We are presenting our predictions for the 2023 Formula One championship. The championship has just started, and two race weekends have gone by, giving us more details on what to look out for this year.
Our predictions are based on the latest results from the first two race weekends, in which Red Bull had a strong start with a double podium. The main highlight of the first two weekends is Aston Martin’s strong performance, which makes Aston Martin a strong contender this year if they can compete against Mercedes. The hype surrounding Aston Martin is real, and many of you may have Alonso and Aston Martin in your F1 Fantasy teams.
This year, there are three rookie drivers on the grid: Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant, and Nyck de Vries. Piastri and Alpine caused quite a stir last year during the silly season. Sargeant replaced Latifi for the second seat at Williams, which was expected at the end of 2022, and he scored enough super license points to secure the seat. Nyck de Vries had an impressive debut in Formula 1 at Monza for Williams, where he managed to score points for the team. These three drivers will have a tough year ahead of them as we see Red Bull and Ferrari battling for the championship.
If you wish to read more about the rookie drivers, head on over to our Formula 1 blog posts here.
Let’s dive straight into our predictions, from last to first.
Our 2023 F1 Championship Predictions
20. Logan Sargeant
Sargeant had previously competed in Formula 2 before becoming a Williams Academy Driver for the 2022 season. Some of his achievements include winning the British Formula 4 Championship in 2017 and finishing as the runner-up in the 2019 FIA Formula 3 Championship. Sargeant is considered one of the top young talents in American motorsport and has now made his debut in Formula 1 for Williams, replacing Latifi for the second seat at the constructor.
Sargeant has a lot to live up to after his recent debut in Bahrain, where he finished 12th. However, our prediction is that Williams will continue to struggle and remain at the back of the field throughout 2023.
19. Oscar Piastri
Another Australian driver has joined the grid! Oscar Piastri replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren and made his Formula 1 debut at the Bahrain GP. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived drive as he was the first to retire due to car issues.
Piastri has achieved a lot coming into F1, winning both the F3 championship in 2020 and the F2 championship in 2021. The question is, can he continue his success in F1? Our expectation for this year is that he will finish towards the back of the field, and as he continues to improve his race craft, he will have a better 2024. But we could be wrong; this is just a prediction after all.
18. Nyck de Vries
Nyck de Vries had an impressive outing at the Italian Grand Prix in 2022 when he had to replace Albon. He placed P9 and scored 2 points for the team, equaling Latifi’s score fore the whole of the 2022 season. Due to his drive in Italy, he became a contender for a seat in 2023.
As a result, he signed with AlphaTauri for 2023. His previous achievements include back to back championship titles in Formula E 2020-2021 and Formula 2 championship in 2019.
17. Alexander Albon
Alexander Albon is still sticking with Williams until at least 2024, after replacing former Williams driver George Russell in 2022 after having no seat in 2021. Last year he finished 19th in the championship with 4 points, 2 points ahead his then teammate Latifi. Although Albon belongs on the grid, he must push hard to bring in as many points as possible in 2023. His fight is with Haas, AlphaTauri, and Alfa Romeo this year.
16. Nico Hülkenberg
Nico Hülkenberg returns to the grid this year as a driver for Haas. He is an experienced driver who has placed fourth three times, and had one pole position.
Hülkenberg needs to push for points alongside Magnussen. The pair are famous for the 2017 Hungarian GP incident in which Magnussen forced Hülkenberg’s Renault off the race track. When Magnussen was approached by Hülkenberg after the race, he delivered the famous line “suck my balls”. The pair both agree that this was heavily dramatized and they now have to worry about Günther Steiner rather than each other. And bringing in the points, of course.
15. Yuki Tsunoda
Tsunoda is now the mature and senior driver in AlphaTauri, joined by rookie Nyck de Vries. This year he had to prove himself as a driver and show that he score points for the team. Our prediction is that he as the more experience F1 driver will place ahead of de Vries, but if Tsunoda fails to do so; we might see de Vries taking a role as 1st driver in the team going forward.
Tsunoda had a rather disappointing season last year, scoring roughly half as many points as his then teammate Pierre Gasly. He had a total of 6 DNFs, including 1 race where he didn’t start.
14. Kevin Magnussen
In 2017, Magnussen moved to the American-based Haas F1 team, where he has been a regular fixture ever since. Magnussen is quite famous for the “suck my balls”-comment, but he is also a regular on the Netflix series Drive to Survive. He drove for Haas until the end of 2020, after which he and teammate Romain Grosjean were replaced by Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. 2021 saw no return of Magnussen to the grid.
Kevin Magnussen made his return to F1 with Haas in 2022. At the 2022 São Paulo GP, Magnussen got his first pole position after a stroke of luck when rain and a red flag stopped Q1. It was also Haas’ first pole position. He and teammate Schumacher managed to score points during several races, but ultimately Magnussen came out on top, scoring double that of Schumacher.
13. Zhou Guanyu
Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu is no longer a rookie, and the first Chinese Grand Prix starter after making his F1 debut last year. In 2014 he signed as a Ferrari academy driver, and in 2015, he placed second in the Italian F4 championship. 2019 saw Zhou’s debut in Formula 2, and in 2021 he was a contender for the F2 championship title placing third after Oscar Piastri and Robert Shwartzman.
Last year, Zhou placed in 18th place after a season full of surprises for Zhou. Most notably he had a terrible crash at Silverstone, in which his car ended upside down skidding across the runoff and hitting the fence barrier. Hopefully, 2023 brings no crashes, but more points for Zhou and that he can compete alongside his teammate Valtteri Bottas.
12. Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly had a good run with AlphaTauri, but had a quite disappointing 2022. Despite this, he managed to score 23 points throughout the season, outperforming his teammate Tsunoda. This year, he is driving for Alpine, taking Alonso’s previous seat. Gasly and Ocon form the all French driver line up this year for the French team. Gasly now has to show that he is a good fit for the team and work hard to achieve results for the team in their fight for the best of the rest.
Our bets are that both Gasly and Ocon will place similarly this year.
11. Esteban Ocon
Ocon has been driving for Alpine since the rebrand from Renault, making it his third season for the French F1 team. Ocon arguably had a better run than Gasly last year, but now he has to take steps forward to stay ahead in the race. Alpine is still fighting to keep their spot as the best of the rest, and Ocon’s results last year were clearly a factor in their success.
Our bets are that both Ocon and Gasly will place similarly this year.
10. Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas is driving his second season for Alfa Romeo. Last year, Bottas placed 10th in the championship after departing Mercedes at the end of 2021. Bottas drove to the best of his abilities, and Alfa Romeo placed 6th in the constructor championship. Bottas is both good on track and off, and our hope is that he can equal his standings in 2023.
9. Lando Norris
Lando Norris has a pretty good year in 2022, placing 7th in the championship. He outperformed Ricciardo in most races and qualifications, but so far he has not gotten a win in F1. This year he is driving a car that seems to be under performing in comparison to the rest of the mid field, which might lead to a troublesome year for the British driver.
8. Lance Stroll
Stroll has had an incredible start to 2023. Despite his broken toe and wrist, he got into the car in Bahrain to place in sixth place right after Hamilton. He looked quite in trouble from the start, but managed an incredible drive. In Saudi Arabia, he also had a good pace and was driving well until he had a mechanical issue which forced him to pull of to the side of the track.
Embed from Getty ImagesStroll can hopefully bring a strong fight against Mercedes and battle for 7th in the 2023 championship.
7. Lewis Hamilton
7 time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton had a terrible year with Mercedes in 2022. It looks like 2023 will be the same as Hamilton has expressed some discontent with the W14 car. The W13 in 2022 was wrong for the team, riddled with porpoising, and it looks like the fundamental design of the car does not work as well as other designs. George Russell seems to feel more at ease in the car than Hamilton though, and our prediction is that Hamilton will place seventh just behind Russell this year.
6. George Russell
George Russell is driving his second season for Mercedes in 2023. Last year he outperformed Lewis Hamilton quite often both in qualifying and in races. He finished 2022 with 275 points, 35 points ahead of Hamilton. He also managed to get his first F1 win at the São Paulo Grand Prix after a solid drive in both the sprint race and the race.
5. Carlos Sainz
Sainz placed fifth in the 2022 season, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and behind George Russell. Our prediction is that Sainz will place fifth this year again as he battles with Leclerc. Sainz, although not as quick in qualifying as Leclerc, can still grab crucial points to fight his way up to the top. It remains to be seen if Ferrari’s strategies have become better for Sainz in 2023.
4. Fernando Alonso
Embed from Getty ImagesAlonso made his switch to Aston Martin for this season, replacing the retired driver Sebastian Vettel. It appears to have been a great and timely move as Aston Martin has shown that they are a contender this year. Perhaps not for the title win, but they are bringing the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari. As the oldest driver on the grid, Alonso shows that he is able to score podiums and fight for top results.
3. Sergio Pérez
Embed from Getty ImagesSergio Pérez is a strong contender for the championship this year, you might even say that he is in the run for the title if he can continue the fight with Verstappen and Leclerc. Last year, we saw Checo with two wins. However, we also saw Verstappen’s refusal of following team orders in Brazil in. Ultimately, Pérez ended up third in the championship right behind Leclerc.
Pérez has a strong record winning on street tracks and this year’s RB car might just bring Pérez closer to the championship title.
2. Charles Leclerc
Our prediction is that the Monegasque driver will secure the 2nd position this year. Leclerc has been competing in F1 since 2018 and joined Scuderia Ferrari in 2019. He was a championship contender last year and gave Verstappen and Pérez a tough fight. However, Ferrari’s questionable strategy decisions for Leclerc resulted in him missing out on crucial points. Leclerc has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to qualify quickly. He secured nine pole positions in 2022, and if Ferrari continues to perform well, Leclerc has a strong chance of competing for the championship.
Embed from Getty Images1. Max Verstappen
Embed from Getty ImagesMax Verstappen had a remarkable performance in 2022, securing 15 wins and clinching the driver’s championship. With assistance from his teammate Checo, he also led the Constructor’s Championship, earning the double title for Red Bull. Verstappen has continued his impressive form into 2023, winning the first race, and it seems that Red Bull has once again produced a dominant car. Verstappen also got EA Games as his sponsor this year, and we are hoping to see some tie-ins to the next F1 23 game.
From 20 to 1, that concludes our predictions for the 2023 championship. Let us know in the comments if you agree or not, and which driver you would like to see clinch the championship next.
To follow the latest driver standings, head on over to the official 2023 Driver Standings.
