Following a dominant season that prevailed with multiple record-breaking settings (including the most wins and most points obtained) by Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen in 2023, everyone bar Red Bull feared for the repeated scenario in the forthcoming year of 2024.
Another problem for the rivals of the benchmark time meant that technical regulations were left intact as the closest that technical regulations saw was the allowance of a system that would automatically cool the cockpit amid high temperatures.
Moreover, no changes within the drivers market did not instill a hope that the 2024 season would be anything different or interesting than its predecessor.
Recap of 2024 races so far
Predictability of a season arose in the first, Middle Eastern leg of the season with a sovereign sweep of a Red Bull in Bahrain’s season opener (presumably least exciting Sakhir’s night race) and then a week later on the streets of Jeddah.
The latter was marked with a surprise debut and points collection by Ferrari’s Ollie Bearman, who replaced Carlos Sainz.
The Red Bull’s duo, especially Max Verstappen asserted dominance over a grid and set his sights on 4th consecutive Formula 1 title.
Austrian outfit continued to rule during the early course of the 2024 campaign with another Verstappen wins in Japan and China, but as the late spring leg and summer rounds arrived, Red Bull’s lead would start to dwindle.
What seems to raise question marks overheads at Milton Keynes, the base of Red Bull Racing is their comfortable lead on Saturday with Verstappen collecting 7 pole positions in a row until Leclerc snatched a home pole position in Monaco.
Despite growing skepticism of what the 2024 F1 season might turn into, the first part of the season saw 3 other teams come close to Red Bull with McLaren even being deemed as the fastest package once the European leg of races commenced.
7 drivers have so far won a race in the 2024 Formula 1 campaign which already makes it equal to a legendary 2008 season and being only one behind another classic that is 2012 season.
The McLaren duo obtained their maiden Formula 1 wins which are infamous to some extent.
Lando Norris finished the line in first at the Miami Grand Prix after a late Safety Car enabled him to jump Max Verstappen.
Oscar Piastri’s first Grand Prix win came after exhaustingly long team radio dialogues with a goal of Lando Norris giving a place back to young Australian after ‘failed strategy’ promoted Norris to 1st.
Ferrari’s first victories came in Australia (Sainz) and Monaco (Leclerc) and in both of them Italian team showed flashes of uncatchable machine due to stunning victories by Sainz and Leclerc respectively.
Post-championships era of Mercedes finally came to a great start with victories in three of their last 4 races of the first half of the season.
George Russell would have added Belgian GP victory to his achievements alongside the Austrian GP victory had it not been for a disqualification. On the other hand, his teammate Lewis Hamilton inherited that victory and previously had ended a long 959 days drought with a home win at Silverstone.
Teams performances across the first half of the season
Red Bull’s dominance was challenged by a series of underwhelming upgrades that started with Emilia Romagna GP. Efforts to adapt to new regulations resulted in a compromised aerodynamic package, particularly affecting performance on high-downforce circuits like Monaco and the Hungaroring.
These changes disrupted the car’s balance and downforce, reducing its cornering stability and straight-line speed. Coupled with limited development time due to previous penalties, Red Bull’s upgrades failed to deliver the expected performance gains, leaving them vulnerable to the advancements made by rivals McLaren and Mercedes.
More so, highly praised RBPT performance across 2022 and 2023 seems to be one of the reasons why opponents caught up to Red Bull. The inability to further develop of already strong RB Power Train and the flaws of their rivals brought them closer as the season went on.
Lastly, Red Bull’s performances were hampered by Sergio Perez’s season of shockers with Mexican being the only TOP 8 driver without a victory whilst mostly fighting for lower points-paying positions.
At this moment, McLaren and Mercedes suit as the most serious contenders for Red Bull’s title inspirations. Mercedes is thus slightly limited due to W13’s nature of preferring a cooler environment.
McLaren introduced key aerodynamic upgrades, including a refined floor and diffuser design that significantly enhanced downforce and cornering stability.
They also improved their power unit for better efficiency and reliability.
These upgrades allowed McLaren to maximize their performance on various circuits, ultimately making them faster than Red Bull, especially as Red Bull struggled with less effective aerodynamic adjustments.
Mercedes brought a revamped aerodynamic package featuring a redesigned front wing and improved side-pods, enhancing downforce and cornering performance.
They also upgraded their power unit’s energy recovery systems for better efficiency. These advancements helped Mercedes secure several wins by boosting their overall race pace and competitiveness.
Ferrari is probably the last team on this list that can fight for the victories, however, their chances from being 2nd best team in early 2024 to 4th one is mostly due to a more effective raise of performance and the effectiveness of upgrades that McLaren and Mercedes brought in.
The high competitiveness of the Top 4 teams even prompted a (now failed) inclusion of an idea that would expand points-paying positions up to 12th.
Out of other teams, Aston Martin stood out as a challenger to Mercedes in the first couple of races before succumbing to failed upgrades that lowered the team’s expectations and aspirations for the remainder of the season.
The most dramatic situation and undoubtedly the biggest downward of the team’s performance comes from Enstone-based Alpine.
Due to underwhelming car performance and reliability issues contributing to indecent Renault’s engine, Alpine had a horrendous start into the 2024 season.
Their upgrades did not sufficiently address the aerodynamic and power unit deficiencies, leading to inconsistent results.
As a result, they struggled to compete at the top of the grid and remained in the midfield, failing to make significant progress in the standings.
This was not helped by a weak working atmosphere and unstable leadership hierarchy that toppled down Bruno Famin after just a year of their role as Alpine’s team principal.
Cracks in relations between Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon ultimately appeared around Monaco GP with an incident that would soon lead to Ocon’s departure to Haas who has made a positive upward trend into the 2024 campaign so far.
Down the field, the Sauber F1 Team lies as they are setting its focus on the megaproject of Audi’s factory team that is about to begin in 2026.
With just 10 rounds to complete the chapter that is the 2024 F1 season, McLaren and Mercedes are still hoping to catch a problem-stricken Red Bull. Without a doubt, the constructor title is within reach whilst Norris and Piastri would need to hope for a couple of DNFs to bring back Max Verstappen within their reach.