F1 2023 Report Card: Ferrari’s prancing horse stops the raging Red Bull

Ferrari may have finished the 2023 season third but they remained the only team to prevent Red Bull Racing from getting the clean sweep of race wins. 

Following on from 2022, when the Scuderia had a potential championship-winning car, the team followed suit with the rest of the field and filtered in behind Red Bull Racing. 

At the early stages of the season, the team looked to be a mid-field contender in the early stages, not threatening Mercedes or Aston Martin for the podium positions. However, after the summer break their fortunes seemed to gather momentum, despite promising signs in Azerbaijan. 

In Abu Dhabi, Ferrari had already moved past Aston Martin in the constructors and looked in prime position with momentum in hand to squeeze by Mercedes for second place. Only four points separated the two heading into the season finale but with a lacklustre performance for Carlos Sainz, they could only cut the points deficit down by a single point. 

After the season, it meant Ferrari had to settle for third place with 406 points while Mercedes took the runner-up position, with 409 points.

Despite this, there were promising signs throughout their 2023 campaign. 

They were the only team to put a stop to Red Bull’s dominance, ultimately stopping the Milton Keynes team from completing the full sweep of race wins across the season. Ferrari’s Sainz was the winner in Singapore, outmatching McLaren’s Lando Norris and both Mercedes drivers with a tactful drive. 

The car also began to show impressive pace, especially in the second half of the season, especially with Charles Leclerc at the helm as the Monegasque picked up five pole positions across the season in; Azerbaijan, Belgium, Austin (USA), Mexico and Las Vegas (USA). 

However, the car’s race pace was its Achilles heel as the Ferrari team was unable to keep up the pace to put the Red Bulls under any meaningful pressure. 

Report: B

Summary: It was a lacklustre start but the team looked promising heading into the latter stages of the season.

That’s all for the article; F1 2023 Report Card: Ferrari’s prancing horse stops the raging Red Bull !

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.