2023 F1 Driver Lineup Revealed: Shocking Exits and Exciting Entrances!

The 2023 F1 Lineup

The 2023 F1 Lineup is a collection of Formula One drivers who are arguably the best in the world. They have to remain at the top of their game for twenty-five events, including preseason testing.

The 2023 F1 Lineup is complete. Daniel Riccardo, Nicholas Latifi, Mick Schumacher, and Sebastian Vettel (retired) are out. The rest have signed contracts at least for next year and generally for longer.

The twenty teams have each signed their two main drivers and have agreed to stand in as replacements and test drivers for 2023. All that needs to happen now is for fans to hold their breath until the preseason testing starts on February 23

The 2023 F1 Driver Line Up

As usually happens during the “silly” F1 season, drivers’ names get bandied around concerning moving to new teams or leaving the sport altogether.

2022 has been no different, and after months of speculation, we finally know the actual lineup.

Click here to see the 2023 Formula One schedule.

Who Is Not In The 2023 F1 Lineup?

Two drivers lose their seats.

Daniel Riccardo

The wonderful and ebullient Daniel Ricciardo is probably the driver we are most saddened to see lose his full-time seat.

After two years at Toro Rosso and four at Red Bull, where he became known for his ability to brake later than the other drivers, the ever-smiling Daniel left Red Bull for a reviving Renault.

Those were probably his most difficult years in F1, and I think with some relief, he left for McLaren, where he partnered with Lando Norris.

Zach Brown, McLaren’s principal, has admitted that they never provided a race-winning car. Despite winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, Daniel struggled to regain the form that he displayed at Red Bull.

The good news is that Daniel joins Red Bull as their reserve driver in 2023.

Nicholas Latifi

The writing on the wall must have been clear to Nicholas Latifi that his days with Williams were numbered.

Williams is the weakest on the grid for the last few years.

However, when George Russel occupied the seat, he managed several impressive qualifications sessions, achieved by his natural talent and despite the car.

Similarly, Alex Albon has fitted into the team well in 2022. His best result was 9^th in Miami, and he has been a steady hand in a struggling team.

Unfortunately, Nicholas could not match this; his average result across the year was in position 16.

Mick Schumacher

Sadly, Mick Schumacher is out. Nico Hulkenberg replaces him in 2023.

The son of legendary Michael Schumacher showed brief moments of excellence during his time in Formula One. Unfortunately, he left the track in a cloud of dust one too many times, and Haas finally called time on his F1 career.

Everyone at F1Worldwide wishes him much success in the future.

Sebastien Vettel

Four times world champion announced his retirement from F1 in 2023.

Sebastien has been a force for good in F1, where he has stood his ground on many occasions to the benefit of his fellow drivers.

He has a reputation for being rigidly fair and not being afraid of speaking his mind.

He will be missed from the circuit.

So, Who Is In The 2023 F1 Lineup?

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Alfa Romeo 

Valtteri Bottas (multi-year)

Zhou Guanyu (end of 2023)

Valtteri Bottas

Valtteri Bottas involvement in Formula One stretches back to 2013 when he started as a test driver for AT&T Williams.

He joined Mercedes in 2017 in partnership with Lewis Hamilton. During this time, he proved to be ruggedly reliable and served as the perfect number two driver. After the turbulent and fractious relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, Valtteri brought in an air of peace and calm.

Valtteri has an incredible sense of fair play and honesty. The result is that he s not as driven or ruthless compared to drivers like Michael Schumacher and Max Verstappen, which is possibly why he did not shine in the same way that Lewis did.

He was a valued member of the Mercedes team, and they struggled to decide to replace him in 2022 with up-and-coming star George Russel.

In 2022 he moves to Alfa Romeo and fits in well.

Although the 2022 season was disappointing for the team and Valtteri, we hope they will shine in 2023.

Zhou Guanyu

Zhou is the first Chinese national to drive on the F1 circuit. His rookie season at Alfa Romeo has shown some of the potential he is capable of.

The team agrees with this because they have signed him for a further year.

We hope he starts to shine and finds a more permanent position for the 2024 season.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – The Alpha Tauri 

Yuki Tsunoda (end of 2023)

Nyck de Vries (end of 2023)

Yuki Tsunoda

Yuki Tsunoda is a Japanese national and has driven for Alpha Tauri for two seasons.

It is fair to say that his results in 2022 have been underwhelming. There was a lot of speculation that he was one of the drivers who would be leaving the circuit for 2023.

Surprisingly he signed for 2023 as well.

2023 will be a watershed year; if he struggles, it may be his last in F1.

Nyck de Vries

Driving for Mercedes, Nyck de Vries is the 2020 – 2021 Formula E champion.

He raced as the reserve driver for Williams and won 2 points.

• He filled the role of third / reserve driver for Mercedes-AMG Petronas

• He was a test driver for Aston Martin and Alpine.

• He drove in the young driver test with Scuderia AlphaTauri.

Nyck was to fil the spot if George Russel had not been on the scene.

He signed with AlphaTauri for 2023 where he replaces Pierre Gasly.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – The Alpine

Esteban Ocon (end of 2024)

Pierre Gasly (multi-year)

Esteban Ocon

Esteban was responsible for Alpine’s maiden F1 win in 2021 (in Hungary). Fernando Alonso assisted him.

In 2021 he achieved an average result of just over 11^th, which placed him 8^th in the championship, compared to Fernando, who came in at 9^th.

Esteban is signed until 2024 with Alpine.

Pierre Gasly

After a difficult mid-season moves from Toro Rosso to Red bull (where he replaced Alex Albon), Pierre was ignominiously returned to Toro Rosso for the 2021 year after not achieving the results that Red Bull required.

It is an understatement that he found his sweet spot in 2021 and produced impressive results for the mid-order team.

For 2023 he replaces Fernando Alonso and has been signed by Alpine on a multi-year contract, and everyone is hoping his results will match his proven skill.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso (multiyear)

Lance Stroll (Rolling, end of 2023)

Fernando Alonso

Alonso has been signed to replace Sebastien Vettel at Aston Martin.

Fernando made the rather sudden announcement that he was moving from Alpine to Aston Martin immediately after Sebastian announced his retirement.

It caught Alpine by surprise and triggered a contract dispute in the paddock. Ultimately the parties have agreed, and Fernando joined Aston Martin on a multi-year contract from 2023.

Fernando brings a unique set of skills to the track, benefiting Aston as they seek to up their game.

Not only is he a 3 times world champion, but he is also renowned for being a wise and wily driver who will not give an inch away unless he wants to.

Many drivers (including Lewis Hamilton) will agree that they dread coming up behind him when he does not want to concede a place or is protecting his teammate’s rear.

Lance Stroll

It’s fair to say that when Lance Stroll replaced Esteban Ocon in the racing point team in 2019, few people thought he was appointed on merit.

The fact that his father owned the team only added to the impression.

His 15^th place in his rookie year tended to confirm this view.

Since then, he has gone on to prove that he is a real racing driver who deserves his position.

In 2021he came in, in 11^th place, and in 2022 13^th.

15^th place in 2022 is not necessarily a reflection of his commitment to skill but rather a badly performing car.

The incredibly experienced Sebastien Vettel only managed the 11^th position.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Ferrari

Charles Leclerc (end of 2024)

Carlos Sainz (end of 2024)

Charles Leclerc

It isn’t easy to describe the year that Charles Leclerc endured in 2022.

Ferrari started the year out as a viable competitor to Red bull. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and despite 9 pole positions, 3 fastest laps, and 11 podiums, he only won 3 races.

There seem to have been two main reasons for this disappointment. The first was that Ferrari had to turn the engine “down” due to reliability issues, and secondly, because the team made some laughably ridiculous strategy calls throughout the season.

I believe that given the right car, Charles will become one of the greats.

Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz is the dark horse of 2022. He started out the year as the definite number two Ferrari driver.

During the season, he showed moments of absolute brilliance when he achieved 3 pole positions, 9 podiums, 2 fastest laps, and 1 win (his first in Formula One.)

Carlos was a victim of Ferrari’s problems. Without them, there is no saying what he is capable of achieving.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Haas 2023 

Kevin Magnussen (multi-year)

Nico Hulkenberg

Kevin Magnussen

After being unceremoniously dumped by Haas to make place for the Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, Kevin Magnussen came back. The Russian sanctions prevented Nikita from continuing to race.

Kevin has shown his value, and while the car is not competitive, he achieved one pole position and came in, in 13^th position for the 2022 year.

Hass has seen the value offered by Kevin, and he has signed a multi-year contract for the future.

Nico Hulkenberg

The experienced Nico Hulkenberg has been a formula 1 driver since 2010.

He lost his seat in 2020, and for 2021 and 2022, he served as a reserve driver for Aston Martin. In this position, he raced twice in 2022.

He replaces Mick Schumacher, who has sadly lost his seat.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Mclaren 

Lando Norris (end of 2025)

Oscar Piastri (end of 2024)

Lando Norris

One of three British drivers on the circuit, Lando Norris has quickly made a name for himself, outshining his teammate Daniel Riccardo.

Despite McLaren’s lack of competitiveness, Lando gave us brief glimpses where we could see the car’s potential. He achieved the fastest lap twice and ended the race on the podium once.

He is signed at McLaren until 2025 when hopefully, the team has sorted the car, and he can show us what he is capable of.

Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri replaces Daniel Riccardo after being the reserve driver for both BWT Alpine and McLaren.

Being part of their young driver program as an up-and-coming star at Alpine has resulted in unhappiness on Alpine’s part and a certain amount of anger.

He has big shoes to fill, and hopefully, by 2024, he can demonstrate his worth.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Mercedes

Sir Lewis Hamilton (end of 2023)

George Russell (multi-year)

Lewis Hamilton

What can be said about the seven-time world champion, Sir Lewis Hamilton, which has not been said before?

He was knighted in 2021 and is an activist demanding more representation of different race groups in F1, he runs foundations, in which he invests his own capital, which promotes STEM subjects.

2022 was a horrible year for Lewis and the team that only managed 3^rd place in the constructor’s championship. There was speculation that Lewis would call it quits mid-season.

He proved that he was a better sportsman than his detractors claimed. Throughout the season, while frustrated, he responded with grace the whole time.

He has stated that he is not finished yet and will continue to race to the end of his contract in 2023 and hopefully beyond that.

George Russell

One has to feel sorry for George Russel. He left the uncompetitive Williams for a place on the top-rated Mercedes F1 team. After a disappointing test in Spain, most thought Mercedes were sandbagging and hiding the true potential of their car.

Unfortunately, the team was telling the truth. The car suffered from excessive porpoising, the engine did not have the power of the Ferrari or Red Bull cars, and during the early part of the season, it was a mid-pack runner at best.

While not at the level of Williams, George found himself struggling with a non-competitive car once again.

With George Russell’s maiden season at Mercedes behind him, he is looking forward to a more competitive 2023 car. Toto Wolf is not sure that the gains they need will be achieved in 2023.

Despite this, George has shown his value and has produced exceptional results despite being behind the wheel of a non-competitive car.

He has a multi-year contract with Mercedes.

The 2023 F1 Lineup – Red Bull 

Max Verstappen (end of 2028)

Sergio Perez (end of 2024)

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen is one of those drivers you either love or hate. Whatever you think of him, no one can deny his sheer skill.

Given the same car, he always outperforms his teammates ruthlessly.

It is a pity that he won his first championship title under such contentious circumstances in 2021; however, any doubt which may have been held was quickly wiped away by a decisive and dominant drive throughout 2022.

As a two-time world champion, who holds the skills he does, he remains my projection as the winner in 2023.

The question remains regarding how long he will remain in F1. His father suggests that he has become a little tired.

Unlike Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton, who seem to enjoy the sport for the sake of the sport, To Max, it seems like the challenge is everything, and if that is not there anymore, he may step away.

Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez is universally liked in the F1 paddock. He has also done what Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly couldn’t do. He can be a successful teammate to Max Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc and Sergio fought to the final race for second place in the season, and Charles pipped Sergio to the finish.

While only Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have the skill to take on Max, Sergio has performed as a faithful teammate and has helped Max achieve his results.

 Sergio is signed through to 2024.

The Williams 2023 F1 Driver Line Up

Alex Albon (multi-year)

Logan Sargeant

Alex Albon

Alex Albon has a substantial amount of skill, and while he may not be at the level of the top three drivers, he is young and will develop.

If Williams regains its past mojo (winner of seven F1 championships), Alex will be well placed to grow with the team and earn F1 points.

Logan Sargeant

Logan Sargeant is the first American driver on the F1 circuit.

He replaces Nicholas Latifi and joins the circuit from the FIA Formula 2 Championship, where he achieved 4^th place.

Logan is a dark horse, and we wish him much success in his new role.

Conclusion

All twenty F1 drivers have been signed by their respective teams for 2023, and it promises to be an exciting season in which recedes will hopefully become resurgent.

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References

https://www.formula1.com/

How Formula One Contracts Work – F1Worldwide.com