Some results of the year according to Blick

The day after the end of the 74th season of Formula 1, the Swiss tabloid Blick published a text by its regular author, paddock veteran Roger Benoit, dedicated to the results of the year, and here are the most interesting of them…

Problem of the year

The boundaries of the circuit – in 2023 this almost sounded like a curse. In Spielberg alone, more than a thousand cases of violation of these limits were recorded, and in 150 of them the lap time was removed. As a result, the results of qualifying and races have been revised several times this year. In Saudi Arabia, for example, Guanyu Zhou finished 12th, but immediately rose to 9th place and earned two points. That’s because Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly received five-second time penalties for not respecting the track limits.

Nonsense of the year

Felipe Massa, a Brazilian and former Formula 1 driver, claimed the championship title in 2008. Hamilton missed out on the title when Lewis, then driving for McLaren, overtook Timo Glock at the penultimate corner of the Sao Paulo circuit to finish fifth.

But that is not it. Massa wants the result of the Singapore Grand Prix to be annulled. Bernie Ecclestone, then head of the championship management, admitted years later that the results of that race had been falsified by Renault (Nelson Piquet’s deliberate accident caused yellow flags to appear and victory went to Fernando Alonso). After fifteen years, Massa turned to lawyers and filed claims with the FIA, but his idea inevitably failed.

Outbreak of the year

Franz Tost – There are few team leaders in Formula 1 who are as dedicated as he is. “There are no days off, holidays are a luxury,” said the Austrian. Franz took over Toro Rosso in 2006; a year earlier, Christian Horner became head of Red Bull Racing. Toast had the opportunity to work with 17 drivers, the best of which were Sebastian Vettel (who achieved the first victory for the Faenza team in 2008), Daniel Ricciardo, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.

Conflict of the year

Andretti’s application was approved by the FIA ​​​​following the results of the tender for the creation of the 11th Formula 1 team, which was announced in January. As a result, of all the contenders, only the Andretti Cadillac project remained. However, the management of the championship and especially the teams are against the appearance of a new participant, because they do not want to divide the billion-dollar pie into 11 parts. At Andretti, they are even now willing to pay an entrance fee of $200 million, because this will rise to $600 million by 2026. General Motors Corporation is also applying pressure and has already registered as a manufacturer of power units, which it plans to supply from 2028.

Speaker of the Year

Mercedes is the one pleasant exception compared to other championship teams, whose official press releases are often not worth the paper they are printed on. Toto Wolff and his drivers always speak clearly and understandably, admit their mistakes, etc. If they fail, they make no attempt to sweeten the bitter pill. The Mercedes press service is therefore the clear winner in this category.

Dismissal of the year

Otmar Szafnauer – He was fired from Alpine before the summer holidays. This was a late response to the losses of Fernando Alonso (who moved to Aston Martin) and Oscar Piastri (now a successful driver for McLaren). Sporting director Alan Permain and technical director Pat Fry also had to leave.

The responsibilities of heading Alpine F1 have now been assigned to Bruno Famen, who no one really knows. The team finished the season in 6th place in the Constructors’ Championship. Szafnauer is banned from working in Formula 1 until April next year.

Thrill of the year

Three races in a row – when the stages are separated by only a week it causes enormous tensions and insane logistical problems. The first such series planned for this year was averted when the Imola race was canceled due to natural disasters.

The second caused a lot of problems for everyone: more than 2,500 people flew from Austin, Texas, to the capital of Mexico, and from there to Sao Paulo. The season finale was no better: to reach Abu Dhabi everyone had to travel 13.5 thousand kilometers between the Yas Marina Circuit and Las Vegas.

Clearly, more and more people are refusing to work such a schedule, and teams are being forced to organize a rotation of racing crews. Two series of three races in a row are also planned for 2024.

Rising stars of the year

McLaren – After the departure of Andreas Seidl (now CEO of Sauber), the British team achieved only 17 points in the first eight races. And then a barrage of criticism came her way. But we still have to admit that Lando Norris and his new teammate Oscar Piastri, a driver with clear characteristics of a winner, have become perhaps the best racing duo this season.

The team, now led by Andrea Stella, who once worked as Alonso’s engineer at Ferrari, prepared a large-scale series of technical innovations for the Austrian Grand Prix, and that race became a turning point. After her, Norris climbed to the podium seven times, Piastri did it twice and he won the sprint in Qatar. And McLaren took 4th place in the Constructors’ Championship.

Car of the year

Red Bull RB19 – when Adrian Newey, the most successful racing car designer in Formula 1 history, takes the helm and you put Max Verstappen, the best driver in the championship, behind the wheel, the rivals are simply doomed, and they I can only dream of the title. It can be said that fortunately this Honda-powered car did not fare well on the streets of Singapore, and that is the only reason why Red Bull Racing could not win all the races this season. Verstappen achieved 19 victories (and won the sprints four more times), led 1,003 laps and set a number of records that will probably stand for a long time.

When we talk about Newey, the list of his successes has only grown: his cars account for more than 200 Grand Prix victories, and he is directly related to the 13 championship titles he won with teams such as Williams, McLaren and Red Bull racing.