Even though Max Verstappen has continued his dominant form into this season by taking five wins out of seven, there has still been a few surprises up and down the grid. RacingNews365.com takes a look at some of the drivers and teams that are doing well so far in the 2023 Formula 1 season.
Aston Martin
By far the biggest surprise of the 2023 season has been Aston Martin's resurgence to the front of the grid. The team has always stated its intentions of being at the forefront of F1 since the takeover by Lawrence Stroll, initially taking design inspiration from the Mercedes W11 before moving to their own car concept for 2022. Enough learning at the beginning of the season and effective use of their resources in the off-season has enabled Aston Martin to produce a genuine podium contender at the hands of Fernando Alonso. Without the pre-season injury from Lance Stroll and some bad luck at a couple of races, you can be sure that they would be comfortably ahead of Mercedes in the Constructors' Championship on points.
Lewis Hamilton
It's rare that Lewis Hamilton gets outscored by teammates in F1, but that's exactly what George Russell achieved in 2022. He's just the second teammate to do so after he took Mercedes only victory in the troublesome W13. It was clear that the pressure was on for 2023 for Hamilton to deliver, and he's got off to a good start with two podiums. You can tell that Hamilton has spent much of 2022 developing the car to suit his needs, as he is able to get into the setup window that prevents unforced errors a lot quicker than Russell. As their car improves over the course of the season, it is entirely likely that Mercedes will be able to challenge for at least one race win on pure pace. Your bet should probably be on Hamilton to produce it.
Yuki Tsunoda
The 2023 season was branded make or break for Yuki Tsunoda after a difficult first few years in F1. He made a lot of unforced errors in his debut season, which often led to angry outbursts over team radio. After clocking up five driving reprimands last year, he was handed a 10-place grid penalty at Monza due to clocking up too many driving reprimands. Questions over his future loomed, especially with Nyck de Vries being signed by AlphaTauri. But so far Tsunoda has scored the teams only points of the season and came close on many other occasions, including the most recent race in Spain.
Zhou Guanyu
A look at the Drivers' standings tells you all you need to know about Zhou Guanyu's season compared to last year. In just seven races he's scored four points and looks on course to eclipse his total of six from 2022. The Alfa Romeo driver has put in some solid performances so far, holding his own against experienced teammate Valtteri Bottas. It's a shame that he could not contest his home race in China due to Covid restrictions, but hopefully that will happen at a race in the future.
Williams
Even though they have just one point to their name, Williams have regularly shown they have the pace to get into Q3 on occasion. The more experienced Alex Albon has managed to produce more Q3 appearances than Logan Sargeant, which is to be expected while the American gets up to speed with F1. Had it not been for a brake problem in Saudi Arabia or an ERS mode change that caused his shunt in Melbourne, Albon would likely have racked up more points for Williams.
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