End of The Season Reflections

The 2024 Formula One season has concluded, and I would like to share a few brief thoughts on it. First, I want to clarify that I am not delving into deep analysis, as I follow the sport more superficially. Additionally, I will be writing from the perspective of a South American fan.

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has secured his well-deserved fourth consecutive championship. There is no doubt that he is the best driver of the pack. If Red Bull can maintain its consistency—not just with the car, but also with the overall performance of the team—he is the favorite to win yet another title next season.

This year’s title fight was very different from Red Bull’s extraordinary dominance in 2023. Having more teams competing for the championship is exactly what fans want to see, as dominance can be quite boring.

Max was unbeatable when driving a fast car, and even when his machine was not performing well, he was still fighting among the top-scoring drivers.

Sergio Pérez

Max’s teammate, the Mexican driver Sergio Pérez, had secured a 2-year extension contract with Red Bull, but unfortunately, the team bosses said a younger talent might replace him.

I first heard of Sergio Pérez when he won Bahrain’s 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. He started in the last position and claimed victory in a chaotic and unpredictable race. This win marked the first victory of his 10-year Formula One career at the time. I have been rooting for the guy since he is one of the few Latino drivers who made it to the top class in motorsport in recent years. However, Pérez has had a disappointing performance this year, and understandably, this is the kind of image that Red Bull wants to distance itself from.

Checo, as he is commonly known, is 34 years old, and at this age, it can be challenging to secure a position with a competitive team. However, there are rumors that he will be joining the Cadillac team in 2026. An experienced and popular Mexican driver on an all-American team could be advantageous.

Lewis Hamilton

A move that has generated considerable attention in recent months is Lewis Hamilton’s transfer to Ferrari. With seven world championships under his belt, he is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time. However, some argue that his success in the 2010s was largely due to the advantages of driving an unbeatable car. They suggest that when Mercedes-Benz was no longer able to supply the fastest machine, Hamilton lost his edge.

In 2024, he was outperformed by his teammate George Russell in 19 out of 24 qualifying sessions; the situation was so embarrassing that he said about himself: “I am no longer a fast driver.”  The idea here is not to stir up a discussion about how good Sir Lewis Hamilton still is or if Ferrari’s decision to hire him instead of a younger talent was the right move or not; only time will tell.

Hamilton has a special connection with my home country, Brazil. He says that when he was 5 years old, he saw Airton Senna on the TV, which inspired him to become a world champion. In 2022, he became an honorary Brazilian citizen.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death, Hamilton drove the 1990 title-winning McLaren MP4/5B around Interlagos before the 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix. This emotional tribute brought tears to the eyes of many fans in attendance at the racetrack that day.

Mercedes-Benz hired rookie Kimi Antonelli as Hamilton’s replacement. In a lackluster performance, the 18-year-old Italian driver finished the 2024 Formula Two season in 6th place.

McLaren

I don’t remember the last time we had four teams closely competing for the world title like we did in 2024. More impressive than this was McLaren’s meteoric rise from obscurity to glory in such a short period.

Watching McLaren fall into irrelevance over the past few years has been painful. After all, this is the second most traditional Formula One team, only behind Ferrari. Drivers like Emerson Fittipaldi, Ayrton Senna, James Hunt, Mika Häkkinen, Niki Lauda, and Lewis Hamilton became world champions driving for McLaren (and I may be forgetting a few others).

The turnaround started when Andrea Stela was appointed Team Principal by the end of the 2022 season, and Oscar Piastri replaced Ricciardo. The engineers presented the first competitive McLaren in  2023, the MCL60, celebrating the team’s 60th  anniversary. But it was only after a series of improvements on the 2024 car that proved to be effective.

Many advancements, particularly in aerodynamics, are attributed to the new, state-of-the-art McLaren wind tunnel. The team began modernization efforts in 2019, and the facility became fully operational in 2024. For a decade, McLaren rented the Toyota Gazoo wind tunnel, located over 300 kilometers away in Cologne, Germany. In addition to the logistical challenges, the Toyota facility is 25 years old and nearing the end of its useful life. Having an in-house, modern wind tunnel greatly facilitated the work of the technical team in providing aerodynamic improvements for the cars.

The fight for the 2024 Constructor Championship stretched to the season’s last race in Abu Dhabi. Lando Norris led the race from start to finish, securing the title for McLaren, the first one since 1998.

A new hope for the Brazilian fans.

In 2025, fans in South America are once again filled with excitement (and some fans around the world, too); for the first time in 7 years, a Brazilian driver will be competing in Formula One as a full-time driver. Gabriel Bortoleto was hired by Sauber to be the team’s second driver.

Bortoleto arrived at Formula One with an impressive resume; he is the first driver since Oscar Piastri to win both the Formula 3 and Formula 2 Drivers’ titles in consecutive seasons as a rookie. He joins the ranks of notable drivers like Charles Leclerc and George Russell, who have also achieved this remarkable feat.

The last time we saw a Brazilian driver winning the World Championship was in 1991 when Senna won his third title. After that, Felipe Massa came really close to clinching the title in 2008, but unfortunately, he was the victim of a shady scheme perpetrated by Renault, and he saw his dream going down the drain. This subject deserves a post here at TCM, but not today.

Bortoleto has big shoes to fill, but I hope this pressure won’t impact his performance. We are optimistic that the young Brazilian will have a fantastic 2025 season, which will help secure his place for 2026 when Sauber transitions to the Audi F-One team.

In 2022, Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group, announced they would join F1 as a power unit supplier when new regulations featuring increased electrical power and 100% sustainable fuels are introduced in two years.

The Germans initially planned to partner with Sauber, one of the longest-standing teams in Formula 1, intending to acquire a stake in the Sauber Group. However, they have since decided to proceed with a complete business takeover. As a result, 2025 will likely be the last year the team competes under the Sauber name before becoming the official Audi Formula One team.

After Ayrton Senna passed away in 1994, I lost interest in Formula One. I shifted my focus to drag racing, rally racing, and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). However, my enjoyment of watching the greatest motorsport class is slowly returning. The 2024 season was thrilling, and I hope next year will be even better.