F1 top 10 drivers of 2024 – Part 2

And so to the final five!

RacingNews365 commenced its countdown of the top 10 drivers from 2024 with our first article on those from 10th to sixth. Now its those from fifth to first.

Its five writers – Ian Parkes, Sam Coop, Nick Golding, Jake Nichol, and Fergal Walsh – adopted F1’s grand prix scoring system, giving 25 points to the driver they felt was the best-performing over the 24-race season, down to one point for the 10th-placed driver on their list.

You can check out the final table at the bottom.

As always, this is a subjective list. You, our readers, may have your own view, so please feel free to provide your comments in the box below.

As remarkable as it may seem, this was only Piastri’s second season in F1. It feels as if he has been around far longer. Yet he is still learning the ropes. Following a stellar debut campaign, perhaps it was too soon to expect Piastri to launch a full-on assault this year against team-mate Lando Norris, who has an additional four years under his belt with McLaren in comparison. For the most part, Piastri held his own. But once Norris hit his stride after finishing third on Piastri’s home soil in Melbourne, the points gap steadily widened between the two until McLaren was faced with the difficulty of imposing team orders. Piastri showed on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix he is far from afraid of Norris. Although ultimately settling for second best, enabling McLaren to become constructors’ champions in the process, he has teased the prospect of a far more enticing scrap with Norris in 2025.

You have to hand it to Sainz. There are many drivers who, when told before even a wheel had turned in anger that their dream drive would be taken away from them at the end of the year, would likely take their foot off the gas for the season ahead and bank the accompanying pay cheque that comes with being cast aside. Not a bit of it with Sainz. Instead, he displayed a level of maturity and professionalism that underlined why he is one of the best drivers on the grid. The fact he missed the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia due to appendicitis, yet returned two weeks later to score a win in Australia, underlined his outstanding commitment to the Scuderia’s cause. He gave his all and earned further just reward with another victory in Mexico. It is fair to suggest he deserves more than fighting in the midfield with Williams next season.

This was a close call, and there may be many who would position Leclerc ahead of the second-placed driver on this list, Lando Norris. Leclerc barely put a wheel out of place at any stage. With experience, we saw a driver far removed from the 2022 version of himself when he made errors that questioned whether he was worthy of his exalted, and to some, even saint-like status inside Ferrari, and which compromised his title challenge against Verstappen. Under a more wisened team principal in Fred Vasseur, who previously guided Leclerc in his debut F1 campaign at Sauber, the Monégasque has matured considerably and grown in stature and composure behind the wheel. It could be argued that but for a second major upgrade on the SF-24 at the Spanish GP that dragged the car backwards after the positivity of the initial update in Imola, then Leclerc would have finished ahead of Norris in the drivers’ standings, given the gap was only 18 points at the end.But then, many an F1 season is full of ifs, buts and maybes. 

Without a doubt, this was, by a country mile, Norris’ best F1 season to date – four positions and 169 points better off than last year. But for a slow start, in comparison to Verstappen’s out-of-the-blocks beginning in which Norris scored 58 points to the Dutchman’s 110 over the first five grands prix, then the title race may have been a very different affair. Instead, after Norris finally broke his victory duck in the sixth race in Miami, he was always playing catch up to Verstappen. What we did witness along the way, however, was a more accomplished, assured and polished driver, albeit prone to the odd mistake here and there which undermined his championship quest. But with four victories to his name overall, Norris now knows he has what it takes to not only win grands prix but mount a more concerted title tilt, as will be expected of him – and he will no doubt expect of himself – in 2025. 

It had to be, for the simple reason that we saw a very different side to Verstappen this past season as he had to display a level of maturity behind the wheel that arguably had not been seen in any of his three previous title-winning years. Following a rosy start, with four wins in the first five races, Verstappen had to extract performances from an RB20 that went off the boil to such an extent that by the time the Italian GP rolled around, there was the distinct possibility he would fail to defend his title. He even described the car as “a monster”, such was his level of frustration with its overall inconsistency. Instead, Verstappen dug deep and extracted performances and results that allowed him to keep Norris at arm’s length. There were still moments when the Verstappen of old resurfaced and when he allowed petulance to get the better of him, such as in Mexico. But then, there was that drive for the ages in Brazil when he delivered a consummate performance worthy of one of the all-time greats.