Remember, last year, in 2023: at the end of a season dominated by Red Bull and Max Verstappen (21 victories in 22 Grands Prix for the Austrian team), we wondered if the coming season to pass had not been the blandest of the 21st century in Formula 1. A year later, it is the opposite question that we ask ourselves: and if the campaign which comes to end was finally the best of our century?
The arguments in favor of this 2024 season are numerous, if only by the statistics: in 24 Grands Prix – the longest season in history, it should be remembered – we have had seven different winners. A nice number… but which is even more impressive when we remember that these seven winners have all won at least two Grands Prix this year, a record in the history of the discipline! Max Verstappen (9 wins), Lando Norris (4), Charles Leclerc (3), Lewis Hamilton (2), George Russell (2), Oscar Piastri (2) and Carlos Sainz (2) have each been multiple Grand Prix winners. Prize in 2024. We almost forgot it as they played at the forefront, but the two McLaren drivers won their first Grand Prix this year!
There have been many other records this season: Fernando Alonso for example became the first driver to cross the 400 Grand Prix mark, McLaren became the first team in history to record no retirements, Oscar Piastri broke the record for the number of laps completed in a season and finally, thanks to his incredible home victory, Lewis Hamilton broke a plethora of records with his ninth success at Silverstone.
Four teams vying for victories
Beyond the records, it was the uncertainty over each race weekend that kept us in suspense until the last Grand Prix, in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of December. Despite an almost one-sided start to the season for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, winner of seven of the first ten races of the championship, the second part of the season was much more competitive than what we could have hoped for after Bahrain last March! The Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes drivers, not forgetting Max Verstappen, were all able to fight for victory, each with different dynamics, sometimes sluggish moments and unexpected bursts. After Bahrain, who would have imagined that Mercedes would record four victories this season? Who could have imagined a fight between McLaren and Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship? Who could have believed that Red Bull would only finish third in this same championship?
This championship which, in fact, was much more contested than expected, and that was not to displease us. Among the Drivers, Max Verstappen was able to capitalize on his incredible start to the season to play the grocer when the Red Bull RB20 declined after the summer break and maintain a solid lead against Lando Norris. The Briton believed in it until the end, in this crazy comeback, but came up against the ruthless world champion who, in difficult moments, sometimes went to the limit and even beyond to disrupt the effort from his English friend and rival. With four victories in his pocket and tough duels against the Dutchman, Lando Norris has however become emboldened with a view to 2025, where this time he will be a serious contender for the title.
© Eric Alonso / DPPI
The return of the McLaren vs. Ferrari
But Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were not the only protagonists of this intense 2024 season. Third in the championship, Charles Leclerc perhaps had his best season in Formula 1 with prestigious and moving victories in Monaco and Monza, without forget that of Austin. Carlos Sainz also produced his best performance with two successes, including an incredible comeback in Melbourne, just two weeks after his appendicitis operation. The two Scuderia drivers carried the colors of the Prancing Horse high in 2024, to the point of being involved in the race for the Manufacturers' title until the last laps of the season! Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little longer before seeing Ferrari lift its first title since 2008…
The Scuderia fell just 14 points behind McLaren in this epic title race, in a historic duel between the two biggest teams in the discipline. The Woking team ended a 26-year drought without a title thanks to their shock duo Lando Norris – Oscar Piastri, even if the British team is complicated the task during the season with a long blurred hierarchy between the two young drivers and team instructions which were slow to be implemented. However, McLaren has made a formidable return to first place: less than two years ago, at the start of the 2023 season, the Papayas could not even get out of Q1!
In addition to the teams at the top of the table, the teams in the middle of the pack also gave us a great show. The fight for 6th place was very close until the last Grand Prix, a position which finally went to Alpine thanks to an almost miraculous end to the season. At mid-season, the Enstone team was experiencing its worst campaign since 2016, but thanks to the developments made on the A524 and above all, thanks to this unthinkable double podium during the Brazilian Grand Prix in dire conditions , Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon managed to bring the French team back up and save Alpine's balance sheet in 2024. A balance sheet, however, darkened by controversies and decisions controversial, such as the end of the engine program in 2026, the return of Flavio Briatore or the dismissal of Esteban Ocon before the last round of the season…
© Florent Gooden / DPPI
Youth takes power in F1
Alpine, however, fought hard against Haas and Racing Bulls, two teams that we did not necessarily expect after a failed 2023 season for both teams. With Ayao Komatsu at its head, the American team has found a second wind and will be a team to follow in 2025 with the arrival of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman and the technical support of Toyota. For Racing Bulls, despite the game of musical chairs within the Red Bull fold, Laurent Mekies' team has made good progress in 2024 and will also be a team to follow next year, notably with the arrival of a third French in F1, Isack Hadjar.
And yes, because beyond the actions on the track, the victories and the titles, the 2024 season was marked by a completely crazy transfer window which started even before the start of the championship. The departure of Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to join Ferrari, announced on February 1, is considered the transfer of the century by many, and this earthquake caused chain reactions including the departure of Carlos Sainz at Williams and the arrival of 'Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes in 2025. The young 18-year-old Italian driver will not be the only rookie next year since Gabriel Bortoleto and Jack Doohan will also make their debut, respectively with Sauber and Alpine.
A youth which takes power and which, inevitably, caused the departure of certain leaders of the discipline. Some may have even competed in the last Grand Prix of their career this season: Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Pérez were all fired at the end of this 2024 campaign and with the young generation arriving, difficult to see them return in 2026… unless the new Cadillac team decides to relaunch one of its “failures” from Formula 1.
The 2024 season at the top of the basket?
In short, you will have understood: this long and intense 2024 season will remain whatever happens in the annals of Formula 1, whether sportingly, statistically or emotionally speaking. But is it really the best season of the 21st century? The answer is obviously subjective. Some will say yes, thanks to the diversity of winners, the unprecedented four-way match between Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, the various transfers and replacements during the season, the records, the surprises, etc. Others will say no, in particular because of the lack of real suspense in the Drivers' championship which reached its conclusion before the last two races of the season, but also because of the off-track controversies, the scuffles between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris or even squabbles of words between Red Bull and Mercedes. Nostalgic people will argue that the 2003, 2008 or even 2012 seasons were much more interesting… In any case, whether we loved it or hated it, this 2024 season will not have left anyone indifferent!
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