Looking for a new sport to entertain you for the latter part of 2024? Look no further - Beth Nicholls will get you all caught up on Formula One, and how the Drivers and Constructors stand going into the summer break.
The Belgian Grand Prix closed out the first half of the 2024 World Championship on 28 July. George Russell had just won his second race of the year, but a post-race disqualification for his car being 1.5 kg under the required weight of 798 kg, saw Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton inherit his victory whilst Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc also made a podium finish.
World Drivers' Championship
As Formula One now enters the summer break for four weeks, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has consolidated his drivers’ championship lead on 277 points despite finishing in fourth place at Spa. This comes after he took out the fastest time in qualifying but incurred a ten-place grid penalty due to exceeding the maximum number of internal combustible engines allowed in one season. Verstappen has had a solid season so far, winning seven of fourteen races, and taking out pole position at eight (excluding the one lost to his penalty) qualifying races, which includes the first six consecutive races of the Championship.
Trailing Verstappen by 78 points is Lando Norris from McLaren, who claimed his first (and so far only) win in Formula 1 at the Miami Grand Prix. Given Verstappen’s penalty, Norris started above him at the Belgian Grand Prix after qualifying P4, however lost his track position mainly due to being stuck behind other cars between his pit stops. This caused Norris to cross the line in sixth place and classify fifth after Russell’s disqualification, reeling in only 10 points over the weekend.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc currently sits in third place, with a total of 177 points, 22 points adrift of Norris. Leclerc has also won one GP this year, whilst finishing on the podium a total of six times. Australia’s own Oscar Piastri is hot on Leclerc’s tail, just ten points clear. Piastri took his maiden win in the 13th round of the season in Hungary, after finishing on the podium four times, three of which have been in the past four races. Piastri’s podium finish at Spa also meant that he took fourth place from Carlos Sainz in the championship standings, who now sits five points behind Piastri.
Being one of the in-form drivers at the moment, Lewis Hamilton scored 80 points across July, including two wins: one at the Silverstone Grand Prix and the other inherited from George Russell in Belgium. This leaves Hamilton in sixth place, trailing Sainz by 12 points.
Failing to make the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in Round 5, and scoring no points in three of the last seven races, Sergio Perez is 19 points behind Hamilton. Perez qualified in P2 at the Belgian Grand Prix after Verstappen’s grid drop, but fell from the front row to finish seventh place, meaning he slumped 146 points behind his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen.
Initially, George Russell’s result at the Belgian Grand Prix win and the 25 points that came along with it meant that he had jumped Perez into seventh place. However, his disqualification means that he stays in eighth place, 15 points behind Red Bull’s Perez.
World Constructors' Championship
Red Bull Racing continue to lead in the Constructors' Championship. However, with the team unable to secure a win in the last four grands prix, the gap between them and McLaren is closing. McLaren stands on 366 points, 42 points behind Red Bull, with that gap being 93 points following the Spanish Grand Prix on the 23rd June. Since the Chinese Grand Prix in Round 5, at least one McLaren driver has finished on the podium at every race, excluding sprints.
With Mercedes set to finish 1-2 for the first time in the season and earn a total of 43 points at Spa, they were looking to gain the most points compared to McLaren (28), Ferrari (23) and Red Bull (19). However, with Russell’s DSQ they only earnt 25 points. This means that Mercedes remain in fourth, behind Ferrari by 79 points.
There then becomes a sizeable distance to the next team, with Aston Martin being the best of the rest, sitting a total of 193 points behind Mercedes.
Team & Driver Movements
After much speculation that RB’s Daniel Ricciardo would make a mid-season switch to Red Bull Racing, it was announced by principal Christian Horner, that current Red Bull driver Sergio Perez would keep his seat until at least the end of 2024.[1]
With Hamilton announcing in February that he would be joining Ferrari from 2025, it meant that current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz had lost his seat and was on the market for a new team for 2025. There was the possibility that Mercedes would take it as a straight switch and that Sainz would get the Mercedes open seat in 2025, but Mercedes have looked more likely to take a gamble on their driver academy and promote 17-year old Andrea “Kimi” Antonelli. After much speculation in the media and by F1 fans, it was announced in late July, that Sainz would instead be joining back of the field team Williams, inking a multi-year deal until at least the end of 2026. [2]
Giant car manufacturer Audi is set to take over the poorly performing Sauber team from 2026 and beyond, and the news of Williams signing Sainz was reported to have put the team in “turmoil” as Sainz has previously been heavily linked to the incoming takeover team. [1] Though it’s not all bad news for Audi, with Red Bull’s Sporting Director, Jonathan Wheatley, announcing that he will be leaving the Red Bull team at the end of the 2024 season to become the Team Principal of the Audi team. [3] In addition to the news on Wheatley, former Ferrari Team Principal Mattio Binotto, has returned to the paddock, announcing a partnership with Audi as Chief Operating & Technical Officer alongside Wheatley. [4]
Beth Nicholls
ENDNOTES
[1] Fox Sports. “‘Simply bad’: Red Bull shock as Max blindside rumour emerges; giant’s F1 project in ‘turmoil’.” Fox Sports. [online] 1 Aug. 2024. Available at: https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/formula-one/simply-bad-red-bull-shock-as-max-blindside-rumour-emerges-giants-f1-project-in-turmoil/news-story/dcd67a718cdb2c352e2da34b3d3478b1
[2] Lamonato, Michael. “Fallen giant’s unthinkable coup explained — and what it means for market as new Aussie looms.” Fox Sports. [online] 31 Jul. 2024. Available at: https://www.foxsports.com.au/motorsport/formula-one/fallen-giants-unthinkable-coup-explained-and-what-it-means-for-market-as-new-aussie-looms/news-story/3d7106f8053bb8c8b3544cdd6b38472b
[3] Formula 1. “Jonathan Wheatley to leave Red Bull and become Audi’s new F1 Team Principal.” Formula 1. [online] 1 Aug. 2024. Available at: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/breaking-sporting-director-jonathan-wheatley-to-leave-red-bull-and-become.feT0DXuwT7dQFR6meVwdd
[4]
Mediainfo. “Mattia Binotto takes over a leadership position for Audi in Formula 1.” Audi MediaCenter. [online] 23 Jul. 2024. Available at: https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/press-releases/mattia-binotto-takes-over-a-leadership-position-for-audi-in-formula-1-16116
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