As the son of the legendary Gilles Villeneuve, the young Canadian certainly had the weight of the world on his shoulders when he entered the paddock for the first time in 1996 at Melbourne. But any pressure was soon shrugged off, as he took pole position ahead of Williams team-mate Damon Hill by two-tenths of a second. As he pulled away into the lead of the Grand Prix, a debut victory looked to be within reach… until Hill’s gradually browning ran wing became obvious: Villeneuve’s car was leaking oil and he had to let his team-mate through to take victory.
Season Review Awards: 2023's best F1 moments as voted by you
Awards
F1's 2023 world championship has seen records smashed across the board, and thrilling action was served up with it – you have picked the greatest moments of the year
Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images
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The thousands of votes are in and the results have been counted: we can now reveal the winners of the 2023 Motor Sport Season Review Awards.
After a record-breaking F1 campaign, you won’t be surprised to learn that Max Verstappen and Red Bull receive more accolades — despite strong support for Fernando Alonso’s performances during the season.
But there was recognition too for the thrilling Singapore Grand Prix, which uniquely didn’t feature a Red Bull driver on the top step of the podium, as well as for the moment Alonso brilliantly snatched the final podium place back from Sergio Perez in Brazil, plus a stunning choice for the photograph of the year and the selection of a new legend to join the Hall of Fame.
Scroll down to see this year’s results.
Driver of the year
Max Verstappen
In a year where Max Verstappen broke the all-time records for the most wins, points and consecutive wins in an F1 season, it was nigh-on impossible to ignore his achievements, as he went on to retain his championship for the second time.
The figures said it all: a record 19 grand prix victories in total — including a ten win streak from Miami to Monza; a record 1003 laps led; a record 575 points earned; and the biggest-ever winning margin of 290 points. He now stands as the third most-successful F1 driver in terms of victories, with this year’s wins pushing him past the tallies of Alain Prost and Sebastian Vettel. With 54 Grand Prix wins, he only sits behind behind Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
Yes, he had the dominant car, but the 26-year-old was on a different plane to team-mate Sergio Pérez. He qualified on pole for 52% of the year’s races — and won every single one — but also showed that he could roll up his sleeves and win wheel-to-wheel or strategic battles when fighting from behind.
Although several voters opted for the resurgent Fernando Alonso, Verstappen’s victory in this category was as resounding as his success on track.
F1 race of the year
Singapore Grand Prix
It was the race that finally broke the Red Bull stranglehold on the 2023 F1 season, but that’s not the only reason that the Singapore Grand Prix was far and away voted the race of the year. It was unpredictable from the word go, and came to a nail-biting conclusion as leader Carlos Sainz fended off two snarling Mercedes — by slowing down, which gave second-placed Lando Norris DRS assistance to defend.
Overtake of the year
Fernando Alonso on Sergio Perez in Sao Paulo
An EPIC battle for the final podium spot ⚔🥉 pic.twitter.com/l0gpdRHqpQ
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) November 5, 2023
This move wasn’t just the pick of voters; the experts were unanimous in selecting this dramatic battle in the closing laps of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix as the F1 overtake of 2023.
Alonso was in third place, with visions of another podium place when Perez closed in on him during the final stage of the Brazilian race. Keeping the Red Bull behind the Aston Martin was a tall order, and it proved thrilling to watch.
After several laps of gritty defence, Alonso eventually succumbed when Perez dived down the inside at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap. Even Alonso said that he thought he’d lost the place at that point, in a post-race interview. But a lap of ducking and diving behind the Red Bull showed he wasn’t giving up. As they began the final lap, instead trying to pass on the inside as Perez had done, Alonso remained behind, hoping to utilise his DRS advantage down the Reta Oposta straight.
A move to the left forced Perez to block Alonso, who switched to the right and, with the help of DRS, muscled his way through and shut the door before arriving at Turn 4.
Now it was Perez’s turn to try a last-gasp pass, which he lined up on the long climb to the finish line. In the slipstream of the Aston Martin, he edged closer and closer and closer. Across the line, it was anyone’s guess, but the photo finish revealed all: Alonso had edged it by just five-hundredths of a second.
“After the race, Alonso told me that he’d planned his energy delivery accordingly [so that he could pass at that particular part of the circuit], which was really impressive,” Alex Brundle told Motor Sport. “It only gets more impressive when you consider the context behind it: with the season that Aston Martin have had versus the season that Red Bull have had. It was just a remarkable piece of thinking.”
Photo of the year
Max Verstappen at Spa Francorchamps
Once more, the stunning scenery of Eau Rouge provided the perfect backdrop for a picture that captured the very essence of Formula 1 in 2023.
This shot of Max Verstappen’s sparking Red Bull by DPPI photographer Florent Gooden was most popular amongst voters in the photo of the year category.
“The picture is perfect – the photographer just snapped at exactly the right moment,” legendary photographer Paul-Henri Cahier told Motor Sport.
“You have the marks on the track caused by the plank underneath. [The apex] it’s like a paintbrush going off. The colours are beautiful, and it’s a great composition.
“It’s difficult to understand just how fast it is at the bottom of Eau Rouge. Photography will never render that – but this picture can give you can idea.
“Some places you love [to shoot at] because of the sensation you get, because it’s so spectacular. 130R at Suzuka, the exit of Casino in Monte Carlo, or this corner at Spa.”
F1 team of the year
Red Bull
The result here was unsurprising in a season run virtually to perfection by Red Bull. No car has ever been more dominant and no team has ever been more consistent than it was in 2023. The RB19 was head and shoulders above every other car on the grid, but the team wasn’t complacent: a 100% reliability record in races meant that neither car retired as a result of a fault in 22 rounds of racing, while pitwall strategy regularly outwitted any rivals who looked threatening.
The consistent pace of Max Verstappen made for a formidable package and although Sergio Perez struggled to keep pace with the world champion elect, he did score two early season victories of his own as well as two pole positions.
All told, Red Bull now possesses records for the most victories (both consecutive and total), the most points, the most sprint victories, the most laps led and the largest winning margin in an F1 season. It truly was one for the ages.
Hall of Fame entrant
Jacques Villeneuve
The votes were close, with Chris Amon narrowly missing out on a place in the Hall of Fame to Jacques Villeneuve, whose charismatic presence still stirs fans.
He finished second in Australia, and at the third round in Argentina, which was soon followed by a brilliant performance at the Nürburgring, where, despite qualifying almost a second off the pace, the rookie would lead Michael Schumacher across the line by seven-tenths of a second.
Three further victories at Silverstone, Hungary and Portugal for Villeneuve set a new record for the most wins ever achieved by a rookie driver, which was only equalled 11 years later by Lewis Hamilton. Hill took the drivers’ crown, but Villeneuve didn’t have to wait long. Exactly 365 days and seven race wins later, he became F1’s world champion of 1997, and — save for drivers who competed in the first 1950 season — the first to win a title after only two seasons; another record equalled by Hamilton in 2008.
Villeneuve raced in F1 until midway through the 2006 season – racing for BAR — but never again achieved the same success he found with Williams. Nevertheless, his bigger-than-life character and overwhelming pace is fondly remembered.