Caryss Green, '25 - Editor
The Circuit of the Americas Grand Prix was full of exciting moments. Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and Max Verstappen shared the podium, and Logan Sargent scored his first point in Formula 1. Unfortunately, Sargent’s point came at the expense of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. After the race, the Mercedes of Hamilton and the Ferrari of Leclerc were inspected, and it was found that the skid blocks on each car were not in compliance with the regulations, so both drivers were disqualified from the race. The disqualification of Hamilton and Leclerc also bumped Alex Albon up into 9th, meaning Williams scored its first double points since the 21’ Hungarian Grand Prix. COTA 23’ was also Max Verstappen’s 50th career Formula 1 win.
At the Mexico Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo won 6 points in the Drivers’ Championship, and the AlphaTauri team sat 8th in the Constructors’ Championship. Lewis Hamilton finished 2nd on the podium, and Charles Leclerc 3rd.
In Brazil, Lando Norris made his 7th podium appearance of the season when he finished 2nd, almost 35 seconds ahead of Fernando Alonso, who finished 3rd.
In the first-ever Las Vegas Grand Prix, none other than Max Verstappen claimed 1st place, and after trash-talking the race leading up to it, Verstappen celebrated in his Elvis-themed race suit by singing Viva Las Vegas. Sergio Perez also finished on the podium, earning Red Bull their 9th double podium of the season. Unfortunately, Ferrari was not as lucky in Vegas as Red Bull. In FP1, Carlos Sainz ran over a drain cover, which came unsealed and damaged his car’s engine, Energy Store and Control Electronics, and survival cell.
The practice session was brought to an early end after just 9 minutes. Ferrari requested that they be allowed to replace the Energy Store from outside the pool without penalty. This request was denied, and Sainz was handed a 10-place grid penalty. This meant that while he qualified 2nd, he would have to start the race from 12th. Ferrari’s other driver, Charles Leclerc, started on pole and finished the race 2nd, just 2.07 seconds behind Verstappen. In addition, there were 3 DNFs from Vegas, Lando Norris, Nico Hulkenberg, and Yuki Tsunoda.
Verstappen won every Grand Prix since Singapore and broke his own record for most wins in a season. After winning Abu Dhabi, the final race of the season, he set a new record to beat at 19. Charles Leclerc finished second for his 6th podium finish of the season, and George Russell finished 3rd to round out the final podium of the 2023 season.
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