Three race winners, five polesitters, 11 podium finishers, 24,500 laps raced and 124,000km covered. This is the 2023 Formula 1 season in numbers!
Header image: © Andrew Balfour.
0
There were no new Grand Prix winners or polesitters in the 2023 Formula 1 season. It was the first time this occurred since 2018.
2023 is only eighth season in total to have no new polesitters or winners at main events in F1 history.
0.286s
The average pole margin in 2023 was 0.286 seconds – the highest average across a season since 2016.
Max Verstappen took pole by 1.244 seconds – the largest margin in almost a decade – at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix. The smallest pole margin of the season came at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Lewis Hamilton secured pole by 0.003 seconds.
1.8s
McLaren set a new record for the fastest pit stop in Formula 1 at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. The team set the new world record with a 1.8 second tyre change on Lando Norris’ car.
2
There were two races in 2023 at which the polesitter did not finish on the podium. Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Charles Leclerc finished sixth before being disqualified from the United States Grand Prix.
3
After Yuki Tsunoda stopped on the formation lap at the 2023 Italian Grand Prix, there were no fewer than three formation laps in total. It was the first time since the 2003 Austrian Grand Prix that there were three formation laps.
3
Only three drivers won a Grand Prix in 2023, although Oscar Piastri’s Sprint win at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix means that there were four winners in total.
It is one of only seven seasons to have as few as three Grand Prix winners, after 1950, 1952, 1963, 1988, 2014 and 2015.
4
Lando Norris recorded four Q1 exits during the 2023 season. He had recorded a single Q1 exit in his 83 Formula 1 appearances up to the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
4th
Lewis Hamilton, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, was the only polesitter not to be running in the top three positions at the end of Lap 1 in 2023. Max Verstappen, who was third at the end of the first lap at the Australian Grand Prix, was the only other polesitter not in the top two positions at the end of Lap 1.
5
Five different drivers took pole position in 2023: Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. Since 2018, 2020 is the only season which has featured fewer than five polesitters.
7
There were seven first lap retirements in the 2023 Formula 1 season. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix was the only race which saw multiple drivers retire on the opening lap.
10.882s
The average winning margin in the 2023 season was 10.882 seconds. The biggest winning margin of the year came at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Max Verstappen won by 33.731 seconds.
11
There were 11 different podium finishers across the 2023 season – an increase of four on last year.
1999 was the last season to have exactly 11 different podium finishers – but there have been seven seasons since then which featured more than 11 drivers finishing in the top three.
14
14 Grands Prix were won from pole position in 2023 – a new record for most races won from pole in a single year, one more than the former record of 13 wins from pole in the 2016 season.
All three of this year’s Grand Prix winners – Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz – won a race from pole in 2023.
15
Sergio Perez gained the most positions in a single race in 2023, gaining 15 places from a pit lane start to fifth in the Australian Grand Prix.
It was one of three times this year that points were scored from the pit lane, the others being Perez at the Qatar Grand Prix and Lance Stroll at the United States Grand Prix.
15th
15th is the furthest back grid position from which a podium finish was taken in 2023. Two podiums were recorded from this grid slot and both times it was a Red Bull driver who achieved the feat.
Max Verstappen started 15th and finished as runner-up at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, while Sergio Perez finished third having started 15th at the Austrian Grand Prix.
19
Max Verstappen recorded no fewer than 19 victories in 2023. It beat his former record of 15 wins in a year, set in 2022. Verstappen won 86.36% of Grands Prix in 2023 – breaking Alberto Ascari’s 71-year-old record for the highest winning percentage in a season.
20
All 20 grid slots scored at least once during the 2023 season. Two grid slots scored only once this year. George Russell’s 6th place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix was the only points-scoring race for the driver starting 18th, while Pierre Gasly’s 9th place at the Bahrain Grand Prix was the only time that the driver starting 20th scored this year.
20
The highest number of Q3 appearances in 2023 was 20. Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc missed out on a top ten spot in qualifying only twice this year.
21
Red Bull took 21 Grand Prix victories in 2023, eclipsing Mercedes’ former record of 19 wins in a single season set in 2016. Red Bull now have 113 wins in total – one short of equalling Williams for fourth place in the all-time list.
28
There were 28 days between the 2023 Australian Grand Prix and the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was the first time that there had been such a long gap between races mid-season, excluding summer breaks, since the 28 day gap between the 2007 Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix.
54
In total, there were 54 red flag periods during the 2023 season. Free Practice 1 was the session which was red-flagged most often, with 12 red flag periods.
The 2023 Australian Grand Prix was the first F1 race to be red-flagged three times.
85%
The overall finish rate in the 2023 F1 season was 85%, with 374 of the 440 entries into Grands Prix this year crossing the finish line.
250
With both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz reaching Q3 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ferrari became the first team to record 250 double Q3 appearances since the current qualifying system was introduced in 2006.
The Brackley-based team (including its Honda, Brawn GP and Mercedes guises) became the second team to reach the milestone at the British Grand Prix.
290
Max Verstappen ended the season 290 points ahead of second place driver Sergio Perez in the Drivers’ Championship. It is the largest points lead ever held in F1.
Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel’s 10-year-old record when he led by 177 points after the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix.
664
Max Verstappen amassed his first three titles in just 664 days, which is a new record for the shortest amount of time between first and third title wins.
1,325
Max Verstappen raced all 1,325 Grand Prix laps in the 2023 Formula 1 season, becoming only the third driver to complete every lap in a single year. Red Bull were the team who raced the most laps, completing 2,540 laps in total.
2011
2023 was the first season since 2011 in which Mercedes failed to win a Grand Prix. It was also the first season since 2006 in which no Mercedes-powered cars recorded a victory.
22:00
The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix began at 22:00 – the latest time at which any Formula 1 race has ever begun.
680
The 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix marked the first time since the 1985 South African Grand Prix – 680 races previously – that a Grand Prix took place on a Saturday rather than a Sunday.
24,507
Between them, the ten teams completed a total of 24,507 laps during Grands Prix in 2023. The total combined distance covered was just under 124,000km.
480,000
The biggest weekend attendance figure of the 2023 Formula 1 season was at the British Grand Prix, with 480,000 people attending over the four days of the event. It’s the second biggest weekend attendance on record.