Formula One Management and the FIA’s efforts to improve the standard of competition in the championship did not pay off last year.
The 2023 season was the second since the aerodynamic regulations were overhauled in a bid to improve racing, and the third since the budget cap was introduced to close up the field. It was also one of the most one-sided ever seen, Red Bull winning all bar one of the 22 grands prix.
Since 2008, RaceFans has invited readers to rate every race. But only two of last year’s 22 grands prix feature among the top 100 held during that 15-year spell.
Unsurprisingly, the highest score went to the one truly competitive round held last year, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jnr overcame pressure from his Mercedes and McLaren rivals to inflict Red Bull’s sole defeat of the season. That earned an average score of 8.2 out of 10 and is ranked 28th in the top 100.
The only other grand prix from last season to make the cut for the top 100 was the Dutch Grand Prix. Rain often makes for exciting races, and showers at the beginning and end of the race produced a lively encounter, plus a home win for Max Verstappen, earning an average rating of 7.7 out of 10.
Verstappen’s victories became routine long before the season was over. Even so, one of his few defeats not only received the lowest score of any race last year, but had the fourth-lowest score ever recorded.
This was the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, won by Sergio Perez, which was rated 3.7 out of 10. The ease with which he cruised off into the lead, and the lack of much action behind him, affirmed this as the most underwhelming race of the year in the minds of our readers, on a track often hyped by F1 for producing dramatic races. Among the three races to receive lower scores was the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which was abandoned after three laps behind the Safety Car due to heavy rain.
F1’s overhaul of its regulations in 2022, which was intended to promote closer racing, has not produced races with significantly higher ratings. Six races from the 2022 season appear in the top 100, and the highest-rated race since the current rules were introduced is that year’s British Grand Prix, ranked 12th with a score of 8.9 out of 10.
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The highest and lowest-scoring races, as rated by our readers, are as follows:
Based on the ratings of 314 grands prix since the start of 2008*, the Baku City Circuit…
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