It’s the start of Apex Advent and that means it’s the beginning of Awards season here on The Apex Motorsport. Let’s start with the rookie of the season category, where any driver considered a rookie in their respective championship was eligible for nomination.
Oscar Piastri (Formula One)
Following a year on the sidelines and a contract scandal that will be remembered for years to come, Oscar Piastri has definitely made a great attempt at creating the headlines around him about his on-track performance with a very solid rookie reason at McLaren.
The young Australian driver did have a slow start to the season, with his McLaren car not quite up to the speed we have come to know since the British Grand Prix. But with back-to-back podiums in Singapore and Qatar along with pole position for the Qatar Sprint race, it caps off an incredible year for Piastri, who definitely has a bright future in papaya ahead of him.
Liam Lawson (Formula One)
If someone told Liam Lawson that going into the 2023 season he would be a Formula One driver, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
After Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the sport as a full-time driver was halted when he was injured in Belgium, Lawson was called up as the team’s reserve driver to compete in the Dutch, Italian, Singapore, Japanese, and Qatar Grand Prix.
With some solid performances with limited track time before these races, some on new circuits for the young New Zealander, he scored his first Formula One points to date with a ninth-place finish in Singapore.
Marcus Armstrong (Indycar)
Marcus Armstrong made the switch from Formula 2 to the Indycar series for the 2023 season, taking part in the street and circuit rounds, with Takuma Sato taking over the #11 Chip Ganassi car for the ovals.
He finished 20th overall in the standings, the highest of the non-full season runners as well as claiming the ‘Rookie of the Year’ Championship.
His best finish was seventh in Toronto and he managed a further four top-ten finishes in Long Beach, Detroit, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.
After impressing in his rookie campaign, the New Zealander will take part in the full-season for 2024.
The winner will be unveiled first here on theapexmotorsport.com so make sure you check back on the 22nd November to find out the winner. There is plenty of content coming out across both our website and Youtube channel during the month of December as part of ‘Apex Advent’. Make sure you follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and subscribe to us on Youtube so you don’t miss out on any content here on ‘The Apex Motorsport’.