Verstappen Ends Dominant Season in Style with Record-Breaking 19th Race Victory
Max Verstappen dominated today like he’s done all season long to end his 2023 campaign with a ridiculous 19 Race Victories! Charles Leclerc finished P2 ahead of George Russell thanks to a late penalty for Sergio Perez which was enough for Mercedes to beat Ferrari to second in the Constructors’ Championship.
The Biggest Talking Points
On the opening lap of the Race, Charles Leclerc got multiple runs at Max Verstappen, but he just wasn’t quite able to make the pass stick whilst Lando Norris was able to clear George Russell. After a frantic few laps which saw Lando clear his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri for third, the race died down a bit thanks to a “DRS Train” forming behind Piastri. Fernando Alonso was then the first of the front cars to dive into the pits (Lap 13 to be specific) and that forced a chain reaction from a bunch of cars which ultimately saw Russell re-overtake Norris due to a slow stop from McLaren. After most cars had made their first stops, the race started to die down again and the only overtakes that were really being done at the front of the field came on both Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz who were going long-ish on their Hard compound tyres. Most of the teams ended up going with a two-stop strategy due to the tyre wear being worse than expected and this created a couple of interesting battles for the final 10 or so laps of the race. One of those came for Yuki Tsunoda who was trying to finish 6th for Alpha Tauri to earn them 7th place in the Constructors’ Championship (something he wasn’t quite able to achieve) whilst Sergio Perez was also starting to come through the field. Near the end of the race, Checo collided with Lando Norris which resulted in Perez picking up a 5-second penalty which ultimately cost him a Podium finish. However, Leclerc, who was running P2 at the time, allowed Sergio to go past him in order to try and see if the Mexican driver could build a 5-second gap to George Russell, something that would’ve given Ferrari second in the Championship had it happened. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t as Perez was only 3.8 seconds ahead of Russell when they crossed the line, and some 16 and a half seconds behind his Red Bull teammate who’d already well crossed the line to take the victory.
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out three 10’s for the final Race of the year and the first one is obviously for Max Verstappen. It’s almost fitting that Max ended his 2023 campaign with a drive that was as dominant as his season overall. The second driver I’ve given a perfect 10 to is Charles Leclerc because I thought Leclerc got the best result he could today, and his smart driving at the end of the race was also great to see. The final driver I’ve given out maximum points to in 2023 is Yuki Tsunoda and that's simply because I was super impressed with Tsunoda’s drive today and it was also really nice to see Alpha Tauri give it their all for Franz Tost’s final outing. I also thought George Russell ended his season on a really high note which could prove to be quite important for him heading into 2024.
Drivers who had a Shocker
In total, I’ve given out two 1’s for today’s Grand Prix, and the first one is for Valtteri Bottas. Valtteri didn’t have a good race at all today and that showed with being one of only two drivers to end up a lap down. The other driver I’ve given out the lowest possible grade to is Kevin Magnussen and that sort of feels fitting given how poor his 2023 Season has been. I also thought Carlos Sainz had a terrible final Race of the year, even if it was hurt a bit by Ferrari’s terrible strategy whilst Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant, and Zhou Guanyu will all be slightly disappointed about how their final Race of the season played out.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10 (FL)
Charles Leclerc: 10
George Russell: 9
Sergio Perez: 7
Lando Norris: 7
Oscar Piastri: 6
Fernando Alonso: 7
Yuki Tsunoda: 10
Lewis Hamilton: 4
Lance Stroll: 5
Daniel Ricciardo: 7
Esteban Ocon: 4
Pierre Gasly: 3
Alex Albon: 5
Nico Hulkenberg: 4
Logan Sargeant: 3
Zhou Guanyu: 3
Carlos Sainz: 2 (DNF)
Valtteri Bottas: 1
Kevin Magnussen: 1
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