F1 Update

By Riley Crowe

24 races. 24 chances to win a Grand Prix. 24 chances to start towards the Constructors Cup and World Champion. 24 chances for absolute triumph or great devastation. 

March 2nd in Bahrain and March 9th in Saudi Arabia kick off the 2024 F1 racing season, both on a Saturday for the first time due to Ramadan. The sprint matches to determine the lineup for cars on the grid occur during the two days leading up to the actual race. Each constructor and driver will fight to win through mechanics and strategies.

The first-ever official F1 race was held on May 22, 1950, at Silverstone British Grand Prix, but the unofficial Grand Prix has gone even further back to 1906 in the French Grand Prix. Grand Prix, coming from Grand Prix de Paris (Great Prize of Paris) comes from horseracing and refers to each race F1 drivers compete in. Since then, tracks have been built all over the world, ranging from the Brazilian Grand Prix in Sao Paulo to the Marina Street Circuit Grand Prix in Singapore. Each race lasts roughly an hour, with total laps ranging from 44 to 72 depending on the track set-up and distance. Drivers will compete in stadium tracks, blocked off street courses, day, night, rain, and sunshine.

The World Constructors Championship is presented by FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) at the end of the season to the most successful F1 constructor (team). The Constructors points are calculated by tallying up those scored by any driver under said constructor. Big-name constructors frequently mentioned are Ferrari, Redbull, McLaren, and Mercedes. Each driver will also compete for the World Champion Title, earning the most points by either winning or getting on the podium in each race. 1st place earns 25 points, 2nd with 18 points, 3rd with 15, and the points decrease by two until 11th place and below where drivers earn no points. 10 teams with two drivers on each team fight to win the Grand Prix and the Constructors Cup at the end of the season.

The 2024 season has not started quietly—much entertainment and controversy has ensued in the months leading up to the start of the season. To start, two teams have completely changed. Sauber, a Swiss motorsport company, ended their partnership with Alfa Romeo by letting them exit and became Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, combining with a constructor named Kick Sauber. Alpha Tauri rebranded to Visa Cash App RB, constructor name RB, RB standing for Red Bull. Sports Illustrated commented it was a “broader strategy to revamp the team's identity and performance, following a challenging 2023 season. It reflects a closer alignment with Red Bull Racing and the introduction of new sponsors.” 

This does not mean both Rebull teams are merging, however. They are funded by the same Australian motorsports company, Red Bull GmbH, and their owners have connections working for GmbH, but they are two different teams each with their drivers and strategies. Secondly, driver and team principal changes were the most talked about subject in the F1 world over the past 3 weeks. Haas is an American-based F1 team that has been on the grid since 2016. In 2014, they were given a grant by the FIA to join the grid in 2016, when former Team Principal Gunther Stein joined. He remained with the team until suddenly, on January 21st, he announced his contract was no longer renewed. 

Haas owner, Gene Haas, commented that the decision “came down to team performance.” The new Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu commented that he is, “not trying to be Günther Steiner.” To keep up with the changes in the teams, February 1st brought a whole new shock to fans, further than the team rebrandings. On the first of the month, Mercedes' token driver, Lewis Hamilton, announced he would no longer be with the team after the 2024 season. Fans were completely shocked, taking to social media to announce their concerns and theories. In the next few hours, it was announced he would be joining Ferrari for the 2025 season. It was quick to piece together that considering Hamilton was joining in 2025 and Charles Leclerc had just signed a contract with Ferrari for another year, starter Carlos Saniz would no longer be with Ferrari in 2025.

The 2024 drivers lineup includes:

Ferrari driving with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

Mclaren driving with Lando Norris and Oscar Pistari

Red Bull driving with Sergio (Checo) Perez and Max Verstappen 

Mercedes with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton

Alpine with Estaban Ocon and Pierre Gasly

Haas with Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg 

Aston Martin with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso 

RB with Daniel Ricardo and Yuki Tsunoda

Kick Sauber with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu 

Each team can have “reserve drivers,” or backups when a primary driver is hurt or sick. The most notable reserve driver is Mick Schumacher. Does Schumacher sound familiar? Mick is the son of the outstanding Micheal Schumacher, known for his incredible racing talent and seven World Champion Titles. He has 91 wins and 155 stacked on his name. Micheal is known as the most successful F1 driver of all time and one of the first to be recognized as the greatest F1 driver of all time, along with Ayrton Senna, and Niki Lauda. The only person to beat his 91-win record is Lewis Hamilton, with 103 wins winning his 93 Grand Prix in 2020. Fans are hopeful to see Mick as a starter in the upcoming seasons, his last starter position being in 22 for Haas.

The 2024 F1 season is already starting off with lots of emotion, and fans will stick with their favorite teams and drivers till the end, excitedly waiting to see the results from each constructors hard work. Wins, loses, red flags, crashes, FIA, and weather all will undoubtedly affect the season. 

“In racing, there are always things you can learn, every single day. There is always space for improvement, and I think that applies to everything in life.”- Lewis Hamilton