Formula One 2024: What to expect

The 2023 Formula One World Championship came to an end last month with a 19th and final win from Max Verstappen at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on November 26th. The Belgian driver finished just ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, meaning he has now moved on to 54 wins, whilst also collecting a bonus point for the fastest lap. Impressively he is now third in the overall rankings, Lewis Hamilton has held onto the top spot with 103 wins overall and Michael Schumacher is in second place with 91. 

There was only one non-Red Bull win this season, which was one race shorter than usual due to the calling off of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix back in May. They also took the top spot in the Constructor’s Championship and in a last minute squeeze, Mercedes managed to place second, while Ferrari came in third. Despite Red Bull’s domination of the season and the formula 1 news in general, there was no shortage of exhilarating and tense moments for fans to bask in. However, it won’t be long until the wheel comes around and it all begins again in the new year. This article will take a look ahead to the 2024 Formula One World Championship and discuss what we may expect from the upcoming season. 

 

2024 season

Next year’s season, officially the “2024 FIA Formula One World Championship” will be the 75th running of the annual event and is scheduled to be held over twenty-four grand prix held around the world between March and December. As mentioned, this year’s season fell slightly short of that, we lost one of the Italian races early in the year over poor heavy flooding and poor weather conditions that were deemed to be a threat to life. 

Things will be largely similar next year, it will be mandatory for all teams that are competing to enter two cars and at least two drivers. Once again, these cars will all use tyres supplied by Pirelli, although there has been a regulation change. An alternative tyre allocation method was trialled at the 2023 Hungarian and Italian Grand Prix. Under this, drivers were given only 11 sets of tyres in an attempt to cut costs, however, this is set to be discontinued and every driver will now have the full 13 sets of tyres available during every race weekend in 2024.

As usual, ten teams will contest however, the names and partnerships within these are set to change slightly. Sauber who has raced under the Alfa Romeo identity for the past five seasons is preparing to become Audi’s works team in 2026, so will no longer be partnered with the Italian brand. However, Audi, who plans F1 involvement in the form of a power unit supplier, is not due to work with Sauber – who will construct the race car, for another three years. This begs the question, who will the Swiss company work with in 2024?

Meanwhile, AlphaTauri will return under a complete rebrand, with a new name, logo and sponsor after its deal with its clothing company sponsor comes to an end. Cognizant will no longer be the title sponsor for Aston Martin, so it will also enter 2024 under a modified name.

 

Race Calendar

While partnerships, sponsors, logos and names might still be up for debate, the calendar has been set in stone and one country in particular has made a return to the list. 

China will return to hosting a grand prix race in 2024 and 2025 under a new deal. It was previously held there on the Shanghai International Circuit from 2004 up until 2019 when it was cancelled due to the covid-19 pandemic. This is an exciting development as according to experts ​, the 5.45km track features one of the trickiest corner combinations on the F1 calendar. Only two drivers in the current championship have won on the track before, Fernando Alonso who won in 2005 and 2013 and Lewis Hamilton who found victory six times on the track, the last of which was in 2019.

The first three races on the calendar are in the same order as usual, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia. The final grand prix in 2024 will still take place in Abu Dhabi as normal, but in the middle things have been switched around.  In addition to this, the Russian Grand Prix was supposed to make a return on the 2024 calendar but the contract was terminated in 2022 in condemnation of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The full calendar is as follows:

  1. Bahrain Grand Prix
  2. Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
  3. Australian Grand Prix
  4. Japanese Grand Prix
  5. Chinese Grand Prix
  6. Miami Grand Prix
  7. Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
  8. Monaco Grand Prix
  9. Canadian Grand Prix
  10. Spanish Grand Prix
  11. Austrian Grand Prix
  12. British Grand Prix
  13. Hungarian Grand Prix
  14. Belgian Grand Prix
  15. Dutch Grand Prix
  16. Italian Grand Prix
  17. Azerbaijan Grand Prix
  18. Singapore Grand Prix
  19. United States Grand Prix
  20. Mexico Grand Prix
  21. Sao Paolo Grand Prix
  22. Las Vegas Grand Prix
  23. Qatar Grand Prix
  24. Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

With two extra races, team changes and new tracks, the 2024 Formula One season is likely to once again dominate motorsport news and keep everyone excited. 

Share this:

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*