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The 2023 F1 season ended the same way as it began, with Max Verstappen dominating another race at the front of the grid. The Dutchman had such superiority of machinery over everyone that he was just able to cruise through in most races and win as many as 19 races in the recently concluded season.
Having said that, the season has some very impressive drives from others as well. There were many races where the drivers were able to stitch together what could be called a perfect weekend.
In this feature, we're going to take a look at the top five drives for the 2023 F1 season.
#5 Esteban Ocon (2023 F1 Monaco GP)
The first name that pops up on this list when we talk about the best drives of the season is Esteban Ocon's podium drive in Monaco. One of the major reasons behind putting this drive on this list is that the driver truly exceeded what the car was capable of that weekend.
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The Alpine, at no point, had shown a capability of being a podium contender that weekend. To add to this, it had not shown a capability of being better than the Mercedes or Ferraris for that matter. This is precisely why Ocon's qualifying lap stands out.
No one expected an Alpine to put together a lap that was so close to the pole position but that was precisely what made it brilliant. Ocon followed it up on Sunday with a brilliant drive that made sure he got the podium as well.
#4 Alex Albon (2023 F1 Italian GP)
When it comes to maximizing the strengths of the car and at the same time, minimizing whatever weaknesses are there, Alex Albon did a great job in Monza this season.
The fact that Williams was able to beat the McLaren at Ferrari's home track owing to a superior straightline speed was astounding to watch and the credit should go to Albon for making that happen.
The driver fended off both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri throughout the race and in the end, it yielded an impressive result in a car that was quite clearly underdeveloped compared to its rivals.
#3 Carlos Sainz (2023 F1 Singapore GP)
One can't keep the only non-Red Bull win out of this list. The weekend in Singapore came at the perfect time for Carlos Sainz as he was in the midst of a purple patch where everything clicked for him but nothing did for his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc. The weekend in Monza showed that Sainz had a slight edge over Leclerc, and it was exemplified in this race.
The Spaniard secured pole position from his teammate, that was the first part of putting together an impressive weekend, and then on Sunday, it was a brilliant defensive drive that saw Sainz hold up the challenge from the Mercedes as well as McLaren drivers.
Sainz peaked that weekend and put together his most impressive weekend of the season. In the end, he was duly rewarded as well.
#2 Charles Leclerc (2023 F1 Las Vegas GP)
This was one weekend where Charles Leclerc truly showed what he was made of. The driver secured pole position with a supreme lap. In the race when Max Verstappen got the jump on him, he didn't lose his head. He managed his tires well and continued to hunt the Red Bull driver down to eventually pass him later in the stint.
Once the safety car ruined his chances of a win, Leclerc was still determined to extract the best possible result, which was achieved by him making the late braking move on Sergio Perez on the very last lap of the race.
#1 Fernando Alonso (2023 F1 Brazilian GP)
The race in Sau Paulo was what many would call a moment where Fernando Alonso reminded everyone of his driving skills.
After an early season high where he was getting podiums for fun, the later part of the season saw Aston Martin struggle, and with that, we had the Spaniard's podium run come to an end.
The F1 race in Brazil was a rarity where Alonso had the advantage of a car that was the third-best on the grid behind McLaren and Red Bull. He spent the entire race calculating how he would thwart the challenge from Sergio Perez in his Red Bull.
In the end, it came down to saving enough tires for a late onslaught and overtake. It was impressive from Fernando and helped him secure a much-deserved podium.
