After 7 years of the Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton domination, Formula 1 fans finally thought they could breathe when a determined Max Verstappen started challenging the seven time world champion in the 2021 season. Unfortunately, it turned out to be just the start of the Red Bull supremacy. Or so we thought.

The start of the 2024 season

We started the 2024 Formula 1 season in Bahrain with an easy win for Max Verstappen. After winter testing, the Red Bull clearly looked like a threat, but no one thought the three time world champion would be winning with a 22 second difference to the second place. And given the fact that occupying that position was none other than the Red Bull number two, Sergio Perez, everyone thought the constructor’s championship for the season was in the bag. And things really looked steady for the first two races.

After the disruption in Australia, when a lucky 1-2 saw Ferrari dreaming about the championship, we returned to the usual schedule. Max won the next two races comfortably and Sergio Perez was there on the second or third place, bringing some more points to the team.  

Miami heating things up

Everything has changed, when in Miami, the 6^th round of the season, we saw McLaren bring some pretty great upgrades to the car. Lando Norris, the number one driver of Andrea Stella’s team, therefore, got his first win in Formula 1 but not without some controversy. The never-ending chain of weird decisions from the race stewards continued as it was a sketchy safety car situation that helped him win. The safety car got out between Norris and Verstappen, basically allowing Lando to do a whole lap at regular pace, maintaining his spot.

But this was only the beginning of a very exciting season. In the next races we saw McLaren getting closer and closer to Red Bull and Norris closing the on-track gap to Max. We even witnessed Leclerc’s first victory in his home race, Monaco, that was also a double Ferrari podium. 

Culminating point

With a struggling Perez, a Mercedes comeback and Ferrari and McLaren becoming more and more competitive, things seemed to culminate in Austria. On the 11^th round of the season, a few laps from the checkered flag, Verstappen crashed into Norris. The tension came to an all-time high as the two were really good friends off track and Lando was not expecting such behavior from Max. 

George Russell managed to win the race and bring important points home to Mercedes, as Lewis Hamilton went on to win the British Grand Prix. It was really unfortunate for Russell to DNF (stands for did not finish) in his home race as he had started from P1. But again, a really exciting rest of the season was awaiting. Soon after, we got Oscar Piastri’s first Formula 1 win, in Hungary, a second Lewis Hamilton win and a McLaren dominance on Verstappen’s playground.

Red dream

Ferrari fans lived a fantasy during the Monza race. With some luck, a really good strategy and backing from Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc won Ferrari the first place in Monza. It was the dream weekend for the tifosi that saw a home win for the first time in 5 years. And it was scored by none other than il predestinato.

By this point, the inconsistency of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull, the good team effort McLaren was displaying and the faith being in Ferrari’s favor, the constructor’s championship was getting really tight. And not only that, but Lando Norris was really closing the gap to Verstappen already, dreaming about the driver’s championship as well. 

Full throttle

After the 17^th round, the Formula 1 constructor’s championship officially had a new team at the top: the papaya McLaren. With slow but steady steps, Norris and Piastri managed to bring their team to the number one spot. And now, with four races to go, just after the the 1-2 in the United States and Sainz’s win in Mexico, even Ferrari has surpassed Red Bull in the standings. 

We have a three horse race to the end of the Formula 1 season. With Brazil, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi to come, each out of the three of them is guaranteed to go full throttle in order to secure that constructor’s title. And also, mathematically speaking, there is a chance for both Norris and Leclerc to snatch Verstappen’s number one spot. 

It is believed that this is the most competitive season in Formula 1 history as more and more records are being broken. We have seen, for the first time since the beginning of the competition, a number of six drivers win more than one race. The final countdown to the end of the season, scheduled on the 8th of December, is certainly going to keep fans on their toes.

_{Featured image: F1.}