the Red Bull team Max Verstappen’s to crushing superiority.

There were still big struggles behind the tip. Mercedes maintained its lead against Ferrari with three points in the battle for second place among manufacturers.

Verstappen won the drivers’ WC points, Red Bull Sergio Perez was the second and the Mercedes Lewis Hamilton third. What happened behind this trio was in Abu Dhabi. Finally an Aston Martin Fernando Alonso peaked its glory season in fourth place, while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz fell several places to seventh.

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Below you can listen to how Urheilu’s F1 expert Jukka Mildh summed up the Abu Dhabi GP and the aforementioned struggles. Below, the story continues with a summary of the topics and events of the entire F1 season 2023.

What decided the season?

Red Bull beat Mercedes in the manufacturers’ points by 451 points. It is by far the largest margin of victory in history. In 2004, Ferrari won the manufacturers’ championship with a 354-point margin over the runner-up.

Verstappen beat his teammate Perez by 290 points. That, too, is by far the most winning margin of all time. Sebastian Vettel won in 2013 by 160 points from second place Alonso.

Of course, the number of races has increased, scoring systems have been modified and sprint races have been included.

Mildh praises that Red Bull was very well prepared for the season, even though they received a penalty for exceeding the cost cap last fall, which affected the time allowed to test the car.

– Where Red Bull succeeded with their car concept, Mercedes failed and was completely lost in the first tests. Ferrari’s season was once again supposed to start promisingly, but there was a lot of traditional glitz, internal strife and communication breakdowns.

For example, during the competition in Holland in August, Mildh noticed how With Charles Leclerc started to get nervous when Ferrari messed up with its pit stop.

– It is noteworthy that Verstappen finished all the races. It says that he himself is in a hard fight and that Red Bull is a very reliable racing car. The same could not be said about the competitors.

– Such control and harmony have not been seen for a long time.

The expert points out that Red Bull as an organization is quite different from the toughest competitors. Mercedes and Ferrari are owned by car factories, while Honda-powered Red Bull operates like a private garage.

Red Bull has had less bureaucracy, very good decision-making ability and Adrian Newey64, led way to develop car and team.

Red Bull has been extremely successful in the aerodynamics of their car since the new rules came into force last season. Red Bull has been completely in a class of its own in straightaways when DRS, i.e. the opening rear wing, has been available.

What speaks?

Mildh makes crossing the track boundaries one of the big topics of the season, both from the point of view of the drivers’ performance and the work of the judges.

– The drivers started to follow it closely and take a stand if, for example, the driver in front crossed the track limits.

For example, in October we saw a mix-up in Qatar’s qualifying sessions, when McLaren’s by Lando Norris fast lap rejected. Therefore, another McLaren driver Oscar Piastri came third in the time trial. Then Piastri got the news in the middle of the interview that he too was rejected.

Mildh doesn’t like the trend, but points out that, on the other hand, drivers should be able to control their car and trust the drivability so that there are no breakdowns. Even a small crossing of the track limit can give you a significant advantage in the thousand-part game, when you can get out of the curve with a better line.

The rules per se have not changed, but the fouls just started to increase and the jury raised them to the stick. The drivers try to make the most of it, when there is no danger of running into sand, for example, on spacious tracks outside the track line. Violating the track limit does not slow down or damage the car, because the large safety areas outside the track are asphalt.

What about Bottas?

– There is no glimmer of light visible in Alfa Romeo’s situation. It feels like the stable has stopped. One reason is ownership changes and transition to the next project. However, it should not affect the formulas at this stage, Mildh criticizes.

The cooperation with Alfa Romeo ended, and next season the name of the team will be Sauber again, until in 2026 Audi is scheduled to enter the picture.

Valtteri Bottas the season started comfortably in eighth place, but after that there were only three points.

Mildh feels that overlapping projects have affected the stable’s dynamism. In addition, Mildh says that at least at some point during the season, Ferrari’s technical problems also affected the team, which therefore uses Ferrari’s power sources.

Personnel changes have also had an impact. Frédéric Vasseur moved from Alfa to Ferrari team manager. Then the management of the team was decentralized and it did not have an actual team manager. Former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl was hired as CEO to lead the Audi project and Alessandro Alunni from Bravi became the stable’s official “representative”.

If you have to look for a small glimmer of light, at least Alfa Romeo did not remain the bottom line of the stables, because it has a significant impact on the prize money. For Bottas, 34, it was very important that he, as more qualified, could beat his Chinese teammate Guanyu Zhou24, although this strained the Finn surprisingly hard.

Sleeper?

The fact that Fernando Alonso is still in such good racing condition is a surprise, as was Aston Martin’s blow from the start of the season. Alonso took six podiums in the first eight races, but then Aston Martin’s performance went into a downward spiral.

– However, the most significant surprise was McLaren’s leap. When they started bringing upgrade packages to their car, they worked great, Mildh praises.

Norris got on the podium for the first time in the tenth race of the season, but ended up taking six second places and one third place. Rookie driver Piastri got on the podium twice and also won one sprint race.

Mildh considers the duo very strong and has potential, and also generally praises McLaren’s organization.

– And when you know Norris’s popularity among the F1 audience around the world, the rise of McLaren was really important for the team, for him and even for the sport.

A flop?

– F1 is all about wanting to win everything. After all, it is a significant failure, how far Ferrari and Mercedes were from Red Bull’s performance, Mildh begins.

For example, Aston Martin Lance Stroll25, has long been bitterly bitter because he is perceived as a mere “payment driver” for his billionaire father By Lawrence Stroll owning a stable. Stroll collected 74 World Championship points, 42-year-old teammate Alonso no less than 206.

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– However, Stroll also drove good races. I see, he’s the owner’s son, there’s a certain nuance to that. But he has improved a lot, Mildh reassures and reminds that Alonso is a two-time champion.

As the biggest question mark in the driver palette, Mildh raises Williams’ rookie driver, 22 years old by Logan Sargeant. The Yankee driver collected one World Championship point, but that too was due to the previous rejections.

Alexander Albon brought 27 points to Williams and beat his teammate in qualifying 22–0.

Sargeant, who also has the stamp of a paid driver, became the first American driver with points in the F1 series in 30 years. The importance of the Yankee driver to the US market would be great, but Williams has a big place in the discussion about who will drive alongside Albon, 27. Williams is the only team that has not locked in its second driver for next season. Otherwise, the teams will continue with the same lineups as at the end of the season.

What next?

The next F1 race will be held in Bahrain on March 2, 2024.

– Even though the season was tough for Red Bull as well, they were able to maintain their level and move forward. That system has definitely been able to be transferred to the next season.

– Mercedes and Ferrari are investing a lot, but how much have they already been able to invest, when there were so many problems this year, they had to come up with solutions and take risks.

Mildh estimates that at the other end of the table Haas, Williams and Sauber will continue to have difficulties.

And will Red Bull boost Perez’s confidence and performance? How will Hamilton’s motivation last at Mercedes? Will Sainz and Leclerc be able to restore the desired dynamics at the wheel of Ferrari in the season that ended?

– After all, it has always been the same formula in the number one games, that someone is superior. I think that Red Bull’s winning streak will be really hard to break, Mildh concludes.

Below you can see the results of the Abu Dhabi GP, the final points tables of the season and other statistics.