74th season of Formula One
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2023 
 Drivers' Champion: Max Verstappen ;br ;Constructors' Champion: Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
Previous
2022
Next
2024
 Support series: ;br ;Formula 2 Championship ;br ;FIA Formula 3 Championship ;br ;Porsche Supercup
The 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, the 74th running of the Formula One World Championship. It was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over twenty-two Grands Prix, which were held around the world. It began in March and ended in November.
Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion respectively. The season was dominated by defending champion Max Verstappen, who cruised to his third consecutive Drivers' Championship title at the Qatar Grand Prix, winning a record 19 out of 22 Grands Prix held and finishing on the podium 21 times (also a record number for most podiums in a season) by the end of the championship. His team, Red Bull Racing achieved their sixth Constructors' Championship title, their second consecutively, at the preceding Japanese Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing won 21 out of 22 Grands Prix, breaking the team record for highest percentage of Grand Prix wins in a season at 95.45%. Ferrari were the only other team to win a Grand Prix, courtesy of Carlos Sainz Jr. at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Entries.
The following constructors and drivers competed in the 2023 World Championship. All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Each team was required to enter two drivers per round, one for each of the two mandatory cars.
Free practice drivers.
Throughout the season, each team had to field a driver in one of the first two free practice sessions who had not competed in more than two races, on two occasions, once for each car. The Grand Prix debuts of Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries at the Bahrain Grand Prix each counted as one of the mandatory sessions for McLaren-Mercedes, Williams-Mercedes and AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT, respectively. Liam Lawson's debut at the Dutch Grand Prix did not count, as Nyck de Vries had already taken the mandatory free practice slot for that car.
Team changes.
Honda returned as a named engine supplier to Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, with both teams badging the engines as Honda RBPT. While Red Bull Powertrains had planned to take over assembly and maintenance of the engines from this season onward, it was later agreed that Honda would continue its technical support of Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri until the end of 2025.
Driver changes.
Sebastian Vettel retired at the end of the 2022 championship, ending his Formula One career after 15 full seasons. His place at Aston Martin was taken by Fernando Alonso, who left Alpine after two seasons. Alonso's replacement was initially announced as the 2021 Formula 2 Champion and Alpine reserve driver, Oscar Piastri. Shortly after this announcement, Piastri stated that he had not signed a contract for 2023 and that he would not be driving for Alpine. The FIA Contract Recognition Board ruled that he did not have any contractual obligations to race for Alpine. Pierre Gasly, who initially had a contract to drive for AlphaTauri, moved to Alpine, replacing Alonso. Gasly was replaced by the 2020–21 Formula E and 2019 Formula 2 Champion Nyck de Vries.
Daniel Ricciardo left McLaren after two seasons. Although he had a contract to drive for the team in 2023, it was terminated during the 2022 championship by mutual agreement. Ricciardo's seat was filled by Piastri, who made his Formula One debut. Nicholas Latifi left Williams after spending three seasons with the team. His seat was filled by Logan Sargeant, who graduated from Formula 2, making his Formula One debut and becoming the first American Formula One driver to compete since Alexander Rossi in . Mick Schumacher left Haas after two seasons. His seat was taken by Nico Hülkenberg, who last competed in Formula One as a full-time race driver in with former team Renault.
Mid-season changes.
Nyck de Vries was relieved of his driving duties for AlphaTauri after underperforming in the first ten races of his rookie season. His seat was filled by Daniel Ricciardo starting from the Hungarian Grand Prix. Ricciardo had previously raced with the team in and , when it was known as Toro Rosso. During second practice for the Dutch Grand Prix, his third race of the season, Ricciardo broke a metacarpal bone in his left hand in a crash. As a result, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri's reserve driver Liam Lawson substituted for Ricciardo, making his Formula One debut. Lawson continued to substitute in for Ricciardo at the Italian, Singapore, Japanese and Qatar Grands Prix before Ricciardo returned for the United States Grand Prix.
Calendar.
The 2023 calendar comprised twenty-two Grands Prix. The Azerbaijan, Austrian, Belgian, Qatar, United States and São Paulo Grands Prix featured the sprint format.
Calendar changes.
The Qatar Grand Prix returned to the calendar, having not been held in 2022 to allow Qatar to prepare to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. When the Qatar Grand Prix was first announced in 2021, the event was scheduled to take place at an undiscolosed location, with a new circuit in the planning stages. The publication of the season calendar showed that the event would remain at the Lusail International Circuit. The Las Vegas Grand Prix made its debut, with the race held in November on a new street track featuring the Las Vegas Strip. The last Grand Prix held in Las Vegas was the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix. The addition of the Las Vegas Grand Prix meant the United States hosted three Formula One Grand Prix in a single season for the first time since .
The Russian Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2023 calendar. It was originally meant to switch its venue from the Sochi Autodrom to Igora Drive, in Novozhilovo, located approximately from Saint Petersburg. The contract was terminated in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The French Grand Prix was removed from the calendar for 2023, the promoters of the Grand Prix stated that they would aim for a rotational race deal by sharing its slot with other Grands Prix.
The Chinese Grand Prix was initially due to be part of the calendar after last being held in , it was cancelled for the fourth consecutive year due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Formula One held discussions with venues to replace the Grand Prix, but this did not transipre. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on 21 May as the sixth round of the championship, was cancelled on 17 May due to flooding in the area.
Regulation changes.
Technical regulations.
Safety changes.
Following dangerous amounts of porpoising during , the FIA introduced changes to the regulations to limit the phenomenon. Floor edges were raised and the throat of the diffuser was also raised. The diffuser edge stiffness was increased and an additional sensor was mandated to monitor the porpoising phenomenon more effectively. Lateral floor deflection tests also became more stringent.
Following Zhou Guanyu's crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix, a rounded top would be required on the roll hoop, which reduces the chance of it digging into the ground during an accident. Additionally, a change was made to ensure a minimum height for the point of application of the homologation test, and a new physical homologation test was introduced where the load pushes the roll hoop in the forward direction, in addition to the pre-existing tests in three other directions. The size of the side-mirrors was increased from to in an effort to improve rear visibility.
Weight and fuel temperature.
The allowed weight of cars was due to decrease from to , but this plan was abandoned. The rules around minimum fuel temperature were changed. In 2022, minimum fuel temperature was . For 2023, the minimum fuel temperature was the lowest of either below the ambient temperature, or .
Aerodynamics.
The FIA initially altered the wording of the aerodynamic regulations after Mercedes produced a front wing that exploited a potential loop-hole in the regulations; Mercedes introduced slot gap separators on their front wings at the 2022 United States Grand Prix, although they did not intend to run them at the event. Rival teams argued that the new front wing was illegal, while Mercedes argued that the regulations allowed slot-gap separators as they were "primarily" there for "mechanical, structural or measurement reasons", and therefore any secondary aerodynamic benefit would be allowed. The FIA ruled that the brackets were illegal at the following 2022 Mexico City Grand Prix. The wording of the regulation was altered so that the slot gap separator brackets must perform a structural role, and the sentence explaining that the primary purpose can not be aerodynamic was removed. This rule change was intended to outlaw slot gap separators. It had the opposite effect, legalising slot gap separators which provide structural support; what aerodynamic benefit they provide no longer held any bearing on their legality. Ferrari launched their car, the SF-23 with the slot gap separators.
Sporting regulations.
There were only three days of pre-season testing, a reduction from 2022 when there were six days. During the F1 Commission held in February 2023 it was decided to relax the restrictions on team radio communications. The FIA took further steps to relax COVID-19 safety protocols that were first introduced in . This relaxation of restrictions included the removal of the need for proof of vaccination for those working in the paddock. The FIA previously dropped the requirements for mandatory face masking and COVID-testing in .
Tyres.
Pirelli announced a change to the available tyre compounds for 2023, as a new compound was inserted between the old C1 and C2 compounds (the hardest two compounds of the 2022 range). This change provided teams with more flexible strategy options after criticism towards the original C1 compound for a large drop in grip compared to the other tyres. Additionally, following criticism over the raceability of its full wet tyre in previous seasons, Pirelli has produced a new full wet tyre in the hope of reducing the need for safety car and red flags in wet race conditions. The new full wet tyre debuted at the Monaco Grand Prix.
With the intention of making tyre usage more sustainable in the future, Formula One trialed a reduction in allocated tyre sets from 13 to 11 at the Hungarian and Italian Grands Prix. It was due to be trialed at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix before its cancellation. During qualifying for these races, teams were required to use the hard-compound tyres in the first segment of qualifying, the medium-coumpound in the second segment and the soft-compound in the third and final segment. Teams are usually free to choose the tyre compound that they run during qualifying.
Sprint events.
The sprint format was held at six Grands Prix in 2023, compared to three in and . During sprint weekends, teams were given a broader choice of parts that they are permitted to change under "parc fermé" conditions.
The event structure for sprint events was altered. Sprint weekends consisted of a single practice session on Friday, followed by the qualifying session which determined the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix. On Saturday, a new qualifying session called "sprint shootout", in place of the old second practice session, was run, determining the grid for the sprint which took place on Saturday afternoons. The Grand Prix took place on Sunday. The new sprint shootout qualifying was shorter than traditional qualifying: the first segment of sprint qualifying (SQ1) was 12 minutes, the second segment (SQ2) was 10 minutes, and the third segment (SQ3) was 8 minutes long, down from 18, 15 and 12 minutes respectively for qualifying for the Grand Prix. New tyres were mandatory for each phase, with a single set of mediums for each of SQ1 and SQ2, and a single set of softs for SQ3.
The tyre rules for sprint shootout were modified for the second sprint weekend of the season at the Austrian Grand Prix, enabling drivers and teams who made it through to SQ3 to use any set of soft tyres, whereas they were previously required to use a new set of soft tyres. The change was