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The 2023 F1 grid is arguably one of the finest that the sport has had in a long, long time. Even with Nicholas Latifi leaving the 20-drive group, you can see some of the most scintillating talent in the sport when you take a glance at the grid.
In Red Bull's Max Verstappen, you have arguably one of the best talents to ever drive a Formula 1 car and the current leader in the championship rankings. You move to Aston Martin, you have a 41-year-old driver and bonafide legend in Fernando Alonso, who is still an elite presence on the grid.
At Mercedes, you have arguably the biggest star to ever come out of F1 in Lewis Hamilton.
This is the kind of depth of talent that the sport has and this is the kind of talent that makes you marvel at the condition of the current iteration of Formula 1. Having said that, however, there are still a few drivers you look at who make you question whether someone else might just be a better fit for that team.
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Are these drivers are getting the best out of the cars they have or would a replacement simply do a better job?
This is where the term 'dead weight' comes in. The term usually refers to something that weighs you down in such a manner that you are unable to perform optimally.
In F1 terms, dead weight would be referred to a driver who is part of the team, but unable to get the best out of the car that he's given.
In this feature, we will be looking at the top three drivers who seem to be weighing down their respective teams from what they could potentially achieve. So without further ado, let's get straight to it.
Top 3 drivers who are dead weights for their respective F1 teams
#3 Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas was picked up by Alfa Romeo to play the role of the experienced driver who guides the team forward and scores points whenever possible. He did just that last season and many would argue that if it wasn't for him, the team might not have clinched P6 in the championship standings.
However, the 2023 F1 season has seen Bottas suffer a noticeable drop from the level at which he performed in previous years in the sport.
He has had far too many howlers in terms of his performance over a weekend. The former Mercedes driver has also found it hard to keep up with teammate Guanyu Zhou, who is essentially a pay driver at the team.
To add to this, many fans and critics seem to feel that Bottas has been having a lot more fun off the grid. The driver has been seen exploring new places, seems more relaxed, and laughs a lot more than he used to during his Mercedes stint.
All of this is great until the perception that it is affecting your driving begins making waves. There's been a noticeable drop in performance from Valteri Bottas this season and Andreas Seidl might be wondering if he is the right one to usher in the Audi era at the team.
#2 Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo
There are two ways to look at Guanyu Zhou's 2023 F1 season.
On one side, you're looking at a driver who is in his second season and slowly but surely starting to get the hang of the sport. On the other side, you see a driver who is still very inconsistent and can't string results together.
On his good days, Zhou has beaten his teammate, the more experienced Valterri Bottas, and sometimes even shown him up like he did in Barcelona this season. On his bad days though, which have proven to be a little too frequent, he has been far from impressive.
If things are not going his way, the F1 weekend unravels far too quickly with Zhou. Plus, to add to this, Andreas Seidl needs to question if a pay driver is the best option for a team that is soon going to be Audi.
Zhou is a good driver, but is he someone that could become a potential F1 title contender or even a podium challenger? The answer to that at the moment is no and it's hard to disagree that the Chinese driver has been a dead weight that Alfa Romeo/Sauber has been carrying since last season.
#1 Lance Stroll | Aston Martin
Before we say anything about Lance Stroll, it might be wise to just go through some of his statistics this season.
The Canadian driver has scored zero podiums for Aston Martin this season, while his teammate, the aging but dependable Fernando Alonso has five. Stroll has zero front row starts this season, while Alonso has three.
The former finds himself eighth in the championship standings. Meanwhile, Alonso currently occupies the third position. Stroll has 35 points to his name, while Alonso has 99.
And finally, Lance has outqualified and outraced Alonso just once this season. Even even in that race, the Spaniard had a damaged floor and opted not to attack the Canadian in Barcelona.
Sure, it's hard not to admit that the Aston Martin team would not even exist if Lance Stroll was not in F1. His father has put all his money in this project so that his son can driver a competitive car, which holds immense importance for the team as well.
Having said that, will Aston Martin perform much better with a different or more capable driver? The answer, in the eyes of many, is yes. Has Stroll's presence proven to be a hindrance in the team's success this season? Yes, it likely has. And that's the bottom line.
At the end of the day, Stroll might be a decent driver and deserves to be on the F1 grid. However, does he deserve to drive the second-fastest car on the grid? It's hard to argue that he does given his performances this season.
