The 2024 Formula One season has now finished and with that comes lots of talk about drivers and their performances throughout the longest campaign in F1 history.
Fans and experts praised some and criticised others, but now the fast-paced worldwide circus has been completed for another year.
In addition to the 20 who started the season at the first race in Bahrain, four more competed in the fastest motorsport series on earth throughout the schedule.
This list aims to fairly and accurately rank all 24 drivers who drove in the 2024 Formula One campaign, a list based on numerous factors.
The focus will be on pace and consistency, but other metrics, such as racecraft, will also be considered, combining all the aspects of good overall performance.
Five drivers completed less than half of the calendar's races, but their performances will not be marked down because of their depleted appearance.
Instead, they will be measured on an average of their races started, so they don’t get penalised for something they can’t control.
With the ranking criteria established, let’s examine the crop of the 2024 Formula One season and rank them accordingly.
Furthermore, I have done a YouTube video in the same style as this piece if you’d like to see such content in a different form.
24th: Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant was undoubtedly the worst driver in F1 in 2024, scoring 0 points in 14 races before being replaced for his underperformance.
The American entered his sophomore campaign after a lacklustre rookie season, but any lingering hopes he would improve soon vanished.
An 11th-place finish at the British Grand Prix was the best result of his shortened stint, while his teammate Alexander Albon scored two ninths during that timeframe.
Sargeant never outqualified Albon on a Saturday nor beat him on a Sunday and racked up millions in crash damage while struggling for pace.
He was replaced after the Dutch Grand Prix weekend where he crashed again in the third practice session, costing his team $1.7 million in repairs.
He may have been considered the number two driver, but this doesn’t excuse his poor showings that came with no redeeming factors to move his rating off the floor.
Overall grade: F (0/10)
23rd: Jack Doohan
When it was announced that Jack Doohan would replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it came as a shock to most.
Ocon’s move to Haas for next season had been public knowledge for a while, but the breakdown in relations with his then-current employers soured further.
After he asked permission to represent his new team at the post-season test, a common practice for outgoing drivers, Alpine fired him on the spot.
Doohan had already been confirmed to take the Frenchman’s seat for 2025, becoming yet another new face on the F1 grid partnering many other rookies.
This led people to believe that Alpine brought the young Australian on board for the season finale to give him seat time and prepare him for his full-time debut next year.
It’s clear he was told to take it easy in his first weekend, but qualifying last and finishing 45 seconds behind your teammate is inexcusable.
He will improve as he moves into next year, but just based on the opening race of his career, it seems he is either not ready or not talented enough for F1 yet.
Overall grade: E (1/10)
22nd: Sergio Perez
While Max Verstappen was busy winning his fourth consecutive title, Sergio Perez spent half the season battling with cars greatly inferior to his own.
From the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onwards, he scored 49 points in the final two-thirds of the season, less than one-sixth of his teammate’s tally.
The incompetence of the Mexican rivals that of his compatriot Hector Rebaque, who partnered Verstappen’s father-in-law Nelson Piquet as teammates in 1981.
Rebaque scored zero podiums in the year Piquet won his first title, while Perez’s fumbling ways cost Red Bull the constructors championship.
Checo is a much better driver than Rebaque ever was, but he has faltered in the seemingly cursed second seat at Milton Keynes.
None of his predecessors like Pierre Gasly or Alex Albon struggled to this extent though, which indicates that most of the blame lies at the Mexican’s door.
His lack of results have led to him being replaced by junior driver Liam Lawson for 2025 despite Perez having initially signed a new contract midway through this year.
He showed glimpses of potential at the start of the year and at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix where he could’ve finished second, but this isn’t enough.
The Red Bull was the third-quickest car at the end of 2024, so continued lacklustre results from Perez next year could have lead to them falling even further down the order.
The loss of major staff contributed to their mid-season falloff, and they can’t risk losing even more points thanks to an underperforming driver.
Overall grade: E (2/10 for decent early season form and Baku)
21st: Zhou Guanyu
When driving a Sauber in 2024, anything other than an anonymous last or penultimate place finish is considered a good result.
Zhou Guanyu fell behind his more experienced teammate Valtteri Bottas for the majority of the season but scored the team’s only points finish at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The Chinese driver has departed Formula 1 to make way for young talent Gabriel Bortoleto for 2025, after a year of mostly lacklustre performance.
With speculation abound that he may soon become a Ferrari test and reserve driver, he could remain in the paddock even if not racing full-time
Being the first competitor from his country to participate in his home race, Zhou can look back on a decent career in the sport.
He might not have set the world on fire, but he is a pioneer for a nation of 1.4 billion people and didn’t embarrass himself as many others in his situation have done.
Overall grade: E (2/10)
20th: Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo went from beating a reigning four-time champion in his first season at a big team to being ousted from its junior outfit within a decade.
He entered the 2024 campaign needing to establish himself after arriving back in F1 in late 2023 but was far too inconsistent to do so.
The Australian driver failed to gain an upper hand on his far less accomplished teammate Yuki Tsunoda across the first half of the year.
Aside from a single sprint race in Miami, he showed no potential to deserve to take over from a struggling Sergio Perez at Red Bull.
He was shown the door after the Singapore Grand Prix where he achieved the fastest lap as a sendoff, but his Formula One career seems to be over.
His far less experienced replacement Liam Lawson has been closer to Tsunoda on average, and thus received the call-up to the senior team for 2025 as a result.
Ricciardo’s story is proof that you’re only as good as your last race, and drivers cannot rely on marketability if they haven’t driven well in over three years.
Overall grade: D (2.5/10)
19th: Lance Stroll
After his awful 2023 campaign, Lance Stroll has somewhat resurrected his reputation despite an inconsistent but overall better 2024.
The Canadian hit a stride in the middle of the season, particularly when he scored sixth place at the British Grand Prix and was better than his teammate around that time.
He had some strange moments throughout the year, such as attempting to rejoin the circuit on the formation lap in Sao Paulo by driving straight into a gravel trap.
Nonetheless, he has picked himself up from rock bottom after last season, and with the arrival of Adrian Newey in 2025 could get a boost in morale and improve further.
Overall grade: D (3/10)
18th: Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri impressed everyone in 2023 by often matching his far more experienced teammate Lando Norris as McLaren got in their stride midway through the year.
The young Australian failed to continue that upward trend into 2024 though as his performances in the best car were often underwhelming.
While Norris attempted to embark on his title campaign and failed miserably, Piastri was even worse because he wasn’t even in the picture.
A controversial yet still deserved victory in Hungary and another in Azerbaijan are all he has to show for a season that had so much more potential.
He needs to regroup for 2025 and learn how to rekindle the form he had at the end of his rookie campaign, and at least challenge Norris in 2025.
Overall grade: D (3.5/10)
17th: Kevin Magnussen
The Haas team spent the most of 2024 using their second driver Kevin Magnussen as a rolling roadblock to protect his teammate Nico Hulkenberg from losing points positions.
He served this role well, especially at the start of the year in races like Miami when he held up Lewis Hamilton in an extremely aggressive manner.
Magnussen’s accumulation of penalties throughout the campaign led to him earning a race ban ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Dane became the first driver to achieve a suspension in the penalty points system that was first adopted in 2012.
His performances picked up after he returned from his ban and he started matching or beating Hulkenberg more regularly, but it wasn’t enough to save his career.
Overall grade: D (4/10)
16th: Lando Norris
Throughout recent Formula One history, criticisms have been levelled at the competition for its’ lack of parity, with the best car often winning the championship comfortably.
In 2024 though, Lando Norris proved that generational talents like Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or Michael Schumacher don’t have it all that easy.
From his debut win at the Miami Grand Prix until the final race in Abu Dhabi it was clear his McLaren was the class of the field.
Despite that, the Brit failed to close in on championship leader Verstappen who had a machine that could be as low as fourth fastest over a given weekend.
Norris’ standout performances were far too sporadic to mount a serious title charge, only accumulating four victories throughout the campaign.
He often crumbled in crucial moments or decisive races, the most notable being the Sao Paulo Grand Prix where he fell from pole position to a sixth-place finish.
This performance came while Verstappen charged from 17th on the grid to win the event and theoretically seal his fourth crown.
McLaren still seems to be on an upward trend in terms of car development, so if Norris wants to challenge more seriously in 2025, he must improve on a personal level.
Both papaya drivers need to take a good look at themselves after a poor 2024 campaign that disappointed despite them winning the constructors championship.
They may see themselves replaced by more established alternatives if they do not significantly improve their results next year.
Overall grade: C (4.5/10)
15th: Alexander Albon
The driver who had carried Williams on his back since his arrival in 2022 had his cage rattled midway through this season’s campaign by an unlikely adversary.
Having had a comfortable measure over former teammates Nicholas Latifi and Logan Sargeant, most assumed the same would happen in 2024.
When Sargeant was dropped midway through the campaign and replaced with Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto though, the youngster inexplicably began matching his more experienced teammate.
Albon seemed to be startled by his new counterpart’s turn of speed and began improving, but with that came mistakes, as he racked up millions in crash damage.
He cost his team approximately $2.2 million over the last six weekends of the year alone and more than double that throughout the whole year.
Coupled with the fact that his performance agauinst previous teammates as well as this one are being questioned, Albon will go into 2025 on the back foot.
He must take a challenge to new arrival Carlos Sainz in the other car, if he allows himself to be shown up as he did with Colapinto, it may destroy his career potential.
Overall grade: C (4.5/10)
14th: Liam Lawson
Taking over from Daniel Ricciardo mid-season for the second time in as many years, Liam Lawson’s stint this time around appeared less impressive than his last.
Despite getting the callup to replace an outgoing Sergio Perez at Red Bull for 2025, the young Kiwi has garnered more online hate than praise.
His aggressive on-track moves and radio messages directed at his fellow competitors have rubbed off poorly on some people although he has fared better than his replacement.
The reason for Lawson getting the senior team promotion over his more experienced teammate Yuki Tsunoda seems to be a mix of factors.
A higher perceived performance ceiling and his better race pace denote the explanation for his selection over Tsunoda, who will enter his fifth year with the junior team next year.
His 2024 campaign may have slightly underwhelmed but it was a better showing than Ricciardo’s at the beginning of the year, so the only way is up for the Kiwi.
Overall grade: C (4.5/10)
13th: Franco Colapinto
Franco Colapinto took the F1 world by storm in his first few appearances at Williams, threatening his teammate Alex Albon’s outright number-one driver status.
As his nine-race stint wore on though, he and Albon began crashing incessantly, and this dampened the whirlwind of hype around the young Argentine.
Nonetheless, his performances equalling or beating his established counterpart on the other side of the garage deserve high praise and recognition given the circumstances.
Even if his potential late switch to Alpine for 2025 replacing Doohan fails to materialise, Colapinto will surely be on the grid full-time within a couple of years.
For his resilience and lightning-fast speed out of the gates, Argentina’s next F1 superstar usurps his Thai teammate in this list despite his less-numbered appearances this year.
Overall grade: C (5/10)
12th: Valtteri Bottas
Scoring zero points when your teammate accrued four usually wouldn’t mean you had the better campaign, but this is exactly the case for Valtteri Bottas.
The Finnish driver had a comfortable measure of Zhou Guanyu throughout the majority of 2024, but it was the Chinese who capitalised on Sauber’s late upgrade package.
Bottas couldn’t do well at the Qatar Grand Prix where Zhou achieved eighth, coming home 11th, narrowly missing out on points of his own.
Despite that, across the rest of the 23 rounds he often qualified and finished comfortably ahead of his teammate, proving why he deserves higher plaudits.
Overall grade: C (5/10)
11th: Fernando Alonso
Three things are inevitable in life: death, taxes and Fernando Alonso carrying a non-championship challenging outfit while his teammate mostly flounders.
This year was no different as the 43-year-old had the measure of Lance Stroll aside from a small blip midway through the campaign, although without the success of 2023.
Aston Martin struggled to develop their car compared to the rest of the field, and Alonso did a mostly good job in a machine that continued to only slip back.
He had no completely stellar moments that have littered his F1 comeback since 2021, but he is probably waiting to reap the benefits of Adrian Newey’s arrival in 2026.
Overall grade: C (5.5/10)
10th: Esteban Ocon
The first driver to break into the top ten performers of 2024 flew under the radar while being criticised and then ultimately fired by his team.
Cracks began to form after he was blamed by Alpine team principal Bruno Famin for a collision with his teammate Pierre Gasly, and from there, the relationship soured further.
He was unexpectedly let go from his team one race early due to asking to drive in the post-season test for his new employer, Haas.
Nonetheless, Ocon’s season was quietly consistent and although he didn’t achieve the results of Gasly, he was the one ahead when the pair got a shock double podium at Interlagos.
Overall grade: C (5.5/10)
9th: Lewis Hamilton
Ahead of his groundbreaking decision to move to F1’s most successful team a year in advance, Lewis Hamilton put together one of his worst seasons in recent memory.
With four Q1 eliminations and two more times where he failed to reach the final stage of qualifying, his Saturday form was amongst the poorest on the entire grid.
He failed to sufficiently make up for this in the races, as he was beaten by his teammate George Russell by 22 points in the final standings.
This gap appears acceptable, however, Russell had three races compared to Hamilton’s one where he failed to finish in the points.
Some may point to the seven-time champion’s two wins as evidence to defend his season, however, these are no saving grace.
For his historic ninth win at the British Grand Prix, he required the fastest car to qualify second, while George took pole position.
In the race, Russell developed a debilitating mechanical issue that affected his pace before his eventual retirement, while McLaren failed to execute the correct strategy.
Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris lost significant time thanks to an ill-timed tyre switch in changeable conditions, which allowed Max Verstappen to usurp them both.
Under normal circumstances, Hamilton wouldn’t have even finished on the podium in that race, and while his ninth home victory was a good story, his performance wasn’t special.
At Spa-Francorchamps, the site of his second win, he persistently made mistakes which stopped him from overtaking his teammate Russell who was leading.
It took for the #63 to be disqualified post-race for being underweight and while the rules are clear, the perceived advantage of less weight is negligible.
Both tyre wear and raw speed are affected only a small amount by the margins Russell was excluded for, and Lewis was never close to making a successful pass.
Given the difficulty cars often face while attempting to overtake in modern F1, an extra few kilograms would have made no difference to the outcome of the event.
Had Russell had the same retirement rate as his teammate the younger Brit would have finished around 70 points clear of him in the standings.
Ahead of his move to the Scuderia next season, Hamilton must improve his performance otherwise he may be found to be uncompetitive in an unfamiliar environment.
Below are two YouTube videos that explain further topics surrounding Lewis and his career, helping to provide context to this ranking.
Overall grade: C (6/10)
8th: Pierre Gasly
The improvement of the Alpine team from the start of the season to the end was remarkable, and Pierre Gasly led the way for the Enstone outfit.
After not scoring points in any of the opening seven races, he recovered to break into the top ten in the drivers' standings by the end of the year.
The highest point was the double podium for the team in Sao Paulo, but Gasly scored strong individual results towards the campaign’s conclusion.
He rounded off with a third place in qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, fifth in the race at Qatar and seventh in the Abu Dhabi finale.
This is strong momentum to carry into 2025 as the Frenchman has found his stride for the first time since his days racing for the Red Bull junior team then called AlphaTauri.
He flew under the radar just like Ocon throughout this season while his team around him kept strengthening, he can look back with pride.
Overall grade: B (6.5/10)
7th: Nico Hulkenberg
Nico Hulkenberg’s 2024 campaign was one quintessential to his style, mostly outperforming midfield machinery and putting his car in places it frankly didn’t belong.
Despite a slight dip towards the end of the season, his highs were incredible to the point where some suggested he should’ve replaced Perez at Red Bull.
While his year was by no means perfect, he is still the best driver in the midfield, and despite turning 38 next year is still hot property, hence his move to Sauber.
Hulkenberg may often be criticised for not achieving a podium in his over 200 starts, but he’s never driven a car capable of such finishes on merit.
His career has gone under the radar, as I explained in yet another YouTube video a few months ago.
Nonetheless, his 2024 season has been measurably good, carrying Haas up the pack in their worst moments and flourishing at their best.
Overall grade: B (7/10)
6th: Oliver Bearman
If you wanted to devise the trickiest situation for a driver to make their F1 debut, Oliver Bearman's circumstances that he had to deal with wouldn’t be that far off.
Difficult circuit? Check
Limited experience driving F1 cars? Check
No time to practice or acclimatise? Check
Driving for the most prestigious team in the sport’s history? Check
After only getting 40 minutes of practice to prepare for his first-ever competitive F1 session, he narrowly missed out on making the final ten in qualifying by less than 0.1 seconds.
Only five-tenths away from teammate Charles Leclerc in that segment, he began the race on the front foot, picking off cars one by one.
By the time Bearman got in clean air towards the end he was almost matching Il Predistinato’s times despite his inexperience and while suffering severe neck fatigue.
His performance on debut was praised by everyone who commented on it and he received the Driver of the Day award for his plaudits.
Many attributed this race to be the reason he signed a deal to drive for Haas in 2025 despite an underwhelming Formula 2 campaign.
Alas, his F1 exploits were not finished as he was called up to his prospective employers in Baku after Kevin Magnussen received a one-race ban.
He outqualified veteran teammate Nico Hulkenberg comfortably and despite running slightly adrift in the race, finished ahead in P10.
This came after the German was wrongfooted by the aftermath of a collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez that allowed Bearman to pounce.
His third and final cameo appearance came in Sao Paulo when Magnussen was unavailable for the Friday due to illness, although it was later extended to the entire weekend.
Bearman again usurped Hulkenberg in qualifying on a track he’d never driven and in his first competitive wet session in an F1 car.
The youngster appeared to come unstuck on race day, ambling off-track several times but others also struggled in the wet conditions yet were not criticised.
Lewis Hamilton battled with him for many laps, while the other Haas failed to recover from a spin thanks to getting a push from the marshals which led to disqualification.
Despite his struggles, Bearman still finished 12th, ahead of three other drivers and only seven seconds away from the points-paying positions.
Given his unpreparedness for all three of his appearances, the now 19-year-old continued to improve and impress without any mistakes until Sao Paulo.
He was in an unfamiliar car, on a track and in weather conditions he’d never driven before that weekend and on the wrong tyres in the wet.
It took all of that for him to look like a fish out of water, and outside of that performance exceeded all expectations against very respected competition.
This placement may seem a little high at first glance, but given the nuance I have provided it should explain why Bearman sits in such an esteemed position.
Overall grade: B (7/10)
5th: Yuki Tsunoda
Given the recent news that he was snubbed for the second Red Bull seat in favour of Liam Lawson, putting Yuki Tsunoda in fifth place has poorly aged.
Despite that, the young Japanese driver has matured into a fantastic driver and put together his best season to date.
He had the upper hand on Daniel Ricciardo until the Australian was dropped, and performed well against Lawson even if he didn’t get the promotion.
Tsunoda appearing in the top five is less of an indictment of his ability, instead being the culmination of many top prospects falling by the wayside.
Overall grade: B (7.5/10)
4th: Carlos Sainz
Carlos Sainz went into 2024 in a very peculiar situation, knowing that regardless of his results he would not remain at Ferrari for the 2025 season.
Thus, he spent the entire campaign trying to prove his worth to prospective employers in a very fertile driver market, starting off strongly.
He won the Australian Grand Prix on his return to the driving seat after missing the race in Saudi Arabia due to appendicitis.
This was his only victory all year though, and despite his early form failed to consistently challenge his teammate Charles Leclerc.
It wasn’t a bad season by any means, the Spaniard simply didn’t outperform the car’s expected performance on as regular basis as Leclerc.
Overall grade: B (7.5/10)
3rd: George Russell
He may have become embroiled in a petty scandal towards the end of the season, but George Russell’s 2024 was nothing to be scoffed at.
The young Brit comfortably beat his far more successful teammate Lewis Hamilton in all relevant metrics and adapted well when Hamilton couldn’t.
While his win at Spielberg was lucky, taking the chequered flag in Las Vegas was anything but as he executed the weekend perfectly.
As explained when ranking his teammate, Russell scored more points than Hamilton despite more retirements and similar situations coming his way.
Consistency and adaptability allowed him to beat Lewis across a season for the second time in their three-year stint, an impressive run for George.
His metal may be tested by the Italian prodigy Andrea Kimi Antonelli who will make his F1 debut alongside Russell in 2025, but on the evidence of this campaign, he might not need to worry.
Overall grade: A (8.5/10)
2nd: Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s late-season upturn in results came mostly from one driver, as Charles Leclerc won two races after the summer break and often appeared on the podium.
The Monegasque threatened Lando Norris’ runners-up championship position towards the end of the year despite having a worse car for most of the campaign.
Having previously been labelled a “qualifying merchant”, Leclerc has developed into a much more well-rounded package and is in the form of his career.
His display of tyre-saving in front of the Tifosi at Monza and general consistency throughout the season puts him in good stead to face Lewis Hamilton next year.
If the Brit fails to adapt to new machinery in 2025 and Leclerc continues his top-tier performance from this year and beats him, the young driver’s stock will skyrocket.
Overall grade: A (9.5/10)
1st: Max Verstappen
The main criticism with the likes of Hamilton, Vettel or Max Verstappen himself pre-2024 is that none of them dragged non-title potential machinery to a championship.
Verstappen can now check that box though, as the Dutchman claimed his fourth crown in a car that averaged out as comfortably second quickest across the season.
He took advantage of the opening seven rounds where his team had the upper hand and maximised his results from there on in.
His only significant blip was the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend where he appeared agitated and underperformed while swearing on the radio.
Aside from that, Verstappen stopped Lando Norris from embarking on a serious championship challenge despite having a car disadvantage to the Brit, who struggled.
Nonetheless, the Dutchman proved his metal by defeating a rival in difficult circumstances to wrap up his fourth title with multiple rounds spare.
His 2024 season is arguably the best of his career so far as he enters his prime, and he could remain unstoppable unless Red Bull becomes unstuck.
Overall grade: A (10/10)
