By Kyra Hudson, Staff Writer

Against the preconceived judgment of some hesitant fans, the 2024 Formula One (F1) season has proven to be one of the most talked about seasons in recent years. 

The 2023 season saw only three drivers win across 22 races, with Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen claiming 19 of those victories. Verstappen’s unprecedented dominance was one to be reckoned with. This feat had not been seen since the Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Sir Lewis Hamilton’s supremacy in the sport from 2017 to 2021. 

This year, Red Bull’s car has been far from what it was last year. From winning races with a 30-second gap between him and the 19 other drivers last season, Verstappen has only won seven races this year, his last being seven races ago.

So far this year, six different drivers from three different teams have won races, not including Verstappen or Red Bull. One of these race winners is Hamilton, the most decorated driver in F1 history. At the British Grand Prix, his home race, Hamilton took to the top step of the podium 945 days after his previous win. Hamilton again took first place at the Belgian Grand Prix a few weeks later. 

Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ dominance lasted for six years, with Hamilton claiming the World Drivers’ Championship every year from 2017 to 2020. He is tied with Michael Schumacher for seven Drivers’ Championships, the most championship titles by any driver in the 74 years F1 has existed. 

After racing at Mercedes for 11 years, Hamilton announced before the season even began that he is going to Ferrari in 2025 to race alongside the Monegasque driver, Charles Leclerc. Many fans now have asked whether Hamilton will be able to regain his momentum and win his eighth championship with Ferrari, or if he should have stayed at Mercedes and finished out his career with them. 

As F1’s most victorious team gains the sport’s most decorated driver, Ferrari is now under pressure to produce a car that can support the talent of both Leclerc and Hamilton next year. This season, Ferrari’s Leclerc won the Monaco Grand Prix, his home race, becoming the second Monegasque driver in history ever to win the Monaco Grand Prix. A few weeks later, Leclerc also won the Italian Grand Prix in Monza surrounded by thousands of Ferrari fans. 

Ferrari has made many strategy calls this season that have led to their drivers, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, finishing races lower than expected. Their car has not been as dominant as many fans would prefer, even though the team is currently third in the Constructors championship and the drivers have accumulated three wins this season. Nonetheless, fans must wait until February 2025 to see the potential of the strategists and engineers at Ferrari to create a car and plan for their drivers.

Mclaren’s Lando Norris is another 2024 race winner that has proven his proficiency within the sport. Norris got his first ever win at the Miami Grand Prix this past May, 110 races into his F1 career. His second win came four months later right after the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix, where he won by 22 seconds over the Dutch native, Verstappen. 

Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri also achieved his first ever win at the Hungarian Grand Prix in his second year as an F1 driver, though strategy calls almost made it another win for Norris instead. Piastri also won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix this past Sunday after being able to fend off an attack from Leclerc in the second stint of the race. 

These two victories from both Norris and Piastri have demonstrated that the Mclaren team has a quick enough car to compete against – and even beat – the once-dominant Red Bull and more importantly that they are able to fight for the Constructors’ Championship. Mclaren took the lead of the Constructors’ Championship on Sunday in Baku and now lead the championship by 20 points.  

Seven races remain this season including the Singapore Grand Prix this Sunday. The teams then head to the Americas for four races before rounding out the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. With only 59 points separating Verstappen and Norris, racing fans should receive a thrilling end to the season.