VOTE: Who were the luckiest team in 2023?

Norris en Pérez in gesprek in de paddock in Bakoe — Photo: © LAT Images

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Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Sunday 31 December 2023 08:27 Updated: 11:47

F1 is not immune to the old saying 'you make your own luck' but sometimes the element of fortune perhaps is kinder to some teams over others.

All teams over a season can be expected to have highs and lows but when it comes to getting a slice of luck, which outfit got the biggest serving of it throughout 2023?

We're currently in the process of our annual awards season as voted for by you, the GPFans, and here is our next award category we're getting you to vote on our list of luckiest F1 team.

Assessing the candidates...

Not satisfied with dominating 2022, Red Bull would have been delighted to know that not only had they built a competitive car with the RB19 for this year but that all their rivals would drop the ball in trying to catch them. A season where they could have feared being pegged back following their development being limited after costcap punishment instead went the complete opposite direction.

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McLaren though arguably did make gains on Red Bull, albeit well too late in the season to have any serious say in the championship. The first half of the campaign they were floundering near the bottom, but in-season development saw all their major upgrades hit bullseye - bringing them right to the front of the pack.

Speaking of taking major steps Williams also enjoyed a great season to move from last in 2022 up until seventh this term, but they were left hanging onto the place by the end of the season, only just eclipsing a late-season surge in performance from AlphaTauri by three points.

Alfa Romeo endured a difficult campaign but their dwindling fortunes now have an unexpected light heading their way in the near future with Audi ready to offer heavyweight backing to the team, who will revert to Sauber in 2024, from 2026.

Alpine may have looked anything but lucky in 2023, but given the dramatic cut in personnel behind the scenes and the team lacking any noticeable stability, they can count themselves fortunate to have only dropped behind McLaren and Aston Martin this term.