The insatiable Verstappen wins the season finale

With his 15th win of the season and a success rate of 72.72 percent, Max Verstappen crowned a triumphant season for Red Bull Racing in the final Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Dutchman confidently drove away from the blemish of last year’s scandal final. In the small final between Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc for second place in the world championship, Monegasse saved Ferrari’s honor; for the first time, the Red Bull strategists allowed themselves to be taken by surprise.

Not only Verstappen’s triumph, but also Perez’s misadventure is a good reflection of a racing year that was characterized by a radical reform of the rules: it was rarely dramatic, almost always exciting. Formula 1 is booming like never before, and the mammoth 2023 season with 24 races that begins in March promises to be even more interesting from a sporting perspective.

Mercedes only became competitive towards the end of the season

This is true despite the superiority of Verstappen and Red Bull Racing. The world championship title in the individual and in the team classification for the Austro-British team is essentially based on the once again brilliant vehicle construction by the design genius Adrian Newey. He spent two years tinkering with the suction effect car concept, consulting 40-year-old racing chronicles. The aerodynamics specialist knew about the dangerous hopping effect of racing cars – known as “bouncing” – and avoided it.

The former all-time winner Mercedes went too far with its Silver Arrow revolution and only regained its competitive edge on the home stretch of the racing year. Ferrari, which was a real “Numero uno” with plenty of engine power at the beginning of the season, stumbled over a number of strategic, driving and technical errors. No wonder Mattia Binotto’s team boss post is once again up for debate. The breakdowns of the others proved to be Red Bull’s strength – the three different vehicle concepts of the top trio, which stand for a new variety in the premier class of motorsport, which has been rather deadlocked for years, are to be appreciated.

The fact that things will get tighter again next year is not only due to the learning effect. The budget restriction, which the World Automobile Federation (FIA) has shown toughness in enforcing, further restricts the development opportunities for the group’s racing teams. Red Bull has to make do with the fewest wind tunnel hours. The regulations automatically punish the best in class from the previous year, in the current case Red Bull is deducted even more development time than fines for the excessive budget.

A higher performance density was the declared goal of the change in the regulations. Verstappen’s lonely journey at the top on Sunday could not hide the fact that the reform was successful in principle, even if the Dutchman is already thinking of consolidating the new era with a title hat-trick in the newly defined orange area.

Because it’s even closer than at the end between Ferrari and Mercedes in the chasing group and in the middle of the rankings, where every improvement in prize money at the end of the season means a jump in the double-digit million range. Renault offshoot Alpine kept the upper hand over McLaren, while Alfa Romeo had to tremble for sixth until the final lap of the final race as Sebastian Vettel clinched an honor point for Aston Martin and the Brits in his 299th and final Formula 1 race as a result drew level with the Hinwilers in the final standings. The better individual placings of Valtteri Bottas and Guangyu Zhou narrowly tipped the scales in favor of Alfa Romeo.

The rule reform led to significantly more overtaking manoeuvres

The midfield duels were led by the drivers with tremendous verve, there was often more drama than at the front. This also has to do with the fact that the technical changes to the new generation of vehicles have been successful in one respect in particular: drivers can suddenly drive closer to the opponents in front of them again and dare to overtake more often than ever. “Racing has definitely improved,” said world champion Verstappen, “overall, the new rules have proven their worth.”

At least they point in the right direction. The experience from the first season with the new regulations should give more security, especially in terms of set-up. Because the whims of the tires are still the decisive factor, the engine performance remains frozen from now on.

Overall, the number of overtaking maneuvers had increased from 28 to 37 after only two thirds of the season. With that, the main promise of increasing the action was fulfilled. Just recently, Stefano Domenicali enthused Wall Street analysts about the wheel-to-wheel duels: “That’s what we wanted.” The Italian, who has long been in charge of Ferrari, also knows that opponents have made things a bit too easy for Red Bull and reckons this march through will not be repeated.

Max Verstappen said after his triumph in Abu Dhabi that it will be tough to repeat this season. In doing so, he somewhat disguises the high level of stability in his own team – and above all his ambition. Being insatiable is one of its main characteristics. Approaching and passing are two completely different things in this sport.