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The 2023 F1 season was not the best for Lewis Hamilton in terms of what he would have wanted to achieve. As soon as Mercedes first rolled out on the track, it seemed obvious that the car was just not on the level of a Red Bull. As it turned out in the very first race of the season, this was certainly true.
Hamilton could not even battle for the podium in the first race of the season and the Mercedes was arguably the fourth fastest car that weekend. Since then, the 22-race season saw the team pick itself up and make changes to the car and the team, which would help Mercedes close the gap to the front.
While the quest for closing the gap to Mercedes continued, Lewis Hamilton did his bit as he ended the season in P3 in the championship. The iconic driver has managed to hold off competition from the likes of Fernando Alonso, Charles Leclerc, and others.
Looking back at the season, Hamilton was able to put together some highly impressive drives in that Mercedes. In this feature, we will share the top 3 drives for the 38-year-old in the 2023 F1 season. So without further ado, let's get to it.
Lewis Hamilton's top three drives in 2023
#1 F1 Australian GP
Lewis Hamilton's brilliance in the race in Australia stems from the fact that the Mercedes driver was hounded by Fernando Alonso throughout the race, but the Brit never made any mistake.
The challenges in the F1 Australian GP we're unique. There were multiple stoppages and multiple opportunities for the drivers to make mistakes. Alonso could have nailed Hamilton during the safety car restarts as well but through all of this, the latter gave no chance to the Spaniard to even have a hope of making the move.
At the start of the season, this was one of the races that set the tone for Lewis Hamilton extracting the best possible result from the Mercedes. He finished second while Max Verstappen won the race.
#2 F1 United States GP
Looking back, if there were 5 more laps in the race, Lewis Hamilton would have definitely won the race from Max Verstappen. Such was his pace and to add to this, his race management that weekend that he extracted the best possible performance from the car.
Pre-race, everybody speculated that Lando Norris in his McLaren might just be the best driver to have a shot at the win as Verstappen was making his way through the field.
As the race progressed, it became clear that Lewis Hamilton was going to be a part of the battle for the win as well. Even though the superior tire management helped him jump ahead of Norris, he fell short of Verstappen. Overall though, it was a brilliant drive from the Brit and one of his best this season.
#3 F1 Mexican GP
Mercedes always had qualifying as one of its Achilles heels and it became even more prominent later in the season when Lewis Hamilton had to put together multiple drives through the field.
The race in Mexico was one such case as Hamilton made his way through the field and pulled off some stunning overtakes on the way. His move on Charles Leclerc was one example when he sent it down the inside and made his way past the Ferrari driver. In one of his many P2 finishes of the season, Hamilton drove an impeccably brilliant overall race.
