1. Lando Norris-

Lando was perfect at Abu Dhabi, converting an easy pole into a clear win and leading from start to finish. When he starts in front, he can dominate a race. Whilst yet to show the sort of comeback drives that proven champions deliver, Lando is a very quick driver on his day and his performance meant that McLaren clinched the constructor’s championship.

2. Charles Leclerc-

Charles Leclerc’s first lap was outstanding, jumping from nineteenth to eighth in the space of a few corners. Afterwards, Charles continued to carve through the field and whilst he was too far back to challenge the top two, going from the back row to the podium is a tremendous drive.

3. Lewis Hamilton

After having a bollard stuck under his car during qualifying, it appeared that Lewis Hamilton was going to end his Mercedes career on a sad farewell. However, after electing to start on the hard tyres and switch to the mediums late on, Lewis was able to make up countless positions. On his very last lap for Mercedes, Lewis swept around the outside of his teammate to take fourth, rounding up the most successful partnership in Formula One history in style.

4. Pierre Gasly-

Gasly continues to have fantastic drives. In the early stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he was fighting for the podium. Whilst strategy and car performance ensured that this wouldn’t be the case for too long, Pierre still managed to be best of the rest in seventh, ensuring that the Alpine team finished sixth in the constructor’s championship.

5. Yuki Tsunoda-

Yuki’s RB was not competitive enough to fight for points at Abu Dhabi. But whenever we saw Yuki, he was fighting like hell to maintain his position. He has made his case for a seat at Red Bull extremely well both throughout this race and during the entire year. I truly the decision it appears Red Bull have made is a mistake.

Tally:

1. Max Verstappen- 12
2. Charles Leclerc- 11
3. George Russell- 9
4. Lando Norris- 9
5. Yuki Tsunoda- 9
6. Nico Hulkenberg- 7.5
7. Pierre Gasly- 7.5
8. Oscar Piastri- 7
9. Carlos Sainz- 7
10. Lewis Hamilton- 6
11. Kevin Magnussen- 5.5
12. Alexander Albon- 5
13. Fernando Alonso- 5
14. Esteban Ocon- 4.5
15. Franco Colapinto- 4
16. Sergio Perez- 3
17. Lance Stroll- 2
18. Daniel Ricciardo- 2
19. Zhou Guanyu- 2
20. Oliver Bearman- 1
21. Liam Lawson- 1

1. Max Verstappen-

Max was back to winning ways in Qatar, letting his anger at George Russell propel him into a picture-perfect performance. In a weekend where everyone expected McLaren to dominate, Max reminded everyone why he’s the four-time world champion. If he’s still in the sport next year, he will still be a threat for the championship.

2. Charles Leclerc-

In a race dominated by chaos, Charles kept his head down and was rewarded, finishing second to ensure that Ferrari closed the gap to McLaren in a race McLaren were expected to win.

3. Pierre Gasly-

Possibly an even better result than the Brazil podium was, Gasly keeping Sainz’s Ferrari behind whilst having to lift and coast due to a low fuel load was magnificent.

4. Fernando Alonso-

Early on it looked like another nightmare weekend for Fernando, with his battery’s deployment causing him to lose a bunch of positions early on. But a fortuitous safety car and good tyre strategy changed that, with Fernando taking seventh, his best result since Azerbaijan.

5. Zhou Guanyu-

It looked for a long time like Sauber were about to suffer a pointless season. But Zhou’s heroic drive to eighth ensured that Sauber will be taking home some points into the garage. Seemingly everyone felt good for Zhou, who has really ingratiated himself into the paddock through his loveable personality, even if his results haven’t always been the best.

Tally:

1. Max Verstappen- 12
2. Charles Leclerc- 10
3. George Russell- 9
4. Lando Norris- 8
5. Yuki Tsunoda- 8
6. Nico Hulkenberg- 7.5
7. Oscar Piastri- 7
8. Carlos Sainz- 7
9. Pierre Gasly- 6.5
10. Kevin Magnussen- 5.5
11. Alexander Albon- 5
12. Lewis Hamilton- 5
13. Fernando Alonso- 5
14. Esteban Ocon- 4.5
15. Franco Colapinto- 4
16. Sergio Perez- 3
17. Lance Stroll- 2
18. Daniel Ricciardo- 2
19. Zhou Guanyu- 2
20. Oliver Bearman- 1
21. Liam Lawson- 1

What we witnessed at the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix was one of the most embarrassing displays of race direction I’ve ever seen. After Alexander Albon’s wing mirror fell off, race director Rui Marques elected to leave it on the track, just before the circuit’s only overtaking spot. Predictably, the mirror was run over, leaving heaps of broken glass on the floor. Only after two drivers, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton, received punctures, was the decision made to call the safety car out. Not only would any viewer of the sport instantly call out a safety car to react to debris on the track, but any workplace with basic safety regulations would not allow glass on the floor. This is a universal principle of safety, spreading from supermarkets, to restaurants, to care homes. Such a flagrant disregard of safety should be universally condemned, yet the FIA doubled down the next day, insisting that they made the right decision by not neutralizing the race. This was despite everyone witnessing on live TV the possible consequences of them not doing so.[1] This speaks to a broader cultural problem embedded in the FIA.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the president of the FIA, has increasingly been moving the organisation in a dictatorial direction. In response to the drivers’ concerns that he was becoming too puritanical in policing swearing, he told the twenty best drivers in the world that their opinions were irrelevant. The man pulled a Rihanna, believing that the sport’s superstars should just shut up and drive. Additionally, the FIA has been subject to waves of firings in recent months, a wave which coincidently includes people who have investigated the president. In this long line of exits included previous F1 race director Niels Wittich, who hinted that the PR approved statement that he was amicably stepping down was a fiction. Rui Marques was promoted from his role as F2 race director to direct the last three races of the season. This is already a risky move, as surely the correct time to replace a race director would be during the off-season, when the new director would have time to prepare for the role. This risky move became potentially cataclysmic when Marques’ replacement as F2 race director, Janette Tan, was also fired before she was even given the chance to direct a race. This left Marques in the position to direct all the weekend’s races in Qatar, a situation which was due to end in error.

But still, the mistake which Rui Marques did make was an obvious one. If there is debris on the track, you find a way to remove it, which includes calling out a safety car or a virtual safety car if necessary. Whilst calling out a safety car can affect the results of the race, as drivers who have yet to pit gain an advantage on those who have already stopped, it should be a race director’s job to think about running the race in a safe manner first, not about which teams may be affected by the decisions made. This was supposed to be the lesson that the sport had learnt after 2021. Unfortunately, this lesson has not been processed and race directors need to start doing better. Though Rui Marques’ position as the individual to learn the lesson is unfortunately untenable.

[1] It remains unclear if the punctures received by Sainz and Hamilton were a result of the debris from the broken mirror, but even if it is not the cause, it still remains a safety risk to keep debris on the side of the track.etter. Though Rui Marques’ position as the individual to learn the lesson is unfortunately untenable.

1. George Russell-

Russell completely dominated the weekend in Las Vegas, taking a mighty pole position on Friday, holding off an early charge from Charles Leclerc to keep the lead through the first few laps, then proceeded to drive away from the field. He managed his way to a perfect win, quite possibly the best of his career so far.

2. Lewis Hamilton-

Whilst he had a messy qualifying session to start the race in tenth, Lewis more than made up for it on race day. He cut through the field with relative ease, showing mighty pace throughout the race to cap off a Mercedes 1-2.

3. Max Verstappen-

Max Verstappen did all he had to do at Las Vegas, finishing ahead of Lando Norris to take the driver’s title. Verstappen has been fantastic all year, maximizing his points even when lacking the car to win. His consistency ensured that no one could mount an effective title challenge, hence him winning the championship with two races to go.

4. Nico Hulkenberg-

Nico Hulkenberg had a great race to finish in eighth place, giving Haas enough points to move back into sixth place. He’s having a great season and I suspect him and Haas will be missing each other when the year is over.

5. Yuki Tsunoda-

Yuki made a great case to partner Max Verstappen next year. Not only did he demolish his teammate, but he held off Sergio Perez towards the end of the race to finish in ninth place. Surely, time must be up for Sergio now. Yuki may not be the next Max Verstappen, but I think may make a great number two.

Tally:

1. Max Verstappen- 11
2. Charles Leclerc- 9
3. George Russell- 9
4. Lando Norris- 8
5. Yuki Tsunoda- 8
6. Nico Hulkenberg- 7.5
7. Oscar Piastri- 7
8. Carlos Sainz- 7
9. Kevin Magnussen- 5.5
10. Pierre Gasly- 5.5
11. Alexander Albon- 5
12. Lewis Hamilton- 5
13. Esteban Ocon- 4.5
14. Fernando Alonso- 4
15. Franco Colapinto- 4
16. Sergio Perez- 3
17. Lance Stroll- 2
18. Daniel Ricciardo- 2
19. Oliver Bearman- 1
20. Zhou Guanyu- 1
21. Liam Lawson- 1

1. Carlos Sainz-

Carlos had a fantastic race at Mexico, dominating proceedings after taking pole by a healthy margin on Saturday. Whilst he lost the lead to Verstappen at the start, Carlos quickly took over at the front and never looked back.

2. Lando Norris-

Lando had one of his best performances of the season in Mexico, showing fantastic pace to recover from second place. If he hadn’t been pushed off by Max early on in the race, he likely would have been able to use his pace to take his fourth race win.

3. George Russell-

Russell’s ability to keep Hamilton behind for many laps despite having a broken front wing was highly impressive. Whilst he didn’t hang on for the fourth place he deserved, he departed the weekend appearing to be the stronger Mercedes driver, as he has so many times this year.

4. Kevin Magnussen-

Kevin had his best performance of the year in Mexico, easily outperforming his teammate to finish in a season’s best seventh place. If Mexico City was the last location for Kevin to take points in F1, he went out on a brilliant race.

5. Pierre Gasly-

Gasly has a good season. He continued to have one in Mexico, taking the last point in a weekend where Alpine’s pace didn’t guarantee that.

Tally:

1. Max Verstappen- 9
2. Charles Leclerc- 9
3. Lando Norris- 8
4. Oscar Piastri- 7
5. George Russell- 7
6. Carlos Sainz- 7
7. Nico Hulkenberg- 6.5
8. Yuki Tsunoda- 6
9. Kevin Magnussen- 5.5
10. Alexander Albon- 5
11. Pierre Gasly- 4.5
12. Lewis Hamilton- 4
13. Fernando Alonso- 4
14. Franco Colapinto- 4
15. Esteban Ocon- 3.5
16. Sergio Perez- 3
17. Lance Stroll- 2
18. Daniel Ricciardo- 2
19. Oliver Bearman- 1
20. Zhou Guanyu- 1
21. Liam Lawson- 1