F1. United States 2023 Review

By Chelsea Wintle, Aiden McLaughlin and Gavin Huet

Driver of the day

Aiden – It was Grand Prix No. 100 for both George Russell and Lando Norris in Texas, but it was Norris that would have dared to dream of the fairytale win after his fast getaway from P2 on the grid. Norris showed his class by overtaking pole-sitter Charles Leclerc at turn one in Austin, and led for much of the race before normal service was resumed and Max Verstappen took the win. But a first F1 victory, in an ever improving McLaren can’t be too far away. The young Brit thinks he might have to wait until the 2024 season, acknowledging that although his team have made great strides, they need that bit longer. But for me, Norris is an elite driver on this grid and if Verstappen or his Red Bull make a significant error before the end of the season, he could break his duck. Imagine the party if that happened in Las Vegas!

Chelsea – Lewis Hamilton. If he’d only pitted two laps sooner… he would still have been disqualified. That aside, it was an excellent performance and hopefully a sign of what 2024 will bring. Watching him chase down Max in the final laps was my favourite part of the race.

Gavin – He may have been disqualified after the race, alongside Charles Leclerc, for a technical infringement, but this weekend it has to be Sir Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes upgrades have brought Lewis back to life, there was a spring in his step all weekend long and have we missed that! I don’t mind drivers having a moan at their engineer but Lewis has over the last year sounded at times like a petulant child, so even though he was questioning the team decisions this weekend there was nothing sulky about it. A positive and competitive Lewis is good for the sport, he is one of the few drivers on the grid who have the ability and knowledge to be able to take the racing to Max Verstappen who has had things too easy this season – not that this is his fault, he has a great car and is the form of his life, but we want competition.

Moment of the weekend

Aiden – When Logan Sargeant took the chequered flag in twelfth position Sunday, I would imagine he would have been relatively satisfied. But when he was elevated to tenth after the double disqualification of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, it was significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, he has been much maligned this season. A struggling rookie is never a nice thing to see, but when you seem so out of place on the grid, it’s a long season. So to take a surprise first point was huge. For it to be the first time an American driver has scored an F1 point in 30 years (Michael Andretti was the last in 1993) was massive; and for it to happen in the USA Grand Prix was the stuff his dreams were made of. It won’t hurt his chances of retaining that Williams seat for next year as well.

Chelsea – Spare a thought for Max Verstappen’s engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who made the mistake of radioing his driver not once, but twice while Verstappen was under braking. Verstappen, already struggling with the car, let forth a colourful tirade that was swiftly censored, and only made me wish the race could go on longer.

Gavin – The last few laps saw Lewis Hamilton trying to reel in Max Verstappen whose Red Bull car was having some braking issues. I would hazard a guess that almost everyone watching the race, apart from Max and Red Bull fans, wanted to see Lewis catch Max and put him under pressure, maybe even steal the win! It didn’t quite work out like that, F1 doesn’t often give us fairytale endings, and there was a lot of chat about Mercedes strategy and what-ifs. The fact Max was under pressure and not liking it was a scenario that had us all enthralled – this is what we want (see Driver of the day, above), and the fact it was coming from a Mercedes and not the McLaren or even Ferrari was even better as it showed another team was finally getting to grips with these new regulation cars.

Hot take of the weekend

Aiden – The drivers and constructors championships have been decided and yet we are entering the most exciting part of the season, as so many teams are bringing upgrades and closing the gap, not only to Red Bull, but to other teams in a packed midfield. While Red Bull eyes moved to 2024 some time ago, the season is very much alive for the others. Bring on Mexico and beyond.

Chelsea – Max Verstappen is a long way from being my favourite driver, but the booing from the Austin crowd when he was on the podium was just lame. Texas is practically Checo country, but nothing he did over the weekend earned him a chant, especially during speeches. Boooooo Austin.

Gavin – A maximum million euro fine for driver transgressions! Just when F1 thought it was the hip, cool, relatable, and trendy sport (thanks Drive To Survive) along comes this statement which shows that they have not changed at all and the sport is still so far out of the realms of normal human understanding as to be alien. Have these people even heard of the cost of living crisis the world is in the midst of? The fine is up from 250,000 euros and has not been updated in 12 years… fine, but a four fold increase is something usually reserved for the likes of high street banks and payday lenders. I know this money goes to charity but when the fine is higher than the salaries of some drivers it does seem out of touch.

Cold take of the weekend

Aiden – We know that the F1 circus is a well-oiled machine; almost as soon as a race is over, the packing begins to get the show on the road (literally) and onto the next race venue, in this case, Mexico this weekend. Parc Ferme, the area where cars are held securely after the race, holds up the process to an extent. But if car inspections need to be carried out, it’s a necessary evil. Surely though, fairness and equality supersedes everything else, so when four cars are selected for post-race inspections, and two of them (Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc) end up disqualified, there are grounds to test the whole field and if the circus has to wait, so be it.

Chelsea – This week I, like so many in the F1 community, learned about planks. Excessive plank wear led to the disqualifications of both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, losing both teams much-needed points (and earning Logan Sargeant his first). I’m sure my friends will provide a more technical analysis, but I’m yet to find an answer to this question: how is this the first time in years that a breach like this has led to a disqualification? The margin for error is terrifyingly small – 1mm – and it’s staggering to think that nobody has been picked up in such a long period, when spot checks purportedly happen every race. There have been other bumpy tracks, other races where teams have run tyres down to the bone, other sprint weekends where time has been short. Given the severe consequences, teams are bound to be more cautious moving forward.

Gavin – Even when Red Bull do not dominate they still find a way to overcome issues and get the results, the sign of a top team at the top of their game. The rest of the paddock are probably wondering what they have to do in order to get a bit of luck against the Red Bull team and short of smashing them off the track there does not look like there is much that they can do. Mario Kart tactics aside, the other teams must be looking at Red Bull and wishing they had this run of luck, but luck only takes you so far. You need the right people making the right calls 99% of the time and this takes years to get right and in place. Ferrari are a case in point, this continual asking the drivers to make calls instead of demanding they execute the chosen strategy is not working no matter how egalitarian it may be. It must be difficult for these teams when Red Bull are the genius child in a class full of very gifted children.

Follow Chelsea Aiden and Gavin on Twitter