F1 2024 - What to Expect

The lights stay red for one more second before quickly turning into the five green lights that we have been waiting for. The cars speed off into the distance. Welcome to Formula One, one of the greatest motorsports in history with many famous drivers such as Lewis Hamilton, Micheal Schumacher and Aryton Senna. In each season, twenty highly skilled drivers race over an average of 24 tracks to battle for the World Champion slot…but only one can win.

Last season, we saw Max Verstappen take his second World Championship as Mercedes, who were roaring in 2021, have now been beaten by Red Bull for the past two years. With new engine rules, Mercedes have not been able to adapt to this as easily as other teams, leading them to trundle behind a lot. This has allowed Red Bull to lead for nearly every race (they were only beaten once last year) leaving everyone else in the dust.

With Hamilton leaving for Ferrari next season, Mercedes will surely bring in everything they have to ensure Hamilton’s last season goes well. With new rules such as an updated engine policy and lower budgets, teams have to cut back to maximise quality and speed… something Mercedes simply couldn’t do last season.

Carlos Sainz will be leaving Ferrari after this year and Mercedes will be looking for a replacement for Hamilton. Some suggest they’re looking at Alonso, whose contract expires next year, and many other drivers.

This season, we should expect Red Bull to come back with an even stronger car (probably made to be faster on street circuits like Singapore and Vegas) with Mercedes fighting for another championship and Ferrari trying to avoid the pit stop blunders that held Leclerc back last year.

The back of the field should stay roughly the same this year, which is also the first season where the drivers have been the same in back to back years. At testing in Bahrain, we should get a better sense of how all the cars are doing, with every car now having been released. This season, we should expect to see Norris rise up the ranks again and Piastri to follow after a first strong season at McLaren. 

So, we should expect Verstappen to take the chequered flag once again at the end of this season with Hamilton and Leclerc following close behind. Mercedes, though, should look strong in pit stops, strategies and speed into chicanes and apexes whereas Ferrari have the DRS and ERS speed down the main straights.