Written by Vyas Ponnuri
The pulsating 2024 Formula One season finally storms back into action, nearly a month on from its previous outing in Singapore. With the sport's yearly American jaunt and the Middle East voyage set to take centrestage over the next eight weeks, Vyas takes you through six major talking points....
The next chapter of the Verstappen - Norris battle
McLaren's stellar upward trajectory this season has seen either Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri (or both) on the podium in each of the last 14 races. Norris has stood on the top step of the podium thrice in 2024, winning out at Miami, Zandvoort, and last time out in Singapore.
Norris backed up his wins with seven further podium appearances, opening up the elusive opportunity to emerge from the shadows and potentially take home his first World Drivers Championship.
However, his challenge has been thwarted largely by the triple world champion ahead, with Max Verstappen continually ensuring he limits the damage to the chasing Briton. The gap has narrowed to 52 points with six races and three sprints to go, the same gap when Norris took his maiden win in Miami back in May.
The Dutchman has been outscored by Norris in every round since the Belgian Grand Prix in July, and hasn't won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June. Yet, he remains the favourite to take his fourth world championship.
Fresh off a four-week break, both drivers will be raring to strengthen their championship bids. Norris will be looking to continue to eat into the lead ahead, while Verstappen will look to maximise every millisecond of performance in a Red Bull RB20 that has slipped down the pecking order.
It's set to go down to the wire, and an extremely deserved championship for either driver. You do not want to miss this battle, which will only grow in intensity with every passing race weekend.
Constructors' battles raging up and down the grid
While Norris and Verstappen have been engaged in their own private battle for the drivers title, the teams championship paints a particularly different picture. McLaren wrested the lead of the constructors standings for the first time in a decade, courtesy a spectacular run of form encompassing five victories and 15 podium appearances.
Norris has emerged a championship contender, while teammate Oscar Piastri has played the supporting act to shore up an incisive attack from the team in orange, in only his second season of Formula One.
While Norris and Piastri have spearheaded McLaren's rise, Red Bull's form has nosedived. The Milton Keynes outfit no longer hold their usual dominant lead, instead finding themselves the hunters for the first time since the early rounds way back in 2022.
Verstappen has continually punched above his weight in a bid to keep his championship hopes alive, while Sergio Perez (more on him below) has slid down to eighth, nearly 200 points off his teammate.
Red Bull are expected to bring an upgrade package to Austin, and will be hoping to arrest their slide in a last-gasp bid to maintain their winning run. Should they slip up any further, it could well open up the door for Ferrari to finish second in the standings.
A resurgent campaign sees the team from Maranello sitting third in the standings, and only 34 points behind the reigning champions in the standings.
With a series of upgrades since the summer break injecting fresh momentum into their campaign, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz will be looking to push on even further into the final six races to replicate Ferrari's runners-up finishing position from 2022.
More tight-knit battles rage further down the order. Sixth-placed VCARB sit only three points ahead of Haas, who recently signed a deal with Toyota as technical partners, while the sister Red Bull team have opted to replace Daniel Ricciardo with youngster Liam Lawson.
While it remains to be seen how these new announcements aid their respective campaigns, the American team will be looking to harness every ounce of performance to challenge for sixth, and valuable millions in prize money in the standings.
In similar fashion, Williams climbed ahead of a struggling Alpine outfit in their race for eighth in the constructors' standings. Alex Albon and new rookie Franco Colapinto finished seventh and eighth at Baku, their combined haul of ten points ensuring they jumped ahead of Alpine for eighth in the standings, sitting three points ahead of the French outfit.
With valuable millions on the line, they will be looking to capitalise on any opportunity to bring home points, and take full advantage of the front-runners not scoring in any of the upcoming races to increase their chances of finishing higher in the standings.
Will Mercedes be able to recapture their mid-season form?
One team looking to hit the reset button and find form heading into the business end is Mercedes. The silver arrows have hit a dry patch of form since Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took three victories in four races prior to the summer break.
The team from Brackley have finished on the podium only once ever since, albeit with Russell capitalising on Sainz and Perez's late incident at Baku to finish third.
The silver arrows suffered from set-up errors at Zandvoort, finishing seventh and eighth, with excessive tyre wear on race day necessitating extra pit stops for both drivers.
High temperatures and struggles in the slow chicanes hurt the team's chances at Monza, while the car's handling and tyre wear hurt their chances at Baku, a track featuring slow 90-degree corners and long straights.
Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix weekend, Mercedes introduced a revised floor on their W15. While this update hasn't reaped further dividends, team boss Toto Wolff hinted at further upgrades down the line, instead looking to introduce a new floor at Austin, using the four-week break after Singapore to dissect the team's struggles.
While it appears to be seen if the team will introduce a new update around Austin, a track they should go well at, it is no secret the team from Brackley will be looking to end the year on a high, and rekindle some of their form before the summer break.
Moreover, they will be looking to give Hamilton the perfect ending to cap off one of the most successful partnerships in sporting history.
Sergio Perez under pressure to perform for Red Bull
One driver looking searching for a big result is Verstappen's teammate Perez. The Mexican has experienced a tale of woe in 2024, having failed to finish on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix back in April.
The Red Bull racer has managed to finish a highest of fifth ever since, way back in Miami. Perez's qualifying woes struck once again, as he was eliminated multiple times in Q1 and Q2 across the year.
With Red Bull's advantage diminishing, Perez has found it more difficult to fight back on race day, as reflected by his declining results across the season.
A crash late on in Baku didn't help his case either, and stripped him of a podium to add to his tally of two prior wins around the circuit.
While he signed a fresh deal with Red Bull through to 2026, Perez's seat at the team has been subjected to intense speculation, with rumours stating he could be replaced during the mid-season break. Fortunately, the team reiterated their decision to retain Perez until the end of the year.
However, with Red Bull supremo Helmut Marko not ruling out a chance for Yuki Tsunoda or even Lawson to partner Verstappen next year, Perez has it all to do if he wants to keep the Red Bull seat for next year.
The race for the final KICK Sauber seat
While most teams have finalised their driver line-ups, two teams are yet to announce who fills their final seat in 2025.
While VCARB would most likely keep Liam Lawson for 2025, the spotlight shifts to the final seat available at the KICK Sauber team, with as many as five drivers in the running to partner Nico Hülkenberg at the team from Hinwil.
Valtteri Bottas remains in the running to keep his seat at the team. However, it remains to be seen if the team in green instead unleash a young rookie, with Williams racer Colapinto and Formula 2 championship leader Bortoleto tipped as favourites.
Former Haas racer Mick Schumacher has also emerged a late contender, with team boss Mattia Binotto not ruling him out of the contention either. This could be with an eye on the future, as the team are eventually set to transition into Audi come 2026.
All in all, the following weekends will provide greater clarity on who will take the final seat, and round out the grid for next year.
One last hurrah for driver-team partnerships
Formula One's driver market exploded into action across the year, with multiple names moving house and newer faces dotting the horizon next year.
The most high profile announcement saw Lewis Hamilton switch allegiances, in a grand move to Ferrari, bringing to an end a highly successful title-winning run with the silver arrows.
It will most certainly be an emotional goodbye for the seven-time world champion, who has driven under the three-pointed star for his entire racing career, first brought under the McLaren-Mercedes wing when he was only 13.
With over 350 race starts, Hamilton has six more starts to savour, and will be looking to add to his 84 race victories for Mercedes alone.
Elsewhere, Carlos Sainz will depart Ferrari after four seasons at Maranello. In a run spanning 81 race starts, the Spaniard has grabbed three special race victories and 21 podiums, giving the Tifosi plenty to cheer. He will be looking to end a career-defining move on a high.
Esteban Ocon will also be ending a five-year run at Alpine/Renault on a high, the peak being a maiden victory at Hungary back in 2021. The Frenchman has podiumed at Sakhir in 2020 and Monaco in 2023, capping off his time at the team from Enstone.
The Haas pair of Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will have six more starts with the team before they part ways ahead of 2025. While the German has put in several standout qualifying performances to net home valuable points for Haas, his Danish counterpart is well known for giving the team their first pole position back in 2022.
Do keep tissues in handy for plenty of emotional goodbyes come the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
留言