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2024 Formula One World Championship
75th Formula One season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars and was the 75th running of the Formula One World Championship. It was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body of international motorsport, as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars. The championship was contested over a record twenty-four Grands Prix held around the world.
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Max Verstappen won his fourth consecutive World Drivers' Championship, driving for Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT.
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Lando Norris finished runner-up, his best Championship finish since he joined Formula One in 2019, driving for McLaren-Mercedes.
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Charles Leclerc finished third, driving for Ferrari.
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Ferrari finished second in the World Constructors' Championship.
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Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, the defending Constructors' Champions, finished third.
Drivers and teams competed for the titles of World Drivers' Champion and World Constructors' Champion, respectively. Defending Drivers' Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing started off the season with seven wins in the opening 10 races, but was pressured by McLaren driver Lando Norris for the rest of the season after his RB20 fell behind Norris's MCL38 in terms of performance. Verstappen performed consistently at the front of the field and maintained his points advantage to win his fourth consecutive Drivers' Championship title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, while McLaren surpassed Red Bull to achieve their ninth Constructors' Championship title at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, narrowly ahead of Ferrari by just 14 points. With their first Constructors' Championship victory in 26 years, McLaren became the first constructor other than Red Bull and Mercedes to win the title since Brawn in 2009.
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All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli.[1] Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars.[2]: Article 8.6
Free practice drivers
Throughout the season, each team had to field a driver in one of the first two free practice sessions who had not competed in more than two races, on two occasions, once for each car.[2]: Article 32.4c Oliver Bearman's debut for Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix did not count, as he only participated in the third practice session.[33]
Team changes
Alfa Romeo ended their partnership with Sauber and left Formula One following the conclusion of the 2023 season as Sauber prepared to become the Audi works team from 2026.[34][35] The team was rebranded as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, competing with the constructor name Kick Sauber.[25][36] AlphaTauri rebranded as RB and relocated the aerodynamics operations of the team to Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom amidst a management restructure.[18][37][38]
Driver changes
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Oliver Bearman (centre) stood in for Carlos Sainz Jr. (left) at Ferrari at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and for Kevin Magnussen (right) at Haas at the Azerbaijan and São Paulo Grands Prix.
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Franco Colapinto (top left) replaced Logan Sargeant (top right) at Williams from the Italian Grand Prix onwards. Liam Lawson (center left) replaced Daniel Ricciardo (center right) from the United States Grand Prix onwards. Jack Doohan (bottom left) replaced Esteban Ocon (bottom right) at Alpine at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The only change from the drivers contracted at the beginning of 2023 occurred at the former AlphaTauri team, who replaced Nyck de Vries with Daniel Ricciardo from the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix onwards. All driver and team combinations that competed in the final round of the previous season remained unchanged for the start of the next season for the first time in Formula One World Championship history.[39][40]
In-season changes
Carlos Sainz Jr. was forced to withdraw from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after he was diagnosed with appendicitis and required an appendicectomy.[41] He was replaced by Ferrari reserve and Formula 2 driver Oliver Bearman, who made his Formula One debut.[9] Sainz returned at the following Australian Grand Prix.[42] Kevin Magnussen of Haas received two penalty points for causing a collision at the Italian Grand Prix, taking his total to twelve penalty points in twelve months, and triggering an automatic race ban for the following Azerbaijan Grand Prix.[43] He was replaced by Bearman, who raced for the second time in the season as a reserve driver.[44] Magnussen returned at the subsequent Singapore Grand Prix.[43] Bearman replaced Magnussen at Haas again during the São Paulo Grand Prix for the free practice and sprint sessions as Magnussen felt unwell.[45][46][47] This was later expanded to the rest of the weekend following sprint qualifying.[13]
From the Italian Grand Prix onwards, Formula 2 driver Franco Colapinto replaced Logan Sargeant at Williams, making his Formula One debut. Sargeant was replaced following a series of poor performances, with team principal James Vowles stating that the driver change would give the team the best chance to score points over the remaining rounds.[48] Daniel Ricciardo was dropped from RB due to poor performance ahead of the United States Grand Prix with Helmut Marko, head of the Red Bull's driver development programme, stating that Ricciardo had lost his "killer instinct".[49][50] He was replaced by the reserve driver Liam Lawson, who drove in the 2023 season in place of the injured Ricciardo at the same team, then known as AlphaTauri.[51] Reserve driver Jack Doohan made his debut at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where he replaced Esteban Ocon at Alpine, after Alpine required Ocon to vacate his seat to drive for Haas in the post-season test.[52]
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Calendar
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The 2024 calendar comprised a record twenty-four Grands Prix.[53] The Chinese, Miami, Austrian, United States, São Paulo and Qatar Grands Prix featured the sprint format.[54]
Calendar expansion and changes
The Chinese Grand Prix returned to the calendar for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled for four years in a row due to difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.[56] The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was cancelled in the preceding year due to flooding in the area, also returned to the calendar.[57] The Japanese Grand Prix moved from its traditional October autumn date to one in April as part of the efforts to group races in regional blocks to make to help address environmental concerns surrounding travel between races. As a consequence the Azerbaijan Grand Prix moved from April to September.[53] The Russian Grand Prix was under contract to feature on the 2024 calendar.[58] However, the contract was terminated in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[59]
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Regulation changes
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Technical regulations
In response to extreme weather conditions resulting in cockpit overheating during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, teams were now allowed to install a "scoop" to the car that is intended to cool down the driver and cockpit area.[60] Teams were not allowed to start wind tunnel or computational fluid dynamics work for the 2026 season, which will see major technical regulations rule changes, until 1 January 2025. However, teams were still allowed to do other preliminary research and development work not covered by these restrictions.[61][62]
Tyres
The "alternative tyre allocation" trialled at the 2023 Hungarian and Italian Grands Prix, where drivers were given 11 sets of tyres in an attempt to cut costs in the sport, was discontinued. Therefore, teams reverted to having 13 sets of tyres available per driver during every non-sprint race weekend with the allocation being 12 sets for a sprint weekend.[63] The C0 tyre compound (the hardest compound in Pirelli's dry tyre range), which was introduced but not used during the 2023 season, was dropped from the tyre line-up.[64] This compound was previously known as the C1, but was renamed at the start of the 2023 season following the introduction of a new C1 compound that slotted between the old C1 and current C2 compounds in terms of hardness.[65] A proposed trial for a ban on tyre blankets for this season and a full ban in 2025 was abandoned.[66]
Sporting regulations
Appeals process
The decision appeal process was amended for the 2024 season. The deadline to submit a right of review request was reduced from fourteen to four days after an event. In an attempt to stop potentially frivolous appeal attempts, the FIA also introduced a fee for the process.[67]
Sprint weekends
The structure of the sprint weekends was changed again for 2024, with the goal of rationalising sprint events and separating them from the rest of the Grand Prix weekend.[68][69] A sprint weekend began with a single practice session, followed by the sprint qualifying session, which set the starting grid order for the sprint race. The sprint was then the first session to take place on Saturday, followed by qualifying for the main race. The Grand Prix itself remained on Sunday.[70] The FIA sporting regulations for the championship now referred to the qualifying for the sprint as "sprint qualifying", as opposed to "sprint shootout". The term "sprint qualifying" was previously used in the inaugural season of the sprint format in 2021 to refer to the sprint itself.[71] Additionally, sprint weekends now had two separate parc fermé periods as opposed to one. The first lasted from the beginning of sprint qualifying to the end of the sprint, and the second lasted from the beginning of qualifying for the Grand Prix until the start of the Grand Prix itself.[72]
DRS usage
The rules for DRS usage in Grands Prix were adjusted slightly. Drivers were now allowed to use DRS one lap after a race start, safety car restart, or red flag restart, one lap earlier than in previous seasons. This modification, tested during sprint events in 2023, was implemented to encourage earlier overtaking opportunities and increase competitiveness in the opening stages of a race.[73][74]
Power unit allocation
The FIA increased the number of internal combustion engine (ICE) components and associated power unit elements allowed per driver from three to four per season. This change was made to accommodate the record-length calendar and reduce the frequency of grid penalties caused by engine wear and failure.[73]
Maximum lap time
Prior to Thursday's two practice sessions at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, updated rules were introduced to discourage drivers from driving too slowly on in-laps and reconnaissance laps during qualifying. Drivers were initially required to not exceed a maximum time taken to drive through each marshalling sector. This was a change from 2023, when the FIA introduced a maximum time across an entire lap.[75] However, prior to Friday's third practice session and qualifying, the rules were reverted to the 2023 full-lap method, though the rule now applied on both in-laps and out-laps.[76]
Penalties
The standard sanction for a driver overtaking another driver off the track and gaining a lasting advantage was upgraded from a five-second time penalty to a ten-second time penalty, although five-second penalties could still be awarded. The change was made as the five-second penalty was considered insufficient, with drivers regularly gaining more than five seconds through illegally overtaking slower cars off track.[77]
From the Miami Grand Prix onwards the FIA altered the regulations for judging a potential jump start. Under the previous regulations, stewards were unable to penalise a driver for a jump start if it had not been picked up by an FIA transponder. This rule led to Lando Norris of McLaren appearing to avoid a penalty despite visibly moving early at the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The update to regulations allowed stewards to penalise a driver if they were moving before the start, even if the transponder did not register the infringement. The regulation also clarified jump starts would be judged "after the four-second light is illuminated and before the start signal is given by extinguishing all red lights."[78]
From the Dutch Grand Prix, penalties accrued during the sprint race which could not be served, due to retirement, could be transferred into grid penalties for their next race. This had already been the case for penalties accrued in Grands Prix.[79][80]
Testing
During the summer break, the regulations were updated to allow teams to create mule cars based on existing cars from the 2020–2023 period to enable teams to better prepare for the changes to the technical regulations due for the 2026 season. Teams using the mule cars would only be allowed to use drivers with 500 kilometres (310 mi) of experience of driving a current Formula One car at consistent racing speeds.[80][81]
Red flag procedure
During the summer break, the regulations for red flag procedures were clarified: during a red flag period, cars could be instructed to line-up on the starting grid, instead of in the pit lane, where the pit lane needed to be closed for safety reasons. The regulations were additionally altered to state that a driver who stops outside of the pit lane during qualifying and receives physical assistance will no longer be able to participate in qualifying.[79][80]
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Season summary
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Pre-season
A single pre-season test was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on 21–23 February.[82][83] Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari set the fastest time in the three-day test, Haas completed the most laps.[84]
Opening rounds
The season began with a Red Bull 1–2 at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Max Verstappen took pole position ahead of Charles Leclerc and George Russell. Verstappen's teammate, and 2023 Championship runner-up, Sergio Pérez qualified fifth, half a second behind Verstappen.[85] Verstappen won the race by 22 seconds, ahead of Pérez and Carlos Sainz Jr.[86] Verstappen led every lap and took fastest lap, for his fifth career grand slam. Charles Leclerc, who started on the front row, finished fourth having cleared the Mercedes of Russell late in the race, after dealing with brake issues throughout the race.[87][88][89] Following the race, Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 8 points from Pérez and 11 from Sainz, eventual championship runnerup was in 6th, 18 points behind Verstappen. In the Constructors' Standings, defending champions Red Bull led Ferrari by 17 points, Mercedes were an additional 11 points back in third and eventual constructors champions McLaren were 4th, 32 points behind Red Bull.[90]
Red Bull Racing continued to show their pace at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Verstappen taking pole,[91] and winning the race in "dominant" fashion, securing his 100th podium.[92][93] Verstappen led the opening laps of the race. A safety car period, following a crash involving Lance Stroll, was called on lap 7. Verstappen, along with the top 5, chose to make a pitstop during this phase, with Norris inheriting the lead. Verstappen overtook Norris for the lead on lap 12, and held it for the rest of the race. Pérez finished second, having started in third, making his past Leclerc for second in the early stages, Leclerc maintained third to the race's conclusion. Oscar Piastri finished fourth, having struggled to overtake Lewis Hamilton for a large portion of the race. During the weekend, Sainz was affected with appendicitis, which resulted in his withdrawal from the event on Friday morning to have surgery. In his place, Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman, stood in for Sainz.[94] Bearman qualified eleventh and went on to finish seventh, and was widely praised for his performance, having missed the weekend's opening two practice sessions.[95] Following the races' conclusion, Verstappen extended his championship lead to 15 points over Pérez, Leclerc moved into third, 12 points further behind. Norris was seventh, 39 points behind Verstappen. Red Bull extended their lead to 38 points over Ferrari, McLaren moved into third, an additional 21 points behind.[96]
Alex Albon crashed his car heavily during the first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix, writing off the chassis. With no spare chassis available, Williams made the decision for Albon to take over Logan Sargeant's car, with Sargeant withdrawing from the weekend. Team principal James Vowles justified this decision by arguing Albon had a better chance to score points, and praised Sargeant for his sportsmanship.[97] Verstappen took pole position, with Sainz second and Pérez qualifying third,[98] Pérez was demoted three places for impeding, promoting Norris to third on the starting grid.[99] Verstappen retained the lead at the race start, before suffering from brake issues, Sainz made his way past Verstappen into the lead on lap 2, with Verstappen retiring the car shortly afterwards. This retirement meant Verstappen would fail to take a record equalling 10th consecutive victory. Sainz was able to build a lead over his rivals and secured the win largely unchalleged. His teammate Charles Leclerc successfully undercut Norris to take second. Norris completed the podium and succeeded Nick Heidfeld for the most podiums without a victory in Formula One. Piastri finished fourth, having been instructed to let Norris, with Pérez fifth. Alonso and Russell were running sixth and seventh in the final stages, with Russell attacking Alonso, before Russell crashed in the closing laps, Alonso was deemed to have driven in a "potentially dangerous way in the build up to the incident earning him a post race penalty.[100] Following the race Verstappen and Red Bull maintained their championship leads with 51 and 97 points respectively. In the drivers' championship Leclerc moved to second, on 47 points with Pérez third on 46, Norris was 6th on 27. In the constructors', Ferrari closed the gap to 4 points, with McLaren 42 points behind Red Bull.[101]
Verstappen took pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix, 0.066 seconds ahead of Pérez, who had his first front-row start since the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, with Norris third and Sainz fourth.[102] The top five maintained their positions at the race start, before the race was red-flagged due to a heavy crash that involved Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon at turn three, which necessitated repairs to the tyre barriers. The top runners again maintained position at the restart, with Verstappen quickly managing to extend a one-second lead, putting him outside DRS range. Norris was the first on the front runners to pit on lap 12, with the rest of the top four following suit over the next few laps, with Norris undercutting Pérez and Leclerc taking the lead, having yet to make a stop, over the following laps, Verstappen retook the race lead, and Pérez regained second from both Norris and Leclerc before the latter made his pitstop, undercutting Norris into third. In the closing stages Sainz closed in on and overtook Norris for fourth, and then overtook teammate Leclerc for third courtesy of team orders, Sainz was the faster car and Ferrari felt that a battle for position would risk Norris catching and overtaking at least one of the pair. The race therefore ended with Verstappen winning ahead of Pérez, Sainz and Leclerc with Norris in fifth.[103][104][105] Ricciardo's teammate Tsunoda scored a point, making him the first Japanese driver to score points at their home race since Kamui Kobayashi's podium in the 2012 edition of the race.[106] Following the race, Verstappen extended his Championship lead to 13 points, with Pérez moving into second, Leclerc a further four points back on 59. Sainz remained in fifth with Norris moving upto fifth. In the constructors' Championship, Red Bull moved to 141 points, 21 ahead of Ferrari and 72 ahead of McLaren.[107]
Despite taking pole for the Chinese Grand Prix, Verstappen struggled in qualifying for the first sprint weekend of the season, only qualifying fourth behind sprint pole-sitter Norris, followed by Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. At the beginning of the sprint, Hamilton took the lead from Norris, who slid down to seventh at the first turn. The former would lead for nearly half of the sprint's distance before Verstappen overtook him and won the sprint from Hamilton and Pérez. Verstappen went on to win the Grand Prix the next day from Norris and Pérez, meaning Ferrari did not score a podium for the first time this season.[108]
At the next sprint weekend in the Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen took sprint pole and won the sprint ahead of Leclerc and Pérez, while Ricciardo scored his first points of the season with a fourth place. Verstappen took pole for the Grand Prix and led the race in the opening laps before his pit stop. A safety car triggered by Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant allowed Norris to benefit during his pit stop with him re-joining the race in the lead. Norris was able to open a gap to Verstappen in second and took his maiden Formula One victory, having previously held the record of the most podiums without a victory, and giving McLaren their first victory since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Verstappen was second from Leclerc, Pérez, Sainz, with Hamilton achieving his best result of the season at that point with sixth. Ocon scored Alpine's first point of the season with tenth place.[109]
Mid-season rounds
At the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Verstappen equalled Ayrton Senna's record of most consecutive poles in Formula One history at eight. He also secured his fifth win of the season, ahead of Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who finished second and third, respectively.[110]
Leclerc took pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix, ending Verstappen's run of eight consecutive pole positions; the latter qualifying sixth on the grid. At the start, Pérez got into a crash with Magnussen and his teammate Nico Hülkenberg, causing a red flag. The Alpines of Ocon and Gasly also had a collision, with the former retiring as a result. Ocon received a grid penalty for the following race in Canada. Leclerc took his first win since the 2022 Austrian Grand Prix and the first at his home Grand Prix. Oscar Piastri took his first podium of the season in second, and Sainz finished third after originally dropping back on lap one as a result of a puncture caused by a collision with Piastri.[111]
After Verstappen and Russell set identical lap times during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, Russell secured pole position by virtue of setting the time first. The race began under intermediate conditions. Ferrari recorded its first retirements of the season when Leclerc and Sainz failed to finish, with Leclerc experiencing engine issues. Sainz meanwhile spun at turn 7 and collected Albon, who was the last Williams on track at that time as Sargeant had retired earlier. This was Ferrari's first double retirement since the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez, who was knocked out in Q1 for the second consecutive race weekend, failed to finish after he spun into the barrier, damaging the back of his RB20. He was later given a three-place grid penalty to be served in the following Spanish Grand Prix for trailing back to the pits with a damaged rear wing. Two safety car periods were observed during the race, which was won by Verstappen ahead of Norris and Russell, who recorded Mercedes' first podium of the season. Hamilton, who attained the fastest lap of the race, finished behind Russell in fourth, his best result of the season to date.[112]
Norris took pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix, but lost the lead to Russell after a slow start. Verstappen overtook Russell on lap three and led the remainder of the race to take victory ahead of Norris and Hamilton, who recorded his first podium of the season and Mercedes' second podium in a row.[113]
The Austrian Grand Prix featured the third sprint of the season. Verstappen took pole position for the sprint, which he proceeded to win ahead of the McLarens of Piastri and Norris. Verstappen also took pole position for the main race and was on course to win after leading the majority of it, but Norris soon closed the gap to him after a slow pit stop for Verstappen, who was now on older tyres with Norris having a tyre advantage. After multiple laps battling for the lead, Verstappen and Norris made contact, marking Norris' second retirement of the season following the Miami Grand Prix sprint, and Verstappen dropped down to fifth after a puncture. Russell benefited from the two making contact to take his second career victory, and Mercedes' second victory in the ground effect era, after the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix. He was joined on the podium by Piastri and Sainz.[114]
Russell took pole position for the British Grand Prix and led the first half of the race, which was held under intermittent rain, before retiring due to a water cooling issue. Norris inherited the lead after passing Russell, but he lost time switching to soft tyres after the period of rain had ended. Hamilton took advantage of this to inherit the lead as Norris' soft tyres began to degrade, allowing Verstappen, who was on hard tyres, to overtake him. By the end of the race, Verstappen began to close in on Hamilton, but the latter held on to take his first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Following Russell's victory at the Austrian Grand Prix a week earlier, Mercedes won consecutive Grands Prix for the first time since 2021. Hamilton's victory was the 104th of his career, and his ninth British Grand Prix victory, which also broke the record he shared with Michael Schumacher for most Grand Prix wins at a single circuit. This made Hamilton the first driver to win after his 300th start.[115]
Norris and Piastri locked out the front row at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was McLaren's first front-row lockout since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix. Piastri led a majority of the race before Norris gained the lead via an undercut. McLaren invoked team orders on Norris, telling him to slow down and let Piastri by to take his maiden Grand Prix victory and McLaren's first 1–2 finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, where Norris had also finished second to his teammate. The result meant they overtook Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship. Hamilton, having battled with Verstappen for the majority of the race, finished in third for his 200th career Formula One podium, and Verstappen, who criticised the car's pace and strategy options, ended up finishing in fifth after colliding with Hamilton. Meanwhile, Pérez, who was knocked out of Q1 after crashing out, recovered from sixteenth to seventh.[116]
Verstappen qualified fastest for the Belgian Grand Prix, but took a grid penalty leaving second-fastest Leclerc on pole position. Hamilton jumped Pérez off the line and overtook Leclerc in the opening laps to take the lead of the race before Russell shuffled into the lead following pit stops. Russell was running older hard tyres, but brought the car home without any further pit stops to take what was initially a victory ahead of Hamilton and Piastri. Russell was later disqualified post-race due to having an underweight car, promoting Hamilton to victory, Piastri to second and Leclerc to the podium.[117]
The Dutch Grand Prix marked the first race following the summer break. Norris took pole position for the race, but lost out to second-placed Verstappen at the start. Norris caught up to, and passed Verstappen and went on to win his second Grand Prix, by over twenty-two seconds, ahead of Verstappen; Leclerc completed a one-stop strategy to finish in third. Norris's victory marked McLaren's first at the venue since Niki Lauda's triumph in 1985, and ended a three-year streak of Verstappen victories at the Circuit Zandvoort since its reintroduction to the Formula One calendar in 2021.[118]
At the Italian Grand Prix, Norris and Piastri locked-out the front row for McLaren ahead of third-placed Russell with the Ferraris in fourth and fifth. Norris lost out at turn four to Piastri, and Russell sustained front-wing damage. Most teams opted to run a two-stop strategy, but Ferrari opted to run a one-stop strategy which Leclerc initially criticised. The one-stop strategy would pay off eventually, with Leclerc cycling into the lead ahead of Piastri. Leclerc kept his lead until the chequered flag was flown to win the Grand Prix, scoring Ferrari's first victory at their home race since 2019, which was also won by Leclerc. Piastri and Norris, the latter scoring the fastest lap on lap 53, rounded off the podium. The race also saw the debut of Franco Colapinto for Williams, the team replacing Logan Sargeant for the rest of the season. Colapinto finished twelfth in his debut race.[119]
Closing rounds
At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Leclerc took the pole position ahead of Piastri and Sainz, while Verstappen qualified sixth and Norris down in 17th. Norris would make up two places after Hamilton and Ocon were relegated to a pit lane start for changing power unit components during parc fermé. In the race, Leclerc maintained his lead off the line with Piastri in second, ahead of Pérez in third. The front-runners started on the medium tyres before swapping them for hards. The leading trio maintained their places, closely following each other after the round of pit stops. Piastri took the lead on lap 20 and defended it against Leclerc for the rest of the race to take his second victory. Pérez and Sainz, while battling for third, crashed on the penultimate lap, which elevated Russell to the last podium spot. Norris, who initially started fifteenth, finished fourth ahead of his championship rival Verstappen and also took the fastest lap. Colapinto, who had made his debut in the previous race, scored the first points of his Formula One career, after finishing eighth; this made him the first Argentine driver to score a point since Carlos Reutemann at the 1982 South African Grand Prix. Bearman, who returned as a replacement for the banned Magnussen at Haas, took the final point, becoming the first driver in history to score for two different teams in his first two races. McLaren took the lead of the Constructors' Championship from Red Bull, leading it for the first time since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. This also marked the first time a non-Red Bull team led the Constructors' Championship since the 2022 Miami Grand Prix.[120]
At the Singapore Grand Prix, Norris took pole position, led all laps, and won comfortably ahead of Verstappen and Piastri. However, he was denied his first grand slam by RB driver Daniel Ricciardo who set the fastest lap of the race,[121] in what would turn out to be his final Grand Prix before departing the team days later and being replaced by Liam Lawson.[51]
At the United States Grand Prix, Verstappen took pole position for the sprint, led all laps, and won comfortably ahead of Sainz and Norris who took pole position for the main race ahead of Verstappen and Sainz. Fourth-placed Charles Leclerc took the race lead on lap one and went on to win. Leclerc finished ahead of teammate Sainz for a Ferrari 1–2, and Norris finished third on track before being dropped to fourth behind championship rival Verstappen due to receiving a penalty. Lewis Hamilton endured a bad Grand Prix, suffering a Q1 exit and early retirement from the race, while teammate George Russell crashed out in qualifying, started in the pit lane, and finished in sixth. On Liam Lawson's first race of the season, he endured a grid penalty which meant he started 19th, and recovered ten places to finish in ninth. Esteban Ocon scored the fastest lap, obtaining the first of his Formula One career and Alpine's first ever fastest lap on his 152nd start.[122]
At the Mexico City Grand Prix, Sainz took pole position for the race, but briefly lost the lead to second-placed Verstappen. He passed the lead Red Bull, who would later receive two separate ten-second time penalties for forcing Norris off-track and gaining an advantage. Sainz led all laps from lap nine onwards to take a comfortable win, the second consecutive for Ferrari, and the fourth win of his career. Leclerc was running in second for the majority of the race before he survived a near-encounter with a wall that allowed Norris to pass him for second. Leclerc got the fastest lap, while Pérez's home race ended in him qualifying eighteenth, fighting with sister team driver Lawson, and finishing last of the finishers. Three cars retired: Alonso on his 400th Grand Prix entry, along with Albon and Tsunoda, following a lap one tussle that ended with both retiring. The success of Ferrari allowed them to pass Red Bull for second in the Constructors' Championship.[123]
At the São Paulo Grand Prix, Piastri took pole in sprint qualifying, with Norris second, Leclerc third, and Verstappen fourth. The top four kept the position they started in for the first 17 laps, until Verstappen passed Leclerc for third on lap 18. On lap 20, Hülkenberg retired due to a mechanical failure, necessitating a virtual safety car. Shortly before the virtual safety car was deployed, McLaren swapped their cars, putting Norris into the lead. Norris finished the sprint first, ahead of Piastri, and Verstappen. However, Verstappen later received a five-second time penalty for a virtual safety car infringement, dropping him to fourth, which promoted Leclerc to the final podium spot. The points positions were completed by Sainz, Russell, Gasly, and Pérez.[124] Qualifying was postponed from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning due to heavy rain. Norris took pole position during a session disrupted by five red flags, ahead of Russell in second. Yuki Tsunoda qualified in third, the highest starting position ever for him and his team RB. The race was held four hours after qualifying. Before the start, Williams were unable to repair Albon's car on time after he crashed out in qualifying, and Stroll was stuck in the run-off area on the formation lap after an unsuccessful attempt of rejoining the track, forcing both drivers out of the race. Russell held the lead for the first half of the race before Hülkenberg spun, bringing out a virtual safety car. Russell and Norris pitted in response, which allowed Esteban Ocon to inherit the lead ahead of Verstappen and teammate Pierre Gasly. Heavy rain soon brought out the safety car, which turned into a red flag on lap 32 as Colapinto crashed in the last corner. Racing resumed again for a short period before Sainz spun into the barrier on lap 39, which brought out another safety car. The subsequent restart allowed Verstappen to take the lead from Ocon, while Norris dropped down to seventh after going off-track. He later was let past by his teammate Piastri, who received a ten-second penalty earlier for causing a collision with Lawson. Verstappen took his first victory in ten races after starting from seventeenth on the grid. He was joined on the podium by Ocon and Gasly, marking Alpine's first-ever double podium and their first podiums of the season.[125]
Verstappen had a chance to secure his fourth World Drivers' Championship title at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, with him being able to do so as long as he outscored Norris.[126] Russell took pole position and led a majority of the race from lights to flag, leading Hamilton, who endured a poor qualification, behind him. Russell secured his second win of the season, and this is the first time Russell won more than one Grand Prix in a single season. Additionally, Sainz and Leclerc finished in third and fourth, respectively, bridging closer Ferrari's gap to McLaren in the Constructors' Championship. Verstappen qualified and finished in fifth, with Norris behind him in sixth, allowing him to clinch his fourth consecutive title. Two retirements were observed, both due to mechanical issues: Pierre Gasly, who endured his best qualification of the season in third, and Alexander Albon due to overheating. Albon's teammate Franco Colapinto started from the pit lane after enduring a heavy crash in qualifying.[127]
McLaren had a chance to secure its ninth World Constructors' Championship title, the first since 1998, at the Qatar Grand Prix. McLaren could win the title as long as they outscored Ferrari and Red Bull in Sunday's race. Sprint polesitter Norris finished behind winner Piastri, for what was to be the final sprint of the season. Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but was demoted one position after the stewards deemed him to have driven unnecessarily slowly on a preparation lap, allowing Russell to inherit pole position. At the start of the race, Verstappen took the lead off Russell, which he held to win the race. Meanwhile, at the back, Esteban Ocon, in his final race with Alpine, was hit into Colapinto by Hülkenberg, creating a hole in his sidepod and forcing both Ocon and Colapinto to retire from the race. Colapinto's teammate Albon was hit by Lance Stroll, the latter of whom later retired. Lawson joined Albon in spinning and was awarded a penalty after hitting Valtteri Bottas; additionally, Hamilton received a penalty due to a false start. Albon's right wing mirror became detached from his car, resulting in double-waved yellow flags. The mirror was hit by Bottas, resulting in debris being scattered across the track. Hamilton and Sainz developed front-left punctures, although telemetry subsequently showed both drivers were seeing falling tyre pressure before passing the debris-covered area.[128] Norris was given a ten-second stop-and-go penalty due to failing to slow under yellow flags, and Hamilton a drive-through for speeding in the pit lane. Zhou Guanyu finished eighth, earning him four points; both his and Sauber's first points of the season. Despite Verstappen's victory, Red Bull dropped out of contention for the Constructors' Championship.[129]
Due to McLaren not scoring enough points in Qatar, the battle for the Constructors' Championship came down to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Ferrari winning their first since 2008 if they outscored McLaren. Norris took pole and controlled the race to take his fourth career victory, which meant McLaren successfully secured their first Constructors' Championship since 1998. Meanwhile, Leclerc started 19th and Sainz in third on his last race for Ferrari behind Norris' teammate Piastri, and Leclerc recovered to third behind Sainz while Piastri dropped to the back after a collision with Verstappen, which handed the latter a penalty; Piastri recovered to tenth. On Hamilton's last race for Mercedes, he started sixteenth after a team error during qualifying, but managed to recover to fourth after passing his teammate on the final lap. Of the four retirees, Pérez retired for the second time in three races due to hitting Bottas, Colapinto retired due to engine issues, Bottas struck Magnussen and broke his own suspension, and Lawson's brakes caught fire on the closing stages of the race.[130]
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Results and standings
Summarize
Perspective
Grands Prix
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten classified drivers, the driver who set the fastest lap during the Grand Prix (only if one of the top ten), and the top eight of the sprint.[138][j] In the case of a tie on points, a countback system was used where the driver with the most Grand Prix wins is ranked higher. If the number of wins was identical, then the number of second places is considered, and so on.[140] Points were awarded using the following system:
World Drivers' Championship standings
Notes:
- † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
World Constructors' Championship standings
Notes:
- † – Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.
- Rows are not related to the drivers: within each constructor, individual Grand Prix standings are sorted purely based on the final classification in the race (not by total points scored in the event, which includes points awarded for fastest lap and sprint).
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Notes
- Carlos Sainz Jr. was entered into the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but later withdrew after being diagnosed with appendicitis.[9]
- Kevin Magnussen was entered into the São Paulo Grand Prix, but later withdrew due to illness.[13]
- Logan Sargeant was entered into the Australian Grand Prix, but later withdrew to allow his car to be driven by teammate Alexander Albon as the latter's car was seriously damaged following a crash.[31]
- Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but received a ten-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of internal combustion engine components.[131] Charles Leclerc was promoted to pole position in his place.[132]
- George Russell originally won the race, but was later disqualified due to an underweight car.[133] Lewis Hamilton, initially classified second, inherited the win.[134]
- Max Verstappen set the fastest time in qualifying, but later received a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly.[135] George Russell was promoted to pole position in his place.[136]
- In the event of a race ending prematurely, the number of points paying positions could be reduced, depending on how much of the race had been completed.[139]
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References
External links
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