Press Release

Gracjan Wozipiwo becomes F1 World Champion for the first time

26.03.2023 - Gracjan Wozipiwo, driving for Red Bull Racing Vaillante F1 Team, became Formula 1 World Driver’s Champion for the first time in his career at the last race of the reason in Yas Marina, with Red Bull also clinching the World Constructor’s Championship for a 21st time.

After an intriguing 22 races prior to the Abu Dhabi GP, Wozipiwo lead Scuderia Ferrari’s Vali Asen by 19 points, the Pole on 389 and the German on 370 points. Both drivers had performed exceptionally well in the season, with Wozipiwo winning on seven occasions in Monaco, Silverstone, Spa, Zandvoort, Suzuka, Austin and Mexico City and Asen winning seven times also, in Sakhir, Melbourne, Imola, Hungary, Monza, Singapore and Qatar. Yet the German retired in Mexico due to a transmission issue, giving Wozipiwo the championship lead.

In Yas Marina, Red Bull’s Corinne de Saint-Germain took pole position ahead of Asen, with the other Ferrari of Robert Kubica II in P3 and Wozipiwo in P4. Then came the two Alpines, Aston Martins, Porsches, McLarens, Sennas and BMWs. Nikola Tesla, in his final race, qualified in P29, with teammate Felix Lindquist in P17. All was set for an amazing title fight finale.

Wozipiwo had a fantastic start, getting Kubica II and Asen on the main straight. Behind, defending world champion Alex Cooper leapfrogged teammate Zakrajsek off the line as well, in what is rumoured to be his final race for Porsche. Zakrajsek re-overtook Cooper on lap 2 on the straight, before Wozipiwo took the lead from teammate Corinne de Saint-Germain on lap 4. Tex Cobb II had a problem with the geometry of his Chevrolet chassis and had to retire from the race on the same lap. De Saint-Germain recovered the lead on lap 5, with Mateus Marçal and Nikola Tesla making moves on Verdinho Barrichello and Radek Svoboda respectively. The top half of the grid remained like that, with Wozipiwo and De Saint-Germain in a game of cat-and-mouse until Wozipiwo pulled clear on lap 12, and Asen dropping positions due to a massive mistake at Turn 11, allowing Kubica II and the two Alpines to overtake him. On lap 16, Dmitri Pironi moved past the Ferrari of Robert Kubica II, but lost two positions at Turn 6 to the Ferrari and teammate Pedro Dallara.

Janne Hasuke got a puncture on lap 21, meaning he lost a lot of time, and had to pit for a new set of tyres. Ralph Scher II’s Ford and Bob Alspach’s Chevrolet came together, with the Austrian defending too aggressively into Turn 6, and causing himself to take a DNF and Alspach 47% not repairable damage on lap 22. Lots of drivers entered the pits for a fresh set of tyres, putting Pedro Dallara into the lead of the Grand Prix, though he was yet to pit, and Daniel da Sliva Dias into P2, who also had not pit yet. Dallara then pitted on lap 26, allowing Da Silva Dias to take the lead.

The Portuguese then finally pitted on lap 27, with the main event afterwards being Corinne de Saint-Germain’s move on Gracjan Wozipiwo at Turn 6. The Grand Prix entered a slightly more boring phase with almost no moves between lap 34 and lap 40.

Everything erupted on lap 41 however, where drivers pitted for the second time. With both Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull double-stacking their drivers, Gracjan Wozipiwo made an unforced error at Turn 15, going wide and losing important seconds getting back on track. Just before that incident occurred, Ferrari’s Robert Kubica II moved past both Red Bulls before all three pitted, meaning Kubica II took net P1, whilst Asen crucially passing Wozipiwo at Turn 6, whilst Dallara lead again and Pironi stayed in P2. Pironi then overtook Dallara, though both were yet to pit, for the lead of the Grand Prix.

With all drivers having pitted, the order emerged, and to the general astonishment of the spectators, Wozipiwo left the pits behind the two Alpines, the two Ferraris and De Saint-Germain. This meant that as long as he stayed in this position, he would win the championship, though it was risky, with Asen requiring 19 more points in the Grand Prix and no less than P2 in any way.

Kubica II then took the lead on lap 44, only for De Saint-Germain to reclaim it on lap 45, with Asen overtaking his Polish teammate into P2. The two Prancing Horses then battled until lap 51, with De Saint-Germain 7 tenths clear and in clean air. Wozipiwo briefly took P5, but Dallara re-overtook the Pole, before Wozipiwo overtook the Brazilian for good on lap 55. On lap 56, Jyrki Jarvilehto Lehto Jr spun out of the race at Turn 16 and into the barriers, meaning his season ended on a sour note unfortunately. Kubica II briefly took the lead on lap 57, but Corinne de Saint-Germain re-overtook him and held on for her 4th Grand Prix victory of the season.

This meant that Gracjan Wozipiwo won the championship by 14 points, and made him Red Bull Racing’s 10th different F1 World Champion. Congratulations and enjoy your reign as World Driver’s Champion!

As someone who only joined MRC this season, I have been fascinated by this F1 title fight, and I need to say thank you to all the drivers who have done their best to achieve great results and provided such great entertainment for us as spectators, and to all the team employees, mechanics and owners for doing a fantastic job to help their drivers do well.

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