WE’RE ONLY A FEW short sleeps away from the opening race of the 2024 Formula 1 season. This Saturday (or very early on Sunday morning for Australian fans), the Bahrain Grand Prix will kick off the biggest year of F1 racing to date. Max Verstappen is returning to defend his title, Mercedes and Ferrari’s rivalry just became a whole lot more interesting, and our very own Oscar Piastri is leading the next generation of drivers, while his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo is vying for a late-career resurgence. With a synopsis like that, it’s easy to see how the 2024 F1 season is shaping up to be one to remember.
Despite almost every race of the 2023 season instilling collective Déjà vu, as the red, blue and yellow of a Red Bull RB19 crossed the finish line first in all but one race, F1 has proven to be more than just a battle for a podium finish. Thanks in large part to Netflix’s Drive To Survive, legions of new fans have been attracted to the sport, with a newfound interest in the on and off-track drama and personal storylines driving the season. For that reason, Max Verstappen’s unprecedented dominance hasn’t made F1 boring—and he can’t possibly win more races than he did last year, right?
With the Bahrain Grand Prix merely days away, we’ve answered all of your most important questions to help get you up to speed for the opening race and beyond.
What does the F1 schedule look like?
Beginning with the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 3 and finishing with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 9, the 2024 F1 season will be the biggest ever, with a record 24 races on the schedule. Joining the calendar is the Chinese Grand Prix, which hasn’t been held since 2019 due to COVID complications, and the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was cancelled in 2023 due to extensive flooding in the region.
F1 has long been criticised for its enormous carbon footprint—the largest of any sport—and as part of efforts to become more environmentally friendly, a few races are being shifted around the calendar to bolster regionalisation and minimise unnecessary travel, with the aim of F1 having net zero carbon emissions by 2030. In line with that goal, the Japanese Grand Prix is being moved to April, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to September and the Qatar Grand Prix to December.
Another change that might throw a spanner in the works of an ardent F1 fan’s deeply ingrained race-day routine is the fact that the opening two races of the season, the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs, will be held on Saturdays, a change from the standard Sunday.
Perhaps an extra two GPs will allow for more diversity atop the podium (read: maybe a team besides Red Bull will win a race). Below is the full schedule for the 2024 F1 season.
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Who are the drivers on the F1 grid this season?
The 2024 F1 grid remains entirely unchanged from the end of last season. And with the exception of Daniel Ricciardo replacing Nyck de Vries at RB, the grid looks exactly the same as it did at the start of 2023. Yes, Lewis Hamilton’s switch to the fabled red hues of the prancing horse has been supremely well documented, but the driver’s early exit clause won’t come into effect until 2025.
Despite the negligible changes to this season’s line-up, of the 20 drivers currently on the grid, 13 have contracts that will expire at the end of the year. Meaning that there will likely be a plethora of announcements throughout the season detailing what will be a completely new-look grid in 2025.
Nothing has changed, but in case you’re in need of a reminder, below is the full F1 team list and driver line-up for 2023.
Red Bull Racing: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton, George Russell
McLaren: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll
RB (formerly AlphaTauri): Daniel Ricciardo, Yuki Tsunoda
Alpine: Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon
Sauber (formerly Alfa Romeo): Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu
Haas: Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg
Williams: Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant
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Will Max Verstappen dominate again?
It was only three years ago that the F1 driver’s championship came down to the final race of the season, when Max Verstappen bested Lewis Hamilton in a controversial yet decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to claim his maiden championship and Red Bull’s first since 2013. Since that fateful day, Verstappen and Red Bull’s hegemony over the rest of the field has only grown. In 2022, Verstappen secured the championship with five races remaining, in 2023 he did it with four, with Red Bull winning all but one race throughout the season.
We have bad news for fans seeking a back-and-forth battle for F1’s highest honour—Verstappen remains the overwhelming favourite to take out the championship this year, and preseason testing indicates that the gap between Red Bull and the rest of the field is likely widening rather than waning.
Not a team to rest on their laurels, Red Bull’s championship winning cars underwent a major redesign during the offseason. The result is a brand new, evolved concept that even has room for upgrades. Rival teams may have hoped for an Icarus-like situation wherein Red Bull flew too close to the sun in an attempt to fix something that wasn’t broken, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. The RB20 looked to be the best on the testing track by a wide margin this week. Barring an inexplicable meltdown from Verstappen and co., the team will likely end the season on top yet again.
Who will be the best of the rest?
Despite Red Bull’s recent dominance, no one could have predicted that perennial contenders Mercedes and Ferrari would have fallen so far behind so quickly, only managing a single win between them in the 2023 season. The question of what team will win the F1 constructor’s championship is no longer as debatable as who will finish second. Mercedes and Ferrari both appear to still be the best bets, but they’re facing fierce competition.
While Mercedes finished higher in last season’s final standings, Ferrari has looked the better of the pair on the testing track this year, and both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz have expressed optimism about their cars’ capabilities. Meanwhile, the looming departure of Lewis Hamilton could cast a shadow on Mercedes’ title hopes, and the team’s technical director admitted their cars “still need a little bit of work” after the first day of testing.
Elsewhere, McLaren and Aston Martin are looking to break into the best of the rest conversation. Aston Martin developed a reputation as giant-killers early in the 2023 season before petering out later in the year. Early testing indicates the team has stepped up to begin the 2024 season. McLaren’s 2023 season was almost the exact opposite of Aston Martin’s, battling early troubles before improving out of sight by the end of the year. They seem to have carried that momentum into the new season, with a strong showing at early testing.
What can we expect from the Aussies?
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Last year was a big one for the Australian drivers on the F1 grid. Oscar Piastri lived up to the hype with an admirable—if not show-stopping—rookie season which included multiple podium finishes and even a win in the Sprint race before the Qatar Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo didn’t last long in his unfamiliar role as Red Bull’s third driver, quickly landing a spot with AlphaTauri and impressing in his limited time on track.
Piastri looks set for another strong season. He’s still only 22, and with a year’s experience under his belt and a full season in a serviceable McLaren car ahead, Piastri should improve even further. Don’t be shocked if he records a maiden race win this year.
Ricciardo, on the other hand, has a point to prove. RB—formerly AlphaTauri—was the best of the minor teams in preseason testing, meaning Ricciardo will have the necessary tools to do some damage to the bigger players—which he’ll need to do if he wants to land a permanent position at a better team.
Where can you watch F1 in Australia?
Every practice, qualifying session and Grand Prix of the 2024 F1 season will be broadcast live in 4K on Fox Sports and Foxtel Now. All races can also be streamed live and on demand on Kayo.
Related:
Five ‘Drive To Survive’ season 6 storylines that will define the 2024 Formula 1 championship
