With captivating racing all around this weekend, the F1 and F2 2023 Championship Season came to an end with 2 World Champions crowned at the Yas Marina circuit.

Formula 2

Formula 2 returned to racing fans screens again after an almost 2 month break, for a championship decider battle that saw Théo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti race to the final lap to see who would be crowned the best of the rest for the 2023 season.

Going into Qualifying and the Sprint race there were 3 drivers in contention for the Championship win with 39 points separating Théo Pourchaire, Frederik Vesti and Ayumu Iwasa. Iwasa was on the back-foot, with a tall-asking order of having to complete a perfect sweep of the points available if he wanted to be crowned, whereas Vesti needed a double podium to overcome the 25-point deficit he faced against his former team-mate. Pourchaire couldn’t afford to be complacent though, with the chance of being crowned on Saturday if he finished ahead of his closest rival Vesti.

Sprint Race

Frederik Vesti knew what needed to be done in order to keep his 2023 Formula 2 title dreams alive, and he embraced the opportunity presented to him, by winning the Sprint Race at Yas Marina for the PREMA Racing team.

The opening lap was nothing short of chaotic after Kush Maini turned in on Juan Manuel Correa causing the latter to spin at Turn 3. Victor Martins found himself caught at the tailend of the collison leaving him with nose cone damage and forcing him to pit to complete repairs. 

Vesti dropped down to fourth after an intense opening 5 corners, meanwhile his fellow title contender and Championship Leader Pourchaire had already reached the cusp of points, climbing from 14th to ninth.

The Prema racer managed to fight his way back to the front end of the field and wrestled the lead from Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi with only two laps of the race left, to secure his sixth victory in his campaign, while also taking the fastest lap point in the process (the fastest lap was achieved by Victor Martins, however as he was out of the points in this race, the fastest lap point was awarded to next fastest lap). Richard Verschoor got the better of Isack Hadjar to complete the podium for Van Amersfoort Racing.

These results meant that the Championship judgement day would go down to the final race of the season, as Théo Pourchaire secured some crucial points finishing in seventh.

Feature Race

Jack Doohan claimed the final win of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season, while Théo Pourchaire clinched the Drivers’ Championship after a hell to leather fight against Frederik Vesti.

The ART Grand Prix driver did what he set out to do, finishing fifth in the Feature Race and with fellow team-mate Victor Martin second, meaning the French motor racing team completed a clean sweep of Championships – the Drivers’, Teams’ and Rookie Titles.

Despite admirable efforts, Vesti finished the race third after fighting his way up from ninth and capped off his campaign with another podium finish, with the Dane finishing second in the Drivers’ Championship.

Pourchaire and Vesti certainly gave the fans a nail biting battle, passing each other on multiple occasions, utilising the DRS available and better racing lines through the corners, before Vesti managed to make the overtake stick and clear the French driver, knowing that a victory was what he needed to win the Championship. However, this wasn’t meant to be for the Danish driver as it all came too little too late and 3rd place was the best he could do.

The Championship Standings

Théo Pourchaire is the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Drivers’ Champion with 203 points. Frederik Vesti finishes up 192 points adrift in second after his huge comeback effort, while Jack Doohan’s victory lifts the Invicta Virtuosi Racing driver up to third in the final standings, ending up on 168 points.

Iwasa ends his F2 career fourth overall on 165, while Victor Martins’ P2 finish leaves him as the highest-placed rookie, fifth in the Drivers’ Standings on 150.

ART Grand Prix are Teams’ Champions for the first time in their F2 history, finishing up with 353 points. PREMA Racing ended up on 322 points in second, with Rodin Carlin third on 220 points.

Formula 1

Qualifying

After some questionable performances during the Friday and Saturday Practice session, reigning world champion Verstappen returned to form in qualifying setting a 1m 23.445s with his initial attempt in the final Q3 phase to secure top spot.

Charles Leclerc was Verstappen’s nearest rival, leading Ferrari’s charge in the absence of team mate Sainz, due to his Q1 exit, while Piastri capitalised on a mistake from team mate Lando Norris to take third.

Like Leclerc, fourth-placed George Russell flew the flag for Mercedes in the pole position shootout after Hamilton failed to make the cut, with Norris back in fifth thanks to a wild moment on his final run, followed by the high-flying AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda.

Fernando Alonso was the fastest Aston Martin driver in seventh position, in front of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (who lost his final lap time due to exceeding track limits) and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

Russell’s progression to Q3 came at the expense of Hamilton, who fell at the second qualifying hurdle in 11th, with Ocon and Stroll following in 12th and 13th for Alpine and Aston Martin.

Alex Albon had featured at the sharp end in the early stages of qualifying but Q2 proved to be the limit for himself and Williams as their rivals turned up the heat, meaning he will start 14th, just in front of Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri.

Q1 had already brought a shock when Sainz – in the wake of his heavy FP2 crash – dropped out in a lowly P16, meaning the Ferrari driver faces another race-day recovery drive.

Kevin Magnussen wound up 17th in the other Haas machine, Alfa Romeo lost both their cars as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu could do no more than 18th and 19th, and Williams’ Logan Sargeant brought up the rear after both his Q1 lap times were deleted for exceeding track limits.

Race

Verstappen defended from Charles Leclerc into the first corner and across the first lap before cementing his lead and gradually pulling clear, taking the chequered flag comfortably ahead of the chasing pack as the sun set on the 2023 campaign.

Sergio Perez crossed the line in second position for Red Bull, but a five-second time penalty for a clash with McLaren’s Lando Norris demoted him to fourth when the results were confirmed, leaving Leclerc second and George Russell third.

Leclerc had been in second until some of the last laps when he chose to let Perez pass him and try to generate enough of a gap between the Red Bull and Russell to boost Ferrari’s chances of beating Mercedes to second in the constructors’ standings, but Russell managed to keep the gap within 5 seconds, which meant Leclerc’s efforts proved futile.

Norris had to settle for fifth after his collision with Perez, with team mate Oscar Piastri taking sixth from the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll made it double points finishes for their respective Mercedes and Aston Martin teams, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing 11th in team boss Franz Tost’s final race overseeing the AlphaTauri squad.

Alpine pair Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly finished 12th and 13th in the final race of the season, the latter having been involved in contact with Hamilton midway through the race following a lock-up of the tyres, followed by the lead Williams of Alex Albon in 14th.

Nico Hulkenberg could not convert his Q3 appearance into points for Haas, dropping all the way down to 15th position in another challenging race, with Williams rookie Logan Sargeant and the Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu coming home 16th and 17th respectively.

Carlos Sainz had been running in the points in the closing stages, but his alternative strategy required a late pit stop and left him a lowly 18th, as Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen completed the order for Alfa Romeo and Haas.

Final Standings:

1. Verstappen
2. Leclerc
3. Russell
4. Perez
5. Norris
6. Piastri
7. Alonso
8. Tsunoda
9. Hamilton
10. Stroll
11. Ricciardo
12. Ocon
13. Gasly
14. Albon
15. Hulkenberg
16. Sargeant
17. Zhou
18. Sainz (DNF)
19. Bottas (+1 lap)
20. Magnussen (+1 lap)