Feature
POWER RANKINGS: Where do the drivers rank in the final leaderboard after a rollercoaster 2024 season?
Formula 1 fans were treated to a spectacular 2024 season, with battles for both championships, first-time winners, dramatic incidents, controversial moments and much more playing their part. But which drivers impressed our Power Rankings judges from Bahrain to Abu Dhabi? Scroll down to check out the overall leaderboard...
How it works
-
Our five-judge panel assess each driver after every Grand Prix and score them out of 10 according to their performance across the weekend – taking machinery out of the equation
-
Our experts’ scores are then averaged out to produce a race score – with those scores then tallied up across the season on our overall Power Rankings Leaderboard (at the bottom of the page)
POWER RANKINGS: Who ended the season on a high note during the finale in Abu Dhabi?
With eight pole positions, the first four Grand Prix wins of his career, 13 podium finishes and a maiden title challenge, it’s Lando Norris who earned the best average score over the course of the 2024 season. This included a perfect 10 at the Abu Dhabi finale which, added to Max Verstappen’s low number in that race, tipped the balance in the McLaren driver’s favour.
Verstappen delivered another stellar season to make it four world titles on the bounce, driving his way through Red Bull’s car problems and fending off a challenge from Norris. He would also have topped the Power Rankings list, had it not been for clashes with rivals and particularly low scores in Abu Dhabi, Mexico, Hungary and Austria.
While he could not quite join the title fight with Norris and Verstappen, it was still another strong year from Charles Leclerc, who achieved one of his childhood dreams with victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. Around that, he bagged two more wins (including on Ferrari’s home soil at Monza) and another three pole positions.
READ MORE: Leclerc tops post-season test in Abu Dhabi as Sainz, Ocon and more debut for new teams
Like Norris, there was a breakthrough maiden win for Oscar Piastri in 2024, with the Australian taking the chequered flag first in Hungary via some team orders controversy. He backed that up with a brilliant attacking and defensive display for another triumph in Azerbaijan and played a crucial role in McLaren’s first constructors’ title since 1998.
WATCH: F1 Animated is back for an amusing alternate take on the 2024 season
Carlos Sainz experienced all sorts of emotions this year, beginning with the pre-season news that he would be replaced by Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari from 2025. He brushed that disappointment aside, and a run-in with appendicitis, to deliver arguably his strongest F1 campaign to date – a gutsy win in Australia and a charging drive to victory in Mexico the standout moments.
George Russell finished eighth to team mate Lewis Hamilton’s third in last year’s standings, but he came back fighting to lead the Mercedes charge this time out. He added four poles and two more victories to his tally – Las Vegas a particularly impressive display – and was unlucky not to win a third after being disqualified over a technical breach in Belgium.
Hulkenberg was one of the stars of the midfield through 2024, regularly reaching Q3 and scoring points for Haas and new team boss Ayao Komatsu. It was almost enough to push the squad to P6 in the constructors’ standings, while Kick Sauber/Audi clearly liked what they saw by signing the German up for 2025 and beyond.
Hamilton entered the season with his victory drought growing bigger, having last triumphed at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. But the year yielded one of his greatest, most meaningful wins yet, with it arriving in front of the passionate home crowd at Silverstone. While qualifying proved to be a struggle, he won again at Spa and collected five podiums in total.
Alpine endured a difficult start to the year with an under-performing car and further managerial changes. But when improvements finally hit the track, Pierre Gasly was there to make the most of them. Steady points scoring from mid-season, a brilliant podium in Sao Paulo and healthy points tallies in Qatar and Abu Dhabi were crucial as the team salvaged P6 in the standings.
Yuki Tsunoda was another driver to produce one of their most competitive seasons to date, with RB team boss Laurent Mekies heaping praise on the Japanese youngster for the progress made throughout his fourth term. A run of five points finishes in six races was particularly impressive early on, as well as a special run to third on the grid during a wet qualifying session in Brazil.
Missing out
Right on the tail of Tsunoda are Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Williams racer Alex Albon, while Franco Colapinto and Liam Lawson also earned respectable scores for the performances they delivered when stepping into the cockpit mid-season.
Final leaderboard
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
News Doriane Pin to continue with Mercedes for 2025 F1 ACADEMY campaign
News Ferrari give Sainz and his rally champion father special send-off with F1 track day at Fiorano
News Mekies hails ‘outstanding’ season for Tsunoda with RB racer making steps ‘no one could have forecast’
Feature Christmas gifts from Schumacher, Google Translate struggles and Raikkonen’s influence – Getting to know the real Jack Doohan