2024 F1 World Championship Notes: Verstappen succeeds, Norris falls short, Alonso juggles

he 2024 F1 World Cup then it ended F1 Abu Dhabi GP. It is the most raced course in history, hosting up to 24 events. max verstappen With Lando Norris behind the wheel of the best car, he proved he was still the best on the grid.

9: Max Verstappen

Master class. He won four of his first five races and had the best car before losing badly at the start of the year, only losing one of those races due to car problems. And when he could no longer have the best car, he managed to tame a car that suffered from many balance problems without using the fastest one, with his hands and aggressiveness, and won five more races. maximized results by achieving He beat Norris in every aspect of the race.: No errors, a better start and above all better site management. Some of his over-the-top maneuvers didn’t earn him a 10, but that’s part of who he is and how he is as a pilot.

7. Sainz, Leclerc, Russell

Leclerc and Sainz had a good year They were looking to take advantage of Ferrari’s improvements at the end of the season and move closer to the constructors’ world title. carlos He had an epic win in Australia after undergoing surgery for appendicitis and was one of the best drivers on the grid at the beginning of the season., Finished the course in style with a win in Mexico and several podiums. He took advantage of the car when it was there and came out on top.

I couldn’t do it with Monaco and Monza, a scenario in which teammate Leclerc shines with victoryIt’s the same event in Austin where Carlos could have won had he not been damaged by Verstappen’s aggressive start. Charles demonstrated his immense talent with the following quote: He won at Monaco and Monza and ended the year with a spectacular comeback from 19th to 3rd in Abu Dhabi.

In that respect, George Russell could end 2024 clearly ahead of teammate Lewis Hamiltondefeated the seven-time champions even though the team was already on their side.

7. Alonzo

The best “rest”. He did more than necessary with his car. Alonso is 9th place in the World Championship behind the drivers of the top 4 teamsAnd he did it in the worst performing car on the grid. I don’t have a car so I can’t give a better evaluation.

His second half of the season was special. No matter how difficult it looked as he had one of the worst cars in the second half of the course, he managed to stay in Q3 and in the fight for points.

At city circuits such as Baku and Singapore, he achieved a 6th place (7th place qualifying) and 8th place (7th place qualifying), with unexpected results at circuits such as Zandvoort (Q3 and points), and in Brazil he lost his car. We advanced to Q3. , earned points in Italy and Las Vegas, and points in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. He entered the car 16 times in Q3. He defeated Stroll 19-5 in the preliminaries; He was just two points away from triple his teammate’s points: Alonso had 70 points and the Canadian had 24. Fernando contributed to 74.4% of Aston Martin’s total points..

7 Pierre Gasly

Patient. The Frenchman knows how to spend time with the Alpine team, which had many problems at the beginning of the season, and took advantage of his opportunities with a car that improved in the second half of the championship. He had a very good end to the year with a great podium in Brazil He finished 6th on the grid in Austin, 3rd in Las Vegas and 5th in Qatar.

6. Lando Norris

soft. Lando Norris was unable to win the F1 World Championship with the best car in most races after the season’s sixth race at Imola. The British driver took credit for winning the title when Hamilton dominated and said he would have been ready to win if he had had the best car, but that was not the case..

He took four wins and eight pole positions, but those numbers should have been better.. Despite having a better car, he had a worse second half of the season than Max and had to relinquish the title with two rounds remaining.

A similar opinion can be made about Piastri. Due to his lack of experience, he did not play in that match like Lando. It was only his second year, but there were some great moments, like stealing his teammate’s wallet, as happened in Hungary, and some great races, with outstanding battles and defences, like against Leclerc in Baku. However, Piastri was too erratic, especially in qualifying. There’s a lot of room for improvement.

6. Haas, Hulkenberg, Tsunoda, Colapinto

It’s a surprise. They surprised this season’s best team with their unexpected improvement. Haas emerged from the constructors’ red lanterns in 2023 and continued to fight for sixth place in the World Championship until the final race. In the end, they finished in 7th place with 58 points.7th out of 6th place, 46 points better than 2023 result. In that sense, it is the passage of time. Nico Hulkenberg could score 41 points, while teammate Magnussen only scored 16.

RB Niko Yuki Tsunoda’s year must also be highlightednot only allows you to take important steps in driving and performance at critical moments, but also Franco Colapintoshined from the start, without experience, without testing and previous laps in F1, as other young talents with more support and funding have. Franco initially performed well enough to be considered a Red Bull contender, but his inexperience hurt him at key moments, including underwater in Brazil and on delicate courses like Las Vegas.

5. Lewis Hamilton

I’m far from his level. Lewis Hamilton achieved two wins in 2024, one of which came after his teammate Russell (Spa) was disqualified as he crossed the line first. Throughout the year, Lewis seemed very isolated, Far from being at his best, he struggled in many Grand Prix races. Russell won 8 to 16 in qualifying and was consistently overtaken by Russell in the race with the same result. Among the 24 appointments of the course. Perhaps not having a championship car reduced his motivation and performance.

Suspense:

insufficient. ‘Czech Perez That was the big negative surprise of the season. By the previous year, max And not qualifying didn’t matter because he had a much better car that could get him through Sunday. But in a tougher F1 season like 2024, the problem is even bigger. His car was a far cry from his driving style, and as Red Bull’s evolution led to further setbacks for the car, everything became more complicated for Perez, putting him on the brink of consequences from which he could not get out.

More was expected from Sauber Overall, the team received a red lantern for a lack of evolution that was well below expectations throughout the year. they didn’t approve either Sargent and Ricardowere attacked early by their respective teams.