Contentious collisions, intra-team contact and a surprise win – The most dramatic moments of the 2024 season so far

The 2024 F1 season has already proven to be one to remember, with the 14 races so far featuring thrilling duels, stunning qualifying laps and memorable victories, taken by a total of seven different race winners.

This has also brought with it a sizeable amount of drama, ranging from intra-team spats and first-lap collisions through to tense fights for the lead and a particularly surprising win.

Join us as we take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments to unfold during the first half of the campaign…

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Bearman fights through to P7 during surprise debut

At only the second race of the year in Saudi Arabia, there was an unexpected driver change at Ferrari when Carlos Sainz fell ill with appendicitis. While the Spaniard underwent surgery following his diagnosis on Friday, the team called upon F2 driver Oliver Bearman to step in ready for FP3 later that day.

Despite the short notice, Bearman went on to impress in qualifying – missing out on Q3 by just 0.036s – before putting in an eye-catching drive in Saturday’s Grand Prix. The teenager pulled off a series of overtakes from P11 on the grid to end the race in P7, handing him points upon his debut as well as putting him firmly on the radar for a seat on the 2025 grid with Haas.

Albon’s FP1 crash in Australia leads to Williams dilemma

The drama started early when F1 arrived in Melbourne, with Alex Albon suffering a heavy crash during first practice. After experiencing a snap from taking too much kerb into Turn 6, the Thai driver clipped the barriers at Turn 7 before bouncing across the track and hitting the wall at Turn 8.

While Albon was fortunately unharmed, the incident brought out the red flags. It then sparked quite the off-track dilemma for Williams as the car proved too damaged to be used for the remainder of the event, meaning that – with no third chassis available – the team opted to hand Logan Sargeant’s FW46 to Albon, forcing the American to spend the rest of the weekend on the sidelines.

READ MORE: Albon pins hopes on upgrades for second half of season with Williams ‘digging deep’ to improve

Verstappen retires from the lead in Australia

The Williams issue proved to be one of many talking points during the Australian Grand Prix, as another huge moment occurred on race day. Max Verstappen initially looked on course to continue his strong start to the season, having held the lead from pole position when the 58-lap encounter got under way.

However, things soon unravelled in shocking style when smoke started to billow from the rear of the RB20 just a few laps in, resulting in Verstappen dropping down the order as he nursed his car back to the pits. There he was forced to retire from the running, marking a rare reliability issue for Red Bull.

READ MORE: ‘We have work to do’ – Verstappen acknowledges dominant days are 'behind' Red Bull despite 'positive' Belgian GP

Double DNF for Mercedes in Melbourne as Russell ends up sideways on the track

Yet more drama was to come in Australia following Verstappen’s retirement, with Sainz running in the lead just two weeks on from his appendicitis surgery. While the Spaniard looked set to take victory as he held off Ferrari team mate Charles Leclerc at the front, battles were still happening further back.

With Lewis Hamilton having retired on Lap 17 due to an engine-related problem, George Russell was Mercedes’ sole runner as he scrapped with Fernando Alonso for P6 in the final stages. However, after chasing the Aston Martin for several laps, Russell lost control of his W15 on the penultimate tour, leading to his car lying on its side in the middle of the track following contact with the barriers.

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Alonso was later hit with a 20-second time penalty as the stewards deemed that he had driven in a “potentially dangerous” manner.

First-lap drama in Japan for Albon and Ricciardo

Williams were most likely hoping for a straightforward weekend at Suzuka off the back of their chassis troubles in Melbourne. Equally, Daniel Ricciardo arrived into the event keen to score a good result following a challenging start to his season.

Unfortunately neither Albon nor Ricciardo had their wishes granted after the pair made contact on the opening lap of the Japanese Grand Prix, meaning that both cars ended up in the tyre-lined barriers at Turn 3. It was not the only drama during Lap 1, either, with the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon picking up damage following an intra-team collision.

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Norris claims pole during wet Sprint Qualifying in China

There were mixed conditions at play when the drivers hit the Shanghai International Circuit to decide their grid slots for the debut Sprint of the campaign. With only one practice session to prepare – on what was F1’s first visit to the venue since 2019 – the stakes were high as the field contended with wet weather and a slippery track.

The rain continued to fall as SQ3 began and several drivers went wide in what was proving to be a tricky session. Lando Norris looked to have secured provisional pole with a spectacular effort of 1m 57.940s, putting him 1.2 seconds clear of Hamilton – before the time was deleted. However, shortly afterwards his lap was reinstated, giving Norris an impressive Sprint pole.

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Chaos on Lap 1 in Monaco for Perez, Magnussen and Hulkenberg

Being one of the most historic events on the calendar, the Monaco Grand Prix has played host to plenty of iconic moments over the years. It has also never been short of drama, and this again proved to be the case within the opening seconds of the 2024 event.

While Sainz and Oscar Piastri banged wheels into the first corner, a huge multi-car collision then occurred on the run up Beau Rivage when Kevin Magnussen made contact with the rear of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, prompting the Haas to ricochet across the track and collect the sister car of Nico Hulkenberg.

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All three were unharmed, but the crash brought out the red flags as a clean-up operation commenced on track. And it turned out that this had not been the only incident on Lap 1…

Further Monaco drama for Alpine as Gasly and Ocon collide

After their aforementioned contact in Japan, Alpine team mates Gasly and Ocon again came together on the first lap in Monaco – but this time with much worse consequences.

Ocon had attempted to overtake Gasly through Portier yet the move backfired, causing the former to bounce into the air before making a hefty landing. A furious Gasly could not hide his anger as he shouted over the radio, “What did he do?”

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While Gasly was able to continue on and claim his first point of the season in 10th, Ocon retired due to the damage sustained and was also hit with a 10-second time penalty from the stewards, which was converted into a five-place grid penalty for the next round in Canada. The 27-year-old later apologised for the incident on social media.

Tension for the Ferrari drivers after contact in Spain

Speaking of intra-team collisions, Ferrari were faced with some tensions in the usually harmonious relationship between Leclerc and Sainz when the pair clashed during the Spanish Grand Prix.

On Lap 3 of the event, Leclerc was ahead of his team mate and looking to save tyres when he was squeezed by Sainz on the inside of Turn 1. There was brief contact between them before Sainz had an off-track moment and also took the position.

READ MORE: ‘He complains too much’ – Sainz and Leclerc at odds over Barcelona clash

While Leclerc and Sainz eventually crossed the line in fifth and sixth respectively, both made disgruntled comments about the incident immediately after the race, with Leclerc stating that Sainz “did the corner like I was not there”, while the Spaniard suggested that “too many times he complains after a race about something”.

Verstappen and Norris collide in Austria while Russell takes surprise win

Perhaps one of the most dramatic moments of 2024 so far came courtesy of the Austrian Grand Prix. Following an unusually slow pit stop for Red Bull on Lap 52 of 71, Verstappen saw his lead over Norris cut to less than two seconds.

From there the McLaren driver made several overtake attempts, before tensions escalated on Lap 64 and contact occurred between the two into Turn 3. After both picking up a puncture and crawling back to the pits, Norris was forced to retire while Verstappen continued on in fifth place, though the Dutchman also received a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision.

READ MORE: ‘Too many dubious moves ’ – Jolyon Palmer gives his verdict on Norris and Verstappen’s Austria fight, and what it means for their friendship

The key beneficiary from all of this was Russell, who had been running in a solid third and swept through to take the lead. He went on to claim a surprise victory for Mercedes, marking the team’s debut win of the season and their first since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Hamilton takes long-awaited victory at Silverstone in mixed conditions

The British Grand Prix was an action-packed affair that will long live in the memory – it was, after all, the race that you recently voted as the best of the season so far. While Russell initially led from pole position, the arrival of rain saw Hamilton snatch P1 from his team mate before the lead changed hands again, this time becoming a McLaren one-two via Norris and Piastri.

However, as the wet-dry encounter played out and Norris suffered a slow stop when he pitted for slick tyres later in the race, it was Hamilton who surged through to take the lead, much to the thrill of the crowd.

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While a charging Verstappen took P2 from Norris, Hamilton kept his cool up ahead and held on to clinch his first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, sparking hugely emotional scenes as the Briton celebrated his return to the top step of the rostrum.

Perez crashes out of Q1 at the Hungaroring amid mounting pressure

If there was one person who needed a good weekend as F1 embarked on its last two races prior to the summer break, it was Perez, whose position at Red Bull had come under increasing scrutiny following a run of poor results and challenging races.

The Mexican had initially sounded a positive note after Friday’s practice sessions at Round 13 in Hungary, but disaster struck come Saturday when he crashed out of qualifying to end the session in P16, marking his fourth Q1 exit in six races.

READ MORE: From an emotional first win to proving the critics wrong – When under-pressure F1 drivers bounced back

While Perez recovered to P7 in Sunday’s race, team boss Christian Horner acknowledged that his struggle to maintain form across all three days of a weekend “needs to change”.

McLaren drivers face team orders dilemma in Hungary

The 2024 season has been a successful one for McLaren so far, with Norris taking his first F1 win in Miami while the squad have continued to cut into Red Bull’s lead in the constructors’ standings. However, there was drama for the Woking outfit in Hungary over a late-race team orders call.

Piastri had led for much of the event but, when Norris was pitted first during the second round of stops, the Briton was the one to emerge ahead. This resulted in McLaren asking him to return the position to Piastri, an order that Norris did not initially follow – leading to increasingly tense exchanges over team radio. However, the 24-year-old eventually slowed enough to let his team mate pass on Lap 68 of 70...

READ MORE: ‘I know what Oscar’s done for me’ – Norris gives his take on ‘tough’ moment he let Piastri past in Hungary

Russell clinches win in Belgium before being disqualified

The Belgian Grand Prix closed off the first half of the 2024 season in enthralling style, with a thrilling chase unfolding in the final laps as Hamilton closed in on team mate Russell in the battle for the lead.

Despite running on aging tyres after taking a gamble on a one-stop strategy, Russell held on to cross the line just half a second clear of Hamilton. Jubilant celebrations followed for the younger Briton in parc ferme – before a post-race Technical Delegate’s Report stated that Russell's car had been found to be underweight.

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This was then referred to the stewards and Russell was subsequently disqualified from the results, meaning that Hamilton was promoted to race winner.