An unseasonably hot race and tricky track conditions created an enthralling Qatar Grand Prix weekend, as Formula 1’s 2023 crown was finally claimed by Max Verstappen.
Qatar made its second appearance as the host of an F1 grand prix, following the 2022 hiatus necessitated by its hosting of the FIFA World Cup, and delivered an exciting spectacle throughout the weekend bolstered by an explosive sprint race.
But against the backdrop of movements on- and off-track, with tyre headaches and impressive rookie performances melding with recent news on prospective new teams and changes to the financial regulations, there was a lot to digest.
As is customary, let’s unpack the 10 key points that we learned from this year’s Qatar weekend.
1. Verstappen finally completes the inevitable
A third Verstappen title was expected at the start of the year, when it became apparent that Red Bull’s main rivals had not delivered on their aims of progression with their new cars. And, when Sergio Perez’s brief cameo as a potential championship challenger evaporated in Miami, expectation became inevitability.
Perez finished the championship off himself after interloping on a battle between Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg during the sprint race, third-wheeling his way out of nothing more than only notional title contention. Verstappen’s championship win was in the bag and, although hardly the most climactic finish to a title, it was reassuring that the permutations were known in advance – unlike last year...
PLUS: 10 moments that won Verstappen the 2023 Formula 1 title
Rather than recline into his championship winner’s throne and cruise around the Qatar circuit in a post-celebratory stupor, Verstappen wanted to go out and win. Sure, the margin was smaller than some of his screw-turning drives of devastation as Red Bull couldn’t flex its tyre preservation advantage, but he nonetheless had the race under control. McLaren’s pace was a source of fleeting worry, but the now three-time champion turned up the wick slightly just to keep the papaya cars in check.
2. Piastri’s future megastar credentials beyond doubt
With each passing race, Oscar Piastri looks ever more impressive. The unpretentious Australian faced an upset on Friday when a third-place grid position at Qatar’s Losail circuit went begging due to track limits, but rallied on Saturday with pole and victory in an assured performance out in front. A best grand prix result followed on Sunday, Piastri having trailed Verstappen by 4.8s to claim second place.
Piastri's key weakness relative to Lando Norris became evident at Suzuka; the Briton’s excellent race management skills has largely mitigated a McLaren weakness in tyre preservation, but the mandated stint lengths in Qatar ensured that the difference between the two on Sunday was not as great. Although Piastri has work to do in this area, this will come to him with experience.
PLUS: How the F1 Qatar GP tyre farce flattered McLaren and hurt Verstappen
Although Piastri’s Saturday win was overshadowed by Verstappen’s title retention, he’ll undoubtedly get his day of days if McLaren can continue its rate of progress into next season. Any lingering support among the F1 fandom that Daniel Ricciardo should have been kept over Piastri has been washed away, and Alpine’s butterfingered grasp of the Melburnian’s future endeavours is looking ever more careless.
3. Mercedes’ on-track antagonism can’t dull Russell’s fight
Lewis Hamilton accepted the blame for the first-corner clash between the two Mercedes drivers, having agreed with the consensus that George Russell had little room to manoeuvre while stuck between his team-mate and Max Verstappen. That Russell had few lingering effects after the clash, albeit after falling to the back of the field, ensured that he had the equipment to mount a fightback through the order.
PLUS: Qatar Grand Prix Driver Ratings
A wealth of passes at Turn 6 helped Russell work his way through the midfield, bringing him back into the top four, although the McLarens were too far off for him to mount a last-ditch challenge for the podium on soft tyres. Instead, the Briton elected to lock down fourth place and rescue points for Mercedes as it moves closer to securing second in the constructors’ championship. Thankfully, the on-track indiscretions between the two drivers have not spilled over into off-track matters and the two drivers spoke of their respect for each other after the chequered flag had fallen.
However, their lack of caution when battling each other in a race would be far more deleterious if McLaren was closer to Mercedes in the championship, as a potential double-podium went begging thanks to that clash. CEO Toto Wolff will have to lay down the law and nip any discord in the bud, lest it continue with a championship position on the line.
4. Beyond-the-limit heat exhaustion shouldn’t be repeated
Logan Sargeant’s retirement from dehydration and heatstroke over the Qatar race laid bare the challenge of the high heat and humidity experienced by the drivers at Losail. Ambient temperatures ranged from 32-33C and, allied to the humidity of around 70%, left drivers having to flick their visors up to try and cool off.
Alex Albon had to visit the medical centre instead of the media pen to receive treatment, while Esteban Ocon vomited inside the car during the race and Lance Stroll struggled to get out of the car without feeling faint at the end. The drivers were united in their statements that this was the toughest race of their careers; the intense short-stint nature of the race yielded an unrelenting affair, and the humidity only served to ensure the challenge was magnified.
“When you have people who end up retiring or in such a bad state, it's too much for the speeds we're doing. It is too dangerous,” stated Lando Norris, and it’s hard to disagree. Although a select few fans would cite the astronomical wages that drivers earn as a stick to beat them with, money doesn’t give a sport carte blanche to subject people to inhumane conditions.
In the 1953 Indianapolis 500, Carl Scarborough withdrew with a heat-related illness and died in the infield medical centre; while cars and medical science have come a long way in the succeeding 70 years, the human body is not meant to operate at those kinds of conditions.
5. Today’s F1 far more pragmatic with tyre issues
The response to the tyre issues flagged by Pirelli after Friday’s sessions at Qatar came with swift permutations depending on how Saturday’s sprint race played out. A separation between the tyre compound and tyre carcass cords at the sidewalls was revealed after Friday’s running, and understood to be a reaction to the kerbing between Turn 12 and 14 at high loads. Track limits were revised, and the kerb stripes repainted to demonstrate this.
The FIA also would assess whether to place mandatory stint lengths on each tyre, which it eventually did following the sprint and decided on 18 laps for each set. This mitigated any chance of a puncture throughout the grand prix, ensuring that the race could effectively carry on as normal.
Insight: How Pirelli discovered F1's biggest tyre drama since the 2005 US GP
It was a far cry from how F1 handled tyre issues at the 2005 US Grand Prix, where Michelin tyres were struggling with the banking and were at risk of dangerous delamination. Although this was amid a tyre war, the lack of consensus yielded the infamous six-car race as all non-Bridgestone runners withdrew. The benefit of a single tyre supplier working with the governing body came to pass, although Pirelli felt that its recommendations from 2021 were not entirely heeded ahead of the weekend.
Lost among this was news that Pirelli is set to be retained as F1’s tyre supplier for the 2025-27 seasons, beating Bridgestone to the tender. This is understood to be with an option for 2028, after which Pirelli is expected to bow out of F1.
6. Track limits well policed, but needs stronger resolution
The track limits issues were nowhere near as egregious as those seen in this year’s Austrian Grand Prix, but it was nonetheless excessive once again on a circuit that otherwise produced fantastic racing throughout the weekend.
An obvious lack of physical deterrents and massive kerbs enticed the drivers off the road, and aborted laps in qualifying were only the precursor to the penalties handed out during the race. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll cost themselves opportunities in the points thanks to their inability to toe the line, while Sergio Perez was equally as flagrant in his track limits violations. Alex Albon also picked up track limits penalties, though it made little difference to his race.
Although these limits violations were picked up quickly and dealt with, it is considerably less preferable to having a distinct limit to the circuit with something that punishes transgressions considerably more. The Red Bull Ring is understood to be making changes to the corners where track limits are commonly surpassed and, in the vast expanse of desert in which the Losail circuit resides, there’s opportunity to do that if F1 is to use the circuit as its permanent home in Qatar.
Insight: How FIA doubling its track limits policing meant no post-Qatar GP penalties saga
7. Andretti gets the nod, but support in F1 is weak
It’s no real surprise that F1’s current teams don’t want an 11th entrant to join; after all, it means marginally less prize money and having to share more paddock space with another outfit. The FIA has given its approval of Andretti’s prospective F1 entry, and it is up to the American team to secure a commercial rights deal with Formula One Management – although FOM will have pressure from the other teams to contend with.
Insight: What's next for Andretti's F1 entry - and could it fall at the final hurdle?
Williams boss James Vowles was arguably the most vocal opponent of a potential Andretti entry in light of the news, stating: “My thoughts are very clear. Williams is against the addition of an 11th team - and very strongly against. We’ve been clear from the beginning, we’re more than happy to bring in new entities but the pie has to grow as a result of it, not shrink. So far, it’s just shrinking.”
Christian Horner welcomed the idea of General Motors entering F1 to battle against Ford – which will work with Red Bull Powertrains for 2026 – but sought assurances that the entry would not dilute the interests of the team.
Of the drivers, Valtteri Bottas was the most supportive of adding teams to the grid: “For me very clear that the sport would be better if there would be more cars. I remember watching as a kid, when you have a bigger grid there's more entertainment, and more opportunities for young drivers as well. For me it would be very welcome. But I know the reasons why there's bit of pushback."
8. Stroll stuck in a rut, and pushing far too hard
Having not scored a point since before the summer break, Lance Stroll admitted to being “in a rut” - but frustrations boiled over after his Q1 elimination in Friday’s qualifying session. Moments after throwing his steering wheel out of the car, he was directed to report to the weighbridge by trainer Henry Howe, who Stroll appeared to push in the garage.
Stroll explained that he and Howe had cleared the air after the incident, stating the day after: “We're good. He's a bro. We go through the frustrations together and we ride together, so we're cool.”
Regardless, his race was tainted by track limits infringements which carried him out of the top 10 to keep his scoreless streak going.
The Canadian stated that his issues with the car stem from its balance and tendency to switch quickly between understeer and snapping to oversteer, but his inability to match Fernando Alonso over the season has stunted the team’s efforts in the constructors’ championship. McLaren is now just 11 points behind Aston Martin, and Stroll needs to get firing if the Silverstone team is to defend fourth place.
9. Alfa Romeo strategy affords big championship step
Alfa Romeo operated between the two extremities set out by the mandated stint length for each tyre, which eventually delivered its first double-points finish of the season. Valtteri Bottas had delivered the team’s first Q3 appearance since Hungary, but was directed to stop under the early safety car following the clash between the two Mercedes drivers on the opening lap.
This left him with a full 18-lap stint to complete on the hard tyre at the end as his off-sequence stops had preserved his position amid the points, and the Finn was reeling in Esteban Ocon towards the end before running out of time to pressure the Alpine driver over seventh. Alfa Romeo had felt that the upgrades it had brought to Singapore showed promise, but had been unable to capitalise fully on them there and in Japan.
Zhou Guanyu stopped at the latter end of each stint, necessitating a last-gasp stint on the soft tyre, but it was his pace on the hard tyre that he converted into progress through the order. He was up to sixth prior to his own stop and, although he dropped outside of the top 10, the Chinese driver got close enough to the likes of Gasly, Perez, and Stroll to make up ground once the penalties were applied. Having originally been classified in 10th, Zhou earned another place when Perez took an extra five-second penalty for more track limits indiscretions.
This has put the Sauber-run squad above Haas in the constructors’ championship, and with seven points of Williams ahead. Haas will have a large upgrade in Texas to play with, but Alfa Romeo now has the whip hand in that battle worth around $10m in prize money.
10. Smaller teams get $20m CapEx boost
Another boost to the likes of Alfa Romeo, Haas, Williams, and AlphaTauri came with the revised financial restrictions on capital expenditure, which govern spend on physical assets such as infrastructure and technology. This is something that Williams had long been in favour of, with years of underinvestment in its facilities having set the team back per team principal James Vowles.
The FIA has switched from a single blanket restriction of $45m per team over a four-year period, but has switched to a three-tier system with differing limits. Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes now get $51m, with $6m added on to their limit. McLaren, Alpine, and Aston Martin have had their limit increased by $13m to reach $58m, while the bottom four teams have an extra $20m to play with.
“Good work with all the teams has meant that we've managed to unlock an exemption in our favour of $20m or so,” said Vowles. “So there was agreement and good discussions taking place since February. We have CapEx to spend now, not perhaps the $100m I was looking for, but a good step in the right direction.”
AlphaTauri CEO Peter Bayer was less pleased by the change in CapEx regulations. “We haven't forecasted any of that money when we went to meet the shareholders for the budget planning. So I have to say that I'm not really a big fan of it,” he sniffed. Regardless, the added potential spend for infrastructure projects should assist the smaller teams with their hopes to close the gap to the outfits ahead on-track – and ultimately bring the field closer together.
