Formula 1 2023 – Season

Having bingo cards to complete as you watch Formula 1 with friends or family can really add to the entertainment value, whether it’s the whole season card or our Formula 1 Race Weekend bingo card.  Not only can it help to liven up a boring race, it can make late season races much more exciting to watch even if – as happened last year and as is happening again this year – someone runs away with the title with several races still to go, because there’s still bingo card events to look out for.  Hopefully there will be a much closer title battle in the 2024 season!

It’s a wrap (and some would say good riddance) for the 2023 season.  F1 returned to the USA for the inaugural race at Las Vegas on November 16th – 18th, a night race with midnight qualifying and the grand prix start at 10pm local time, necessitating an early start for UK viewers.  The season ended at Abu Dhabi on November 24th – 26th.

Formula 1 now takes a winter break and will be back in February in Bahrain for pre season testing followed by the first grand prix of the year on March 2nd (yes, a Saturday).  See you then with a brand new 2024 season card!

What’s On The Formula 1 2023 Season Bingo Card?

Most of the items from last year have been kept, although a few have been adjusted (e.g. driver makes up 15+ places from grid position was judged just too unlikely, so it’s been changed to 10+ places).  It’s goodbye to Shoey! as Danny Ric is not racing full time this year, and goodbye to driver on 9+ penalty points due to Pierre Gasly starting the season on 10 penalty points.  Maiden win and maiden pole have been removed for this season because so many of the 2023 grid already have poles and wins but I left the very unlikely all British podium in because, well, one can dream (you can always delete it if you don’t want anything too improbable on your card). And a few items have been added including:

• Meatball flag – the black and orange flag, shown to call a car that is in a dangerous condition into the pits (usually the Haas of K-Mag)
• 5+ drivers take grid penalties – caused by engine penalties being taken tactically, at tracks where overtaking is easier
• Comedy tyre strategy blunder – remember Russell out on slicks in rain sodden Singapore? And Ferrari’s odd choice of inters for LeClerc in Q3 at Interlagos?
• Ocon/Gasly hostilities – the new teammates were childhood friends who reportedly fell out.  Will it get spicy?
• Hülkenberg podium – this one is extremely unlikely, but then so was K-Mag getting pole.  And wouldn’t everyone just LOVE to see the Hulk swap his world record for most races WITHOUT a podium, for the world record for most races BEFORE scoring a podium (which currently belongs to Carlos Sainz Jr)
• Driver crashes in qualy but wins race – most recently, Russell in Brazil (and yes, a sprint win by itself would count)
• Aston Martin podium – the green cars were looking good in pre season testing and you can NEVER rule out Alonso putting one over on everyone

If you think there’s anything that should be on the card but isn’t, you can always add your own items before generating your cards.

Events That Definitely Weren’t On Last Year’s Bingo Card

One of the great things about Formula One is that occasionally, crazy stuff happens.  Here’s just a few wild things that happened during the 2022 season that no-one would ever have thought to put on the bingo card!

Qualifying Mayhem

• Q1, Q2, Q3 all red flagged – Run the new cars in the wet for the first time (at Imola) and it’s 1-2-3 carnage!
• 3+ red flags in a single qualy segment – Yes, that was at Imola too
• Collision during qualifying – Stroll and Latifi collided in Australia qualy, wrecking the latter’s car
• Driver sets a purple sector but still qualifies last – Latifi in rapidly changing conditions at Hungary
• No-one starts in the position they qualified in – yes, penalties moved the entire grid around at Spa

Pit Stop Shenanigans

• Driver told to pit whilst in the middle of executing an overtaking move – that was Carlos Sainz in France.  What were Ferrari thinking???
• Someone makes their only pit stop on the last possible (penultimate) lap – Williams and Alex Albon used this bizarre strategy to secure a point in the Australian Grand Prix.  Talk about a tyre whisperer!

Weird Technical Fails

• Starting grid lights broken – this happened in Monaco and meant only a rolling start was possible after the race was red flagged
• Debris from another car stuck in the floor – this has actually happened in both 2022 (Verstappen at the British Grand Prix with Alpha Tauri debris) and 2020 (Bottas at the Turkish Grand Prix with Ferrari debris)
• Wing mirror falls off – this happened to Alonso at COTA and caused a big post race controversy when he was handed a 30 second penalty that was later rescinded

What Happens If I Miss A Race?

If you miss a race – or indeed any part of a race weekend – check back here a couple of days after the race to catch up with what needs to be marked off.  You can also start playing part way though the season – either mark off all of the things that have already happened straight away or remove from the list before generating your cards.

Race 1 – Bahrain

Many viewers have complained that the first race of the season was boring due to Max Verstappen dominance.  We disagree – while it’s true there was little action at the very front, just look at all the stuff that was going on further down the grid!

• Front row lockout any team and 1-2 any team – the aforementioned Red Bull dominance
• Aston Martin podium – well that was quick
• Driver fails to set timed lap in qualy – make that multiple drivers falling victim to track limits (or, in the case of Alex Albon, car damage)
• Driver makes up 10+ places from grid position – Pierre Gasly in his first race for Alpine put in a storming drive from last to 8th
• Late pit stop for fastest lap – Zhou Guanyu did this, although you may have missed it as he didn’t score a point for it (just took it off Pierre Gasly and Alpine)
• Double stack success – Ferrari of all teams pulled this off so smoothly that you may not even have noticed
• Driver gets 2 penalties in the same weekend, penalty for not serving a penalty correctly and speeding in the pit lane can ALL be daubed thanks to just one driver, Esteban Ocon, who triggered a unfortunate series of events by being slightly out of place on the grid.

The outcome of the race could have been so very different if Aston Martin hadn’t got away with what was so very nearly a teammate collision (you can’t mark it off as no-one went off or needed repairs).  McLaren’s disastrous outing just escapes being a double DNF because Lando Norris’ stricken car completed enough laps to be classified.  And you can’t mark off lapped by teammate as the pass has to happen on track not in the pits.

Race 2 – Saudi Arabia

The Jeddah race was notable for the absence of red flags at a track where the smallest mistake can cause a stoppage and for controversy over the stewarding, both because of a safety car that many pundits considered to be unnecessary and because of Alonso’s penalties which caused him to be demoted from the podium after the podium ceremony and then reinstated. Not a good look, and it also reignited discussion of Abu Dhabi 2021 on social media which is an even worse look.

As for the bingo card, there were several repeats of items from Bahrain but there’s only a couple of new items to daub:

• Driver argues about team orders – you thought this was going to be Perez, didn’t you?  But no team orders at Red Bull – it was Russell who was asked to let Hamilton past but put his foot down and pulled away instead once he realised Alonso had already served his penalty for being out of place on the grid.
• Last lap overtake – you may not have noticed this as it was right at the very back of the field, but Piastri overtook Sargeant on the final lap.  On 49 lap old hard tyres.  Shame it was only for 15th.

Race 3 – Australia

Oh my goodness, where do we even start?

• Rain is forecast but doesn’t happen – that was in qualy
• Pitlane start – Bottas and Perez
• Pit lane closed during qualy or race – this happened when Russell’s engine blew up by the pitalne exit, but uneventfully as no-one wanted to pit on that lap
• 2 or more restarts in one race – in fact, this was the ONLY race in F1 history to be red flagged (and then restarted) three times
• Teammate collision – Alpine’s very unfortunate “first lap incident” on the second restart that caused an instant third red flag
• Double DNF any team – Alpine again
• Race has 13 or fewer finishers – just 12 cars took the chequered flag

We have yet to see whether the Alpine incident triggers Ocon/Gasly hostilities so you can’t cross that off yet; nor can you cross off both drivers from a team cause red flag or SC in same weekend as that requires 2 separate incidents.  Race ends under safety car is another one that shouldn’t be marked off as although the race did end behind the safety car it was a formation lap (starting in the pit lane) rather than a racing lap.  And for a few minutes it looked as if Hülkenberg podium might be on the cards, as the chaos after the second restart left him 4th and Sainz looked sure to get a penalty; alas, the 3rd red flag came out so quickly that cars hadn’t completed the first sector meaning the only official order was the 2nd restart order.

In the department of weird stuff that clearly should have been on the bingo card, how about drivers from same team qualify first and last on the grid?

Race 4 – Baku

A strangely boring Grand Prix, but there’s a few items to cross off:

• 2 or more red flags in qualy – no surprise that the Baku City Circuit delivered here, especially as the Sprint format meant there was only one practice session prior to qualy
• Both drivers from a team cause a red flag or SC in the same weekend – that would be Tsunoda in the Sprint and De Vries in the Grand Prix
• DRS malfunction – this was a recurrent problem for Aston Martin during the qualy sessions
• VSC or SC restart overtake – several of these in both Sprint and Grand Prix (mostly on Russell’ Mercedes), shame about the lack of overtaking the rest of the time
• Pitlane collision or near miss – this wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but Ocon pitting at the end of lap 50 to find the pitlane full of people caertainly counts as a near miss.

As for what should have been on the bingo card but wasn’t, how about weekend format changed with less than a week to go?

Race 5 – Miami

Who’d have thought this would happen in Miami of all places?

• Race has no retirements

Race 6 (not!) – Imola

Or rather, no race 6 as the entire Grand Prix weekend was cancelled on the Wednesday of race week due to catastrophic flooding in the area – not something that was on the bingo card!

Race 6 – Monaco

• Wets/inters used in race
• Lapped by team mate – embarassingly Perez was lapped by Verstappen not once, but twice
• Comedy tyre strategy blunder – more like tragedy tyre strategy blunder!  If Aston Martin had put Alonso straight on to inters he might have had a shot at the win.  And then there’s Haas leaving Magnusson out on slicks for far too long then going for full wets when inters were clearly the way to go.

The Ferraris dropped back because of poor tyre strategy generally rather than as a result of double stacking, so you can’t cross off double stack disaster.

Race 7 – Spain

Another race with no retirements, and….

• FP or qualy collision – and for added spice, let’s make it between teammates! The screen grab of Russell and Hamilton side by side with Hamilton’s front wing endplate going flying was all over social media.

Race 8 – Canada

• Wets/inters used qualy

With all of the penalties handed out during qualy there was a near miss for 5+ drivers take grid penalties.  And if sausage kerb accident was on the bingo card (it’s not, because it’s not always clear what role the sausage kerb has played) that could be crossed off after bouncing over one of these contentious track features sent Russell hard into the wall.  You could also argue that McLaren had a double stack disaster in that Norris got a 5 second time penalty for going too slowly under the safety car to create a big enough gap to pull the double stack off, but that’s not quite what we meant!

Race 9 – Austria

Oh dear, what can we say?  CLEARLY track limits fiasco should have been on the bingo card.  Or driver gets multiple track limits penalties in one race.  Or driver has all laps in a qualy session deleted because of track limits. Or 2 or more drivers get post race time penalties.  Or driver gets multiple post race time penalties.

Race 10 – Great Britain

Wow!  We came so very much closer to all British podium than anyone could possibly have imagined with all three British drivers classified in the top 5 and two on the podium.  And only the late safety car denied Piastri a sensational maiden podium.

• Driver crashes in qualy but wins race – OK, it was in the pits not on track but Verstappen still hit the wall and needed some hasty repairs before going out again.

Race 11 – Hungary

• Before the race weekend even gets going, you can cross off substitute driver (in race).  OK so it’s not quite what we had in mind, but the replacement of Nyck de Vries at AlphaTauri by fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo for the rest of the season will do nicely.

And this has a knock on effect on two other items – all full time drivers score points and Q3 appearance by all full time drivers.  If you count Nyck de Vries as a full time driver, neither of these are now possible.  So we’re ruling that neither of them are full time drivers for the purposes of these events.  Which makes it easier as now just Logan Sargeant has to deliver the goods!

During the race weekend itself – another thing we should have put on the card and didn’t is Formula 1 record broken.  Though perhaps it should be driver or constructor breaks own record, as that’s what they were – Red Bull’s 12 consecutive constructor race wins, Lewis Hamilton’s 104 poles and 9 poles at the same track (a record he previously held jointly with Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna).  If you’re interested in this kind of thing there’s a comprehensive list of F1 records on Wikipedia.  And whoever would have thought that trophy damaged on podium would be a thing, until the Lando Slam caused Verstappen’s porcelain trophy to topple off the top step of the podium and smash on the stage?

• Sub 2 second pit stop – 1.98 seconds for Sergio Perez by Red Bull.

Race 12 – Belgium

What an oversight it was not to have weather delays race start on the bingo card (at least it was the Sprint not the Grand Prix)! And straight from the department of you couldn’t make it up, another trophy was damaged during the post race celebrations (by Red Bull themselves this time).

• Crash or failure on way to or on grid – Hulkenberg’s gearbox failed on the way to the grid and Haas needed to do a speedy replacement to ready him for a pit lane start
• Maiden podium – the Sprint counts, so take a bow, Oscar Piastri!

Race 13 – The Netherlands

If you were too purist to cross off substitute driver in race when Ricciardo replaced De Vries a few races back, you can cross it off now for super sub Liam Lawson.  And speaking of which –

• Double stack disaster – when you are so slow with the first driver that your second driver gets a 10 second penalty for impeding while waiting to get into the pit box, that certainly counts, Alpha Tauri
• Q3 appearance by all full time drivers – Sargeant completed that one, only to be followed by
• Trackside despair! when he crashed out early and sat trackside in a deckchair for the rest of the race
• Weather related red flag
• Win home grand prix

Race 14 – Italy (Monza)

Another disappointing display of Red Bull dominance, and nothing to cross off on the card.

Race 15 – Singapore

What a complete contrast to earlier races in the season, with the Red Bull car suddenly (temporarily?) losing all its dominance, but in terms of being able to cross anything off on the bingo cards, it’s a world of woulda, shoulda, coulda!  CLEARLY we should have included crash out on last lap and/or crash out from podium position (oh dear, George Russell!).  And substitute driver scores points (bravo, Liam Lawson!) – especially since he was a substitute for a substitute, and is now ahead of both the original driver and the original substitute in the championship standings.   And car too damaged to race in grand prix (such a relief to see Lance Stroll unhurt though obviously shaken).   Not to mention (again) driver or constructor breaks own record (Lewis Hamilton’s 196 podiums) and the Lando Slam (no trophies were damaged this time).

And how about that EXTRAORDINARY spectacle of the first four cars in the race line astern in a DRS train, with less than 2 seconds between 1st and 4th, with just a few laps left to go?  You can’t blame anyone for wishing Red Bull would have a nightmare weekend a bit more often!

Race 16 – Japan

Back to business as usual for Red Bull. And finally there’s something you can cross off the bingo card!

• 3+ cars fail to cross the start finish line at the end of lap 1 – all the cars involved in the lap 1 incidents were able to limp back to the pits

You could also argue that Alpine’s poor communication over team orders is enough for the Ocon/Gasly hostilities item to be daubed.  As for what should have been on the bingo card but wasn’t, how about car rejoins race after retiring?  Perez was sent back out by Red Bull purely so he could pit immediately to serve his outstanding time penalty, to avoid having it converted into a grid penalty for Qatar.

Race 17 – Qatar

Nothing to cross off here, but lots to see including an ultra high profile repeat of teammate collision!  You could argue that the entire Grand Prix was one long comedy tyre strategy blunder (but not on the part of the teams).  And sorry, Oscar Piastri, for leaving maiden pole and maiden win off the bingo card – the Sprint would have counted! On a less pleasant note, driver too ill to continue race, driver vomits in helmet and driver needs assistance to get out of car after race are not things we ever want to see happening.  The Qatar race will take place 6 weeks later in the season in 2024 and it is to be hoped the heat and humidity won’t be so crippling.

Race 18 – USA (COTA)

• All full time drivers score points – Sargeant finally broke his duck, aided by the misfortune of others

Which brings us to something else that was left off the bingo card – DSQ technical infringement.  Clearly it’s an issue with the bumpiness of the track at COTA as two teams were affected.

Race 19 – Mexico

• Win teammate home grand prix – what a surprise (NOT!) to see the continued dominance of Verstappen
• Airborne accident – attempting to go round the outside on turn one at Mexico rarely ends well, as Perez found out to his cost

Race 20 – Brazil

Nothing to cross off here, but some very high profile repeats of 3+ cars fail to cross the start finish line at the end of lap 1 and crash or failure on way to or on grid (yes, the formation lap counts), and perhaps THE most exciting last lap overtake since “is that Glock?”

Race 21 – Las Vegas

Most exciting last lap overtake at Interlagos did we say?  Las Vegas said “hold my beer”!  Leclerc on Perez was a thrilling conclusion to what was a much more interesting and entertaining Grand Prix than anyone expected.  And you even get to cross something off the bingo card!

• Driver complains safety car is too slow – thank you, Sir Lewis Hamilton!

Race 22 – Abu Dhabi

Nothing to cross off here, but a considerably more exciting race than one might expect at Yas Marina with some important driver and constructor fights going right down to the wire. And who would have thought that driver completes 1000 laps in the lead would be possible in the course of just one season?

How To Use the 2023 F1 Season Bingo Cards

1. Tap To Start
2. Add any extra events you want to appear on your cards to the list and remove any you don’t like or don’t want.
3. We suggest keeping the grid size at 5×5 to ensure there’s enough items to hold everyone’s interest all the way through the season, but you can reduce to 4×4 or 3×3 if you like.
4. Generate Bingo Cards
5. To play for the entire season, it’s probaby easiest to use printed cards.  You can generate a set to print by entering the number you want in the Custom Number To Print box.  It’s best to print several more than you need in case your watch party grows as the season progresses, and also so that people can pick a card they think will be fun to play (e.g. Hülkenberg podium in the centre square if you like a challenge, driver argues about team orders if you don’t!)
6. Generate Printable Cards; this takes you to a page with all your cards on which you can print right away, or save the URL for later use when you are near a printer.
7. Alternatively you can invite through email; this sends each of your chosen recipients a link to their own unique card. The cards persist, so you can mark off a square and see it change colour, and find it still marked off the next time you visit.  This might not work for the entire season (because of phone or browser software updates etc) so we suggest taking a screenshot after each weekend just in case.
8. Watch and enjoy!  The winner is the first to mark everything off on their card, or if no-one manages to do that, the person with the most lines completed when the season ends on November 26th with the Abu Dhabi race.