Max Verstappen may have won a fourth consecutive drivers’ title but it has been far from a predictable Formula 1 season.
McLaren secured the constructors’ championship and they, Ferrari and Mercedes won 15 of the 24 races between them – a contrast to 2023 when Red Bull won 23 grands prix.
The BBC Radio 5 Live F1 team have picked out their highlights – and lowlights – from 2024, as well as looking ahead to what 2025 might bring…
Favourite race?
F1 commentator Harry Benjamin: The moment for me has to be Silverstone: five cars in the hunt, mixed conditions and Lewis Hamilton taking victory in his final race as a Mercedes driver at the British Grand Prix. I’ve never been emotional before during a commentary but this was something that was just truly special to witness.
BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson: The British Grand Prix had everything. A fight for the lead between three teams, multiple overtaking manoeuvres, strategy mishaps, mistakes, changeable weather, a massive crowd and great atmosphere and a win for Lewis Hamilton, which not only set a new record for wins at a single circuit, but also marked the end of a two-and-half-year drought for the seven-time world champion. Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff described it as a “fairytale” and he wasn’t wrong.
Presenter and reporter Rosanna Tennant: It’s hard to look past the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where Max Verstappen started from 17th on the grid and drove through the torrential rain and impossible conditions to the top step of the podium. It was a critical moment for his championship and I think the moment where he felt Lando Norris was no longer a threat.
Presenter and reporter Jennie Gow: Max Verstappen in Brazil was such an utterly stunning and devastating showing of what he can do. That day proved how hard it is to be at the top of your game when it’s wet and conditions are awful.
Formula E driver Sam Bird: Silverstone. Just an exciting race. First 30 laps went by in a flash.
Former F1 mechanic Marc Priestley: The British Grand Prix. On a personal level. I was doing commentary on the Saturday for qualifying and there was a real feel-good vibe around the place. The England football team had an amazing result in the Euros on the Saturday and it felt like it was now over to the British drivers to do their thing. We had a British top three on the grid and the race on Sunday was kind of more of the same, really great vibes.
Best moment?
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer: My favourite moment is more of a moments: it’s the on-track battles between two title rivals, Lando Norris and Max Vestappen. Whether it’s proxy wars in Imola and Barcelona or real all-out battles in Austria, Austin and in Mexico, it’s great to see title rivalries play out on track.
AB: Oscar Piastri’s overtaking move to take the lead from Charles Leclerc in Baku. It was a victory-defining moment, and it was intuitive, improvisational, bold, brave and brilliant.
RT: Carlos Sainz winning the Australian Grand Prix. He missed the previous race, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, because of an appendicitis. Sure, Max Verstappen didn’t finish the race in Melbourne but what an absolutely incredible feat for an F1 driver to find themselves on the operating table one week and then top of the podium the next. F1 drivers are on another level when it comes to high performance.
HB: The two Alpines getting on to the podium in Sao Paulo was quite a moment, helped massively by the crazy race – red flag, wet conditions. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly kept their noses clean and the team who were plum last at the start of the year rocketed up the standings in what was a brilliantly executed race.
SB: Lando Norris’ first win Miami, ending the Verstappen onslaught.
MP: Miami. As an ex-McLaren mechanic and employee, it was a big moment for the team. They had been getting closer and closer to it. A lot of building and work going on in the background for many years. It felt like the point where all that hard work had finally yielded a proper good result. The feel-good factor it generated in McLaren was massive and of course from there they went on to do great things too.
Biggest disappointment?
AB: A toss-up between Sauber’s lack of progress – Audi has so much work to do to be respectable when they enter in F1 in 2026, and seems to have recognised it too late – and Lewis Hamilton’s final season for Mercedes. What has happened to his qualifying pace? No one seems to have an answer.
HB: This has to go to Sergio Perez for me. Unfortunately his poor performances are the reason Red Bull slipped to third in the constructors’. It’s such a shame to see such a capable driver be absolutely annihilated and be unable to bounce back, or keep their head above the water. The curse of the Red Bull number two seat continues. It’s still not 100% confirmed if he’ll stay on for 2025 but it’s tough to build a driver back up when you can clearly see his head has gone.
MP: Has got to be Sergio Perez. We’ve known he’s not been a match for Max Verstappen for some time but the level to which he has disappointed this season has been quite dramatic.
Biggest controversy?
AB: Two obvious contenders here. The allegations of sexual assault against Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and the ongoing chaos at the FIA. Horner has always denied the allegations and has been cleared by two internal investigations, but there could well be be further developments, even though the story has gone quiet. And the FIA controversy just keeps on giving, with multiple sackings, questionable governance and widespread discomfort in F1 at the conduct of president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
HB: It’s hard to look past the driver guidelines fiasco that began to rear its head around Austin. No one wants to see unfair racing but at the same time we want drivers battling on track and for results not to be decided once the chequered flag has flown. Clear-cut rules need to be communicated and for now it looks like things are being addressed for 2025.
JG: I will go with Hungary when team orders were all over the place for McLaren. They didn’t get it right in hindsight but when they look back at this season, I think they will grow from that incident. For them, it was not the right way to handle things and it caused a lot of discomfort within the team.
RT: Even before a wheel had turned, Red Bull Racing were making headlines with team principal Christian Horner. This was to do with allegations made against Horner by a female employee, allegations he’s always denied and two internal investigations have dismissed. However, it’s been an ongoing subplot during the season which I’m sure has been a distraction for Max Verstappen. At the first round of the championship in Bahrain people in the paddock were starting to question whether Horner should remain in position and whether it was best for the team if he stepped down; he didn’t. Verstappen obviously managed to keep his focus and took his fourth title, but I’m sure he’d have preferred a season with less noise going on behind the scenes.
SB: Overtaking rules. We started to see some misdemeanours with Max Verstappen forcing Lando Norris off the track in Austin first and then in Mexico City. None of the drivers were particularly happy with the rules and regulations. Max, by the letter of the law, was actually doing nothing wrong but the drivers soon tried to change that and in effect that rule has now been changed by the FIA.
Biggest surprise?
RT: Lewis Hamilton announcing he’d be leaving Mercedes at the end of the 2024 F1 season to join Ferrari in 2025. Hamilton is in the twilight stage of his career so surely it would be too late if he waited any longer to make a move. Who knows what will happen next year but after such a disappointing end to Hamilton’s time at Mercedes, surely a fresh start is what he needs right now.
HB: We were all slowly waking up from the slumber of our winter break and then boom, Lewis Hamilton is announced as joining Ferrari in 2025, still having to race one more season with the Silver Arrows before transitioning into the scarlet red car. It will be one of the most intriguing Formula 1 years yet. Honourable mention too for Williams for picking Franco Colapinto as a replacement for Logan Sargeant mid-season. I don’t think anyone saw that coming.
MP: Just how good McLaren were able to be from the Miami result to really become the strongest team in F1, by some margin in many races in the second half of the season.
In F1 in 2025, I’d like to see…
HB: An absolute dogfight for the world title. Most teams now are at the upper limits of upgrading the current generation of cars. We’ll have natural convergence when it comes to the pecking order because there isn’t a big regulation change for next year, that’s coming for 2026. So I want to see eight drivers in the mix – the two at McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes fighting for the title, along with the usual midfield chaos.
JP: A drivers battle that goes all the way down to the wire, hopefully with more than two drivers still in contention.
AB: A four-way title fight between McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes.
RT: I’d like to see more people challenging for the championship title. It’s been fantastic that we’ve had seven different winners across this season but wouldn’t it be great if there could be a continuous and sustained battle between more than just two drivers for the ultimate reward in F1. I’d also like to see fewer team orders. Obviously teams do it to protect themselves in the constructors’ championship but sometimes it leaves fans of the sport and even the other drivers wanting more unadulterated racing.
SB: McLaren again fight for the constructors’ championship, Lando Norris fight for the world drivers’ championship and a fast and happy Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari red.
MP: More of the same, please. I would like to see the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull all hit the ground running and start the season from the place where they have left off in 2024, which is very, very close. If that happens we could be set up for a 2025 championship which could go down in the history books as one of the greats.
