Who’s in the cockpit in 2023?
Photo: Dan Istitene – Formula 1 (Getty Images)
It feels like the checkered flag has only just fallen on the 2022 Formula 1 season, but we’re now staring head on at a whole new year of top-tier motorsport. The car launches are beginning, the race calendar is confirmed and the driver lineups are set in stone.
So, with less than a month until the lights go out in Bahrain for the first race of the 2023 Formula 1 season, we thought it was time to get familiar with the 20 drivers we’ll be cheering for.
This year, there are three world champions on the grid, three new drivers and one returning racer, all set to fight it out for race wins and the ultimate crown as F1 World Champion.
Photo: Dan Istitene – Formula 1 (Getty Images)
Nationality: The Netherlands
Team: Red Bull Racing
Career Highlight: 2021 and 2022 Formula 1 World Champion
Now a double world champion, Max Verstappen stays with Red Bull Racing in 2023 with the hopes of adding a third world title to his collection. Since his first F1 race in 2015, Verstappen has racked up 35 race wins, 77 podiums and 2,011.5 world championship points.
Photo: Cristiano Barni ATPImages (Getty Images)
Nationality: Mexico
Team: Red Bull Racing
Career Highlight: Four Formula 1 race wins
Verstappen’s team mate in 2023 will once again be Mexican racer Sergio Pérez. The 33-year-old racer has competed for three teams since joining F1 in 2011, including Sauber and Force India, which is now known as Aston Martin.
Photo: Joe Portlock – Formula 1 (Getty Images)
Nationality: Monaco
Team: Ferrari
Career Highlight: 2017 Formula 2 World Champion
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be hoping for better fortunes in 2023 after a troublesome season last year. After notching up an impressive 24 podiums and five race wins in his career so far, the Monegasque driver will be hoping for a competitive and reliable car from Ferrari this year if he wants to win his first F1 world title.
Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
Nationality: Spain
Team: Ferrari
Career Highlight: Won the 2022 British Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz scored his first F1 race win in 2022 and will be hoping to add a few more to his tally this year. The racer, son of rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr., joined Ferrari in 2021 after stints with Mclaren, Renault (now Alpine) and Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri).
Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
Nationality: United Kingdom
Team: Mercedes AMG Petronas
Career Highlight: 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 Formula 1 World Champion
Statistically the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time, Sir Lewis Hamilton has an incredible 4,405.5 world championship points, 191 podium finishes, 103 race wins and seven world titles to his name. After a troublesome car hampered his efforts in 2022, Hamilton and his Mercedes team will be hoping for a comeback this year.
Photo: Chris Graythen (Getty Images)
Nationality: United Kingdom
Team: Mercedes AMG Petronas
Career Highlight: 2018 Formula 2 World Champion
24-year-old George Russell is regarded as the next star of British motorsport thanks to his record in junior series, such as Formula 2. He also impressed with his consistency when stuck at Williams and claimed his first race win last year at the Brazilian Grand Prix
Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto (Getty Images)
Nationality: United Kingdom
Team: McLaren
Career Highlight: Pole position at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix
Lando Norris will race his 100th grand prix this year, specifically in Qatar when F1 races there later in 2023. Over the 82 events he has raced so far, Norris has claimed six podiums, five fastest laps and put his McLaren car on pole position at the 2021 Russian Grand prix.
Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)
Nationality: Australia
Team: Mclaren
Career Highlight: 2021 Formula 2 World Champion
The first new face of 2023 will be Australian racer Oscar Piastri, who joins McLaren after a year on the sidelines with Alpine. The young Aussie has an impressive junior career under his belt, which included winning the Formula 2 world title in 2021; his rise to F1 seemed imminent from that moment on.
Photo: Dan Istitene – Formula 1 (Getty Images)
Nationality: France
Team: Alpine
Career Highlight: Won position the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix
2023 will mark Esteban Ocon’s fourth season with Alpine, having joined the squad back in 2020 when it raced as Renault and had one of the best liveries of all time. Since then, he’s earned the French team its first win since it raced a Lotus back in 2013.
Photo: Alpine Cars
Nationality: France
Team: Alpine
Career Highlight: Won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix
Joining Ocon at Alpine this year is fellow Frenchman Pierre Gasly. After rising through the ranks of the Red Bull junior program and racing for Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, Gasly is breaking away from the energy drink maker for the first time. He brings race-winning knowhow to the side in 2023, having won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix for AlphaTauri.
Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)
Nationality: Spain
Team: Aston Martin
Career Highlight: 2006 and 2007 Formula 1 World Champion
One of the greatest, if unluckiest, drivers on the grid is heading to yet another new team in 2023. Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will race for Aston Martin this year, meaning he’s now one of the few drivers to have driven cars powered by Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda engines through his career.
Photo: Mario Renzi – Formula 1 (Getty Images)
Nationality: Canada
Team: Aston Martin
Career Highlight: Pole position at the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix
Partnering Alonso this year is Canadian racer Lance Stroll, who’s dad Lawrence is the owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team. Stroll had success in his early days, winning the Formula 3 championship in 2016 and claiming a podium in his first year in F1.
Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP (Getty Images)
Nationality: Finland
Team: Alfa Romeo Sauber
Career Highlight: 10 Formula 1 race wins
Vallteri Bottas entered his first F1 race 10 years ago, at the 2013 Australian Grand Prix where he raced for Williams. Since then, he was an integral part of the most successful F1 team of all time, founded his own coffee roasting company and then switched to Alfa Romeo to try his hand at leading a team.
Photo: Xin Yuewei/Xinhua (Getty Images)
Nationality: China
Team: Alfa Romeo Sauber
Career Highlight: 2021 Formula 3 Asia Champion
23-year-old Zhou Guanyu became the first Chinese Formula 1 driver ever when he signed up to race for Alfa Romeo in 2022. During his first season, the rookie driver managed three top-10 finishes.
Photo: Rudy Carezzevoli (Getty Images)
Nationality: Japan
Team: AlphaTauri
Career Highlight: 2018 Formula 4 Japan Champion
Back for his third season with the Red Bull junior team, Japanese racer Yuki Tsunoda now finds himself as the side’s more experienced racer after Gasly jumped ship. Tsunoda will be looking to impress his bosses this year, after flashes of brilliance were shrouded by heavy crashes in his first two years for the team.
Photo: Ben Stansall / AFP (Getty Images)
Nationality: The Netherlands
Team: AlphaTauri
Career Highlight: 2021 Formula E World Champion
After impressing onlookers when he sat in for Alex Albon in Italy ast year, Formula E champion Nyck de Vries is making the switch to Formula 1 in 2023. The Dutch driver is one of the oldest F1 rookies in recent years, having already forged an impressive career through his Formula 2 and Formula E record.
Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)
Nationality: Denmark
Team: Haas F1 Team
Career Highlight: Pole Position at the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix
This time last year, Danish driver Kevin Magnussen was prepping for a season of endurance racing, before the Haas team sacked Russian driver Nikita Mazepan and rang him up asking if he wanted a job. By the end of the season, he’d managed to put his Haas car on pole position and picked up six top 10 finishes over the year.
Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)
Nationality: Germany
Team: Haas F1 Team
Career Highlight: 2015 Le Mans Winner
Returning to racing in 2023 after a few years out of the cockpit is German racer Nico Hülkenberg. The Haas driver entered his first race way back in 2010 and has since raced for teams including Williams, Force India, Sauber and Renault. He spent the last two years serving as reserve driver for Racing Point and Aston Martin, stepping into the driver’s seat on four occasions for the two teams.
Photo: Williams Racing
Nationality: Thailand
Team: Williams
Career Highlight: Third place at the 2020 Tuscan and Bahrain Grands Prix
Heading into his second year with British team Williams is Thai driver Alex Albon. Despite being named Rookie of the Year in 2019, Albon’s F1 career has been rocky, to say the least. He joined F1 with Toro Rosso, before making the step up to Red Bull to replace Pierre Gasly mid-season. But, after a year and a half, he was dropped by Red Bull and spent a year on the sidelines. Now, he’s looking to rebuild his reputation by helping rebuild that of his team as well.
Photo: Williams Racing
Nationality: United States
Team: Williams
Career Highlight: Won two Formula 2 Feature race in the UK and Austria.
America’s first full-time F1 driver in 16 years will take to the grid with Williams this year. Logan Sargeant is the first U.S. F1 racer since Scott Speed drove for Toro Rosso back in 2007. The young driver joins Williams after an impressive junior career, which saw him win two Formula 2 races on his way to fourth in the drivers’ standings.
Keyword: Meet Every Driver Racing in Formula 1 in 2023