Brit watch: 2023 season review

With the 2023 motorsport season drawing to a close, it’s time to take stock and see how the British drivers and riders have performed over the past nine months. From F1’s established UK superstars to upcoming two-wheeled talent in Moto2, here is your Brit Watch 2023 season in review. 

F1Lewis Hamilton Drivers’ standings: 3rd
Points: 234
Best finish: 2nd
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 6

A revitalised Lewis Hamilton headed the charge against the Red Bulls and even came close to besting Sergio Perez to the runner’s up spot. In a year of unprecedented domination by the Milton Keynes team, that is some statement from the Stevenage native. He also extended his own pole position record to 104 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, pipping Max Verstappen by just three-thousandths of a second. 

After a challenging 2022 season in which he finished sixth in the standings, Lewis was back to his relentlessly consistent best in 2023, only failing to finish outside of the top six on four occasions throughout the year. Despite not adding to his win tally, the seven-time champion’s six podiums rightfully earned him the ‘best of the rest’ title behind the all-conquering Red Bulls. With the 2021 title decider still fresh in the mind for both Toto Wolff and Lewis, they will be targeting a resumption of the hunt for that elusive eighth drivers’ title next season.

READ MORE: Top five Silverstone moments: Lewis Hamilton

George Russell Drivers’ standings: 8th
Points: 175
Best finish: 3rd
Best qualifying: 2nd
Podiums: 2

George Russell emerged from a turbulent season, and by his own admission ‘one of the worst seasons of my career’, as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One® Team’s saviour in the Abu Dhabi finale. With Hamilton languishing in the minor points-paying positions, it was down to the King’s Lynn driver to salvage Round 23 for the team and score enough points to best Ferrari in the Constructors’ standings. He did just that, following a tense last few laps keeping within a five-second time penalty gap behind Perez. 

The 2023 season was plagued by bad luck, most notably a poorly timed red flag after pitting – dropping him from first to seventh – and an engine failure in Australia, as well as a last-lap brush with the barrier denying him a podium in Singapore. A pair of podiums in Spain and Abu Dhabi as well as several front-row starts served as potent reminders of the pace George showed in 2022 and throughout his career. He’ll be hoping for a more consistent 2024.

READ MORE: Top nine very British Radio moments: George Russell

Lando Norris Drivers’ standings: 6th
Points: 205
Best finish: 2nd
Best qualifying: 2nd
Podiums: 7

If you judged Lando Norris’ season purely on the first eight races, it would be a particularly poor one. The McLaren was arguably one of the slowest cars on the grid in the early stages of 2023 and with four P17 finishes from the first seven Grand Prix the rest of the season looked bleak for Lando and the team. But team papaya didn’t take it lying down, and with increased development time, they turned the tides during a pivotal race weekend on home soil. 

Having led the field for several laps at Silverstone, Lando went on to finish second in the British Grand Prix, effectively restarting the team’s season. Seven podiums later he finished just one point shy of fourth in the overall standings, certainly a second half of the season to be proud of. Both Lando and the team will be aiming to build on this success for next year.

READ MORE: Top seven helmet designs: Lando Norris

Formula 2

Oliver Bearman Drivers’ standings: 6th
Points: 130
Best finish: 1st
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 5

The 2023 season brought the name Oliver Bearman to the fore on the biggest stage yet. The Brit’s career has been on a steep upward trajectory since winning the ADAC Formula 4 and Italian Formula 4 Championships that season. He then followed that up with third in the FIA Formula 3 Championship the following year. In 2023, he was welcomed to Formula 2 paddock and immediately impressed. 

Together with the Prema Racing team, Bearman took an emphatic double victory at Baku – the only driver to win both the Sprint and Feature races on the same weekend that season – and followed that up with Feature Race wins in Spain and Monza later in the year. His 2024 schedule comprises another Formula 2 campaign and more F1 practice session seat time looking ahead to a potential step up in 2025.

Formula 3Zak O’SullivanDrivers’ standings: 2nd 
Points: 119
Best finish: 1st
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 5

Like his F2 compatriot, Zak O’Sullivan raced for a second and final season of FIA Formula 3 with Prema Racing, and although his campaign didn’t yield the coveted title, the young British driver garnered more race victories than anyone else to claim the runner-up spot in the championship. 

In a particularly dominant Hungarian Feature Race, O’Sullivan claimed pole position, fastest lap and the race win which marked his fourth victory, matching the F3 win record held by Frederik Vesti, Dennis Hauger and Jack Doohan. Those performances didn’t go unnoticed, with O’Sullivan signing to race with ART Grand Prix in Formula 2 in 2024.

F1 Academy Abbi PullingDrivers’ standings: 5th
Points: 175
Best finish: 2nd
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 7

Abbi Pulling’s 2023 season was one defined by consistency. F1 Academy’s first-ever race weekend wouldn’t fall in her favour, however, as the first two pole positions of the season – which Abbi claimed convincingly – were cruelly ruled out due to a technical infringement.

Other notable highlights throughout the year included two double-podium events at Catalunya and Monza with the #10 driver also claiming pole position at the Italian circuit. Although her 2024 plans are still to be confirmed, it seems likely Pulling will return to F1 Academy and look to build on an impressive 2023.

READ MORE: Abbi Pulling on F1 Academy, Alpine and much more

Jessica Edgar Drivers’ standings: 8th
Points: 114
Best finish: 1st
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 4

Like her fellow F1 Academy racer, Jessica Edgar stood on the podium multiple times in 2023. Edgar neatly bookended her campaign with third in Round 1 at the Red Bull Ring, and came on song at the Circuit of the Americas to take the final pole position and final victory of the season. An announcement regarding Edgar’s 2024 plans is yet to be made. 

READ MORE: Jessica Edgar on F1 Academy

Moto2Jake Dixon Drivers’ standings: 4th
Points: 204
Best finish: 1st
Best qualifying: 1st
Podiums: 5

Having raced in the MotoGP feeder series for five full seasons, Jake Dixon is something of a veteran but 2023 saw him reach new heights, claiming his first victory and subsequently becoming one of the most in-demand riders in the paddock.

Spectacular rides at Assen and Catalunya catapulted Dixon into the spotlight and so, the rumour mill began turning. Although the much talked about MotoGP ride never materialised for 2024, Dixon looks to be in a strong position to challenge for the Moto2 title next year and put himself firmly in the frame for a MotoGP ride.

Indy NXTJamie Chadwick

Drivers’ standings: 12th
Points: 262
Best finish: 6th
Best qualifying: 9th
Podiums: 0

A first season of stateside racing for Jamie Chadwick provided a predictably steep learning curve in an ultra-competitive series. In the first six events, she came frustratingly close to a top-ten finish on two occasions. Still, once she’d broken that particular duck at Mid-Ohio, the results came thick and fast culminating with a sixth-place finish at Portland at the penultimate event.

As the fourth-highest-scoring rookie, there were plenty of positives to take from Chadwick’s first season in the series and she is set to return for another Indy NXT campaign in 2024.