2023 Season

Driver changes

Sebastian Vettel has retired from Formula One after 15 full seasons, ending as a four-time World Champion. His Aston Martin seat goes to Fernando Alonso, who leaves Alpine after two seasons.

Alonso’s Alpine seat became the most contentious transfer of the off-season. The team initially announced Oscar Piastri as his replacement, but Piastri publicly stated he had not signed a contract with Alpine and would not be driving for them. The FIA Contract Recognition Board ruled he had no contractual obligations to Alpine, freeing him to join McLaren — where Daniel Ricciardo’s seat had been terminated by mutual agreement during 2022. Pierre Gasly, who had been contracted at AlphaTauri, moves to Alpine in Alonso’s vacated seat. Gasly is replaced at AlphaTauri by Nyck de Vries, the 2020–21 Formula E and 2019 Formula 2 Champion, who made his Grand Prix debut for Williams at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.

Nicholas Latifi leaves Williams after three seasons. His seat is filled by Logan Sargeant, a graduate from Formula 2, who becomes the first American driver to compete in Formula One since Alexander Rossi in 2015. Mick Schumacher departs Haas after two seasons; Nico Hülkenberg, who last raced as a full-time driver with Renault in 2019, takes his place.

Team changes

Honda returns as a named engine supplier to both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, with the power units badged as Honda RBPT. Red Bull Powertrains had originally planned to take over full assembly and maintenance from this season, but Honda agreed to continue technical support for both teams through the end of 2025.

Calendar

Twenty-two Grands Prix are scheduled — the largest calendar in Formula One history. Six rounds follow the new sprint format: Azerbaijan, Austria, Belgium, Qatar, the United States, and São Paulo.

The Qatar Grand Prix returns to the calendar after a one-year absence in 2022, when Qatar hosted the FIFA World Cup. The Las Vegas Grand Prix makes its debut, held at night on a new street circuit around the Las Vegas Strip — the first Formula One race in Las Vegas since the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix. The United States will host three Grands Prix in a single season for the first time since 1982.

The Russian Grand Prix has been removed: the event’s contract, which would have shifted venue from Sochi to Igora Drive near Saint Petersburg, was terminated in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The French Grand Prix is also absent, with its promoters stating they will seek a rotational deal. The Chinese Grand Prix is cancelled for the fourth consecutive year due to COVID-19 difficulties.

Regulation changes

Following dangerous levels of porpoising in 2022, the FIA raises the floor edges and diffuser throat and stiffens the diffuser edge. An additional sensor to monitor porpoising is mandated. Following Zhou Guanyu’s crash at the 2022 British Grand Prix, roll hoops must now feature a rounded top to reduce the risk of digging into the ground in an accident; new homologation tests in the forward-load direction are introduced alongside the existing lateral tests. The side mirrors are enlarged from 150 × 50 mm to 200 × 60 mm to improve rear visibility.

The sprint weekend format is overhauled and expanded to six events. On sprint weekends, a single free practice session is held on Friday followed by the Grand Prix qualifying. Saturday features a new “sprint shootout” — three shortened knockout segments using mandatory tyre compounds — to set the sprint grid. Segment times are 12, 10, and 8 minutes (SQ1, SQ2, SQ3), with mediums mandatory in SQ1 and SQ2 and softs in SQ3. The sprint itself runs on Saturday afternoon; the Grand Prix takes place on Sunday.

The standard off-track penalty is unchanged, but the points-awarding rule is clarified: any race where less than 75% of the scheduled distance is completed uses the sliding-scale points system, regardless of whether it finishes under red or green flag conditions. This amendment follows confusion at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix.

The FIA updates its International Sporting Code to require prior FIA approval before drivers or teams make political, religious, or personal statements at events. Drivers remain free to share views on personal social media and in FIA press conferences when responding to questions outside race weekends.

Pirelli introduces a new compound positioned between the outgoing C1 and C2 — the hardest end of the range — following criticism of the 2022 C1’s drop in grip relative to other compounds. A redesigned full wet tyre also debuts, intended to reduce safety car interventions in rain. The budget cap is reduced to $135 million, down from $142.5 million in 2022.

Pre-season testing is reduced from six days to three. The number of days allocated per event reduces accordingly.

Pre-season testing

Testing takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit from 23 to 25 February. Lance Stroll misses the test after suffering a cycling accident during training; reserve driver Felipe Drugovich substitutes for him. Sergio Pérez sets the fastest time of the test overall, while Scuderia AlphaTauri logs the greatest total distance.