The 2023 season may not have turned into the epic championship war that many expected, however, the war between Mercedes and Ferrari continued until the final laps of the season.
With millions of prizes up for grabs, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have had their ups and downs throughout the 22-race season.
We bring you all the twists and turns of what turned out to be an interesting pride war between two Formula 1 giants.
While Red Bull temporarily established itself as the team to beat at the season-opening GP in Bahrain, Mercedes and Ferrari could tell the world how hard they will work to catch them and fight for the final podium.
Ferrari would lose even more ground in the Constructors’ Championship if it ran into a reliability challenge and saw Charles Leclerc retire from the race. Unfortunately for Ferrari, Aston Martin made a sensational start to the season and Fernando Alonso prevented Ferrari from achieving Carlos Sainz’s momentum. the podium in Bahrain.
In the second moto, Leclerc received an unusually early grid penalty for exceeding powertrain component limits, which knocked him off the front row and contributed to Ferrari moving even further into the standings.
The following race in Australia was Ferrari’s only non-scoring race of the year, with Leclerc lasting three corners before ending up in the gravel trap, and Sainz falling out of the points due to a penalty for tangling with Alonso at the dramatic race restart in the closing laps.
The Melbourne race was one of Mercedes’ most productive occasions from the opening laps, and it is possible they would have ended in a double podium had it not been for an engine failure on George Russell’s car. A missed first opportunity for the Silver Arrows.
After three rounds: Mercedes 56 – Ferrari 26
The Azerbaijan GP gave a demonstration of Ferrari’s capabilities on the rear-limited circuits, especially in qualifying. A double Pole Position for Leclerc in the first Sprint weekend of the season teased a Ferrari fightback, before Red Bull reiterated their superior performance in race trim. Nevertheless, a points haul for Ferrari closed the gap to Mercedes and Aston Martin.
Mercedes recovered from Hamilton’s exit in Q2 in Miami to overtake Ferrari, which was behind due to Leclerc’s crash in Q3. The sixth round proved promising for Ferrari, but Leclerc’s grid penalty, Sainz’s poor race functionality and the team’s strategy with overdue rain tires generated a disappointing result for the Principality’s red team.
After six rounds: Mercedes 119 – Ferrari 90
With Mercedes and Ferrari bringing heavily updated cars to the Monaco and Spanish Grands Prix respectively, both teams would have been hoping to take chunks out of Red Bull’s massive championship lead, or at least consistently become their closest challengers.
Although neither team set the world championship on fire in qualifying, Mercedes’ performance in the race earned them a double podium, raising hopes that a milestone had been reached and that there were demanding race-winning situations on the horizon.
Mercedes performed quite well at the Canadian GP until Russell’s mid-race mistake put him out of the race and allowed Ferrari to overtake Mercedes, despite both cars finishing with Hamilton.
Ferrari showed that they are still in the fight for P2 with a very late performance in the second Sprint weekend in Austria, which resulted in a Sprint podium for Sainz and a race podium for Leclerc, while Mercedes only scored 11 points in the double race. weekend. .
After the rounds: Mercedes 178 – Ferrari 154
After a disappointing start to the season, the much-improved McLarens began to upset the frontrunners, scoring an impressive first podium of the season at the British GP with Lando Norris. As Aston Martin began its descent in the pecking order, McLaren have become the new thorn in the side of Mercedes and Ferrari.
Without the Woking team in the picture, the Ferraris would have qualified in the top three, and Mercedes would have secured a double-podium result.
Mercedes claimed its only pole position of the season in Hungary with Hamilton, but the Briton overtook Red Bulls and Norris to take 4th place. Russell’s comeback from a P18 start to 6th helped the team extend its merit over Ferrari and the long-suffering Aston. Martin Team.
Sprint race weekend number three of the season took place at the Belgian GP, and Ferrari once again displayed a pace advantage over Mercedes at the double event and took the final podium place behind the Red Bulls.
However, a costly collision with Oscar Piastri in the end took Sainz out of the race, meaning Ferrari may not take full credit for a weekend of forged pace. As a result, both groups suffered the same number of problems at Spa-Francorchamps and at the Belgian round. The gap between the two groups remained at 56 points after the Belgian round.
After 12 rounds: Mercedes 247 – Ferrari 191
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The chaotic Dutch GP threatened to be very lucrative for Ferrari with the first stops on intermediate tyres. Mercedes’ gamble on slick tyres looked expensive until protection cars, an advanced strategy, sustained race speed and Leclerc’s retirement brought them back into play. As a result, they only lost two problems to Ferrari on a tricky race day.
Ferrari did everything they could to save the Red Bulls from winning at home at Monza, but they were beaten by the constructors’ champions despite the most productive defensive efforts of Sainz, who got a podium as a reward, the first of the season. . . Mercedes picked up counterfeit issues in a tricky place for them.
Sainz followed his podium with one of the driving performances of the season in Singapore. As Red Bull endured a rare crisis weekend, Sainz took pole and led from start to finish, masterfully fending off a backward attack from Mercedes. By dropping from third, Ferrari inflicted enormous damage on Mercedes’ lead.
After 15 laps: Mercedes 289 – Ferrari 265
With Verstappen and the two McLarens enjoying a strong pace advantage in Suzuka, Ferrari vanquished in a straight fight with the Mercedes drivers over higher points positions. A similar theme developed at the next race in Qatar, but Mercedes will view that race as a missed opportunity after a turn 1 tangle between Russell and Hamilton hampered their podium chances.
Despite this, Russell finished ahead of Leclerc to extend Mercedes’ points lead for the first time in several races. With Sainz also failing to start the race, Mercedes missed out on inflicting more pain on the Scuderia.
Bringing long-awaited updates to the United States Sprint GP weekend, Hamilton had a wonderful race to challenge Verstappen for victory in the closing stages, but his second position was erased from the records due to a post-race disqualification for attrition above the top table.
Leclerc, who had started from Pole, was also disqualified for the same offence, which ensured Ferrari only took six points from Mercedes’ lead.
After 18 laps: Mercedes 344 – Ferrari 322
Leclerc and Sainz formed the all-red front row for the Mexican GP but were beaten by the racing speed of Verstappen and Hamilton and dropped to third and fourth. Mercedes and Ferrari took 27 points in the event.
Both groups struggled in the final Sprint weekend at Interlagos, with Mercedes suffering from poor race speed and dropping to the lower positions. Ferrari may have capitalised more, but Leclerc was eliminated before the start of the race with a hydraulic problem on the formation lap.
The inaugural Las Vegas GP had several unknown factors to it, but Ferrari took the challenge to Red Bull with Leclerc claiming his fourth Pole Position of the season. Behind race winner Verstappen, he claimed second with a last lap pass on Perez. Sainz also recovered from his unfortunate power unit penalty to take P6 and help Ferrari to take 16 points out of Mercedes’ lead and provide a chance of edging Mercedes to P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
After 21 laps: Mercedes 392 – Ferrari 388
With Ferrari in good shape, at a circuit that showed some of its strengths, and with the hole of problems for Mercedes so small after the Bahrain GP, the red team had the possibility, with the gold, of pocketing second place in the Championship. .
Leclerc was well placed behind Verstappen, but Sainz was hampered on his exit from qualifying in Q1, and was unable to make up enough ground to fight for significant points, even before retiring on the penultimate lap.
While both teams had higher ambitions at the start of the season, the end of the season was disappointing for Ferrari, which lost in an intense war for thin margins on just three points in the 22-race season.
Final score: Mercedes 409 – Ferrari 406
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