Everything to watch out for as F1 returns for the final races of 2024
21 August 2024The Formula 1 circus returns from its summer break this week for the Dutch Grand Prix. If you’re like us and spent your past few weekends staring at the ceiling wondering what to do with yourself, then the news of a Race Week is coming as a huge relief.
And what a race to come back to! Whenever Formula 1 pops up in the Netherlands you know you’re in for a good one, filled with wheel-to-wheel action on the short, but immensely entertaining, Zandvoort circuit. Coming back for the second half of the season, teams arrive with renewed drive and ideas for tackling the second batch of track action. Cars have matured, drivers settled, and with fourteen fascinating rounds of the 2024 season already under our belts, there’s still plenty to play for in this fiercely competitive year of Formula 1 racing.
Here's everything you should be paying attention to during Formula 1’s final ten races of 2024…
Prepare for Mercedes disruption
While they started the season on the back foot, again with a car that didn’t seem to live up to the legacy of a team with eight Constructors’ Championships in their trophy cabinet, the W15 has slowly come into its own through the 2024 season. By the summer break, we started to see glimpses of Mercedes-old in race results. Their 2024 challenger was designed as a fresh platform to build upon, and while it didn’t look to be the fix many expected it to be back at the start of the season, steady and consistent upgrades through the first fourteen rounds appear to be finally paying off, with the team celebrating three wins in the past four races. That’s two more than the team achieved in the entire 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
The team looked particularly strong in Belgium, holding out a lead on their competitors and taking a comfortable 1-2 on the road prior to Russell’s ultimate disqualification for being underweight. While a disappointing end to the first half for the team in that regard, no one can dispute the transformative change Mercedes have undergone over the past few races, including a heroic end to Hamilton’s streak of winless years in 2022 and 2023 with a home victory at Silverstone in July.
It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of the season unfolds for a team that’s undeniably on the up, and while a championship victory is likely out of the question for Mercedes, they may become a serious disruptor for front runners looking to bag as many points as possible in their fight for the championship. A team we’re excited to see more of in the rest of 2024, and one you’d better keep a close eye on!
SEE ALSO: IS FERRARI THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR HAMILTON?
McLaren and Red Bull championship battle
There’s little doubt that the Papaya squad from Woking are on the rise in Formula 1. After years of pain, the team are turning things around and retuning to the form McLaren fans expect from a team that boasts such a rich and successful history. Since their shocking start to the 2023 season, they’ve rebuilt and rethought their car, organisation, and staff, to become, by the summer break, the most competitive in the field. No other team is currently enjoying the consistency that McLaren are displaying, with two excellent drivers, a fast car, and a switched-on army of support behind the scenes all delivering a season where a McLaren driver has stood on the podium at every race since the Japanese Grand Prix.
While it was Red Bull who dominated the start of the season, McLaren’s consistency in scoring good points has closed the gap between the two teams to within touching distance. It’s undeniable that if things continue as they are, McLaren will overtake Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship by the end of the season.
Of course, Red Bull won’t give up the fight that easily, and we’ll be looking at the two teams going head-to-head in the final races of the year to determine who is worthy of the top prize in the sport. It’ll be interesting to see how this battle to the top unfolds. Will Perez be able to perform well enough to keep them ahead? Will McLaren continue to boost speed and extend their performance advantage, or will Red Bull do what Red Bull do best and put the fastest car and the fastest driver together in the second half for a proud march to victory?
Regardless of the outcome, get ready for more wheel-to-wheel action between these two teams as we return to racing this weekend. It’s bound to be close, dramatic, and immensely entertaining for fans to witness the first real Championship battle since 2021. Are you excited? We are!
Can Aston Martin turn it around?
While our attentions have been on the thrilling battles at the very front of the field, let’s not forget the team currently placed in fifth in the Championship – Aston Martin. No, they haven’t been winning races and securing podiums, but the Silverstone-based squad have demonstrated in the past couple of years that they’re more than capable of putting together a fiercely competitive car. Look back to the start of the 2023 season, where legend of the sport Fernando Alonso opened a significant advantage over the other teams behind Red Bull, securing four podiums in the first five races for the team.
Since then, they’ve admittedly been struggling to relive their success of early 2023, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been working hard to bring themselves back into the competition. Some upgrades have been successes, such as at Silverstone this year to make the car faster in long corners, while others have been detrimental – an upgrade brought to Imola team principal Mike Krack admitted made the car ‘more difficult’ to drive.
The thing is, Aston Martin currently sit in their own category – they aren’t as fast as the teams out in front (Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes), yet they hold double the points of their next-closest midfield competitor, RB. With 73 points currently in the Championship, they aren’t going to be winning the top prize, nor are they likely to move up in the standings by the end of the year, but what this does give the team is breathing space to learn, develop, and come back more competitive in the second half of 2024 and into 2025.
While focus will soon shift to next year’s car, with Krack stating that “whatever we learn now, we take into 2025,” the team principal has emphasised that they’d be bringing more upgrades to the car in the rest of 2024, which could start to push this team up in the closing races. On top of these upgrades, a slew of recruitment drives for the industry’s top talents have resulted in Ferrari’s Enrico Cardile being appointed team CTO and Andy Cowell as group CEO. With these new talents, and many more managing the team, as well as some serious upgrades coming to the car, it’s worth keeping an eye on how Aston Martin performs in the second half of 2024. Their results in the closing stages will give a good indication of the team’s direction and where they’ll stand going into next year, the final year of current regulations.
Getting the final 2025 grid
Silly season kicked off unusually early this year, with Lewis Hamilton announcing his shock move to Ferrari from 2025 back in February, before the first 2024 cars even took to the track. This announcement threw the entire driver market wide-open, with the chance of hot property Carlos Sainz being without a drive for next year, a prized Mercedes seat sitting vacant, and numerous contracts ending ahead of 2025.
While for the first time in history we saw no change to the line-up this year, next year looks set for a real shake-up. Drivers currently without a seat include Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant, Kevin Magnussen, and Daniel Ricciardo. With that, we've seen plenty of movement among the rest of the grid...
- Hamilton to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari
- Sainz to leave Ferrari and join Williams
- Hulkenberg to leave Haas and join Kick Sauber
- Ocon to leave Alpine and join Haas
The only currently confirmed F1 rookie to join is Ollie Bearman for Haas, but it’s looking likely that the young Brit will be soon joined by other fresh talent on the grid.
Whether we’ll see any of the existing talent currently out of a seat retain a drive for next year or rookies enter to take empty seats remains unknown. With only seats at Mercedes, Alpine, RB, and Kick Sauber remaining, it’s looking unlikely that we’ll be keeping our old favourites into next year.
Whether Mercedes’ seat will go to the widely rumoured Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Liam Lawson finally picking up a permanent drive with RB, or Alpine reserve Jack Doohan having his shot in full-time Formula 1, there’s plenty to keep an eye on in the driver market over the next few weeks.
It all starts again this weekend
Excitement certainly has built up over the summer, and we’re on the edge of our seats thinking about all that’s still to come this season. From new driver line-ups to championship battles, the remaining races are set to be an exciting and climactic end to a fantastic season of Formula 1. The nail-biting action is sure to continue into the final season of current-regulation cars in 2025, too.
