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Max Verstappen may have won his fourth world title with comparative ease, but that hides the fact that four different teams tasted victory in F1 2024.
All four recorded one-two results too, including Red Bull Racing after Verstappen and Sergio Perez dominated the early part of the season before the Mexican’s year fell apart.
With strong performances from across the leading four teams, it was comparatively easy to fill seven places on our list (no prizes for guessing the driver to have missed out from that group).
Deciding which of the remaining 17 drivers who competed over the course of F1 2024 warranted inclusion was slightly trickier.
There were some standout performances over the course of the season, and individual moments of brilliance, but our list takes into account all 24 races.
And so while special mention must therefore go to part-timers and super-subs Oliver Bearman, Franco Colapinto, Liam Lawson, et al, none of them make the grade this time around.
10. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
Wins: 2
Best Qualifying: 2nd
Championship: 7th
Lewis Hamilton ended the longest winless streak in his career by taking two victories over the course of F1 2024.
His drive in the British Grand Prix was superb, if slightly fortunate given McLaren’s strategic blunders which ruined the chances of both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Still, the seven-time champ was there to pick up the pieces, as he was a few weeks later in Belgium when he was beaten to the flag by George Russell – who was promptly excluded to hand Hamilton victory.
It was far from Hamilton finest season in F1, and there were at times hints that his best is well behind him, but equally there were moments where it was clear why the 39-year-old has seven titles to his name.
9. Yuki Tsunoda – RB
Best Finish: 7th
Best Qualifying: 3rd
Championship: 12th
For much of the season, RB sat sixth in the constructors’ championship with much of that a result of Yuki Tsunoda.
The Japanese driver scored the lion’s share of the squad’s 46 points (30 of them, to be precise) in a year where he effectively ended Daniel Ricciardo’s career.
Picking a standout moment is difficult as Tsunoda’s campaign can best be described as solid rather than spectacular, though third on the grid in Sao Paulo did catch the eye.
He amassed seven important points finishes in the opening half of the year, though could only add two more following the summer break as the likes of Haas and Alpine improved.
Still, it’s difficult to imagine Tsunoda, or anyone else, getting much more out of the car, and hence he warrants a position on our list.
8. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas
Best Finish: 6th
Best Qualifying: 4th
Championship: 11th
The battle for sixth in the constructors’ championship was fraught, especially in the final races, with Haas arguably the leading protagonist.
After RB got off to a fast start with plenty of points in the opening races, Nico Hulkenberg led Haas’ charge as the squad reeled the Italian team in.
He was a standout performer in qualifying, with 10 appearances in Qualifying 3 in 24 races.
There were 10 points-paying results too, including two sixth place finishes, back-to-back, in Austria and Great Britain.
And when the car improved later in the season, top 10 results became more consistent for Hulkenberg, who recorded five points-paying finishes in in seven races to end the year.
Better on a Saturday than a Sunday, Hulkenberg added 41 of Haas’ 58 points over in what was a noteworthy season for the German.
7. Pierre Gasly – Alpine
Best Finish: 3rd
Best Qualifying: 3rd
Championship: 10th
The standout moment of F1 2024 for Pierre Gasly was undoubtedly his third place finish in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
It’s slightly awkward his team-mate beat him to the flag, but a single result doesn’t make a season, and Esteban Ocon had far too many other issues to make this list.
Gasly, meanwhile, solidified his position as team leader in a year when he matured into a reliable and dependable driver for Alpine.
It was a tough start to the year and it was only in Monaco that the Frenchman got off the mark – despite being controversially clouted by Ocon on the opening lap.
At the end of the year came the dubious claim that he’d seen out the season without causing any damage, a statistic those in the team don’t believe but are happy for others to spout.
That it is plausible highlights the reliability of Gasly over the course of F1 2024, which is exactly what Alpine needed; a driver to lead by example and take what little was on offer, when it was on offer.
Pierre Gasly did precisely that. Job done.
6. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari
Wins: 2
Poles: 1
Championship: 5th
By no measure did Carlos Sainz under perform in F1 2024, such that it feels harsh he’s lost his drive with the Scuderia next season – but that decision was taken pre-season.
Two wins, one in Australia and the other in Mexico City, demonstrated that the Spaniard was at or close to the top of his game regardless.
He was second in Abu Dhabi and the United States, and had five other podium appearances. He was no worse than seventh every time he saw the chequered flag.
When the championship is so competitive, that consistency is golden to a team vying for silverware.
He was, however, beaten by his teammate in the drivers’ standings, hence it’s difficult to place him higher on this list, especially in the face of performances from his rivals.
Even still, his contribution was critical to Ferrari’s end of season title charge and the team is arguably weaker for his departure to Williams.
5. George Russell – Mercedes
Wins: 2
Poles: 3
Championship: 6th
There’s an argument to be made that George Russell was Mercedes’ lead driver in F1 2024.
He scored the most points, three pole positions, and recorded two wins – three if you allow him the Belgian GP.
Russell was also far more consistent than his more illustrious teammate, especially in qualifying where he was never outside the Top 10.
Like Sainz, when he reached the flag, he scored points, with only two retirements all season.
The high point was his drive in Belgium, where he dictated strategy from the car in a move that won him the race – briefly.
That his car was underweight was hardly his fault, but does highlight the slim margins we were dealing with throughout the season.
There was an off-track faux pas in Qatar, which was highlighted in Abu Dhabi, which drew his character into question following a spat with Max Verstappen in the stewards’ room.
Still, that could be seen as drawing the battle lines for F1 2025, when Russell will officially become the lead driver at Mercedes.
But he needs to show more of that aggression on track, and drop the public act, we’ve all seen through it now.
4. Oscar Piastri – McLaren
Wins: 2
Best Qualifying: 2nd
Championship: 4th
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a watershed moment in the career of Oscar Piastri as he resisted intense pressure from Charles Leclerc.
The young Australian didn’t buckle and never looked at risk of making a mistake that would open the door for his Ferrari rival.
For a driver in only his second year in F1, it was an extraordinary achievement.
And that there was debate surrounding the use of team orders is a further feather in his cap.
Piastri was competitive enough that he made McLaren’s decision awkward, which is precisely what he is employed to do; support the team and pick up the pieces dropped by Lando Norris.
There were suggestions during the year that the tide is turning, and that Piastri – still a little shy of Norris if they were to go toe-to-toe – became an increasingly strong match for his stablemate.
If there was one criticism of his F1 2024 performance it was the lack of a pole position, a point Piastri himself acknowledges.
That self-awareness and continued rapid development stand him in very good stead heading into F1 2025.
3. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
Wins: 3
Poles: 2
Championship: 3rd
If Ferrari can’t win the world championship, victories in Monaco, Italy and the United States are the next best thing.
Charles Leclerc’s victory in Monaco was exemplary, if perhaps lucky given Oscar Piastri arguably should have stolen pole position away from him on Saturday.
He didn’t, and the local favourite finally delivered a result that has been eluding him throughout his career.
Another win in Italy, in front of the adoring Ferrari tifosi, is always going to be well received.
There was contact with Piastri in Austria that hurt his chances there, triggered by an aggressive Sergio Perez, that hampered his progress there.
A strategic blunder by the Ferrari pit wall in Silverstone proved costly, and capped off a rough run of races that followed his Monaco win.
But he bounced back and as the Ferrari improved, so too did Leclerc.
That left him third at the end of the season, even allowing for the post-Monaco slump, with almost 70 points more than team-mate Carlos Sainz.
Most importantly, however, was there were fewer unforced errors, a historical weakness of Leclerc’s, which is promising ahead of F1 2025.
2. Lando Norris – McLaren
Wins: 4
Poles: 8
Championship: 2nd
It’s bizarre to think that, at the start of the season, Lando Norris had never won a grand prix.
His breakthrough came in Miami, a turning point in the season when the needle arguably swung from advantage Red Bull Racing to advantage McLaren.
Throughout F1 2024, Norris was a force to be reckoned with, when his car allowed him.
The squad had a slow start but even still the young Brit logged some positive early results.
However, there were operational and driving mistakes that held him back.
The Austrian Grand Prix was a key moment in the season, when he clashed with Max Verstappen, arguably unnecessarily so.
While Norris retired, the only time he didn’t score points all season, Verstappen limped his wounded Red Bull Racing to the flag to salvage a handful of points.
That was the difference between the top two in the championship; Verstappen was unashamedly aggressive and used the letter of the law to his advantage; Norris was, quite simply, too nice – though with reason.
While chasing individual success, he was also racing for the team in what became a surprisingly precarious battle for the constructors’ championship.
McLaren was successful and on that front Norris is a world champion, but the team’s slow start and lack of execution in places like the British Grand Prix – not to mention some bad luck in Sao Paulo – held him back.
But with some important lessons under his belt and a McLaren team energised with the sort of confidence it hasn’t had for 26 years, Norris promises to be a title threat in F1 2025. He just needs to start faster.
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing
Wins: 9
Poles: 10
Championship: 1st
It wasn’t the all-conquering season he enjoyed in F1 2023 but Max Verstappen’s fourth title is arguably more impressive.
Quick out of the blocks as the season started, the Red Bull Racing became increasingly less competitive as the season wore on.
By Miami, the pack had caught up, and arguably overtaken the Milton Keynes operation, but still Verstappen dragged out results.
He won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and then again in Canada and Spain despite being out-gunned.
The 75 points he score those weekends were critical. He won the title by only 63 in Abu Dhabi.
The secret to his success was consistency; he only failed to finish once, when he had a brake problem in Australia, and never finished lower than sixth – his bad weekends still netted six points.
And there were nine wins to boot, more than his nearest two rivals combined, which of course went a long way towards sealing the title.
But while we saw the best of Verstappen, and his drive in Sao Paulo was simply extraordinary, we also saw his worst.
His behaviour in battle with Lando Norris in Mexico City was deplorable, but highlighted his desperation to win at an increasingly important time in the title battle.
Norris was a theoretical threat, but in reality, it was always a long shot because Verstappen made the most of his equipment, and that is why he tops this list.
His rivals had their chances, but were unable to capitalise and drive home their advantage when they had it.
Winning races was a cornerstone to his title, but it was his drives to the lower places, when he didn’t have the car to win, that meant he remained untouchable.
