Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso could have been in the title race if not for Max Verstappen. Credit: Getty Images/GIUSEPPE CACACE
The bare facts about the 2023 Formula One World Championship cast a shadow over the sport's competitiveness. After 10 rounds, Max Verstappen is 99 points ahead of his nearest competitor, having won the last six races and eight out of ten this year. He has more points than Aston Martin, Ferrari or Mercedes.
However, look back and you will see an undefined competition that would be exciting if it were a championship fight. With that in mind, we took a look at what the F1 season would look like if you took Verstappen out.
Obviously, this exercise is riddled with hypothetics (and we did not take into account the bonus points for the fastest lap). for that reason) and every race would have been different if only Sergio Pérez's Red Bull had been in the game. This must be taken into account.
For this reason, this is not exactly a serious or scientific event, but it should give some useful information about the state of affairs in Formula 1 in general and sum up some interesting results.
Race One: Bahrain
Marking The first of Verstappen's victories came at a point in the season when Sergio Perez was at least keeping the Dutchman honest when he wasn't beating him. The reality was a front-row lockout for Red Bull and a comfortable 1-2 finish, with Pérez 11 seconds behind Verstappen.
Sergio Perez would end his season with a win in Bahrain. Photo: Getty Images/Mark Thompson
In this alternate reality, it's a comfortable win for Perez, with Fernando Alonso finishing second and Aston Martin well behind. Carlos Sainz climbs the podium for Ferrari. Hamilton's fourth result is unlikely to be a cause for rejoicing, especially if he is so far from the lead.
Race results
1st Pérez
2nd Alonso
3rd Sainz
Position after the race
1st Pérez 25 points
strong>
2nd Alonso 18 points
3rd Sainz 15 points
Second race: Saudi Arabia
In reality, Pérez took advantage of Max Verstappen's qualifying failure to take pole position and then kept his teammate in the race to take his first win. season and certainly one of his strongest in F1.
A Perez win remains a Perez win in this situation, but Verstappen's erasure here means Alonso secures a second consecutive second-place finish to keep the pressure on Perez while Hamilton continues his steady start, although he's only one point ahead of Sainz and is third in the standings. position.
Race results
1st Perez
2nd Alonso
3rd Russell
Position after the race
1st Perez 50 points
2nd Alonso 36 points
3rd Hamilton 25 points< /strong>
Race Three: Australia
Again, this was actually a comfortable victory for Verstappen, although he lost the lead to Mercedes cars early on. Not to mention the chaos, red flags and climactic restarts.
The victory of Lewis Hamilton would give self-confidence. Photo: AP Photo/Scott Barbour
This becomes a victory for Lewis Hamilton. and Mercedes' first of the season, taking advantage of one of Pérez's (many) bad weekends. This is the first time we see an alternate reality that is very close – just 14 points between the top three and Alonso is close to nine points behind Perez.
Race result
1st Hamilton
2nd Alonso
3rd outing
Position after the race
1st Perez 63 points
strong>
2nd Alonso 54 points
3rd Hamilton 49 points
Race Four: Azerbaijan
The first sprint weekend of the year complicates things a bit. Again, just like in Saudi Arabia, this was another great performance by Peres. In fact, perhaps the best win of his career. The safety car certainly helped him, but all weekend he never made a mistake.
In the alternate reality, it's a double sprint and Grand Prix for Perez, with Charles Leclerc finishing second in both races. Russell gets his first podium of the season. Perez extends his lead in the championship over Alonso and Hamilton with a decent lead after just four rounds.
Race results
1st Pérez
2nd Leclerc
3rd Russell
Position after the race
1st Pérez 95 points
strong>
2nd< strong> Alonso 73 points
3rd Hamilton 62 points
Fifth race: Miami
In fact, Miami was probably the last race in which Pérez had a respectable qualifying and Grand Prix, although he couldn't match Verstappen.
In our alternate reality, this is a very comfortable win for the Red Bull driver, with Alonso 20 seconds behind second. Russell takes a solid third after a duel with teammate Hamilton.
Red Bull's Sergio Perez would have dominated the start of the season had it not been for his team mate. Photo: Reuters/Mike Segar
Perez' fourth win in the first five rounds now gives him a pretty significant lead, no matter how you slice it. – 29 points over Alonso and 48 over Hamilton. In fact, Perez was only 14 points behind Verstappen, but that's where the controversy begins.
Race results
1st Perez
2nd Alonso
3rd Russell
Position after the race
1st Perez 120 points
strong>
2nd Alonso 91 points
3rd Hamilton 72 points
Race 6: Monaco
Perez's wheels are starting to literally fall off. A crash in qualifying means he starts from the end of the draw and cannot recover to score points. This could very well be the case with infinite universes, given how difficult it is to overtake in Monaco.
Alonso becomes the third man to win the race after Perez and Hamilton. The Spaniard significantly increased Perez's lead in the championship, reducing it to four points. Hamilton is almost always in touch, but still quite far from Alonso.
Race result
1st Alonso
2nd Ocon
3rd Hamilton
Position after the race
1st Perez 120 points
2nd< strong> Alonso 116 points
3rd Hamilton 87 points
7th race: Spain
Again, it was another crushing victory for Verstappen with a lead over the second and third place Mercedes cars by more than a pit stop cost. Pérez had another bad qualifying and failed to make his way across the field to the podium.
The first is two seasons for Mercedes in Spain. Photo: Getty Images/Clive Mason
It becomes Mercedes 1-2 and their second win of the season. This is also the second victory for Hamilton, who was seconds ahead of his teammate Russell. A slightly disappointing sixth place for Alonso saw him 11 points behind Pérez, although Hamilton closes the lead by 23 points.
Race result
1st Hamilton
2nd Russell
3rd Pérez
Position after the race
1st Pérez 135 points
2nd Alonso 124 points
3rd Hamilton 112 points
Eighth race: Canada
A race that was pretty close to the checkered flag when it ran in real life, but you get the feeling that Verstappen is hiding something and that the conditions are playing into the hands of Aston Martin and Mercedes.
Alonso then takes his second “alternate” win of the year. Combine that with another dreadful weekend for Pérez, who finished fifth after failing to qualify and Alonso leading the championship for the first time.
Second place Hamilton means that the difference between the top three riders does not exceed 20 points. However, the difference between Hamilton in third and Sainz in fourth is 46 points.
Race results
1st Alonso
2nd Hamilton
3rd Leclerc
Position after the race
1st Alonso 149 points
strong>
2nd Perez 145 points
3rd Hamilton 130 points
Ninth race: Austria
Second weekend in sprint race and a weekend that Verstappen led every session, with a huge 21 second win in the 24 lap sprint race and cruise to victory on Sunday.
In the “other” version of F1, Pérez had a pretty decent weekend, taking first place in the sprint but failing to beat Leclerc for Sunday's win after another qualifying setback. Leclerc's win means he is the fourth winner this year, and also means Red Bull, Mercedes, Aston Martin and Ferrari have won.
Charles Leclerc's long-awaited performance in Austria. Photo: Getty Images/Getty Images
Pérez regains the lead in the championship due to Alonso missing the weekend a little, but the backlog is only five points. Hamilton is well behind with just six points. Sainz, who finished fourth, is gaining his age of points.
Race results
1st Leclerc
2nd Pérez
3rd Norris
Position after the race
1st Pérez 171 points
strong>
2nd Alonso 166pts
3rd Hamilton 136pts
Race 10: Great Britain
It was arguably the best race of the year, although the winner was the same as 80 percent of the 2023 races. However, there was some danger and Lando Norris led at least a couple of racing laps and saved Verstappen. honest.
Norris' alternate win makes him five different winners for five different teams in 2023, and Piastri's podium makes him the 10th driver to finish in the top three of the year. Total: Alonso – seven; Perez six; Hamilton five; Leclerc and Russell three; Norris, two and Sainz, Stroll, Ocon and Piastri one each.
Perhaps the most remarkable thing here is the gap between the leader of the alternate reality championship and the man in sixth place: only 85 points, 14 less than the current actual gap of 99 points between Verstappen and Pérez. How good is that?
Race result
1st Norris
2nd Hamilton
3rd Piastri
Position after the race
1st Perez 181 points
2nd Alonso 174 points
3rd Hamilton 154 points
4th Sainz 103 points
5th Russell 102 points
6th Leclerc 96 points
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