F1 driver ratings 2024: Ranking this season’s grid featuring Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez and more
Find out which drivers earned the highest marks and, which ones ranked lowest, after the compelling 24-race Formula 1 season; Plus: Have YOUR say on the drivers’ performances too by marking them out of 10 for the season below!
So who starred and who struggled in a Formula 1 season that produced no end of dramatic, unpredictable and controversial moments in 2024? Running through the grid in final Drivers’ Championship order, see how the sport’s stars rated for their performances this year…
Max Verstappen – 9.5
Championship position: 1st – 437 points (9 Grand Prix wins, 8 poles)
World champion for a fourth successive season, but Verstappen was finally pushed again for the first time since claiming his maiden title in 2021.
The Dutchman was more than equal to the task, responding to McLaren matching and then bettering Red Bull’s pace a quarter of the way into the season by claiming a series of hard-fought crucial victories at Imola, Montreal and Barcelona.
From there on it was damage limitation as he showed remarkable consistency to maintain an advantage over the hard-chasing Lando Norris, with some of the performances to take second places perhaps more impressive than his dominant early-season victories.
The finishing touches to his superb campaign were applied with a stunning win in the wet at Interlagos from 17th on the grid and a first dry-weather victory since June in Qatar to send a reminder to his rivals that beating him will remain a formidable challenge in 2025.
Verstappen’s campaign wasn’t far from perfect, but he let himself down in Mexico with a reckless, over-aggressive and unsporting approach to battling Norris.
Lando Norris – 8.5
Championship position: 2nd – 374 points (4 Grand Prix wins, 8 poles)
McLaren’s unexpected jump to contending for race wins thrust Norris into a spotlight that the hugely popular Brit hadn’t experienced before.
He largely coped well, pouncing to claim a richly deserved maiden F1 win in Miami before going toe to toe with Verstappen throughout the summer.
Norris repeatedly showed he possesses the speed to match Verstappen but made too many mistakes to apply the Drivers’ Championship pressure that McLaren’s pace advantage over Red Bull probably merited.
His biggest issue was the start. On six of the eight occasions he started on pole, he had lost the lead by the end of the first lap. His dominant win from pole to seal the Constructors’ Championship for McLaren in Abu Dhabi did at least suggest progress has been made.
The other concern is that, given Verstappen appears to be the biggest obstacle to any of his rivals winning a drivers’ title, Norris has so far appeared unwilling to commit to the level of ferocity in on-and-off track combat that is required to overcome the Dutchman.
Charles Leclerc – 8.5
Championship position: 3rd – 356 points (3 Grand Prix wins, 3 poles)
As he prepared to go head to head with Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc certainly showed signs of growth in 2024.
He memorably overcame his ‘Monaco curse’ to finally win his home race in fine style, and generally cut down the mistakes that have led some to previously question his status as Ferrari’s chosen one.
Any frustrations the tifosi may have developed were undoubtedly eroded when he triumphed for the second time in his career in Monza, and he also added a third victory of the season in Austin.
Leclerc was often left frustrated, most notably in Qatar, over a perception he was being unfairly treated by Sainz and the team, which may have been true. Going up against the wily Hamilton next year, becoming more tactically aware is perhaps the next key development step Leclerc needs to take.
Oscar Piastri – 7.5
Championship position: 4th – 292 points (2 Grand Prix wins)
In his second season in F1, the Australian showed more of the qualities that have led many to earmark him as a future world champion.
He remained largely unable to match Norris for pace over both one lap and race distance, but at times upstaged his team-mate in terms of racecraft.
Piastri’s maiden grand prix victory, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, was unfortunately overshadowed by a team orders soap opera that took to the gloss of what should have been a special moment.
He would put that right with a superb victory in Azerbaijan as he came out on top in a thrilling battle with Charles Leclerc, which came shortly after he had perhaps mis-stepped in costing both Norris and McLaren with an overly aggressive early pass on his team-mate.
The question going into season three is whether Piastri can consistently find that extra tenth or two that would make him a genuine 2025 drivers’ title contender.
Carlos Sainz – 7.5
Championship position: 5th – 290 points (2 Grand Prix wins, 1 pole)
After starting the season having received the bombshell that Hamilton would be replacing him in 2025, Sainz delivered the best possible response by remarkably rising from his sickbed just two weeks after an appendectomy to win the Australian Grand Prix.
That moment would be difficult to top but he did claim what would prove to be his final Ferrari victory, for now, in Mexico.
More generally, Sainz showed his class by regularly matching Leclerc’s prodigious one-lap speed in qualifying.
Perhaps importantly for whatever follows his move to Williams, Sainz showed remarkable professionalism and consistency throughout a campaign where it would have been easy to do otherwise.
George Russell – 8
Championship position: 6th – 245 points (2 Grand Prix wins, 4 poles)
The new top dog at Mercedes made a statement with his qualifying dominance over Lewis Hamilton and a couple of excellent victories.
Russell was rewarded for getting everything out of his W15 in Austria as a Verstappen-Norris collision gifted him victory. Another almost followed in Belgium, but an underweight car cancelled out another wonderful drive.
The Brit would cash in on Mercedes’ Las Vegas dominance to win from pole, but was unable to repeat the trick as he gave up the lead at the start a week later in Qatar amid what would turn into an almighty feud with Max Verstappen.
Russell provided plenty of evidence to suggest he belongs among the top tier of F1’s current field, but perhaps still has another gear to find on Sundays if he is to back up his talk.
Lewis Hamilton – 6.5
Championship position: 7th – 223 points (2 Grand Prix wins)
It was always going to be a strange one after the seven-time world champion’s move to Ferrari for 2025 was announced shortly before the start of the season.
Once the shock had worn off, the next biggest surprise was Hamilton’s sudden loss of qualifying form, which saw him dominated by team-mate Russell over one lap. There will be major focus at the start of 2025 on whether this was a blip, caused by the W15, or whether he is in for a tough time against Leclerc.
What wasn’t left in any doubt is that Hamilton remains a match for anyone when he is zoned in on a Sunday, with his hugely emotional victory at Silverstone undoubtedly one of the moments of the season.
A slightly strange win – after his team-mate’s disqualification – in Belgium followed, while superb comeback drives after poor qualifying efforts in Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi will prevent anyone from writing off the man who turns 40 in January just yet.
Sergio Perez – 3.5
Championship position: 8th – 152 points
The Mexican’s fall from grace has been tough to watch. After a strong start to the season, he completely capitulated and appears set to pay the ultimate price with the loss of his seat.
It’s clear that the RB20 was nowhere near as dominant as its predecessors, but Perez was able to produce impressive results at times earlier in his career without having the best car on the grid.
His qualifying form was atrocious, with nine failures to reach Q3 leaving him too much work to do on Sundays.
The fact he survived until the end of the season said more about Red Bull’s lack of alternatives and perhaps embarrassment around the misstep of giving Perez a contract extension in June just as form was beginning to spiral.
Fernando Alonso – 6.5
Championship position: 9th – 70 points
After the carrot was dangled to the veteran in 2023 with Aston Martin appearing to be on the verge of gatecrashing the battle at the front, this season was extremely sobering.
Alonso largely maintained his own high standards and unsurprisingly continued to comprehensively outperform team-mate Lance Stroll.
However, some previously unseen errors did creep in, while a late-season health issue may have the 43-year-old Spaniard considering how much longer he cares to remain on the grid for.
Pierre Gasly – 7
Championship position: 10th – 42 points
Through little fault of his own, Pierre Gasly’s first 18 months with Alpine were thoroughly underwhelming as the French driver struggled to make an impact in a poor car.
Whether it was improvement to the car or the mid-season news that his team-mate Esteban Ocon was leaving in 2025, Gasly came to life in the closing stages of his campaign.
Both he and Ocon drove superbly in Alpine’s remarkable double podium in Brazil, but Gasly was then able to turn in a series of great performances in the dry, taking fifth in Qatar and seventh in Abu Dhabi, to get the team over the line for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship.
