The Grand Prix marked the last race for AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost, who was replaced by Laurent Mekies, as well as the last race for his former team under the AlphaTauri name, as they were renamed RB in 2024.[6][7] It was also the last race for Alfa Romeo, who ended their partnership with Sauber ahead of their forthcoming partnership with Audi set to start in 2026.[8][9] This Grand Prix also marked the last race for Haas' team principal Guenther Steiner, who was replaced by Ayao Komatsu.[10][11]
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4, and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively), the three softest compounds in their dry tyre range, for teams to use at the event.[12]
The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 17:00 local time (UTC+4).[1] It was topped by Charles Leclerc ahead of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. The session was stopped twice: Carlos Sainz Jr. lost control of his car into turn three suffering a heavy crash, and Nico Hülkenberg spun into the wall. The third free practice session was held on 25 November 2023, at 14:30 local time (UTC+4).[1] It was topped by George Russell ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on 25 November 2023, at 18:00 local time (UTC+4).[1]
^1 – Logan Sargeant failed to set a time during qualifying. He was permitted to race at the stewards' discretion.[14]
Race
The race was held on 26 November 2023, at 17:00 local time (UTC+4), and was run for 58 laps.[1]
Race report
At the start of the race, Charles Leclerc challenged Max Verstappen for the lead going into the first corner, Verstappen held on to first place. Verstappen slowly built a gap between himself and Leclerc, leaving Leclerc to hold off the McLaren pair close behind.[15] Later in the race, every car that started on the medium tyre[who?] pitted except for Yuki Tsunoda, who briefly led the race until he pitted on lap 23. George Russell continued to hold on to third place behind Leclerc.[15] In the final ten laps of the race, Sergio Pérez battled with Lando Norris for fourth place. The drivers banged wheels, and Pérez subsequently received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision.[15]
Leclerc was comfortably in second place, but Russell's third place and Lewis Hamilton's ninth place were enough to keep Mercedes ahead of Ferrari by three points in the Constructors' Championship. Although Carlos Sainz Jr. was running in tenth place near the end of the race, he had only used a single tyre compound and needed to pit again, dropping him out of the points.[15] With the race finish nearing, Pérez passed Russell but Russell continued to maintain a gap of under five seconds to hold on to third place after Pérez's penalty was applied. Leclerc deliberately slowed down to give Pérez a slipstream and eventually conceded second place, hoping it would push Russell out of third place. Still, Russell managed to stay close enough behind Leclerc, and finish in third after Pérez's penalty was applied.
The final podium consisted of Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell; Russell's third place plus his teammate Hamilton finishing ninth and Carlos Sainz finishing 18th secured second place in the Constructors' Championship for Mercedes.[15][16] Alonso's seventh-place finish was enough to secure fourth in the Drivers' Championship, his first top five finish in the championship since he was runner up in 2012 and 2013. Leclerc's second place promoted him from seventh to fifth for the season, level with Alonso on points, losing only by tiebreaker rules. Lando Norris's fifth place finish meant he equaled his best Drivers' Championship position of sixth from 2021, whilst Sainz's eighteenth place finish meant he fell from fourth to seventh in the drivers championship, his lowest finish since he finished tenth in 2018. Verstappen also became the first driver to surpass 1,000 laps led in a single season and the only driver to complete every racing lap in the 2023 season.[17]
Max Verstappen
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