Before we draw a line under 2024, we’ve compiled our favourite articles, most popular features and a recap of every race from a memorable season. Find them all below:
The biggest stories
The most significant developments of the year – plus how some of our readers reacted to them at the time:
Hamilton leaves Mercedes for Ferrari
It’s not often the biggest story of a Formula 1 season breaks before the season has even started, but arguably that was the case this year. Lewis Hamilton rocked the paddock out of its winter slumber by confirming he had called time on his astonishingly successful 12-year stint at Mercedes.
The sport’s most successful driver of all time joining its most successful team of all time – Ferrari – was always going to be big news. It also had obvious implications for the driver market, though they turned out not to be as consequential as they might have been.
Although Sainz turned in another impressive performance alongside Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, and both Red Bull and Mercedes had vacancies to fill for 2025, neither hired him. After months of speculation, Sainz confirmed he will join Williams, while Mercedes chose to promote youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
When Hamilton left McLaren for Mercedes everyone thought he was making a big mistake. Lewis knows what he’s doing.
@Flyinglapp
- Official: Hamilton to leave Mercedes at end of 2024 and join Ferrari
- Mercedes confirm Antonelli as Hamilton’s replacement on day after practice crash
- Sainz to join Albon at Williams in 2025 after Ferrari exit
Red Bull dither over Perez
Having laboured for much of 2023, Sergio Perez appeared to recover his form early this year. But by the time Red Bull announced he had been given a two-year contract extension his form was already sliding again, and it never recovered.
Following the British Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal admitted the team could not tolerate a repeat of Perez’s failure to score again. This prompted widespread speculation he might be dropped at the summer break, but although he only contributed 13 points over the next two races, he won a stay of execution.
The situation became increasingly desperate as the year went on, Perez scoring just nine points from the final eight rounds. Plainly, the situation had now become intolerable, but Red Bull faced the additional complication that their preferred replacement for Perez – Daniel Ricciardo – had failed to shine on his return with RB.
He was shown the door after the Singapore Grand Prix and Liam Lawson ushered in. He quickly got on the pace of team mate Yuki Tsunoda and turned in an excellent drive at the United States Grand Prix. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner soon found himself facing questions whether Perez would be elbowed out before the season ended; the axe instead fell the week after.
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I’m not surprised by this news but I still reckon it’s the wrong choice at this point in time. The last two rookies almost ended up out of the sport in no time after being paired with Max. Any decent driver with experience would be a better choice. Yuki, Bottas and Sainz were all options. I want to see Lawson have a long and successful career. Sending him to be Max’s teammate this early in his career may well compromise that…
@Tommy-C
- Official: Red Bull give Perez two more years
- Perez will stay at Red Bull for the rest of the year, Horner tells team staff
- Lawson: RB told me two weeks ago I would replace Ricciardo
- Highly unlikely Lawson will replace Perez before end of season – Horner
- Official: Perez will not drive for Red Bull in 2025
- Official: Lawson confirmed as Verstappen’s new team mate for 2025
FOM’s 299-day U-turn
As 2024 began, the FIA had rubber-stamped Andretti’s application to join Formula 1, and it was now up to Formula One Management to give their verdict. They could hardly have been more emphatic in their dismissal, which they announced in January. In their view, not only did the team named for the 1978 world champion’s family lack recognition, but they were unlikely to be competitive and, besides, F1 did not need an 11th team.
The row ground on throughout the year and became increasingly personal. Mario Andretti claimed Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei told his son their team would never be allowed in.
But, fortified by the support of the FIA and allied to General Motors brand Cadillac, Andretti fought their corner. They urged US lawmakers to look into the matter and finally the balance tipped. FOM confirmed its capitulation in October, though still refused to name the Andrettis as the successful applicants.
Great, now let Hitech in as well for a proper 24-car grid!
Joao
- Formula 1 refuses to allow Andretti-Cadillac to enter team after FIA approval
- Cadillac has agreement in principle to join F1 as 11th team in 2026
- Not just a win for Cadillac: Why FOM dropped its opposition to an 11th F1 team
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Championship clashes
After two largely one-sided seasons, finally F1 had a fight for the championship again. However Lando Norris found himself fighting a rearguard action having lost significant ground to Max Verstappen early in the year.
When the pair met on-track, fireworks tended to follow. Norris was infuriated by his rival’s defending in Austria, which led to a collision between the pair, a penalty for Verstappen and, later, an admission from the FIA that they were too slow to discipline the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen got the better of their exchange in Austin, too, where Norris was penalised but many felt Verstappen had deliberately forced him off and got away with it. McLaren made a fruitless attempt to change the decision.
They clashed yet again in Mexico, and although Norris ultimately finished ahead, Verstappen successfully prevented him challenging for victory in a race he could have won, costing him precious points. If the pair start next year on an even footing we could have quite a fight on our hands.
If you can take the penalty and gain an advantage… it’s not actually a penalty. It’s just a reduction in advantage. What needs to happen is that the penalties are harsh enough that drivers will desperately want to avoid them, and will learn to instinctively leave space for their opponents. Until that happens, the penalties aren’t severe enough.
Seppo (@Helava)
- McLaren ‘complain a lot lately’, says Verstappen as rivals criticise Norris penalty
- McLaren insist stewards made ‘provable error’ after losing bid for review of Norris penalty
- Why Verstappen’s ‘divebomb’ moves on Norris paid off despite his penalties
- Leclerc hopes Verstappen ‘is as aggressive to Lando as possible because it helps me’
- Verstappen dismisses ‘biased critics’ and says F1 has ‘over-regulated’ racing
Sanity breaks out over track limits
Track limits have been the bane of F1 racing for so many years, but in 2024 the series finally got serious about tackling the problem. Namely, by reinstating physical limits to tracks which never should have been removed or absent to begin with.
The Red Bull Ring, previously a notorious trouble spot, was one of the biggest success stories, and the number of track limits infringements during the race plummeted. Silverstone, Shanghai and the Hungaroring also benefited from the addition of new gravel trips and narrower kerbs preventing drivers from gaining an advantage by running wide.
There was one conspicuous exception, however: the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. Unsurprisingly, both races at the United States Grand Prix weekend therefore featured multiple rows over drivers gaining an advantage by going off the track. Hopefully the reports COTA will fix its run-offs for next year prove accurate.
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It’s amazing how those hundreds of track limit issues we had last year have suddenly stopped. It’s amazing what a sliver of gravel can do. Turns out these drivers can stay on track with relative ease even when pushing.
Who knew.
BLS (@BrightLampShade)
- Who are F1’s biggest track limits offenders and where are the top trouble spots?
- Despite Piastri’s frustration, Red Bull Ring’s track limits solution is working
- Drivers welcome narrow kerb track limits fix used at Silverstone and Red Bull Ring
- Austin hasn’t solved its track limits problem despite improvements to circuit
More major stories
The 2024 season saw many other major developments. Haas dropped its original team principal Guenther Steiner and appointed Ayao Komatsu as his replacement. They also successfully lured Toyota back to F1 as a new technical partner.
If that came as a surprise, Alpine’s decision to replace yet another team principal was a more routine affair: Oliver Oakes arrived in place of Bruno Famin. More of a shock was team owner Renault’s decision to axe its F1 engine programme and instead become a customer of Mercedes.
However the most significant change among team personnel was surely Adrian Newey’s departure from Red Bull. Aston Martin pulled off a coup by beating their rivals to his signature.
Before Ricciardo, Logan Sargeant was the most high-profile mid-season sacking, after a series of crashes in his Williams. Ricciardo’s last act in F1 was to deny Norris the bonus point for fastest lap in Singapore, helping out RB’s sister team Red Bull, and it was surely no coincidence that the FIA announced soon afterwards the rule will be dropped for next year.
Drama struck McLaren in Spain, where the team’s hospitality unit caught fire. Remarkably, the motorhome suffered more damage in Hungary due to a storm.
There was plenty of tit-for-tat between the title contenders. Norris grassed Verstappen up in Baku, to no effect, but the Red Bull driver exacted a punishing revenge in Losail, triggering a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his rival. Other radio comments attracted the attention of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who urged drivers to cut out the swearing.
Finally, Kevin Magnussen became the first F1 driver to receive an automatic one-race ban for collecting 12 penalty points on his licence.
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- Steiner leaves Haas, Komatsu team principal
- Renault confirms it will stop building its own F1 engines in 2026
- It was not needed: Most drivers won’t miss fastest lap bonus point
- Ricciardo taking point from Norris illustrates the issue around B-teams – Brown
- Colapinto handed surprise F1 debut as Williams loses patience with Sargeant
- Toyota returns to Formula 1 in new technical collaboration with Haas
- Official: Aston Martin wins race to sign Newey for 2025
- “Don’t broadcast it”: Verstappen bemused by Ben Sulayem’s swearing complaints
- “Max is overtaking everyone”: Norris alerted FIA to Verstappen’s VSC infringement
- Sky’s nationalistic F1 coverage caused demonisation of Verstappen – Newey
- “If I get a ban, I get a ban”: Magnussen changing nothing in what may be final season
- McLaren team members safe after fire in motorhome at Spanish GP
Our most-read features
Here are some of the features and news stories which attracted the most interest, comments and attention on social media during 2024:
- At the start of the season two teams changed their names. We looked at the timeline showing the 33 historic identities of Formula 1’s 10 teams
- Soon after Hamilton announced he would leave Mercedes the new series of Drive to Survive revealed he claimed they told him he was wrong about their car problems in 2022
- Flavio Briatore’s return to F1 at Alpine was not welcomed by many
- Verstappen made a surprising revelation about how his heavy crash at Silverstone in 2021 crash affected his eyesight
- Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said the team urged Verstappen not to stay up until the early hours of the morning simracing before grands prix
- Norris spent lap after lap in Hungary agonising over whether to let him team mate pass him to win. He eventually complied with his team’s instruction but not every driver in his position has done the same
- Adrian Newey chose to leave Red Bull but not before designing a monstrous track car which produces more downforce than its tyres can cope with in corners
- Newey also complained about Sky’s F1 coverage, saying it was nationalistic and had led to Verstappen being demonised
- In the third year of F1’s ground effect regulations, drivers were still heavily dependent on DRS for overtaking, showing the much-hyper new rules failed in this important respect
- Ben Sulayem called for less swearing on drivers’ radios despite the fact they are already censored – twice!
- Norris fell victim to an unfortunately-timed yellow flag in qualifying at Baku
- While many criticised Verstappen’s latest ‘divebomb defence’ in Austin, an F1 rule change had made it legal several years earlier
- When Verstappen pulled clear in the championship fight, Norris was left to count the cost of 12 errors which cost him the chance to win this year’s title
- An unusual piece of driving by Sainz in Las Vegas left many expecting him to receive a penalty, but the rules showed why he was in the clear
- Hamilton said an emotional farewell to his Mercedes team on the radio in Abu Dhabi
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All 30 F1 race reports of 2024
The main events
All of our in-depth reports on the 12 grands prix of 2024:
- 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix report: Amid accusations, Red Bull resume “business as usual” with crushing one-two
- 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix report: Virtually unbeatable Verstappen puts simracing aside to collect Jeddah win
- 2024 Australian Grand Prix report: Sainz shows surgical precision as Verstappen’s hopes melt in Melbourne
- 2024 Japanese Grand Prix report: Verstappen springs Red Bull back to winning ways at unexpectedly warm Suzuka
- 2024 Chinese Grand Prix report: Shanghai sees both sides of Verstappen with dominant victory
- 2024 Miami Grand Prix report: ‘Lando No-Wins’ exorcizes his demons with maiden win in Miami
- 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix report: Verstappen defeats Norris with drive worthy of Senna on weekend of remembrance
- 2024 Monaco Grand Prix report: Leclerc channels tragedy into triumph with emotional home victory
- 2024 Canadian Grand Prix report: Norris and Russell’s missed chances for second win hand Verstappen his 60th
- 2024 Spanish Grand Prix report: Verstappen victorious again as Norris lets another chance slip
- 2024 Austrian Grand Prix report: Russell breaks Mercedes’ losing streak as Verstappen and Norris’ trust breaks down
- 2024 British Grand Prix report: Hamilton and Bonnington roll back the clock for one last Silverstone success
- 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix report: Norris’ sacrifice makes Piastri a winner as McLaren put Red Bull on notice
- 2024 Belgian Grand Prix report: Fate hands Hamilton his lost Spa win back – at his team mate’s cost
- 2024 Dutch Grand Prix report: Norris inflicts Verstappen’s first home defeat to kick-start his title chase
- 2024 Italian Grand Prix report: Leclerc’s Italian Job thrills tifosi as McLaren let another win slip away
- 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix report: Piastri defeats Leclerc with a little help from Norris as roles reverse at McLaren
- 2024 Singapore Grand Prix report: Norris can’t claim full reward despite most dominant display this season
- 2024 United States Grand Prix report: Ferrari’s dominant one-two overshadowed as title rivals clash again
- 2024 Mexican Grand Prix report: Sainz seizes swansong Ferrari win as Perez endures home race horror show
- 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix report: Verstappen counters critics with champion’s drive in soaking Sao Paulo
- 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix report: Russell strikes gold in Vegas as Verstappen’s title comes at a canter
- 2024 Qatar Grand Prix report: Verstappen masters race track and rule book with satisfying Qatar victory
- 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix report: Norris achieves feat which eluded Hamilton by taking McLaren to constructors’ title
The sideshows
With six sprint events, F1 held a record-breaking 30 races this year:
- 2024 China sprint race report: Verstappen hunts down Hamilton for straightforward Shanghai sprint race win
- 2024 Miami sprint race report: Verstappen collects sprint race win from pole as Norris crashes out at start
- 2024 Austria sprint race report: Verstappen repels McLarens to win Austria sprint race
- 2024 COTA sprint race report: Verstappen maintains unbeaten run in sprint races as Norris loses second on last lap
- 2024 Brazil sprint race report: Piastri hands Norris victory in Interlagos sprint race
- 2024 Qatar sprint race report: Norris overrules McLaren and hands sprint race victory to Piastri
Team radio highlights
RaceFans’ team radio transcripts presented the full context behind the clips played on television and uncovered surprising and overlooked new details about how the races unfolded:
- Haas used Magnussen to help Hulkenberg in Jeddah: “You need to go more slowly” – The radio calls behind Haas’s controversial point
- After Norris won in Miami, McLaren showed threatening pace again in Imola, and the championship fight began to take shape: “Lando’s found some pace” – Unheard radio from Verstappen-Norris Imola duel
- Verstappen won in Canada but narrowly avoided making a costly switch to the wrong rubber: How Red Bull overruled Verstappen to avoid race-losing tyre choice error
- Hamilton almost pulled off a blinder with an early switch to slicks in Canada – but had the misfortune to encounter a very slow Sauber: “I lost so much time” – How Hamilton’s unseen hold-up with Zhou hurt his race
- Coincidence or cunning? Verstappen caught Norris at an inconvenient moment twice in qualifying at the Hungaroring: Was Norris using mind games to pile more pressure on Verstappen in qualifying?
- Verstappen raged on his radio as he endured a frustrating race in Hungary: How Verstappen’s race engineer put a stop to “childish radio fights” in Hungarian GP
- It took many laps of cajoling for Norris to let McLaren team mate Piastri win in Hungary: “Are we swapping?”: How McLaren placated Piastri and persuaded Norris on the radio
- Russell won the Belgian GP ‘on the road’ before being disqualified, after pulling off a one-stop strategy. Hamilton was initially frustrated not to have done the same: Unheard radio shows why Hamilton missed Russell’s (almost) race-winning strategy
- Colapinto made a strong start to life as an F1 driver at short notice in the Italian Grand Prix: “Never had so much pain in a car” – How Colapinto impressed Williams on his debut
- Norris caught and beat Verstappen from 15th on the grid in Baku: “The car is just jumping” – Why Verstappen couldn’t keep Norris from catching him
- Hulkenberg impressively beat Perez in Austria – and again in Singapore: “Perez is only quicker when he has DRS” – How Hulkenberg’s Haas beat a Red Bull – again
- Lawson gave as good as he got in his first race back in F1 at the Circuit of the Americas: “I guess they prefer us to crash” – Unheard team radio from the US GP
- Was this the most optimistic radio message of the year? Norris’ race engineer Will Joseph coached him in his efforts to fight a particularly belligerent Verstappen in Mexico: “If you can pass Max safely, take it” – Unheard radio from title rivals’ latest fight
- The extremely wet conditions at Interlagos shocked many drivers, notably Bearman on his return as a substitute: “I’m trying not to die” – Bearman urged team to warn FIA over Brazilian GP conditions
- Leclerc was unhappy to finish behind his team mate in Las Vegas, but the full transcript revealed Sainz was not being as unco-operative as the world feed indicated: ‘Being nice fucks me over’ – Leclerc’s radio anger and Sainz’s criticism explained
- Hamilton’s penultimate appearance for Mercedes was one of his worst Sundays of the year: “Am I dead last now?” Unheard radio from Hamilton’s disastrous Qatar GP
- Verstappen picked up his fifth penalty in as many rounds at the season finale: Red Bull left it as late as possible to tell Verstappen about his latest penalty
- Hamilton said farewell to Mercedes in style with a superb recovery drive, but he wasn’t the only driver saying goodbye at the final round: Tributes and cheeky doughnuts- How departing F1 drivers signed off on their radios
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Social media highlights
A final selection of our most-shared posts this year:
Video: @redbullracing used the world’s fastest drone to film @Max33Verstappen lapping a wet Silverstone in their new RB20.#F1 pic.twitter.com/453o1q2mTT
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) February 27, 2024
Most expensive ticket for the 2024 Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix: £30,000
Estimated sale price of the 1964 Formula 1 world drivers’ championship trophy won by John Surtees: £15,000#F1 pic.twitter.com/CmuVgSION0
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 29, 2024
NEW: Other drivers wouldn’t work as hard as Sainz did to return after surgery – Norris
Read more: https://t.co/f7hxIvKUVq
By Keith Collantine
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) March 26, 2024
A bizarre moment in today’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsport Park when a mannequin installed underneath a bridge as a trackside feature fell onto the track and surprisingly did not trigger a caution period despite being hit by a car.#IndyCar pic.twitter.com/P1R97e6meD
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 28, 2024
With @Carlossainz55 and @alex_albon in their cars next year, @WilliamsRacing won’t have to worry about either of their drivers missing races to have their appendixes out.#F1 #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/7wIQCD5JPT
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) July 29, 2024
Ferrari has announced it will split from sponsor Santander at the end of the year, concluding their three-year deal. They were previously sponsored by the bank from 2010 to 2017 as well.#F1 #ItalianGP #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/MvHoFNMIz7
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) August 30, 2024
RB have already updated their home page with Riccairdo’s replacement.#F1 #RaceFans pic.twitter.com/LiIBz0ccJ2
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) September 26, 2024
NEW: Hamilton would be an eight-time champion if Whiting was still alive – Steiner
Read more: https://t.co/8OrUZv6txV
By Keith Collantine
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) September 29, 2024
Sauber have hired former Ferrari strategist Inaki Rueda as sporting director and Giampaolo Dall’Ara as head of race engineering. Beat Zehnder will become director of signature programs and operations next year. #F1 pic.twitter.com/RPd6ka9HhT
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) October 30, 2024
Sergio Perez’s “I’m not leaving” tweet from September now has a community note beneath it.#F1 pic.twitter.com/DtalrXA1M6
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) December 18, 2024
Two-times world rally champion Carlos Sainz joined his son, four-times grand prix winner Carlos Sainz Jnr, to say farewell to Ferrari at Fiorano.
The 62-year-old joined his son in driving a 2022-specification F1-75 around the team’s test track.#F1 pic.twitter.com/LHLKwCZDAC
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) December 17, 2024
Over to you
What were your favourite moments from the 2024 F1 season? Have your say in the comments.
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