{"id":13020,"date":"2023-12-24T09:00:04","date_gmt":"2023-12-24T09:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=13020"},"modified":"2023-12-22T16:40:59","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T16:40:59","slug":"this-year-review-2023-24122023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/this-year-review-2023-24122023\/","title":{"rendered":"This Year \u2013 Review 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hello welcome to This Year, our look back and season review, a year dominated by Max Verstappen on his way to his third championship, a season in which he broke many records in one of the greatest seasons in F1 history. Nineteen wins from twenty-two Grand Prix, four out of six sprint wins, these are incredible stats which we never thought were possible.<\/p>\n<h4>Looking back<\/h4>\n<p>Going into the season the big question was whether anyone could in the second year of these regulations catch Red Bull\u2026. The team just got better I am always cautious given the first few races before the first European race we had a disjoined first quarter of the season given we had only two races between the end of March and the start of June given China and Imola were cancelled. The performance at the final race before that spring break looking back would become a textbook of how Verstappen would win so many races this year.<\/p>\n<p>Miami looking back was when we saw the shift to Verstappen happened when he overtook Perez in the closing stages of the race it started this incredible run of him winning ten races in a row the whole European (plus Montreal) season. At Monza, he equalled Sebastian Vettel\u2019s thirteen wins in the season, despite still having eight races and three sprints to go this season. The question was could Red Bull do the clean sweep?<\/p>\n<p>We soon got our answer, no, as Carlos Sainz took the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix win in Singapore and Oscar Piastri in the sprint in Lusail. But Red Bull were not out of the mix they were still a threat in those races they were never out of the picture, in Singapore I think Ferrari was lucky they had a quick car we saw that. But Red Bull had a really bad weekend compared to the other races this season, but we know we get these periods however I\u2019ve not seen a season like it.<\/p>\n<p>While Red Bull sailed off into the distance and was largely unbeatable in races behind the racing behind between Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari ebbed and flowed throughout the season. Ferrari was the fastest team in qualifying but struggled to get it together with tyre life in the races, whereas Mercedes once they started to bring upgrades from Monaco onwards, they started to make in roads and eventually overtake Aston.<\/p>\n<p>I think, taking Red Bull on and going into 2024 is still going to be a difficult team to beat, it almost means its rivals have to double their efforts\/developments to try and beat them. But while its easy to do that at the start of the year the challenge, as Aston Martin proved this season which is that you need constant improvements so you can have a consistent challenge. I think while the headline has to be Verstappen, the regulations in the fight behind did work again as we saw it swing at various points more consistently between Ferrari and Mercedes in the battle for second in the constructors which went all the way to Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>Mercedes<\/h4>\n<p>Mercedes went into this season hoping to build off the stronger end to last season, however despite the issues with the car they had with their \u2018zero sidepod\u2019 concept last year they decided to stick with the concept before abandoning it in between the test and race in Bahrain. I look back on the start of the season for Mercedes a bit mythed why they stuck with that concept.<\/p>\n<p>But as the changes started to come through at the start of the European season, a lot faster than last year. I think the decision to stick with the concept made some sense but it ultimately locked them into going down the wrong path in terms of development. We have been used to the dominance between 2014 and 2020 them getting things right, but how many times, including Mercedes following their take time to adjust to being the hunted.<\/p>\n<p>This season was their first winless season in a decade and Lewis Hamilton has failed to win a race, I think he hasn\u2019t lost it and he bounced back looking back on last year I think he was still \u2018coming to terms\u2019 with Abu Dhabi 2021 and then the difficulties last year. We know after such a period of dominance you see it with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren it can take time to adjust to being the hunter rather than the hunted, Mercedes will be hoping that doesn\u2019t fall into that situation. They pretty early on swapped Mike Elliott and James Allison given the situation they were in.<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton and George Russell are one of the best drivers pairing in the sport at the moment, the experience and youth is hopefully driving them towards the front again. There are moments of friction when they were fighting for position, I think what I saw on social media at times blew out of proportion. But we don\u2019t know, and we won\u2019t whether there isn\u2019t anything more than the natural friction between teammates.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons they brought Russell in was to give Hamilton more of a challenge and he does that, the team also believe this partnership is more equal in terms of consistency and on-track performance it one all in terms of season, but in my mind, I feel that Russell had more bad luck and errors this year. But if he can continue to leave the more fractious moments on track which they do now there hasn\u2019t been any \u2018big fall out\u2019 between them.<\/p>\n<h4>Red Bull<\/h4>\n<p>Max Verstappen was the dominant force in the sport this year that\u2019s clear, this time last year we thought it was unlikely that he could do better 2022 but he did. I think this season puts the doubters given the controversy you still see on socials about 2021, that he is one of the greats and- as careers get longer though there have been suggestions that he isn\u2019t one of the best drivers in the sports. The way he was able to beat Sergio Perez did raise questions and I think given a similar situation to 2022, with the rumours that losing second in the drivers he would lose his seat.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen, I think is one of these expectational drivers like Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton, who when they get momentum behind them with a car built to suit them. They had a good base to evolve from given the similarly dominant second half of last year. I think that\u2019s incredible given the extra reduction in wind tunnel time. It soon became clear at the first European race that they had made the step to jump even further ahead of their rivals.<\/p>\n<p>It was also when Verstappen started this incredible run of form, winning eight European races plus Miami and Montreal, utter dominance as it looked easy, the RB19 looking at the time like a rocket ship even as we left Europe there appeared nothing could stop Red Bull. Well, the one record that\u2019s never been set is a clean sweep, it came to an end in Singapore.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen reminds me of Hamilton and Schumacher in the way he was able to dominate against Perez, I think while there was criticism of how he won his first title he has proved to be a worthy champion and think while for us the viewers, commentators and fans it\u2019s not the best going into every race weekend thinking \u201ccan anyone stop Red Bull\u201d<\/p>\n<p>2023 I think was an incredible season for Red Bull twenty-one out of twenty-two Grands Prix wins, and five out of six sprint wins that is a record which should stand for a long time, I don\u2019t want to say it can&#8217;t be beaten as we know commentators said that with Ferrari in 2004 and Mercedes in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Perez, I think is a very good driver, but I don\u2019t know how he finds that something special, that little edge you get with say Hamilton or Alonso to challenge for the title. With the regulations changing in 2026 you need to wonder if he doesn\u2019t deliver next year do Red Bull bring back Daniel Ricciardo for 2025?<\/p>\n<p>Red Bull has been really stable since joining the sport two decades ago, and that is really paying off but there will need to be some succession planning for when the likes of Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Verstappen decide to step back or retire, not suggesting that is imamate. That can be a hugely disruptive time and could put them into the wilderness again.<\/p>\n<h4>Ferrari<\/h4>\n<p>Ferrari certainly had the fastest car over a single lap and took seven poles, the most after Red Bull they have to solve this weakness when it comes to tyre management during the races. The common consensus appears to be that Charles Leclerc is one of the fastest drivers, he took five Grand Prix poles and two sprint poles but he failed to convert them into wins.<\/p>\n<p>However, I believe digging deeper the changes are beginning to come through there are still mistakes but they\u2019re not as common as last year. Looking back, I think given fighting Red Bull this season was a huge challenge they didn\u2019t drop away and the mistakes which has defined Ferrari for about eight years didn\u2019t really lead to major mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>Carlos Sainz took the only non-Red Bull Grand Prix win in Singapore, I think that was because of the unique challenges. Ferrari, I think showed us what they need to do if they need to get everything right and Red Bull needed mistakes to be beaten. The question, not just for next year but a longer-term 8question how do they end their longest run without a driver\u2019s and\/or constructors championship?<\/p>\n<p>I think still that Sainz and Leclerc are also one of the best driver pairing in the sport at the moment, but they need to be given a car which is able to work in races. It felt in both the sprints and Grands Prix the tyre life was still holding them back. But I think despite that I think they are evenly matched in terms of skill, but they have not been able to show it given the focus on the dominance of Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>I still think 2023 was about Fred Vassuer bedding in as team principal, I think there has been signs of the improvements but I think going into 2024 we will start to see more of those changes and direct influence of Vassuer come through in the year ahead. I think he hasn\u2019t been overwhelmed by the move to one of the biggest teams which might be due to the budget cap we know teams can\u2019t just throw cash at the problem anymore.<\/p>\n<p>We have two years left on these regulations you do wonder if Ferrari do something bold in the middle of 2024 by writing off eighteen months, this would be a huge gamble and one I wouldn\u2019t expect from Ferrari I think this will be a big test of Vasseur\u2019s leadership if they start seeing the benefits come through, I think the short term. We know in Ferrari is in this longest championship drought in its history, but beating Red Bull with the package and Verstappen\u2019s ability to extract the most out of the car.<\/p>\n<h4>McLaren<\/h4>\n<p>McLaren&#8217;s season started poorly, going into the first race there was hope testing wasn\u2019t as bad as it looked with on day two of testing admitted it had failed to hit development targets. As the opening races unfolded the drivers looked to struggle with the car but at the time they played it down with the drivers both insisting it wasn\u2019t \u2018a big issues.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The lack of performance in the opening races after completing the least mileage across the ten days in Bahrain left them with little to go on. Both drivers had similar complaints about the car and what helps in that situation is having two drivers who like similar, But I think it proved how McLaren turned it around following the first upgrades in Austria, leading to Norris finishing on the podium at Silverstone, they then effectively overtook Aston Martin.<\/p>\n<p>However, one of the standout performances of the season was in Qatar on Sprint Saturday, the maiden pole and win for Oscar Piastri. Kind of overshadowed as that was the day Verstappen wrapped up his third title, but it was a good drive and McLaren getting a win looked impossible given both the strength of Red Bull and their difficult start to the season.<\/p>\n<p>It was a season of two halves but despite the tough test and opening races in the Middle East they put in the work and Norris was back fighting at the pointy end. This season was going to be the most important for Norris because he was the \u2018senior driver,\u2019 and he did step up as he got the team back by mid-season into the leading pack behind Red Bull.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, they don\u2019t fall into the false sense of security that mid-season return to form doesn\u2019t make them think they won\u2019t have the same problems they have had at the start of this year. Piastri has impressed a decent match for Norris which is why McLaren brought him in and if they can build over the next two years to the next regulation change to be front runners again.<\/p>\n<p>They have a car next year which will have been fully developed in the new on-site wind tunnel, and the second half of the year showed so much potential including the Lusail sprint win.<\/p>\n<h4>Alpine<\/h4>\n<p>The team under-delivered they had a five-year plan to challenge for title when they returned as a manufacturer-backed team, however, it appears this isn\u2019t working and there were moments of friction as we expected between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon. Writing this review of the season I can\u2019t really think of a standout moment off the top of my head this season.<\/p>\n<p>The team I think was just out developed by Aston Martin and of course they had hoped to be fighting for titles. What doesn\u2019t help is this chopping and changing of the senior leadership, we saw during the summer CEO and team principal, CTO, and sporting director all left the team and in the last few weeks racing director all leave the team.<\/p>\n<p>I think they haven\u2019t met the target set out in 2017 to be fighting for the championship, they have made lots of investment but that hasn\u2019t managed to translate into them progressing or at least staying where they were in that tight fight for fourth in the constructors. There were also flashes of that friction between Gasly and Ocon, but I think that proves they are evenly matched.<\/p>\n<p>It was a season where I can\u2019t really think of any standout moments off the top of my head. They need to bounce back to joining that fight for fourth and fifth next season, but I don\u2019t think they need to finish in those positions if it remains as tight next year rather they face that challenge of consistently being in the \u2018best of the rest\u2019 mix.<\/p>\n<p>The drivers also need to cut out there on-track squabbling which at time has led to Alpine losing points on weekends when they had the potential for a decent points score. Next year I think also face the challenge of closing back to lead the midfield is a big challenge they need to overcome to return to that leading pack and their ultimate goal of challenging for championships.<\/p>\n<h4>Alpha Tauri<\/h4>\n<p>While Red Bull dominated sister team Alpha Tauri had another difficult year with four different drivers having prompted Nyck De Vries following the loss of Pierre Gasly to Alpine, the former Formula E champion was dropped after failing to deliver and was replaced from Hungary onward by Daniel Ricciardo.<\/p>\n<p>Ricciardo\u2019s first return only lasted two races before his crash in Zandvoort resulted in a metacarpal bone in his hand in seven places but on his return in Austin it was like the old Ricciardo returned with him best of the rest in seventh. As we know the objective of the team has slightly changed to being a sister team rather than for developing young drivers.<\/p>\n<p>De Vries never really lived up to what we expected from his FE world championship and his stand-in performance at Monza in 2022, you could feel through the way the story built over June July that the pressure was growing and Red Bull lost confidence in him and it was like Ricciardo was hanging over him almost.<\/p>\n<p>I think the next few years are going to be telling of how close they get to closing the gap is in terms of performance to the leaders of that midfield pack, but given the strength of Red Bull last year it\u2019s a reminder that a team owned by Red Bull doesn\u2019t necessarily lead to the same success. You hope with Ricciardo on board and under new team principal Laurent Mekies they can join the midfield.<\/p>\n<p>Franz Tost has stepped back after eighteen years, that\u2019s a big change for the team he has really done a good job with the team since Red Bull brought Minardi in 2005. You do have to say he is a good survivor and Mekies has that experience but can he bring Alpha Tauri closer to the midfield given the close nature we now have thanks to the regulation changes in 2022 they gone backwards.<\/p>\n<h4>Aston Martin<\/h4>\n<p>Aston Martin were the standout performers in the early part of the season, with Fernando Alonso returning to the podium regularly in the first few races. They had a really good start given where they were at the end of 2022, we were all surprised while we were expecting steps forwards in the coming years but not this year because the new factory only began to come online mid-season.<\/p>\n<p>Those early races made us all sit up and think are they really in this fight with Mercedes and Ferrari in the battle for best of the rest, and Alonso in his forties still driving like a younger driver while using that two decades in the sport, but he is still driving very well. But while they started the season strongly, like the Silverstone-based team has done on multiple times, they dropped away over the mid to second half of the year.<\/p>\n<p>I think they lived up to their biggest challenge and were the most improved team from last year and you need to keep that up through out the season, I see Aston as a team still adapting to the reality of operating at the maximum of the old factory and budget cap.<\/p>\n<p>Alonso, we know has a reputation for \u2018breaking his teammates,\u2019 and we saw Lance Stroll&#8217;s struggles that then lead to mistakes and even these rumours about him even leaving the sport were spreading. That might have got into his head a bit, which then lead to those rumours of Stroll switching sports which I thought was odd but wouldn\u2019t surprise me if it was one of those games.<\/p>\n<p>Stroll had a very difficult season, he was always on it seemed like the cycling accident pre-season put him on the backfoot though in Bahrain he did start the season strongly, but as above it was like Alonso broke him with mistakes creeping in. I think given his father Lawrence owns the team it could be a more difficult decision as there\u2019s emotions involved but we know he is a businessman and can take tough calls.<\/p>\n<h4>Alfa Romeo<\/h4>\n<p>I think the team did the best they could this season they\u2019ve always been up and down in terms of performance from season to season and then they start going backwards. We know they are another team in this transition phase with investment coming in from Audi for the regulation change in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Valtteri Bottas is still the team leader but I think Guanyu Zhou is closing that gap, I\u2019m finding it hard to think of the top of my head of a stand-out moment though they had their only double points score in Lusail. That was I think part to the unique situation we had with extreme heat and the tyre issues, we know that several drivers struggled in the heat calling it the most physically demanding race of their careers.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t see how until a few years until the investments and the money from Audi comes through how they develop a few years probably after 2026 they need to progress, early on following that regulation change. I think Audi\u2019s investment which we know is for the next regulation change could lead to short-term gains over the next two years.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, who are part of the same group will want to distance themselves given that another car company coming in. We know that whole midfield and back end appear to be in a holding pattern as we know the Netflix effect has lead to all the teams being in a good position financially, to try to join that midfield pack in the future.<\/p>\n<h4>Williams<\/h4>\n<p>Alex Albon carried the team for much of the season you need to say as the team made another step forwards, it normally takes time for investment as we said with Aston Martin to come through. But I think after so many years struggling they are returning to the midfield again, James Vowels spoke during the season of the long-term strategy and he comes to a team which hasn\u2019t won a championship in nearly two decades.<\/p>\n<p>Vowels as we know was part of the successful Mercedes team in the 2010s so he will be trying to bring the team back to championship-winning ways is going to take time and as we said with McLaren it takes time for those investments to start to come through in the coming years. I believe they are making progress.<\/p>\n<p>Logan Sargeant\u2019s rookie season I think, and we know he has just done enough to get a second season, which I think all just did enough in Vegas to hang on to the seat next year. However, I think he needs to deliver and make a big step next year if he is to retain his seat for 2025 and hopefully Vegas was the start of that.<\/p>\n<p>I think we as fans of the sport we all want to see Williams do well again, but like a few teams they need to wait for the longer-term infrastructure investments to come through but you need to say Albon did step up during the season. Albon has I think proved he is a decent driver but the start to his career didn\u2019t show it, but I hope one day he gets a chance of being in a top team again.<\/p>\n<p>The British-Thai driver I think has proved himself to be the team&#8217;s leader and his struggles at Red Bull\/Alpha Tauri did harm his career, but he has proved after his year out in 2021 he is a decent driver. But how he progresses his career I\u2019m not sure, because I find it hard to see him unless there&#8217;s something unexpected in the drivers market.<\/p>\n<p>I believe the team are one of a few on the way back up following a difficult few years, but it takes time look at Red Bull during the hybrid era but it\u2019s a very long time since they have won a title. I think they still need time it\u2019s a very big jump they need if they are to return to the front in 2026, but they are on track to regularly be in the midfield now the investments are coming through.<\/p>\n<h4>Haas<\/h4>\n<p>Haas has in my view always been a team which has struggled to string a season together and while they started the season strongly it always seems not to come together across the season. I think they always seem to drop off following a good start to the season.<\/p>\n<p>You wonder if they are starting to realise that by closer ties to Ferrari are part of their wanting to move forwards they need to get the most out of their resources. But they need to find a means of getting out of this pattern, they need to I think need to understand why they fall backwards not just during a season but over the life span of a regulations.<\/p>\n<p>We know this year they switched to a fully experienced lineup with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, I think that abandoning 2021 to focus on these regulations has not paid off as much as it could have\u2026 you need to wonder if the need to look beyond drivers to the technical team and infrastructure if they are going to be in the midfield for the longer term to progress<\/p>\n<p>They are very much in a rut but I do wonder if the dropped Mick Schumacher following a difficult 2022 was too soon yes his crashes were costly dropping points when Magnussen came back more hungry for results. I think they need to stick with this going into the next four to five years to get results. We know they are seeking closer ties to Ferrari, but as we know that won\u2019t necessarily lead to success but I hope they find a way to build future success.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe they need a big signing in the technical department and a change in approach in the long term by bringing the whole car in-house rather than sub-contracting Dallara to build the chassis. But that\u2019s a more long term project, if they want to do that for 2026 I feel they need to decide now given it takes a year with gardening leave to form a technical team.<\/p>\n<h4>2023 top ten ranking<\/h4>\n<p>These are my top ten drivers ranking, not based on championship or results my gut feeling about how they performed over the course of the season compared to 2022, with the car and team they had, as well as their progress across the season.<\/p>\n<table width=\"699\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\"><\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Drivers<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Constructors<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">1<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Max Verstappen<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Red Bull<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">2<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Oscar Piastri<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Ferrari<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">3<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Fernando Alonso<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Aston Martin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">4<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Carlos Sainz<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Mercedes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">5<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Lando Norris<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Williams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">6<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Charles Leclerc<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">McLaren<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">7<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Lewis Hamilton<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Alpine<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">8<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Charles Leclerc<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Haas<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">9<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Sergio Perez<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Alfa Romeo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"233\">10<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Alexander Albon<\/td>\n<td width=\"233\">Alpha Tauri<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4>Summing up 2023<\/h4>\n<p>Another season done, while it\u2019s not the most exciting season you have to say it belonged to Max Verstappen\u2019s nineteen wins something I thought we would never see. The Dutchman hasn\u2019t had it as easy all season some of those wins, he did fight for, that incredible run wins from Miami to Monza the whole European season, plus Montreal, undefeated is mind-boggling.<\/p>\n<p>Verstappen three in a row puts him up there with the likes of Niki Lauda, and Ayrton Senna, but how many more titles? I think we will, in the same way as Hamilton in say ten twenty years&#8217; time how incredible this season has been for Verstappen. But I am hoping as we all are, for someone to give us a real fight for the championship.<\/p>\n<p>While the quick look at 2023 will be a sea of Verstappen wins, behind we have had some great battles. Mercedes v Ferrari went all the way and Mercedes recovered well given they ditched the concept in Bahrain. But I think in these closing rounds battle between them has kept it interesting as we got into the second half of the season, but I feel that they need to close the gap.<\/p>\n<p>Aston Martin and McLaren have almost switched places, the opening races of the season Fernando Alonso showing there\u2019s life in the old dog left. But McLaren in this second half of the season has scored the second most points behind Red Bull, and Oscar Piastri took the sprint win in Qatar, he is the rookie of the season the best since Lewis Hamilton in 2007. The challenge however is the same as they head into 2024, challenging Red Bull.<\/p>\n<h4>The Year Ahead<\/h4>\n<p>I\u2019ll unpack the year ahead in more detail in the next Behind The Headlines in January, but I think there is one big question can anyone stop Red Bull? If they can\u2019t can Sergio Perez stop Max Verstappen from just cruising to four championships? If the Mexican doesn\u2019t prove consistent, he will face the questions again about hid future and that will be an interesting conversation I hope we can explore during 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The other question is whether Red Bull can be stopped by the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin and McLaren. None of them appeared to be consistent across the whole season, Aston great start then disappeared McLaren poor start then a strong finish. This sport doesn\u2019t stand still, but I think that it&#8217;s unlikely that twenty-one wins from twenty-two races by Red Bull that will likely stand for a very long time, I don\u2019t want to say that can\u2019t be beaten.<\/p>\n<p>Next year is the midpoint in these regulations you need to wonder, if Red Bull are dominating you need to wonder does anyone gambles on putting as much resource as they can its more difficult given the cost cap you as we discuss at various points during the season. I think this will come to ahead next year, do the regulations need tweaking to allow for long-term investment like wind tunnels etc?<\/p>\n<p>2024 will be a very long season with twenty-four races, I think it will be interesting to see how the calendar plays out given a big step towards regionalisation working mainly Middle East-East Asia-America\/Europe-West Asia\/Singapore-Americas-Middle East. It&#8217;s strange seeing Japan in April, but I think it makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>The main story next year, will be the Ferrari driver line up for the next few years as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are both out of contract at the end of 2024. It looks to me given the bigger picture and the fact there isn\u2019t a driver who could replace them more a formality, but until that is confirmed you won\u2019t get others confirmed.<\/p>\n<h6><\/h6>\n<h6>That\u2019s all from us this year, from me and Ashley we wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year thank you for reading throughout the year and all our content. This Week will be back on Sunday 7<sup>th<\/sup> January, along with new strands coming in the new year,<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A review of the biggest stories on and off track from the 2023 season, looking at what they meant and what they could mean for the year ahead and the future of Formula One<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-analysis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13020"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13033,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13020\/revisions\/13033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}