What a difference twelve months makes. When Max Verstappen cruised to back-to-back victories to begin the 2024 F1 season, a feeling of déjà vu gripped the fandom of this sport. Lest we forget, F1 was coming off a 2023 season which rewrote the definition of “dominant”, Max Verstappen’s magnum opus making seasons like 2002, 2004 and 2013 seem like the quaint good old years of yore.

Fast forward to December 2024, and while the records books show Verstappen secured his fourth Drivers World Championship – and by a healthy points margin too – the Dutchman “only” secured another seven wins in the remaining 22 races (plus three sprint victories), as the all-conquering Red Bull squad slumped to third in the Constructors Champions

What we instead had was a classic season, seven different drivers all winning multiple races, four teams vying for supremacy with the pecking order being shuffled at almost every race, and a long-shot battle in the Drivers Championship. That’s not ignoring a Constructors Championship which went to the final race of the year, tight midfield battles, an all-time great Reject performance from one driver in particular, plus a liberal sprinkling of FIA nonsense. Caught your breath yet? In typical Grand Prix Rejects fashion, it’s taken us months to process and review the insanity we all watched in 2024.

Teams and Drivers

To put things in perspective, when McLaren last won the Constructors Championship in 1998, most of the GP Rejects writing roster were toddlers. 26 years later, after numerous near misses, a high-profile disqualification, and over a decade of decline, Reject moments and rebuild, Woking are back on top of the Formula 1 world. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, arguably the strongest driver pairing on the grid, both secured their first Grand Prix wins in 2024, with Norris taking the fight to Verstappen during the summer and autumn.

Norris and Piastri were not even embryos the last time McLaren won the Constructors!

But despite the excellence of the MCL-38 and its world-class driving line-up, there were signs that McLaren were still far from the top team it purports to be. Strategy hiccups, the complete driver management failure that was the Hungarian Grand Prix (when was the last time a team securing a 1-2 finish also won Reject of the Race?), and a lack of enthusiasm towards Norris’ longshot title challenge all illustrated that 2024 could have been far, far better. The fact that despite the strength of the team, the constructors went down to the final race of the year, proves there are issues that simply must be ironed out in 2025.

Ferrari were the only team to defeat Red Bull on-track in 2023, and even that required a weekend where Milton Keynes were totally off the boil. This year, the Scuderia combined for five victories, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz winning multiple races. The highlight was Monza, where in a bit of strategic masterclass that we wouldn’t normally expect from the Italian squad, Leclerc performed a daylight robbery on McLaren to take victory in front of the Tifosi. A mid-season off patch ultimately cost the Scuderia their first Constructors title since 2008, but you could argue this was their best overall season in the last decade.

Australia 2024, one of several excellent afternoons for Ferrari this season

The all-conquering Red Bull juggernaut juddered to a halt in 2024, both on and off track. While the Austrian and Thai camps hammered each other for control behind the scenes, Max Verstappen had to fight, claw and go beyond the limit to secure his fourth Drivers Championship as his car steadily became less competitive from Canada onwards. His late season victories at Brazil and Qatar went some way to burnishing his status. His actions at Austria, Mexico and Abu Dhabi however, helped tarnish his reputation. The less said about Sergio Perez’s season, the better. It was arguably the worst season by the teammate of the world champion since the utter mess that was the second Benetton in 1994. More on that later, you probably already know what’s coming!

It was the end of an era at Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton’s eleven-year stint with the team came to a quiet end, even though the Brit snapped his winless streak in style at Silverstone. The team seemed to have designed a car with an operating window narrower than the Suez Canal, one weekend looking like the dominant team of 2014-2020, then looking like the 2012 team the following week. George Russell took three wins on the road, the one at Belgium subsequently being inherited by Hamilton after Russell was disqualified for an underweight car. With it already known that Hamilton was joining Ferrari for 2025, it remains to be seen whether the surprise promotion of Andrea Kimi Antonelli for 2025 will work out as the next coming of Max Verstappen, or whether he will be the next Esteban Tuero.

On occasion, Mercedes resembled the crack squad from 2014-20.

Aston Martin were difficult to rate, clearly not the giant-killing team of 2023 but still mostly a step ahead of the rest of the midfield. A worrying slide in competitiveness at the tail end of 2024 made the team from Silverstone look more like early 2000s Jaguar. Fernando Alonso did Fernando Alonso things in 2024, although there were a couple of races such as Emilia-Romagna where arguably the “Retire, Old Man” crowd raised their ugly heads. Lance Stroll did Lance Stroll things in 2024, showing a decline from his already mediocre 2023, his Brazilian Grand Prix DNS where he slowly beached his car in a gravel trap having already spun off on the formation lap being up there with Alex Wurz’s pathetic retirement at the 2000 French Grand Prix in the “most embarrassing Formula 1 moments” compilation. 

Psychology students in future will have a field day with Stroll’s thought processes in Brazil!

Further down the field, Alpine were busy making a bid for Reject of the Year, with a recalcitrant car reminiscent of Prost’s miserable efforts at the turn of the century. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly were made to look like mugs for most of 2024, the low point being Monaco where they collided in full view of the TV cameras. Then came the Brazilian GP, the kind of topsy-turvy wet race which every Formula 1 fan dreams of. While others faltered, somehow Alpine read the conditions perfectly to be leading a 1-2 at half distance! Of course, it could not last, what with a hungry Max Verstappen picking his way through the field, but even so, Ocon and Gasly held onto 2nd and 3rd, netting a massive 33 points for the team. Alpine performed a daylight robbery to secure 6th in the Constructors. That being said, tensions between the team and Ocon boiled over mid-season. Esteban signed for Haas and was eventually released from Alpine before the end of the season. Jack Doohan, parachuted in for Abu Dhabi and for at least the first few races of 2025, has all the makings of a classic Reject.

After picking up the wooden spoon for the second time in three seasons, Haas had a bright 2024. Ditching Guenther Steiner for the softly spoken Ayao Komatsu has paid dividends, and until Alpine’s ram raid at Brazil, the team were looking good for a massive 6th in the Constructors. Nico Hulkenberg was often best of the rest. Kevin Magnussen, however, made headlines for the wrong reasons in 2024. Firstly, at Miami he broke Pastor Maldonado’s record for the most penalties in one Grand Prix weekend. He was then the catalyst for a huge first lap crash at Monaco which took out himself, Sergio Perez…and Nico Hulkenberg.
The penalty points he accumulated from his numerous incidents eventually led him to the first F1 driver ban since Romain Grosjean in 2012. Ollie Bearman acted as supersub on two occasions, firstly while Magnussen was in the sin bin box for Baku, then when the Dane was unwell at Sao Paulo.

Hulkenberg starred for a now Steinerless and rejuvenated Haas squad.

Sporting the daftest team name outside of the BTCC, Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team powered a gentle gust of wind into the midfield during 2024. Yuki Tsunoda turned in his usual mix of good performances marred by strategic incompetence from the team and the occasional boneheaded mistake. Daniel Ricciardo, outside of a shock 4th place in the Miami Sprint, did absolutely nothing to earn a promotion back to Red Bull. Indeed, his performances were poor enough for the team to finally call time on the Ricciardo experiment after a miserable effort at Singapore. Supersub Liam Lawson got the call-up for the remainder of the year, scored a brace of points, and got into several scraps with Sergio Perez, which was enough to earn him the Mexican’s Red Bull seat for 2025.

Williams seemed to be operating a recycling business in 2024, what with the sheer amount of equipment written off by their drivers. The FW46 appeared to be a step backwards from the 2023 car, often struggling to get out of Q1. Alex Albon once again led the team where he could, occasionally breaking into the points, when he wasn’t breaking cars, that is. Logan Sargeant’s second season was a disaster, leading to the American joining the list of drivers unceremoniously ejected for a mid-season replacement. His replacement, F2 graduate Franco Colapinto proved a revelation in his first couple of events, scoring points and outperforming Albon decisively. Sadly, his latter run of form included several huge crashes, which seems to have damaged his Formula 1 future beyond 2024. It remains to be seen whether James Vowles’ coup to land Carlos Sainz as their lead driver in 2025 will spark some life into the Grove squad.

It’s a minor miracle Williams didn’t run out of cars entirely!

The return of the Sauber name for 2024 coincided with their worst season since their 2014 disaster. It was obvious to everyone that Hinwil were taking part but not actively participating, waiting for the 2026 Audi takeover. The fluorescent green C44, looking all for the world like a 1995/96 Minardi with none of the charm, was rooted to the back of the grid all year. The only bright spot was Qatar, where Zhou Guanyu kept his head while others lost theirs to secure a massive 8th place. Valtteri Bottas, however, wound up pointless, an ignominious way for his F1 career to end.

Reject of the Year

There was no shortage of candidates this season.

The Red Bull psychodrama provided some merriment behind the scenes, slowly poisoning the team inside and out. Sauber propped up the timesheets all year, with a car arguably worse than their 2014 challenger. Logan Sargeant was terminated from Williams mid-season having left a trail of destruction in his wake. Daniel Ricciardo limped out of Formula 1 for the second and likely final time, sharing just a name and physical likeness with the driver who lit up the sport at Red Bull and Renault. Sergio Perez followed him onto the sidelines post-season, having a season so poor that it has tarnished his reputation likely beyond repair. Lewis Hamilton spent most of 2024 looking like a man out of time, with questions raised about his future in the sport, and whether the Ferrari move for 2025 was a good idea. However, his two victories and strong end to the year lifted him out of danger.

Unsure if this is the Minardi M195 or the Sauber C44. Answers on a postcard please!

Then there was the annual clownshow that was the FIA. A revolving door of Race Directors in the latter part of 2024 indicated that all was not well with the powers that be. This directly led to the shambles at Qatar, where a basic Safety Car call for debris was delayed for laps on end, leading to two punctures and a bevy of incredibly harsh penalties afterwards. One could perhaps claim that this was Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, aiming to get his own back on the Grand Prix Drivers Association 

3rd Place: Sauber

Bar the Qatar Grand Prix, there was nothing worth celebrating for Hinwil this year. The day-glo green machines were often found propping up the timesheets and occasionally appearing on screen when being lapped. There seems to be no sign of improvement on the horizon until Audi finally take full control.

2nd Place: The FIA and Mohammed Ben Sulayem

A cavalier attitude to safety, a governing body at war with the drivers, and a power-hungry President. Have we suddenly woken up in 1981 again? 

Reject of the Year: Sergio Perez

The numbers did not lie, and they ultimately spelled disaster for Sergio. 108 points were scored over the first seven Grand Prix weekends. Just 44 more were scored in the remaining 17 weekends. All this in a car which won the World Drivers Championship with a total of 437 points. Too many trips into the barriers littered his 2024, and that’s not before we consider embarrassing efforts such as Britain, Belgium and Mexico. A lazy collision with Valtteri Bottas on lap one of what has proved to be his F1 swansong more or less summed up Sergio’s 2024. It was a culmination of everything that’s gone wrong for the Mexican since the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, producing the worst season for a front-running team since the second Benetton seat merry-go-round in 1994. He can take solace though that he has at least won something this season – Reject of the Year!

An all-too-familiar sight in 2024 – Perez in the barriers.