By Michael Doyle for the ABC
Aston Martin's Canadian driver Lance Stroll races during a practice session for the Las Vegas Formula One Grand Prix on November 17, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: AFP
The 2023 Formula 1 season is over, with Max Verstappen and Red Bull at times making a mockery of the competition.
Their dominance this year has been unprecedented and they have set new records along the way.
But just because it has been the Red Bull show in 2023 does not mean there are not a few quirky facts that could come up at a trivia night.
Here are five quirky facts from the 2023 F1 season.
There was no British anthem on the podium
Former champion UK driver Lewis Hamilton did not manage a win this season. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
We have all seen the podium celebrations at the end of a grand prix.
The top three drivers and a member of the winning team climb up on to the platform to be presented with trophies and showered in bubbles.
Two national anthems are played: One for the winning driver and one for his team.
This year, no British driver or team won a race.
That means for the first time since 1952 God Save the Queen or King was not blasted out of the speaker-system at the end of a grand prix weekend.
The British anthem streak nearly ended the year before, but the Kings Lynn-born George Russell motored his Mercedes to victory in the penultimate race of 2022.
Max Verstappen sets record for wins, winning percentage
You cannot discuss the 2023 season without mentioning the dominance of Verstappen.
The Dutchman was in a league of his own, with race victories feeling like a divine right for the now three-time world champion.
His 19 grand prix wins this season is a new record, beating the mark he set in 2022 of 15.
It is also the greatest winning percentage of all time.
Across the 22 races, Verstappen won 86.4 percent of them.
The next best on the all-time list are Alberto Ascari winning 75 percent (six out of eight) of races in 1952 and Michael Schumacher in 2004, when the German won 72.22 percent (13 out of 18) of races to secure his last world title.
Charles Leclerc cannot win from pole
The last time Charles Leclerc won from pole was in Melbourne in 2022. Photo: FLORENT GOODEN
There is no better place to start a motor race than at the front.
In pole position, with nothing between you and the first corner, you are the driver everyone wants to be.
Unless you are Charles Leclerc.
The Ferrari driver has achieved 23 pole positions in his F1 career, but has only been able to convert four of those into wins.
Verstappen has won 11 times when Leclerc has been on pole.
The last time Charles Leclerc won from pole was in Melbourne in 2022.
Since then the Monégasque has secured pole 12 times without converting it into a grand prix win.
In 2023, Leclerc was on pole five times and achieved third three times (Azerbaijan, Belgium, Mexico) second once (Las Vegas) and a disqualification at the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
F1 hosts three races in one country
Carlos Sainz brought up some sparks, during practice in Las Vegas. Photo: AFP
Three was the magic number for the United States, with the land of the free hosting three grand prix in 2023.
Miami, Las Vegas and Austin hosted weekends, the first time F1 has scheduled and gone to a country three times since 1982 (excluding the Covid-affected 2020 season).
That season races were held in Long Beach in California, Detroit and Las Vegas (in the car park of a casino).
In the Covid-affected season, the revised calendar had three races in Italy.
While three races in one country may seem excessive, the US is big enough in size and population to accommodate.
If you drove from the Circuit Paul Ricard - home of the French Grand Prix, to Monaco, then Imola and then Monza, it would be approximately an 800km trip.
Las Vegas to Austin is around 2000km, while Austin to Miami is more than 2100km.
The distance between any of the three US grands prix is significantly greater than most of the distances between the European circuits.
Haas becomes the most accomplished last-place team in F1
Full disclosure - this one has caveats, but go with it.
Since the current points system - 25 points for a win and the top 10 scoring points - was introduced in 2010, no team who finished last scored as many points as the cellar-dwellers of 2023.
Haas accumulated 12 points this campaign, not enough to lift them off the bottom of the table.
But 12 points would have been good to be at least second last in every season since 2010.
Now, this year is equal for the most races in a season (22 races, the same as the previous two years) and we also had six sprint races where points were on offer.
A bonus point is also awarded for the fastest lap of the grand prix (if the driver finished in the top 10) which was introduced in 2019.
But if your quizmaster asks you which team scored the most points but still finished last in an F1 season since 2010, write down Haas and take a point for your team.
This story was first published by the ABC.
