🏁 Top Races of 2023

PLP Season 1 Edition 14

62 Days Until the 2024 Season Opening Weekend

Happy strange nebulous period that exists between Christmas and New Year’s everyone, I hope that Santa was good to you. The jolly fellow sure got the memo on my F1 obsession this year, and delivered a sweet build-your-own remote controlled Ferrari car, Guenther Steiner’s Surviving to Drive book (I’ll be sure to drop a review once I read it), a Ferrari logo t-shirt, and a desktop race calendar. Also, shoutout to the wife for creating the very first PLP merch and gifting me a branded t-shirt. It’s official now. No turning back. I can’t disrespect the t-shirt.

With 2024 just 3 days away, this is the last edition in our inaugural season. We’ll kick off Season 2 next Friday (obv), and start sharing some of the plans we have for PLP in the upcoming year as we get ready for the return of racing action. Thank you for sticking with us through season 1 and have a safe and happy New Year!

Quick Quiz: When was the last time an F1 race took place in December?

Find out below ⬇

Top 10 9 Races of 2023

Even in a season that saw the most dominant performance ever by a driver and team, where both championships were never in doubt - we sure did have a lot of exciting races. In fact this list was originally going to be a Top 5, but I just couldn’t narrow it down. So I decided to do Top 10, but spent way too long trying to decide #10 (honorable mention to Bahrain, Miami, Spa…Suzuka? Mexico? See what I mean). But these 9… these are the ones. For sure. We can split hairs on the order maybe, but imho these 9 were the most entertaining of the year. Podium result and race notes included:

• #9 - British GP

  • VER - NOR - HAM

  • The turning point in McLaren’s season. Norris shoots ahead of Verstappen at the start, the team makes a bold tire strategy call, and a late safety car has Hamilton give Norris all he can handle. The Papaya People notch 30 points for the weekend and start their upward trajectory to become Red Bull’s biggest challenger the rest of the season.

• #8 - US GP (Austin)

  • VER - NOR - SAI

  • A tight battle most of the race amongst the top 3. Hamilton finished only 2 seconds back of Verstappen and if not for a hesitant strategy call by Mercedes, could have possibly even taken the win. After the race, plank violations resulted in DQs for both Hamilton and Leclerc. Imagine Hamilton did win… what would have been the DQ decision? It was a bit iffy to begin with. There is no way they could have made that same call and taken away the win. But it is the FIA after all…

• #7 - Sao Paulo GP

  • VER - NOR - ALO

  • Some tight racing in both the sprint and GP made this one fun, but the real reason it’s on the list is for those last 15 laps.. heck, the last couple laps of the race we’re some of the best of the year. Perez vs Alonso, swapping positions multiple times, with Alonso pulling an excellent move on the last lap and defending around the final corner to seal a photo finish P3. Superb racing by both drivers.

• #6 - Italian GP (Monza)

  • VER - PER - SAI

  • Another tight battle near the end of the race for P3, this time between the Ferrari teammates. Leclerc threw everything he had at Sainz for the last 5 laps in front of the home Tifosi crowd. Multiple lock ups and near contact, with some great defending by Sainz made for a stellar finish.

• #5 - Monaco GP

  • VER - ALO - OCO

  • Kicked off with an absolutely wild qualifying, probably the best of the year. Ocon’s flier, outdone by Alonso, only for Verstappen put in one of the most ridiculous 3rd sector comebacks you will ever see. While this race is typically light on overtaking- and even though the podium finished in quali order- wet conditions in the second half of the race created all kinds of mayhem. Cars sliding everywhere, mixed up strategies- this was a fun one.

• #4 - Australian GP

  • VER - HAM - ALO

  • 8 DNFs. 3 Standing starts. This one was pure chaos. Watched this one live and the action kept me wired even at 3am EST. Multiple wrecks including the infamous self inflicted double Alpine crash out, mayhem on a late standing restart, a brutal penalty for Sainz that saw him tumble out of the points, and Max nearly having a moment and running on the grass. This one had everything.

• #3 - Dutch GP

  • VER - ALO - GAS

  • A classic dry to wet scenario early in the race…followed by another dry to wet situation late in the race made for quickly changing track conditions. Those who got the tire strategy right got rewarded, most so being Gasly who scored a podium. Love those frantic calls when the weather starts to turn and split second decisions make or break the race. A track that’s usually hard to overtake on saw the most all time in an F1 race.

• #2 - Singapore GP

  • SAI - NOR - HAM

  • Two words. Smoooooth Operatooooor 😎. Could make an argument for race of the year, and not only because it was the only non RBR win. The battle at the front was tight the entire time, showcasing the kind of excitement that’s possible when P1 is up in the air. Sainz’s brilliant DRS strategy with Lando trailing kept both Mercedes at bay, Russell crash out on the last lap, absolutely down to the wire. Electric.

• #1 - Las Vegas GP

  • VER - LEC - PER

  • It might have seemed impossible before the weekend, but Vegas lived up the hype. Exceeded it even. A quick recovery from a shaky start saw an incredibly fast track witness great quali performances, fireworks on the opening lap, and an epic battle between the Red Bulls and Leclerc. Max was even overtaken at one point 😮. Without the second safety car, we very likely could have seen Charles take P1. And who could forget his move on Perez on the last lap to take P2. Brilliant stuff. Even the purists must admit this race had incredible action. Combine it with a 1am EST start, the glitz and the glam, a nice cabernet… my favorite race of the year.

Disagree on this list? Let me know! ▶ [email protected]

Best Drivers, According to Drivers

An EOY driver survey saw the grid vote on driver of the year F1 points style - ranking their top 10, and assigning the respective race finish point values. In this case, drivers can vote for themselves. Which I suppose makes sense. Imagine Max not putting himself in his top 10. All drivers participated except for Hamilton.. for which I could not dig up a specific reason. Too cool? Honestly.. maybe. He’s undoubtedly pretty cool. In any case, the order shook out pretty close to the power rankings provided by F1 journalists at the end of the season.

I’d probably put Alonso and Norris ahead of Hamilton, though I think what he was able to do with a car that was the definition of inconsistent played a part. Also, I’d put Sainz ahead of Leclerc.. though it’s likely Sainz faltering slightly at the end of the season and Leclerc’s surge were fresh in everyone’s mind. Albon and Piastri, duh. They killed this year. Gasly had some good weekend for sure, but mostly flew under the radar for me with Alpine’s disappointing ups and downs. And poor Checo at the bottom… but maybe you could make an argument for Yuki there instead.

Plus: F1’s Alternative Awards: Funniest Moments and More

Williams: Year in Review

If before the season you’d known that Logan would only manage a single point, a P10 finish would have seemed likely for the blue and white. But while one driver struggled, the other absolutely flourished. Alex Albon came into his own and was one of the best drivers this season- finishing tied for P4 in the official power rankings and regularly finding his name in the mouths of those speculating on potential open seats at top teams. While the the car was middle of the pack (though improved from 2022 and suited to certain tracks with high speed and low downforce), Albon constantly outperformed his machinery with raw ability.

Contrast that with Sargeant, who struggled to find rhythm throughout his rookie campaign. He’d have good days to be sure, but couldn’t seem to put together a complete weekend though most of the season. In what must have been to a relief to everyone at the team, and most critically himself, he did seem to start gaining confidence beginning with Austin, into Vegas qualifying, and finishing with some solid outings to end the season, including a P11 in Brazil.

P7 in the Constructor’s was a great result for Williams, especially considering it took a while for the points to start coming in- only having scored 1 point through the first seven races with an Albon P10 in the opener. However the car was clearly improved and you could see the potential, specifically Albon running in P6 before crashing out in Australia. The mid-season picked up and saw the Thai driver score 2 P7s and 2 P8s in Canada/Italy and Silverstone/Zandvoort respectively. He notched 2pts three races in a row with Sprint P7s at Qatar and Austin, and with a P9 finish in Mexico. With the Leclerc/Hamilton DQ shenanigans in Austin, Sargeant moved up into the points to secure the first of his career and double points for the team, on American soil no less.

With fewer upgrades and car development ceasing earlier than every other team, combined with Albon’s superior performance and signs of Sargeant finding some confidence, Williams is a team to watch closely in 2024. While getting the car right will always be a huge factor in the sport, don’t be too surprised if they can take another step. How big of a step it turns out to be sits heavily on Logan’s shoulders. I think we’ll get an indication in the first few races if he’s up to the challenge- we’ll be rooting hard for him to step up. (USA! USA!)

• Highs: Albon’s P13 season finish, Double points in Austin, Zandvoort/Vegas quali

• Lows: Logan’s struggles/DNFs, Suzuka retirements

• “I’m very proud of my performance…I feel like I’ve had a very strong season. I felt like most of my races haven’t been simple, there have been races where we’ve been fighting… the whole time. But I enjoy it…That connection that I have with the team has really helped.” - ALB

• “I think the biggest thing for me is appreciating the level of effort that needs to go into it to be able to perform at such a level every single day. You can get away with [it] on a semi-average day in junior formulas, you’re still right at the front, whereas here, that’s not the case.” - SAR

Down the Grid

Tech Talk

• How marginal gains made the RB19 so good. Tweaks to front axle position, upper wishbone angle, and chassis profile to name a few. Also, just look at this floor difference 🔽. If you love tech stuff check this one out, the Giorgio Piaola pictures included are insane. I mean we know how technically impressive these machines are, but the intricacies and details that go into it are still mind blowing.

• The RB20 has reportedly failed it’s first crash tests. But before you doubt the champs, this is actually a common strategy. They will take their design to extremes, take extra weight out of the car, and work backwards until they have a design that will pass these tests and is as optimized as possible. They, along with Mercedes also did this in 2022.

• Tech Review: How Haas placed last despite upgrade push

Off the Grid

• Hamilton’s F1 movie collab with Brad Pitt, (currently known as “Apex”), likely pushed back to 2025 due to SAG-AFTRA strikes

• Max Verstappen was denied the Mercedes AMG GT he reserved while on holiday (vacation) by rental company Sixt, citing their policy of not renting supercars to anyone under 30 😂. The company has since apologized and assured that he will receive a special exemption in the future.

• It’s F1… for marbles. Quite literally. Marble racing. Sound boring? WRONG. This is actually awesome and looks extremely time consuming to produce.

• Happy Holidays from your favorite drivers

That’s it for this week, we’ll see ya next year (hardy har har) aka next Friday. Is anyone one of those can’t-ever-turn-it-off competitive types? 🔽

Questions? Comments? Did we get something wrong (never 😁)? Let us know ▶ [email protected]