GrandPrix247 2023 F1 Driver of the Year: Max Verstappen

How fast the year went by, and we are back giving out our awards, starting with the Driver of the Year, and unsurprisingly, it is Verstappen.

Now that may not go down well with those who believe it's the car and not Max, or those that were disenchanted with him winning every weekend.

Now we can understand the predictability argument, but that was also the case when Lewis Hamilton was winning everything, or Sebastian Vettel before him, so this remains a subjective topic.

And since we mentioned Hamilton and Vettel, both of them share one thing with Verstappen, they all took the great F1 machines put at their disposal and delivered the maximum results, something all their teammates failed to do at the time.

This is exactly what Verstappen did in 2023. He took a great car - the RB19 - and elevated its performance with his talent behind the wheel delivering results with metronomic consistency every weekend. Sergio Perez didn't.

He had a few hiccups along the way, Jeddah, Bahrain, and Singapore, but then no one is perfect no matter how hard they try, and Max definitely tried.

In the end, the Triple F1 Champion won an unprecedented 19 races, breaking several records on his way, and what made him more impressive was that again he didn't always need to start from pole position to win. He was able to do so regardless of where they lined him up on the grid, a mark of a great driver.

To add to that, Verstappen didn't seem to be willing to slow down at any moment. He was relentless all season, winning is the only acceptable outcome for him.

And despite his dominance, the Dutchman had to contend with some challenges here and there, his fight for pole in Monaco with Fernando Alonso springing to mind, and most of the time, the Red Bull ace prevailed, delivering when it mattered, his pole in Sao Paulo a clear example under mixed weather conditions.

While his rivals rose to the occasion every now and then, none of them could do that consistently, as they just took turns trying to beat him.

The numbers gave us tangible proof why Verstappen deserves this award, but there was this X-factor in his performances that also supports our decision.

On a final note, the RB19 may have arguably been the best car on the 2023 F1 grid, but it didn't drive itself, Max did impeccably, and with the finesse of a true and worthy F1 World Champ who has only just got going!