Most controversial 2023 F1 incidents including Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz

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The most controversial moments over the 2023 Formula 1 season including incidents for Ferrari pair Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc plus Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

F1 seemed to bounce from one controversy to the next across the 2023 season all the while Red Bull and Max Verstappen dominated. The 26-year-old enjoyed the most successful year any Formula 1 driver has ever achieved with 19 wins from 22 races plus a record 575 points.

This year also saw Fernando Alonso return to competing at the front of the field with Aston Martin. While McLaren saw Oscar Piastri emerge as a true rising star as the rookie stood on the podium twice. The 22-year-old even won the Sprint at the Qatar GP from pole position.

Alonso achieved more podiums (8) in 2023 during his first year at Aston Martin than the 42-year-old had across his previous six seasons in Formula 1 combined. Piastri also became the first rookie to make the podium more than once in their first season since Hamilton in 2007.

The biggest controversies over the 2023 Formula 1 season

But mixed in amongst their successes and Verstappen’s record-breaking year, Formula 1 saw a scattering of controversies litter the 2023 season. So, here are our biggest controversies in Formula 1 from the 2023 season including incidents involving Hamilton and Ferrari’s drivers.

A water valve cover destroyed Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in FP1 at the Las Vegas GP

Formula 1 returned to Sin City for the first time since 1982 for the inaugural Las Vegas GP on the Strip in November. But F1’s extravagant return to Nevada started in controversial fashion as a loose water valve cover destroyed Sainz’s Ferrari after the opening eight minutes in FP1.

Ferrari’s team principal Frederic Vasseur said it was ‘unacceptable’ for a water valve cover to become free and ruin any Formula 1 car. The Scuderia had to replace Sainz’s battery, control electronics and ICE due to the extent of the damage, which gave him a 10-place grid penalty.

The penalty ruined Sainz’s aims for a strong Las Vegas GP as the 29-year-old dropped down to P12 on the grid. He had qualified second and would end the race in sixth through Ferrari’s strong strategy. Sainz fell further behind at the start after understeering into Hamilton at T1.

But the anger Sainz built from the controversial incident at the Las Vegas GP stayed with him after the race. It also caught the attention of their rival teams, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown saying it was ‘unfair’ for Sainz to get a grid penalty from an incident beyond Ferrari’s control.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc got disqualified from the United States GP

The United States GP in October saw Hamilton and Mercedes push Verstappen and Red Bull for the win more than they would at any other weekend. But the stewards would disqualify Hamilton from his P2 finish at COTA after the race due to excessive wear to his W14’s floor.

Ferrari also saw the stewards disqualify Leclerc from his P6 finish at the US GP for the same reason. The stewards found both drivers breached Formula 1’s rule regulating the depth of the skid block. It is aimed at stopping teams from running their cars too close to the ground.

But Hamilton and Leclerc’s United States GP disqualifications brought controversy to F1 as it was a Sprint weekend. The Sprint format used for 2023 forced the teams to put their cars in Parc Fermé conditions from qualifying on Friday and use the set-up on Saturday and Sunday.

The disqualifications also sparked further controversy as the FIA stewards checked just four cars after the US GP, despite 50% of the field coming up as illegal. The controversy also saw Red Bull team principal Christian Horner slam Parc Fermé with one relevant practice session.

“For me, parc fermé is a bit of a joke,” Horner said, via RacingNews365, in Austin. “You get one session to set your car up, and then the engineers may as well go home at that point.

“So, that needs looking at and that I’m sure was a contributing factor to the ride height issues that the teams that fell foul of the regulations.”

Nine drivers received track limit infringement penalties at the Austrian GP

Formula 1 left the Austrian GP in July with egg on the series’ face after a controversial race littered with track limit infringements. A total of nine drivers received a penalty during the 71-lap event or after the race in Spielberg. The stewards even deleted 47 laps during qualifying.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon received the biggest punishment after the race with penalties adding up to 30 seconds. The Frenchman earned two five-second and two 10-second penalties for running wide at the Red Bull Ring. Two drivers did not breach track limits once in the race.

Only George Russell and Zhou Guanyu managed to tackle the Red Bull Ring without a single adventure across the white line during the 71 laps. Verstappen and Alonso both ran wide in one instance. But Ocon fell foul 10 times, and he also got a penalty for an unsafe pit release.

Track limits in qualifying further cost Red Bull’s Sergio Perez as he failed to make it out of Q2. The field largely struggled across the fast downhill double-right at Turns 9 and 10 as there is acres of run-off. The Red Bull Ring has large run-off areas in order to also get MotoGP races.

Controversy surrounded Andretti’s bid to join the Formula 1 grid in 2023

The 2023 Formula 1 season played out with the controversial backdrop of Andretti’s quest to join the grid. Michael Andretti, the son of 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti, has continually pushed to join the travelling circus in recent years. But the field have kept blocking his bid.

Andretti has secured a partnership with General Motors through Cadillac to further their bid to join Formula 1. The FIA has also given Andretti its blessing to be the 11th F1 team. But F1 is still yet to give its green light and several teams have raised concerns about another team.

James Vowles, the team principal of Williams, was very forthcoming with his concerns about Andretti joining F1. He stated in October that Williams are ‘very strongly against’ an 11th F1 team. But Renault is a possible ally for Andretti as it is willing to supply them its power unit.

General Motors has registered as a power united supplier from the 2028 Formula 1 season. But Andretti hopes to have their team on the grid from as early as the 2025 season. So, the American motorsport giant would need a current power unit supplier for their initial entry.