By: Kaja Antic, Sports Writer
No Formula One fan could have predicted what would happen after the first “lights out and away we go!” announcement at the Bahrain Grand Prix this past March. The 2024 season was one for the history books.
The season, starting in Bahrain on March 2 and ending with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 8, was the longest in Formula One history, spanning 24 races across the world. There were seven multi-race winners — the most in the sport’s history for a single season.
2024 started off with complete domination by the Red Bulls’ Sergio Perez and defending World Driver’s Champion, Max Verstappen. Verstappen won four of the first five races, usually with Perez following in second or third place. The only race he didn’t win was Australia, where a brake malfunction caused him to retire the car, paving the way for Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to take first place just two weeks after being sidelined by an emergency appendix surgery at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The 2024 Miami Grand Prix was where the tides started to shift away from Verstappen and Red Bull’s favour. Despite still being dominant, the Dutch driver was unable to get past McLaren’s Lando Norris after an ill-timed safety car, leading to the Brit’s first win in Formula One after 110 races in the sport. Norris would later become a thorn in the side of Red Bull, as he emerged as a contender in the World Driver’s Championship, challenging Verstappen’s three-year-long reign at the top.
Verstappen took three more wins before Red Bull’s luck seemingly ran out as the summer approached. He claimed the top step in Emilia-Romanga, Canada, and Spain, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finally getting the win in his home race in Monaco. After the Spanish Grand Prix concluded on June 23, Verstappen did not get another win until the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 3 — a stark difference from winning 19 of 22 races in the 2023 season.
Mercedes began to show their strength as the tracks heated up in the summertime. George Russell inherited the win in Austria after leaders Verstappen and Norris collided, and Lewis Hamilton won his ninth British Grand Prix — his final with the German team before he heads to Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton won in Belgium, and Norris won in the Netherlands.
Leclerc won in Monza, something Ferrari’s tifosi celebrated proudly on Italian soil. Oscar Piastri won in Azerbaijan after overtaking Leclerc on Lap 20 of 51. With his win, McLaren jumped to the lead of the World Constructors Championship. Rookie Oliver Bearman also made history that weekend, being the first driver in Formula One history to get points for two teams in the same season. Bearman earned six points after placing seventh for Ferrari in replacement for Sainz in Saudi Arabia, and earned one point placing tenth while he replaced the banned Kevin Magnussen for Haas.
“After the Spanish Grand Prix concluded on June 23, Verstappen would not get another win until the Brazilian Grand Prix on November 3 — a stark difference from winning 19 of 22 races in the 2023 season.”
Norris won in Singapore before Ferrari traded wins in Austin and Mexico City, with Leclerc and Sainz each taking a victory in the back-to-back North American races. The Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo was a different monster altogether. Five red flags in a Sunday qualifying, a complete (and somewhat unsafe) downpour, the first black flag incident since 2007 — this race had it all. Verstappen went from 17th to first over the 69 laps, with the race shortened by two laps after an aborted start thanks to Canadian Lance Stroll of Aston Martin getting beached in the gravel on the formation lap. Verstappen’s win in a paceless Red Bull wasn’t the only surprise of the weekend, with both Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon reaching the podium.
With the win in Brazil, Norris’ chances of winning the Driver’s Championship over Verstappen were largely dashed. Russell won under the lights of Las Vegas, though the main story was Verstappen, as the Dutch driver earned his fourth consecutive world title after finishing one place ahead of Norris.
Qatar, the penultimate race of the season, was not one without drama, with numerous penalties and tension between Verstappen and Russell over the pole position for the Grand Prix. Russell argued to race officials that Verstappen had impeded him during qualifying, resulting in Verstappen earning a one-place grid penalty and being relegated to second place on the starting grid. Verstappen would go on to win the race, while Russell could only manage fourth after inheriting pole position.
The World Constructors Championship went down to the wire, being decided at the season-concluding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. McLaren had the edge over Ferrari, though the historic Italian team could pull off the upset and win their 17th title. Though Sainz and Leclerc managed second and third respectively, Norris pulling off the win was enough to give McLaren the victory, their first constructors title since 1998 — before either of their current drivers were born.
Now that the 2024 season is over, that must be the end of the drama, right? Nope! Red Bull dropped Perez on December 18, after he underperformed in the 2024 season. Liam Lawson moves up from the junior team to join Verstappen in 2025, over his more experienced teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda will be paired with the 2024 Formula Two runner-up in Isack Hadjar for the 2025 Racing Bulls team.
Hadjar is joining for his first full season in 2025. The aforementioned Bearman will be racing for Haas, Formula Two champion Gabriel Bortoleto will be racing for Sauber, Jack Doohan will race a full season for Alpine after replacing Ocon in Abu Dhabi, Andrea Kimi Antonelli will pair Russell at a Hamilton-less Mercedes, and Lawson will be racing full-time in Formula One for the first time in his career, having done eleven races over two stints.
With new regulations coming into effect in 2026, it will be interesting to see how the 2025 season pans out. If it’s at least 20% of what 2024 was like, it’ll surely be an entertaining watch.
