The 2024 F1 team-by-team review

Just like that, 2024 is in the books. An epic season of racing that went to the wire in the constructors’ championship and threatened an enormous turnaround in the drivers’ standings is behind us, and that means it’s time to reflect on how each team performed and give them a rating that I’m sure will have a massive impact on their holidays. McLAREN The good: I could almost repost last year’s entry, when I said “the car development was pretty incredible” and “there’s a lot of momentum behind Andrea Stella and his team”. The former remained true, and the latter was capitalized on. To repeat McLaren’s strong progress with the car was an excellent achievement, and it managed its drivers well to ensure a constructors’ title that arguably comes early on its progress curve. The bad: Again, similar issues remain. As was the summary 12 months ago, “the odd bit of poor execution and there are areas to clean up on both sides” remains true. Lando Norris is making strides towards being a true title contender but wasn’t quite there early enough in 2024, and Oscar Piastri similarly improved to win two races but still had off weekends. I said it was early in McLaren’s progress, and the entire team is clearly trending upwards, but still needs to be more clinical on all fronts to win a drivers’ title. RATING: 8.5/10   FERRARI The good: This was a clear continuation of the positive signs from last year. Ferrari showed largely good car development and similarly impressive race team execution to end the year as the top scoring team after the summer break, and Charles Leclerc as the leading driver over the same span. It suffered fewer uncompetitive weekends as the year went on, making the most of a car that became a better all-rounder once mid-season issues were overcome. The bad: It was a year of what could have been for Ferrari. Those mid-season problems were enormously costly, and a wrong turn on car development set it back hugely in both championships. Add in the odd missed opportunity such as in Singapore – partly down to the team, and partly the fault of the drivers – and Ferrari stumbled a little when a constructors’ championship was on offer. Leclerc also had a slightly slower start compared to Carlos Sainz which left him too far behind in the drivers’ title fight, and he can’t afford that next year. RATING: 7.5/10   RED BULL The good: Red Bull still managed to win a drivers’ championship this year and considering the turmoil off-track and the form of the car mid-season, that’s some achievement. It also showed real signs of recovery in the closing stages of the year despite some of the departures that had been announced, and provided enough evidence that Max Verstappen will still be a major factor in 2025. The bad: In total contrast to 12 months ago, there’s so much I could put in here. After the first quarter, Sergio Perez’s season was a horror show. So, too, was the car development in the summer, and the atmosphere around the team from the start of the year – when it was still dominating – was not good at all. Big names have left, reputations have been damaged and the Perez situation cost it big time in the constructors’ championship. Momentum is still leaning in the wrong direction, and titles would be a strong accomplishment next year. RATING: 6/10   MERCEDES The good: When the car was good, it was really good. In fact, it was utterly dominant in Las Vegas. George Russell also put a strong year together, and the middle part of the year appeared to have Mercedes heading in the right direction, especially with the way it pulled off a one-two before Russell’s DSQ in Belgium. There felt like there was a little more understanding of how to set the car up, and Mercedes picked up multiple wins with both drivers this year after a winless 2023. The bad: When the car was bad, it was really bad. Even two of the wins – in Austria (complete fortune) and Silverstone (a McLaren strategic error) – were not totally due to the car. That mid-season run and Las Vegas also flatters to deceive, with the only podium after the summer break coming in Azerbaijan where Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez collided from third and fourth late on. Lewis Hamilton’s farewell season got very tough at times, and while setting the car up became slightly easier, it’s still an area where Mercedes appears to lag far behind the top three. RATING: 6/10   ASTON MARTIN The good: The season’s over, and Adrian Newey is arriving in 2025. The factory has also moved closer to completion with the wind tunnel due online soon, and Aston Martin appears to have identified one of the reasons for its poor development after making changes to its technical team. Plus the initial launch car wasn’t that bad, as Fernando Alonso scored three top-six finishes in the first four rounds, and the Spaniard remains capable of dragging it to good results. The bad: Car development was really disappointing, with Aston ending the year with arguably the ninth-fastest car. Couple that with another underwhelming season for Lance Stroll – who scored just a single point in the second half, in Hungary – and you’re left with an extremely talented and expensively-assembled team that was miles off its potential. It got so bad you’d be surprised to see Aston deliver a car good enough for the top five again next year, and potentially write it off early to focus on 2026. RATING: 4/10   ALPINE The good: The team’s turnaround on-track was actually one of the more remarkable ones this year. The car was nowhere at the start of the season, and unlike many other teams, there was no stability to build upon and try to improve that. But Alpine did improve, going from fighting with Stake to not finish 10th, to a double podium in Brazil and a repeat of sixth overall. And that’s even with the souring of the Esteban Ocon partnership, as Pierre Gasly and the race team executed very impressively late on. The bad: The improvements shouldn’t overshadow where Alpine started, and what the expectations had been. This was a works outfit with experienced personnel, but it was a laughing stock for much of the early part of the season. Ocon’s drop-off in form hints at more than just a driver checking out before a move, and it still faces some uncertainty moving forward, with Flavio Briatore’s presence ensuring nobody will be feeling totally secure. RATING: 5/10   HAAS The good: From a really poor position at the end of last year, Haas now feels like a team on the up and with big ambitions. Ayao Komatsu’s appointment in place of Guenther Steiner raised eyebrows, but he has proven to be an astute team principal who has helped get the most out of what Haas had available. Plus, it is now looking to grow quickly in partnership with Toyota. Haas would have finished a strong sixth in the standings but for Alpine’s one-off weekend in Brazil, and was extremely consistent in the second half of the year and developed the car strongly – an area it has struggled in the recent past. The bad: Haas didn’t need to change a huge amount, but it failed to hold onto Nico Hulkenberg when he was torn over whether to stay or join Audi earlier this year. He has been a major asset, and now an all-new lineup will have to try and match the atmosphere that the German and Kevin Magnussen had created. Strategically it could also be better, and it will need to sharpen up a little on that front because the midfield is not going to get any easier. RATING: 7.5/10   RB The good: The fact that Yuki Tsunoda is still a part of the team. Performance-wise he has been the best driver RB has had available over the past few years, but he continues to be overlooked by Red Bull and that means the team still has a fast and experienced head who scores the bulk of the points. The car was very competitive at times, too. The bad: There’s still a lot of inconsistency about RB, and that can’t be helped by the driver situation. The way the Daniel Ricciardo departure was handled – although largely Red Bull’s fault – was messy and distracting, and the management situation between Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer still appears to be finding its sweet spot. The messaging remains muddled, too, with Red Bull insisting it’s not a junior team but then both outfits talking up its role at developing the young talent for the frontrunners. It feels like it’s just drifting, with a ceiling on what it can achieve. RATING: 5.5/10   WILLIAMS The good: The FW46 was a clear step forward compared to its predecessor, and a much better all-rounder that could always race with other teams. Alex Albon had some strong performances again, and the discovery of Franco Colapinto was a good one, although neither comes close to the biggest achievement of all in convincing Carlos Sainz to be part of the project moving forward. The bad: The better all-round car meant Williams lacked the peakiness in performance that allowed some big results, and it was consistently just outside the points. The initial car was quick but massively overweight and arrived late, costing it big chances early on and then leading to the embarrassing situation of having to withdraw a car in Australia. Logan Sargeant’s year was brutal – starting with the Melbourne withdrawal – and there were far too many crashes and errors late on too from both drivers. There’s a lot to work on over the winter. RATING: 5/10   STAKE The good: Stake Kick Sauber is one year closer to becoming the Audi works team, and there were positive shoots late in the season as it turned around an awful pit stop situation – where new, lightweight wheel nuts were prone to cross-threading under the high temperatures caused by race situations – to become competitive, and developed the car well enough to be in the mix for points in the closing rounds, finally scoring in Qatar. The incumbent drivers  Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu were on a hiding to nothing but performed well, and while they might feel hard done by, the replacement pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto is a strong one. The bad: The car was uncompetitive for the vast majority of the year, and it didn’t get much better until the closing stages. The pit stop situation was shambolic in the early rounds, and there was clear uncertainty behind the scenes that led to Andreas Seidl being replaced (by the impressive Mattia Binotto, admittedly). It already feels like Audi is having to play catch-up and hasn’t been working to a clear plan throughout, and there’s little expectation around 2025 – although it surely can’t be much worse than this year. RATING: 3/10