How 2024 Formula 1 Racing Became Such a Throwback Season

Formula 1 is in the midst of its summer recess, providing an opportune moment to reflect on the first half—or rather, the first 14 of the 24 events—of the season.

There was an air of resignation after Max Verstappen’s dominant victory in China, in April, which marked his fourth comfortable victory from pole position from five grands prix.

At that stage there were still 19 rounds remaining, and the only question appeared to be how many more races the reigning champion would win, and how many more records could fall. It was not an enticing prospect. That was no slight against either driver or team, simply that their superiority was laudable, but it created an air of stagnation in Formula 1 after such crushing form across the second half of 2022 and through 2023.

Ferrari was a solid second-best, McLaren was showing flashes of speed, while Mercedes had faltered for a third straight year, firmly fourth best, occasionally even worse.

It was hard to argue with Autoweek readers who felt Formula 1 had become boring and unwatchable.

With the championship now in recess—the next round is not until August 26 in the Netherlands—the picture is now wildly and unexpectedly different.

Verstappen is still the winningest driver, and has a healthy 78-point advantage, basically a three-round buffer with 10 to go, two of which will take place in the United States, in Austin and Las Vegas respectively.

But seven drivers from four different teams have now won grands prix, and there has been a compelling multi-team battle for victory at nearly all of the last 10 events, with fine margins proving the determining factor. Red Bull’s cloak of invincibility has been removed.

Crack in the door

We may be halfway through year three of this rules cycle but finally the scenario Formula 1 bosses envisaged when planning these regulations in the late 2010s is bearing fruit.

McLaren’s update package in Miami has vaulted the MCL38 into a regular contender, Mercedes got its head around the regulations and finally brought new components that transformed the W15, and while Ferrari has slightly stuttered, it is still in the mix within the group.

On pure paper Red Bull Racing has had a fine season. It has won half of the 14 grands prix, and it leads both championships.

But its off-track politics, the convergence of the front-runners, the impending exits of Jonathan Wheatley and Adrian Newey, and Sergio Perez’s troubles have put Red Bull under unexpected pressure after its untroubled “unicorn” 2023 season.

Verstappen has shown chinks in the armor on occasion, such as by clashing with Norris in Austria, and a messy display in Hungary, after which he took aim at unnamed personnel who he felt were not grasping that the dominant days are done. He has remained the most consistent front-runner, growing his points advantage even without winning, but is fully cognizant that such an approach is not a viable long-term strategy.

He is still odds-on favorite to be 2024 champion but it is no longer the walk in the park that many expected and feared a few months ago.

Perez was second in the championship after the opening swing of races but has slumped to seventh. This year’s regression has been worse than his mid-2023 woes, and a sequence of eight events without a top six finish has frustrated Perez and mystified Red Bull.

A fresh contract through 2026 was announced in May but his collapse led to speculation over his short-term future, which Red Bull silenced post-Belgium by committing to Perez. Red Bull desperately needs the Mexican to arrest his collapse given McLaren has slashed its Constructors’ advantage to just 42 points.

McLaren surges

And yet, how to summarize McLaren’s half-season? Its young pairing, Lando Norris and the ever-improving Oscar Piastri, have both claimed their maiden victories, the MCL38 is now a constant contender for victory, and a potential first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 is tantalizingly within reach.

But while Norris’ Miami win was long overdue, and got the monkey off his back, further victories have remained elusive through a combination of driver errors and strategic setbacks. Norris has been in the mix at each of the last six events, and while four podiums is a solid return across that spell, it could and should have been more.

McLaren deserves huge credit for its rejuvenation from also-ran to title contender in a staggeringly short spell but it is still learning and adapting to being a front-runner week in, week out. That is natural, given its lengthy absence from the sharp end of the field, but it must sharpen up post-summer to turn opportunities into stronger results.

A door that was once firmly shut is now ajar for Norris, but it could be a lot more open.

Ferrari’s Needs

Ferrari started 2024 brightly, picking up the pieces of Verstappen’s brake failure courtesy of Carlos Sainz in Australia, before Charles Leclerc laid to rest the ghosts of past failures with an emotionally charged home victory in Monaco. But a dire event in Canada was followed by the introduction of an updated floor in Spain which provoked the dreaded porpoising on the SF-24.

Split packages, assessments, and revisions have been undertaken in a bid to remedy the setback, during which spell Ferrari’s drivers have mounted the podium just twice. Arresting that regression is critical to avoid a promising start fading away.

Mercedes gains traction

Mercedes is still fourth in the standings but has won three of the last four grands prix, two of them in controlled fashion, a prospect which was unfathomable just a couple of months ago. Just as Mercedes’ excuses—and insistence that it was on the right path—were wearing thin, the update packages made the W15 a faster and more compliant package with a wider operating window.

It looked as if Lewis Hamilton’s final year with Mercedes was destined for a miserable and unmotivating string of lower top-10 positions, an unedifying conclusion to Formula 1’s most successful partnership. But a brilliantly judged emotional victory in Britain, his first for two-and-a-half years, was backed up by another win in Belgium—albeit aided by the exclusion of teammate George Russell—ensuring that whatever happens from now, Hamilton’s final Mercedes season is a winning one, his victory tally now a dizzying 105.

Russell has had the one-lap edge, but some scrappier races, and more misfortune than most front-runners, has dulled his points total.

Further down the field there have also been compelling battles, with fractions of a second separating several teams scrapping for the final points-paying positions.

Remainder of the field

An underwhelming Aston Martin—having regressed after its podium-laden start to 2023—is mired in fifth place, with the rebranded RB squad just a few points ahead of a revitalized Haas team in the first year of Ayao Komatsu’s stewardship. Nico Hulkenberg has excelled, peaking with successive sixths in Austria and Britain, while encouragingly for the first time update packages are bearing fruit, as the Komatsu-led changes begin to yield dividends.

Alpine has lurched from embarrassment to humiliation via a smattering of catastrophes. For a works team to have got it this wrong for so long is damning of whatever management is in place—and have previously been in place—given that it is hard to remember who is actually in charge.

The expected loss of works team status for 2026, with Alpine’s owners Renault set to abandon its engine project, is another black eye. There are green shoots of recovery, but this will be a long-term plan, and it remains hard to know what Alpine is actually trying to be.

Williams continues to focus on the long-term, with boss James Vowles upending structures, cultures, and equipment, the short-term impact of which was demonstrated by the car’s late build and parts shortage which reached a nadir in Australia. Logan Sargeant’s non-participation was chastening, and the team firmly issued a mea culpa, but matters are improving.

A leap forward in 2026 remains the ambition, and the compelling Vowles—allied with owner Dorilton Capital’s investment—makes you believe it is realistic. The recruitment of Sainz, not to mention an increased headcount at Grove, is a huge statement of intent.

Sauber has had a dreadful 2024. Its car has been slow, operationally it has been poor, and recent managerial changes point to Audi being unsatisfied with preparation for 2026. But the appointments of veterans Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley marks a coup, and is a firm indication that it is determined to right some wrongs while giving the F1 project much-needed autonomy.

There’s also been a tumultuous silly season—with the final pieces still to slot into place—while teams and drivers are already weighing up the balance between 2025 and 2026, when wide-ranging new regulations will be introduced. But that’s for the future, because there are still 10 races left—including three sprints—across the remainder of 2024.

As Lewis Hamilton said after his win in Belgium: “It’s going to be one hell of a second half of the season for sure.”