2024 f1 seasonFormula 1

RaceFans’ complete review of the 2024 Formula 1 season · RaceFans

Before we draw a line under 2024, we’ve compiled our favourite articles, most popular features and a recap of every race from a memorable season. Find them all below:

The biggest stories

The most significant developments of the year – plus how some of our readers reacted to them at the time:

Hamilton leaves Mercedes for Ferrari

It’s not often the biggest story of a Formula 1 season breaks before the season has even started, but arguably that was the case this year. Lewis Hamilton rocked the paddock out of its winter slumber by confirming he had called time on his astonishingly successful 12-year stint at Mercedes.

The sport’s most successful driver of all time joining its most successful team of all time – Ferrari – was always going to be big news. It also had obvious implications for the driver market, though they turned out not to be as consequential as they might have been.

Although Sainz turned in another impressive performance alongside Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, and both Red Bull and Mercedes had vacancies to fill for 2025, neither hired him. After months of speculation, Sainz confirmed he will join Williams, while Mercedes chose to promote youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

When Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes everyone thought he was making a big mistake. Lewis knows what he’s doing.
@Flyinglapp

Red Bull dither over Perez

Liam Lawson, Sergio Perez, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2024
Lawson’s return was bad news for Perez on and off the track

Having laboured for much of 2023, Sergio Perez appeared to recover his form early this year. But by the time Red Bull announced he had been given a two-year contract extension his form was already sliding again, and it never recovered.

Following the British Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal admitted the team could not tolerate a repeat of Perez’s failure to score again. This prompted widespread speculation he might be dropped at the summer break, but although he only contributed 13 points over the next two races, he won a stay of execution.

The situation became increasingly desperate as the year went on, Perez scoring just nine points from the final eight rounds. Plainly, the situation had now become intolerable, but Red Bull faced the additional complication that their preferred replacement for Perez – Daniel Ricciardo – had failed to shine on his return with RB.

He was shown the door after the Singapore Grand Prix and Liam Lawson ushered in. He quickly got on the pace of team mate Yuki Tsunoda and turned in an excellent drive at the United States Grand Prix. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner soon found himself facing questions whether Perez would be elbowed out before the season ended; the axe instead fell the week after.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

I’m not surprised by this news but I still reckon it’s the wrong choice at this point in time. The last two rookies almost ended up out of the sport in no time after being paired with Max. Any decent driver with experience would be a better choice. Yuki, Bottas and Sainz were all options. I want to see Lawson have a long and successful career. Sending him to be Max’s teammate this early in his career may well compromise that…
@Tommy-C

FOM’s 299-day U-turn

Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Miami International Autodrome, 2024
FOM unsuccessfully tried to keep the Andrettis out

As 2024 began, the FIA had rubber-stamped Andretti’s application to join Formula 1, and it was now up to Formula One Management to give their verdict. They could hardly have been more emphatic in their dismissal, which they announced in January. In their view, not only did the team named for the 1978 world champion’s family lack recognition, but they were unlikely to be competitive and, besides, F1 did not need an 11th team.

The row ground on throughout the year and became increasingly personal. Mario Andretti claimed Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei told his son their team would never be allowed in.

But, fortified by the support of the FIA and allied to General Motors brand Cadillac, Andretti fought their corner. They urged US lawmakers to look into the matter and finally the balance tipped. FOM confirmed its capitulation in October, though still refused to name the Andrettis as the successful applicants.

Great, now let Hitech in as well for a proper 24-car grid!
Joao

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Championship clashes

Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Red Bull Ring, 2024
Verstappen and Norris collided in Austria

After two largely one-sided seasons, finally F1 had a fight for the championship again. However Lando Norris found himself fighting a rearguard action having lost significant ground to Max Verstappen early in the year.

When the pair met on-track, fireworks tended to follow. Norris was infuriated by his rival’s defending in Austria, which led to a collision between the pair, a penalty for Verstappen and, later, an admission from the FIA that they were too slow to discipline the Red Bull driver.

Verstappen got the better of their exchange in Austin, too, where Norris was penalised but many felt Verstappen had deliberately forced him off and got away with it. McLaren made a fruitless attempt to change the decision.

They clashed yet again in Mexico, and although Norris ultimately finished ahead, Verstappen successfully prevented him challenging for victory in a race he could have won, costing him precious points. If the pair start next year on an even footing we could have quite a fight on our hands.

If you can take the penalty and gain an advantage… it’s not actually a penalty. It’s just a reduction in advantage. What needs to happen is that the penalties are harsh enough that drivers will desperately want to avoid them, and will learn to instinctively leave space for their opponents. Until that happens, the penalties aren’t severe enough.
Seppo (@Helava)

Sanity breaks out over track limits

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Shanghai International Circuit, 2024
F1 finally got serious about track limits

Track limits have been the bane of F1 racing for so many years, but in 2024 the series finally got serious about tackling the problem. Namely, by reinstating physical limits to tracks which never should have been removed or absent to begin with.

The Red Bull Ring, previously a notorious trouble spot, was one of the biggest success stories, and the number of track limits infringements during the race plummeted. Silverstone, Shanghai and the Hungaroring also benefited from the addition of new gravel trips and narrower kerbs preventing drivers from gaining an advantage by running wide.

There was one conspicuous exception, however: the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Unsurprisingly, both races at the United States Grand Prix weekend therefore featured multiple rows over drivers gaining an advantage by going off the track. Hopefully the reports COTA will fix its run-offs for next year prove accurate.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

It’s amazing how those hundreds of track limit issues we had last year have suddenly stopped. It’s amazing what a sliver of gravel can do. Turns out these drivers can stay on track with relative ease even when pushing.

Who knew.
BLS (@BrightLampShade)

More major stories

The 2024 season saw many other major developments. Haas dropped its original team principal Guenther Steiner and appointed Ayao Komatsu as his replacement. They also successfully lured Toyota back to F1 as a new technical partner.

Logan Sargeant, Williams, Zandvoort, 2024
Williams showed Sargeant the door after one crash too many

If that came as a surprise, Alpine’s decision to replace yet another team principal was a more routine affair: Oliver Oakes arrived in place of Bruno Famin. More of a shock was team owner Renault’s decision to axe its F1 engine programme and instead become a customer of Mercedes.

However the most significant change among team personnel was surely Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull. Aston Martin pulled off a coup by beating their rivals to his signature.

Before Ricciardo, Logan Sargeant was the most high-profile mid-season sacking, after a series of crashes in his Williams. Ricciardo’s last act in F1 was to deny Norris the bonus point for fastest lap in Singapore, helping out RB’s sister team Red Bull, and it was surely no coincidence that the FIA announced soon afterwards the rule will be dropped for next year.

Drama struck McLaren in Spain, where the team’s hospitality unit caught fire. Remarkably, the motorhome suffered more damage in Hungary due to a storm.

There was plenty of tit-for-tat between the title contenders. Norris grassed Verstappen up in Baku, to no effect, but the Red Bull driver exacted a punishing revenge in Losail, triggering a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his rival. Other radio comments attracted the attention of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who urged drivers to cut out the swearing.

Finally, Kevin Magnussen became the first F1 driver to receive an automatic one-race ban for collecting 12 penalty points on his licence.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Our most-read features

Here are some of the features and news stories which attracted the most interest, comments and attention on social media during 2024:

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

All 30 F1 race reports of 2024

The main events

All of our in-depth reports on the 12 grands prix of 2024:

The sideshows

With six sprint events, F1 held a record-breaking 30 races this year:

Team radio highlights

RaceFans’ team radio transcripts presented the full context behind the clips played on television and uncovered surprising and overlooked new details about how the races unfolded:

Miss nothing from RaceFans

Get a daily email with all our latest stories – and nothing else. No marketing, no ads. Sign up here:

Social media highlights

A final selection of our most-shared posts this year:

Over to you

What were your favourite moments from the 2024 F1 season? Have your say in the comments.

Go ad-free for just £1 per month

>> Find out more and sign up

Formula 1

Browse all Formula 1 articles

Prev

How many millions the F1 teams won in 2024

Next

Poll | What was the best off-track Formula 1 moment of 2024?

18 Related Posts

Related Posts

Leave your comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *