F1 2024 Early Review: Conflicts, Contracts, Chaos

Image credit: FORMULA 1. The 2024 F1 season has already had a fair share of drama and excitement.

Formula 1 is back for a new season of high-speed action and has already held thrilling opening races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Japan. Each race, and even events before, have provided multiple talking points which can be hard to follow – so let’s recap.

Before the cars had even been revealed, the chaos began when 7-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton announced his shocking move to the iconic Ferrari team for 2025 – making this season Hamilton’s 11^th and final year with Mercedes. This isn’t Hamilton’s first ground-breaking move as his transfer to Mercedes meant he forfeited the then dominant McLaren car for a less powerful car.

However, this gamble paid dividends as Mercedes and Hamilton became the most successful driver-team pairing – culminating 6 titles for Hamilton and 8 Constructors’ Championships for the team. Hamilton is hoping to replicate this success with Ferrari – with the overall goal of claiming an 8^th Driver’s Championship to hold the record of highest number of titles, after coming close in 2021 after an intense battle with Max Verstappen.

Hamilton’s move to Ferrari has other repercussions – there is now an open spot at Mercedes alongside George Russell and current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is without a drive for next year. Obviously, there is a chance for an open driver swap with Sainz going over to Mercedes, although his form in 2024 so far has prompted talks with higher performing teams compared to the struggling Mercedes team.

Other candidates likely for the Mercedes seat include 2-time champion Fernando Alonso, who is currently in stellar form in his second year with Aston Martin. Esteban Ocon, previous Mercedes development driver who is currently driving for Alpine, is in the mix along with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes’ lead junior driver who has impressed the motorsport world with his skills in F2. Sebastian Vettel, recently retired 4-time champion, is also in the mix after revealing talks with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff – news that have gone down well with fans of the sport.

The most bizarre candidate is reigning champion Max Verstappen, who has continued perfectly from his dominant 2023 season (winning 19 of the 22 races) by reaching the top step of the podium in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Japan. His season hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing though as he suffered a dramatic brake issue in Australia which caused him to retire from the race.

Rumours of Verstappen’s potential move to Mercedes, seeing the Dutchman leave a dominant car and team which has delivered him 3 recent titles and poised him for a 4^th in 2024, come amidst conflicts and troubles at Red Bull Racing in the early months of this year. In February, team boss Christian Horner was accused of ‘inappropriate behaviour’, and after an investigation by its parent company Red Bull GmbH, was deemed innocent.

Horner’s investigation created unrest within the team which was furthered by the possible suspension of Dr Helmut Marko – current head of Red Bull’s driver development programme and a coordinator of Red Bull’s F1 teams. An absence of Marko led to concerns with Verstappen, whose career has been forged through the work of the Red Bull coordinator. His father, Jos Verstappen, is also unhappy and has clashed with Horner.

Chief technical director Adrian Newey, the brains behind dominant F1 cars, has also been approached by Aston Martin which could see the aerodynamicist depart from the team, and a potential drop in performance at Red Bull if that were to happen.

Regardless, it hasn’t held Red Bull back as they have finished first and second three times this year. Marko has since been left to resume his duties managing drivers under the Red Bull brand. As it stands, Perez’s contract ends at the end of the year, causing a search for new number-two for Max if he stays.

Second team Alpha Tauri, now rebranded as RB for 2024, is home to Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda and reserve driver Liam Lawson – all of which are chasing that alluring seat at the top team after impressive performances last season. Ricciardo wants to return to Red Bull although his current form in 2024 has not been that of when he was at the Austrian firm before (having had a big crash with Alex Albon in Japan).

Tsunoda has scored all 7 of RB’s points so far this season and a promotion to Red Bull could see Lawson with a drive at RB to formally start his F1 career. However, Alonso and more importantly Sainz are targets for the drive at Red Bull for 2025.

Sainz has had an incredible start to 2024 despite the news of being dropped from Ferrari - achieving the second non-Red Bull victory in the last year (the prior being him in Singapore). The Spaniard has scored a podium in every race he has been in this season, having missed the Grand Prix in Jeddah due to suffering from appendicitis.

He was replaced at short notice which saw 18-year-old Ollie Bearman drive a sensational race to P7 in a Ferrari – fending off future driver Lewis Hamilton and the on-form Lando Norris. This now puts the F2 driver in contention for a full-time seat at F1 when many contracts expire at the end of the year.

Norris at McLaren, alongside Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, both signed contract extensions for their respective teams – solidifying their future in the sport. Ferrari and McLaren have been the fastest teams after Red Bull – demonstrating this in battles to decide the podium in Australia, ultimately ending in a 1-2 for Ferrari with Lando on the podium and home driver Oscar Piastri finishing in 4^th.

Although being a topic of conversation, Mercedes haven’t performed impressively on track and have dropped to 4^th in the standings as a result. They dropped big points after a double-DNF in Melbourne with Hamilton retiring with an engine issue and Russell enduring a massive crash on the last lap which left his car tilted upright in a dangerous position in the middle of the track. The driver ahead Fernando Alonso was handed a 20 second penalty for initiating the crash after braking heavily and earlier than usual for the corner.   

Mercedes wasn’t the only team who struggled down under in Melbourne as Williams also faced big issues. A shunt for Alex Albon in the first practice session caused the chassis (underbody) to break. Albon was then given teammate Logan Sargeant’s car to race with as the team had no spare chassis to use. The tough decision meant Sargeant had to sit out for the rest of the weekend as Albon’s original car was too damaged to fix overnight.

Albon was given priority as team boss James Vowels said that he had a ‘higher probability’ of scoring points due to his experience. The gamble eventually did not pay off as Albon narrowly missed scoring points. A collision with Ricciardo two weeks later at Suzuka has not improved matters as it means a second chassis broken – leaving Williams with one broken and one repaired chassis and no spares.

As for the other teams, the performance has stayed relatively similar over the winter break. The biggest change of success is that of Alpine who are now last in the standings after once finishing 4^th in 2022. After a change in leadership last year, the team has not recovered and have resulted in several DNFs so far this season – leaving driver Pierre Gasly upset especially.

Alfa Romeo have left F1 and the team behind it has been rebranded to (Stake/Kick) Sauber and have since faced issues with pit stops and glimpses of hidden performance. Haas have also had a change in leadership as popular team boss Guenther Steiner has been relieved of his duties for this year and has been replaced by Ayao Komatsu. Although expecting to be the slowest, Haas are currently a mighty 7^th in the standings after incredible teamwork for points for Nico Hulkenberg in Jeddah followed by double points scoring in Melbourne.

So far it seems like Verstappen and Red Bull are continuing their domination, with the others scratching their heads on how to catch up. The early contract drama means more chaos to come - with Sainz on flying form being a perfect advertisement for his next drive and Lewis Hamilton desperately trying to demonstrate his skills that are vital to justify his Ferrari move. With the season still in its early months, there’s lots to look out for and lots to play for.