Round 21: Las Vegas
F1i's driver of the weekend: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 9.5/10
Verstappen earned a five second penalty for the way he look the lead at the start of the maiden Las Vegas GP, but had no trouble winning the race anyway. Leclerc came out on top of Perez in an absorbing cat-and-mouse battle for second, while Lando Norris capped a miserable weekend with a visit to the nearby hospital for check-ups after crashing heavily on lap 4.
A heroic drive for Leclerc might not have been enough to knock Verstappen off the top of the podium, but it certainly caught our eye when it came to deciding the ratings the following day. "Ferrari was looking in strong form from the very first moment in Las Vegas," we wrote, giving him a rating of 9.5 compared to 9.0 for Verstappen and 8.5 for Perez and Lance Stroll while Norris was the lowest scoring driver on 4.5.
"While Carlos Sainz was unlucky to be taken out with extreme prejudice by a loose water valve cover at the start of FP1, Leclerc was already sitting top of the timesheets. He proved the point again in the delayed and extended second session. Neither Leclerc and Sainz bothered with flying laps in final practice, keeping their powder dry for qualifying and duly delivering a Ferrari 1-2 at the end of Q3.
"A ten place grid drop for Sainz from the FP1 incident meant that Leclerc would have no help at the start of the race, and was exposed to a sweeping move from Max Verstappen - although the Dutch driver picked up a five second penalty for taking advantage of going off track in the process.
"Verstappen served the penalty during an early stop which promoted Leclerc back to the lead before his own stop. By now Perez was a factor in the battle as well but neither could do anything about Verstappen recovering his way past them both to take the win.However the battle between Leclerc and Perez over second produced three of the best overtaking moves of the season. One such move on the final lap took Perez completely by surprise and secured Leclerc P2, the very best he could possibly have achieved this weekend and then some."
Round 22: Abu Dhabi
F1i's driver of the weekend: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 9.5/10
It was no surprise to see Verstappen end his dominant 2023 season with one more victory in Abu Dhabi, his 19th win in 22 races, completing a new all-time F1 record. It was a measured performance focussed on tyre and car management, staying out of reach of Leclerc throughout while Russell survived a late charge from Perez to claim a podium that allowed Mercedes to keep hold of P2 on the constructors standings.
Inevitably, Verstappen signed off the season by claiming the Driver of the Weekend honours in the F1i rating for the 11th time in 22 races with 9.5 compared to 9.0 for Leclerc and Russell, and 8.5 for Yuki Tsunoda who couldn't quite pull off the result needed to put AlphaTauri ahead of Williams in the final standings.
"We can debate as long as we want about whether Max Verstappen's utter dominance of F1 is a good thing for the sport or a turn-off for fans, but it is what it is," we commented. "What it is is a remarkable display of sporting success that's re-writing the record books with new achievements that it's hard to see will ever be beaten in our lifetimes. Instead of moaning, we should be happy to be here seeing history in the making. And yet at the same time, who wasn't just a little bit excited when it appeared that Red Bull might be in trouble after Friday practice [in Abu Dhabi] and Verstappen only sixth at the end of FP3?
"But we've seen this before: it's not sandbagging exactly, but every single time it looks like there'a a weakness in the Red Bull package, it proves to be a mirage once we actually get to qualifying and the race. Starting from pole position, Verstappen swatted away Leclerc's determined attacks on the first lap with ease (can a car's 'body language' be said to show disdain?) and after that it was a formality for Verstappen to drive around the desert roads all the way to the finish and duly collect his 19th winner's stamp for his 2023 Panini book of stickers. Job done, mission accomplished, enjoy the holidays, see you in Bahrain for the next one."
