The 2023 F1 Brazilian GP has three different teams on the podium with Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Fernando Alonso representing their respective squads. The race weekend was interesting but it was also surprising in the manner in which the pecking order unraveled.
Now, this piece is not about the race weekend or the driver. We've already covered those. This piece is about the teams and how they performed. More often than not, even though a race result over a weekend is dependent on how well the team does, the driver takes most of the accolades.
In this feature, we rank how the teams performed over the weekend. So without further ado, let's get straight to it.
The ratings will be based on the following criteria:
- It will measure the performance over the entire weekend
- It will take a look at what was the potential result and what was achieved
- It will take a look at which teams were able to excel in certain areas like race management and the other technical aspects
2023 F1 Brazilian GP: Ranking the teams
#10 Haas
The Haas duo started the sprint on medium tires. Despite their drivers being the only ones on mediums while everyone else was on softs, they were the first to suffer tire degradation. The American team would be praying that Ferrari produces a strong car next season and they can benefit from the trickle-down effect that tends to occur between the two.
#9 Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo had another anonymous weekend as the cars were just away from the limelight and had nothing going for them. The F1 Brazilian GP also ended early for the team with the double DNF.
#8 Williams
Points were possible for Alex Albon if he had survived the first corner crash but that was not to be. The team lacked pace in the sprint and could not capitalize on a chaotic F1 Brazilian GP.
#7 Mercedes
The worst weekend for Mercedes in terms of performance this season. In all likelihood, Mercedes went down the wrong path in its car set-up and the result was in front of everyone. George Russell didn't even finish the main race while Lewis Hamilton could only muster a P8 finish.
#6 Alpine
Alpine would be happy with the double-point finish in the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP but the car lacked pace overall and was just not to the standards of what the team expects.
#5 AlphaTauri
AlphaTauri seem to be finding pace out of nowhere and the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP was an example of that. The race on Sunday should have yielded more points but the team still managed to impress overall.
#4 Ferrari
Overall a disappointing weekend for Ferrari considering what happened with Charles Leclerc. A podium was maybe a distant dream in the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP but a top 5 result was on. The team lost a big opportunity to close the gap to Mercedes.
#3 McLaren
Securing McLaren's second pole position in sprint races, Lando Norris represented the team well. However, there was one part where the team fell short and it was the second driver. Oscar Piastri's lack of results for the third race in a row hurt the team's overall quest to close the gap to the front.
#2 Red Bull
It should not come as a surprise that Red Bull were the second-best team in the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP. Winning both races without much of a hassle and getting a P3 and P4 with Sergio Perez was a strong result for the team.
#1 Aston Martin
Now this might come as a surprise because Max Verstappen won the races, but there's logic to this as well. The Aston Martin was at best the third-fastest car and what that means is there are at least four drivers that should be quicker.
Despite Sergio Perez having a much faster car in the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP, he wasn't able to pass Fernando Alonso. Not only that, even the team's strategy wizard was unable to weave her magic. When we take all of that together, we realize that Aston Martin's result was the team overachieving while Red Bull's overall result was an underachievement.