The 2024 F1 season in numbers

Over 35 records have been smashed in F1’s longest-ever season, underscoring an extraordinary era for the sport with momentous performances from some of the greatest drivers in the history of motorsport. So, what are those epic records that are unlikely to be broken any time soon, and which intriguing stats might have gone unnoticed in 2024?  

A season of firsts

The 2024 season has been historic in every sense of the word, for both teams and drivers. It was the first in F1 history in which four different constructors finished 1-2 in a Grand Prix (Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes). It was also the first time four constructors won at least four Grand Prix.

This year also became the first to feature seven different multiple Grands Prix winners (Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, George Russell), beating 1981’s previous record of six.

A first in the 21st century 

For the first time in 26 years, McLaren returned to the top step of the Constructors’ Championship, notching its first teams’ title since David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen brought the trophy home in 1998.

The 2024 triumph marks McLaren’s ninth Constructors’ win and means the team draws level with Williams for the second-most successful F1 outfit. Ferrari remains top of the tree at 16.

Records tumble with more Vintage Verstappen

The weekend of the Brazilian Grand Prix looked to be an opportunity for Lando Norris to make significant inroads in the championship, but it ended up being a race of vintage Verstappen.

Having started 17th, the Dutchman sliced through the field in treacherous conditions to take an unlikely victory. The result meant he became only the fifth driver to win a race from 17th or lower, and that was only the sixth occurrence from 1,121 previous F1 championship races.

The numbers didn’t stop there. Verstappen ended a 10-race winless run, his longest stint off the top step since 2020. He also ensured Red Bull scored points in a 64th consecutive weekend, tying McLaren’s 2010-13 streak. Max’s result ensured he left Interlagos still in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship and so, he took another record, this time for the most consecutive days leading the points, pushing ahead of Michael Schumacher’s previous best of 896 days.

No DNFs for McLaren

In a return to the glory days of yesteryear, McLaren has not only etched its name onto the F1 Constructors’ Championship trophy for the first time since 1998, but also into the history books by becoming the first team to complete an entire season with no classified DNFs.

Some might argue that Lando didn’t finish the Austrian Grand Prix after his clash with Max Verstappen, however, as he had completed 90% of the race he was classified as ‘+7 laps’ rather than a DNF.

Piastri joins two prestigious clubs

During the 2024 season, Oscar Piastri joined two prestigious clubs; having claimed victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, the young Australian became the 115th different Grand Prix winner in 74 years of F1.

Then, at the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Oscar became only the fourth driver in F1 history to complete every lap across a season. The impressive milestone sees him join Schumacher (2002), Lewis Hamilton (2019) and Verstappen (2023) as the only drivers to achieve that feat.

£0 of damage for Gasly

In a season of big crashes and millions in damage costs across the board, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly has done the impossible finishing the year without any crash damage. He is reported to have cost the team £0 in 2024.

Hamilton outqualified by Russell

Having boasted the closest qualifying head-to-head on the entire grid in 2023, George Russell became Hamilton’s first team-mate to outqualify him over the course of a season in 2024.

With a record 104 pole positions to his name, outpacing the seven-time champion in qualifying just once is a remarkable achievement, let alone doing it weekend in, weekend out over 24 events. Head-to-head, Russell started higher on the grid 19 times and qualified ahead for Sprint races 5-1.

The big 60 for Mercedes

Russell’s second win of the season with team-mate Hamilton alongside him in second meant a 60th 1-2 for Mercedes at the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The team now sits 27 behind Ferrari’s tally of 87 and 11 ahead of McLaren’s 49. It was also a first 1-2 for the silver arrows since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2022.

Seeing double 

Charles and Arthur Leclerc became the first brothers to drive for the same team in the same session during FP1 in Abu Dhabi, when they both took to the track at the wheel of a Ferrari. It almost didn’t happen, as Charles had technical issues with his SF-24 and had to miss the first part of the session.

Hamilton’s staggering stats 

Hamilton continued to extend his legacy as the sport’s most successful driver, adding to his record tally of career race wins in 2024. His spectacular triumph at the British Grand Prix marked his ninth at Silverstone, finally breaking Michael Schumacher’s record for the most victories at a single Grand Prix.

His amazing result on home soil, coupled with another classified win in Belgium – when Russell was disqualified post-race – brought his overall wins total to a staggering 105. Amazingly, the Brit is now 14 clear of Schumacher and 42 ahead of third-placed Verstappen, who, in turn took nine wins in 2024 to go 10 clear of Sebastian Vettel.

A winning driver in a third-placed car 

After becoming the sixth driver to join the ultra-exclusive four-time champions club in Las Vegas, Max also became the first driver to win the Drivers’ title for a third-placed constructor in 41 years, the last being his father-in-law Nelson Piquet with Brabham-BMW in 1983.

Season opening reliability

At the very start of the year, all 20 cars finished the Bahrain Grand Prix, marking the first-ever season-opener with no retirements and highlighting the unwavering reliability of modern-day F1 cars.

400 for Fernando

Fernando Alonso extended his record for the most career entries this year, reaching a milestone 400th on the weekend of the Mexico Grand Prix. At the end of 2024, the legendary Spanish driver sits on 404, some 48 ahead of Hamilton and 119 ahead of Sergio Perez, the only other active drivers in the top ten for total entries.

Since he first entered the sport, Fernando has raced in more than a third of all Grand Prix and completed more than 70,000 laps behind the wheel of an F1 car.

Lando on pole

Lando Norris’ eighth pole position in Abu Dhabi was the highest amount of pole positions for any McLaren driver in the 21st century, surpassing Hamilton’s seven poles in 2008 and 2012.