Formula 1: Good month, bad month — October 2023

Good Month

Free at last
Otmar Szafnauer is finally free of the Gallic corporate nightmare that is Alpine. Extra-long holiday incoming.

Piastri podium
Piastri truly delivered on his promise by leading the Spa sprint and coming home second.

Pulling the strings
Bizarre, bombastic and arguably in bad taste – but strangely watchable. No, not Lewis Hamilton’s trousers, but André Rieu’s pre-race Zandvoort show.

F1 lawyers
Massa’s 2008 F1 title legal case means there’s only going to be one winner either way – his advocate.

Yuki Rocket
AlphaTauri’s Japanese hotshot has been running like clockwork in 2023, with another point scored in Belgium.

Bad Month

Zak‘s frown 
While it’s all coming up roses on the McLaren F1 side, IndyCar star Alex Palou has managed to slip through the Big Z’s fingers.

Sarge feels the strain
Sargeant secured the best qualifying position for a US driver since Michael Andretti in 1993, then crashed. Consistent at least.

Get on with it
Still no word on new F1 team entries – clearly some serious wrangling going on behind the scenes.

Salty stewards
Hamilton was penalised for a slight brush with Pérez in the Spa sprint – we thought they were supposed to be racing? Pointless.

Hungry Haas
Previously Haas was qualifying well but eating its tyres mid-race – now it can’t even do the former.