Former Renault F1 driver turned presenter, commentator and race analyst Jolyon Palmer has declared that the end to this year's Singapore Grand Prix was his 'moment of the season'.
Perhaps not altogether coincidentally, it was the one race of 2023 that wasn't won by Max Verstappen. In fact the Red Bull didn't even feature in the battle for victory, and finished the race in fifth place.
The early stages of the race had been something a slow burner, but Palmer said that the final laps were "maybe the best ever, with four cars fighting tooth and nail on a tricky street circuit".
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was in the lead but his former McLaren team mate Lando Norris was pressing hard, while himself simultaneously fending off Mercedes' George Russell who was flying on fresher fresher tyres.
Russell ended up crashing on the final lap while Sainz held off Norris to claim victory. "Sainz was a genius in the cockpit, Norris was pressing all the way," Palmer wrote in the official Formula1.com website.
"Mercedes should be credited for going brave on strategy in a bid to win, rather than settle for a podium," he added. "Russell’s last lap crash only heightened the drama, as he looked for every inch of track to make a move that surely would have resulted in a win."
The fact that the race had been a slow burner up to that point meant that Palmer selected the inaugural Las Vegas race instead as the overall best of the year.
"Las Vegas had it all. Drama at the start, drama at the final corner, plenty of gutsy overtakes and incidents along the way," Palmer said. "We didn’t even know Max would win until the last handful of laps."
Inevitably, Palmer gave his nods for 'best driver' and 'best team' to the dominant Verstappen and Red Bull. "What a season from Verstappen. It has been absolutely impeccable. He’s flattened the opposition to the point nobody even thinks it’s worth fighting him anymore.
"Red Bull have been absolutely relentless this season," he added. "They were also the only team to have bulletproof reliability on Sundays. They rarely miss a beat on strategy and their pitstops are still the best in the business.
Palmer highlighted Sainz for 'best individual performance' at Singapore, and gave a nod for 'Feel-good moment of the year' to McLaren for getting Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri onto the podium at Silverstone alongside Verstappen.
"Lando taking the lead on home soil at the first corner got the crowd roaring, whilst Piastri was finally able to showcase the talent we hoped he’d have. It was a spectacular turnaround for McLaren."
Palmer duly selected Piastri as his 'rookie of the year', hardly a surprise given Nyck de Vries' early exit and Logan Sargeant finishing bottom. But he added that Piastri "is also the best rookie we’ve seen in F1 for quite a while."
Esteban Ocon was Palmer's choice for 'best underdog performance' for his battling performance in Monaco giving him the edge over his Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly at Zandvoort, while Yuki Tsunoda was 'most improved driver'.
Palmer also handed out recognition for the 'biggest surprise' of the season, deciding that this particular award had to go to Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin for their astonishing podium-laden start to the campaign.
"Who saw Fernando Alonso returning to the front with such consistency, for the first time in ten years?" he asked. "It was a brilliant achievement for Aston Martin to unleash such a weapon of a car in Bahrain.
"Alonso’s driving style suited the traction-strong car as well and he showed he’s still at the top of his game, even at 42," he added. "The only thing missing from this fairytale return was that elusive 33rd victory.
"The team tailing off later in the year could be cause for concern, but if they can have a strong winter once again, a Fernando win could be possible in 2024."
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