2024’s Formula 1 Titles

This year’s Formula 1 season will spring back to life in a fortnight’s time with a tripleheader of three Grands Prix on consecutive weekends in the USA, Mexico, and Brazil, with Sprint races also thrown into the mix in Texas and São Paulo. The calendar will then conclude with another tripleheader of back-to-back rounds in Las Vegas, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi, along with a final Sprint event in Qatar, after another three-week pause.

So, with six Grands Prix and three Sprint races still to be contested, there is still much to play for in terms of the ultimate destinations of the 2024 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles, bearing in mind that a Grand Prix victory and the extra point for the fastest lap plus a Sprint win is worth 34 points to a driver.

Red Bull’s reigning champion, Max Verstappen, still has a 52-point lead over his nearest rival, McLaren’s Lando Norris, but at the latest Grand Prix in Singapore, the latter resoundingly beat his good friend from the Netherlands, reaching the chequered flag a mighty 21 seconds ahead. This was the same day that third-placed Oscar Piastri, who also drives for McLaren, was another 21 seconds adrift. Such extreme results are rare in modern F1, but it is clear that McLaren has made excellent progress with the development of its current car, whereas Red Bull, after a strong start to the season for Verstappen, has rather lost its way in comparison.

Red Bull’s lead driver feels though that the team has now passed the worst of its challenging 2024 slump and that this was proved by him being the best of the rest behind the victorious Norris last time out. However, the strong performances by both of McLaren’s drivers have helped the Woking-based outfit leap ahead of Red Bull on the constructors’ front, and this has been compounded by the generally poor contributions from Verstappen’s Mexican teammate, Sergio Pérez, who is lying a lowly eighth in the drivers’ rankings with just 144 points.

F1 cars tend to be pretty reliable these days, and so multiple retirements due to technical failures should not be a significant factor as we look ahead to the remainder of the season, but there is of course always the risk of cars dropping down the running order or failing to reach the chequered flag due to ontrack contact.

McLaren certainly has the impetus as we head to Austin shortly and will no doubt be keen to extend its success in Singapore, whilst Red Bull will hope that Verstappen can continue to limit how much of his lead is gradually being eaten away and that Pérez can contribute more in terms of points scored and as a significantly more effective rear gunner for Verstappen. 

Time will tell.

2024 Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship

1 Max Verstappen 331
2 Lando Norris 279
3 Charles Leclerc 245
4 Oscar Piastri 237

2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship

1 McLaren 516
2 Red Bull 475
3 Ferrari 441
4 Mercedes 329