The 2024 F1 season's growing spectacle
- danielesala04
- Aug 5, 2024
- 3 min read
It looked like this year's Formula 1 championship could just be a repeat of last year's season. However, Red Bull's early domination has started to crumble in the recent rounds and in some cases it was completely reversed. Confirming this lapse in performance are the Grand Prix of Austria, England, Hungary and Spa, where the races were won respectively by Russell, Hamilton and Piastri. There was a greater struggle for the top positions, with races fought to the end, full of overtaking, battles at the limit and winners were difficult to predict. These increasingly heated rivalries stem from Red Bull's growing difficulties among other reasons. The Milton Keynes outfit has not triumphed since the Spanish Grand Prix. Four races have been run since then, the longest streak without a Red Bull victory since 2020.
The conclusion of the Belgian Grand Prix not only coincides with the start of the summer holidays, but also with questions to be asked. Why did Red Bull lose all the advantage it had over its rivals? There could be several: Newey's farewell, internal tensions, but not only that. Perez's continuous mistakes and opaque performances have heavily affected both the budget cap and the ranking, compromising part of the Milton Keynes team's developments. Now Red Bull will have to put this negative situation behind them and look to the future, because McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari are very fast.
McLaren is in a better position, but the British team cannot be 100% satisfied. In the last races, although the gap in the standings to Red Bull has decreased, they have not always managed to maximise points. At the end of the season small mistakes can be decisive, both for the drivers' and constructors' championships. The car is the fastest, it adapts well to every track, but it has a weakness: it struggles to overtake, especially with the DRS open. This is a major problem when the two cars are behind other single-seaters. The Woking team can be satisfied with the great progress made, but they are aware that they have to be perfect for the rest of the season. At stake is both the drivers' and the constructors' championships, a goal that is no longer impossible.
Since the Canadian Grand Prix, Mercedes has been a positive discovery. At the beginning of the year the team's strength was mostly down to its drivers, but without a competitive car it is difficult for them to fight for victories or podiums. Since a few races, however, the trend has been reversed: the car is fast, as shown by Russell's pole positions, his win in Austria and Hamilton's second position. The German team's updates have worked to perfection and the aim is to make up more and more points to its rivals.
Unlike the last two teams, Ferrari made a convincing start to the world championship, but failed to develop the car in the best possible way. A worrying figure is the 91 points recorded in the last six races, with an average of just over 15 points per race. This negative moment is due to the introduction of the updates brought since the Spanish Grand Prix, which have not worked. The latest changes have shown an increase in bouncing, which has led to a loss of around two tenths per lap. Adding to these problems there are imperfect strategies, which did not help maximise the result, these situations led the Italian team to lose its initial momentum. But Formula 1 is a team sport, and if there is a team with the highest collective spirit, it is Ferrari.
The 2024 F1 championship, despite its initial premise, has offered us a world championship to discover. Max has a big lead, but there are still 10 races to go. The imperative for the pursuers to keep fighting until the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi.
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