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First published in 2024 by Welbeck

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Max Verstappen splashes through the puddles to qualify in pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Illustration CONTENTS

ANALYSIS OF THE 2024 SEASON

RED BULL RACING

Max Verstappen

Sergio Perez

MERCEDES-AMG

Lewis Hamilton

George Russell

FERRARI

Charles Leclerc

Carlos Sainz Jr

McLAREN

Lando Norris

Oscar Piastri

ASTON MARTIN

Fernando Alonso

Lance Stroll

ALPINE

Pierre Gasly

Esteban Ocon

WILLIAMS

Alex Albon

Logan Sargeant

‘ALPHATAURI’

Yuki Tsunoda

Daniel Ricciardo

SAUBER

Valtteri Bottas

Zhou Guanyu

HAAS

Nico Hulkenberg

Kevin Magnussen

TALKING POINTS 2024

The Andretti Clan Throws Its Hat Into the Ring

It Was Hit and Miss as Las Vegas Joined the F1 Circus

Can F1 Academy Produce Another Female F1 Racer?

KNOW THE TRACKS 2024

Sakhir

Jeddah

Melbourne

Suzuka

Shanghai

Miami

Imola

Monaco

Montreal

Barcelona

Red Bull Ring

Silverstone

Hungaroring

Spa-Francorchamps

Zandvoort

Monza

Baku

Marina Bay

Circuit of the Americas

Mexico City

Interlagos

Las Vegas

Losail

Yas Marina

REVIEW OF THE 2023 SEASON

Bahrain GP

Saudi Arabian GP

Australian GP

Azerbaijan GP

Miami GP

Monaco GP

Spanish GP

Canadian GP

Austrian GP

British GP

Hungarian GP

Belgian GP

Dutch GP

Italian GP

Singapore GP

Japanese GP

Qatar GP

United States GP

Mexico City GP

Sao Paulo GP

Las Vegas GP

Abu Dhabi GP

FINAL RESULTS 2023

FORMULA ONE RECORDS

2024 SEASON FILL-IN CHART

It was a matter of when, not if, Max Verstappen would wrap up his third F1 title and the deed was done in the Qatar sprint race.

A moment of introspection for Lando Norris on the grid before the Monaco GP.

Illustration ANALYSIS OF THE 2024 SEASON

Red Bull Racing was on remarkable form through 2023 and, with no regulated technical changes mandated, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be anywhere other than at the front of the field in the season ahead. The big question is whether any of the other top teams can not only produce a quick car but one that is consistently quick across the 24-race season.

It’s hard to know which is the more daunting task in 2024: competing in a record 24 Grands Prix or taking on Red Bull Racing. The former task will be draining, mentally, physically and logistically, but the latter has troubled rival designers and engineers for the past two years since the last round of technical changes that Red Bull mastered and they didn’t.

Adrian Newey continues to lead the brains trust at Red Bull, but he has lost chief engineering officer Rob Marshall to McLaren, so nothing stays still forever. The chief concern, however, for team principal Christian Horner will be the progress of their rivals and whether Sergio Perez can return to form in 2024 to ensure that they can land a third constructors’ title in a row.

Chief technical officer Mike Elliott left Mercedes last autumn, so there has been a change to the design crew and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will be praying that they can have a consistently competitive car, especially Russell, who joined the sport’s golden team just as it lost its Midas touch.

Ferrari also needs to find consistent form as Frederic Vasseur settles into his second year as team principal, with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr craving a car that performs best in the race, rather than just in qualifying. One win last year was one better than Mercedes managed, but neither team will be happy with those returns.

McLaren has been too far from the front for too long and its dire early-season form last year suggested that the malaise had worsened, but the MCL60’s drastic gain in performance suddenly put both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the spotlight. One of the stories of this season is going to be whether Norris can contain his talented team-mate as the Australian settles into his second year in F1.

As big guns Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren go after Red Bull Racing in 2024, it’s hard to know whether Aston Martin will be able to shine to the same extent as last year. Clearly no one has had the temerity to point out to Fernando Alonso that being in his 40s might be a good time to slow down, as he was sensational, but the team’s chances of tilting at podium positions again might be slimmer.

Alpine is looking to have a less frenetic and spiky season, keeping on both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, but the French duo know that their team’s Renault power unit will continue to hamper their best efforts.

F1 prides itself on being a fast-moving entity, a sport that thinks on its feet, but turning around a struggling team takes years rather than months. The good news for long-suffering Williams fans is that the team is pointing in the right direction again. Alex Albon will surely continue to get the best out of whatever car he is given, while Logan Sargeant will continue learning from the second seat.

Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo ought to make a formidable pairing for the team that raced last year as Scuderia AlphaTauri and will pick up whatever scraps fall from F1’s high table. The same will be true for Sauber, but Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu know that their best hope will be in the early races, before the Swiss team’s traditional decline sets in, a trend that will need to be sorted when it partners with Audi from 2026.

With Michael Andretti anxious to land an entry for 2026, Haas will be looking to maximise its position as America’s team before then, but it really needs to raise its game and produce a car that can do more than just quick laps in qualifying and design one that can maintain speed through a Grand Prix distance to give Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen any hope at all.

Illustration RED BULL RACING

Red Bull Racing could well be set for its third consecutive season of domination of F1, as no other team has risen to its challenge and Max Verstappen has been untouchable as he spearheads the team’s attack.

Max Verstappen was all but unstoppable in 2023, starting with victory in the first round in Bahrain, and it will be a major feat to beat him.

Jackie Stewart was that rare racing driver who knew how to retire at the top. He had won three F1 titles in the space of five years and was set to bow out after his 100th Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. Sadly, the death of team-mate Francois Cevert in qualifying meant that he stopped there and then. However, he has never stopped attacking life with the same vigour and Red Bull Racing is a product of that.

Firstly, while being a roving ambassador for blue-chip multinationals, Jackie took the time to ensure that when elder son Paul wanted to go racing in Formula Ford that he had the best people around him. Thus, Paul Stewart Racing was created, moving up swiftly to Formula 3 then Formula 3000 before Paul stood back from racing and the team pushed on into F1.

Stewart Grand Prix made its debut in 1997 and was immediately a midfield team but then had its greatest day in tricky conditions at the Nurburgring in 1999 when Johnny Herbert triumphed.

The Stewarts realised that it would need more money to advance and so sold the team and its base in Milton Keynes to Ford in 2000, with Ford electing to enter the team as Jaguar Racing. This certainly brought in investment but, alas, management interference too, and this held the team back despite the best efforts of Eddie Irvine and Mark Webber. There were flashes of speed, but no wins, and it was a blessing when the team was given new impetus for 2005 from its purchase by Red Bull energy drinks founder Dietrich Mateschitz.

The idea was to throw its net wide to help a number of promising drivers in the junior single-seater categories and then select the best of these for its F1 team. Initially, though, and wisely so, it wanted experience and signed David Coulthard from McLaren. This had its merits, especially when he coaxed ace designer Adrian Newey to join him.

It took until 2009 for Red Bull Racing’s first victory, when Sebastian Vettel won in China and he would go on to win a four-way title shoot-out, against drivers including team-mate Webber, in Abu Dhabi in 2010. And so began a run of four drivers’ titles until 2013.

The increasing challenge from Mercedes from 2014 meant that Red Bull Racing reverted to the role of chaser and there was a change in the team’s internal dynamic as Daniel Ricciardo took over the second seat and outscored Vettel at his first attempt. However, Ferrari began to outstrip it in 2015, and Williams too. Then Ricciardo was joined by Max Verstappen midway through 2016, with the Dutchman winning on his first attempt after stepping up from Red Bull’s junior team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, and this helped to propel the team back to second overall.

What followed was a quest to ally Newey’s chassis with competitive engines, as its TAG Heuer-badged Renault engines couldn’t match the power output of the rival Mercedes and Ferrari units. While Lewis Hamilton notched up title after title with Mercedes, Verstappen added experience to his natural speed and increasingly became a threat.

With the Honda engines that the team used from 2019 onwards offering a step forward, Verstappen began to challenge Mercedes more and more, helping Red Bull Racing to be runner-up to Mercedes in 2020 and again in 2021 when Verstappen clinched the drivers’ title with a one-lap dash in Abu Dhabi.

There were new technical regulations for 2022 and Red Bull Racing started with the most competitive car. Verstappen did the rest, adding the 2022 and 2023 titles.

key personnel & 2023 round-up

HELMUT MARKO

A driver good enough to reach F1, peaking with eighth at Monaco, Helmut’s career was ended in 1972 when he was blinded in one eye by a stone at the French GP. He then ran his own F3 and F3000 teams before fellow Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz wanted to use motor racing to promote his Red Bull brand. Acting as a consultant, Helmut oversaw its scholarship drivers in the junior categories, taking a hard-edged approach to discarding those he didn’t think good enough.

RACING TO A RECORD F1 CLEAN SWEEP

McLaren nearly did it in 1988, but it fell short by winning only 15 of the season’s 16 Grands Prix. With a campaign extended to 22 Grands Prix, thus making the challenge all the harder, no one expected Red Bull to win every race as the season roared into life last year. Yet, Max Verstappen and occasionally Sergio Perez early in the year, were seldom challenged. Perez struggled in qualifying, reducing his race chances, but Verstappen was uniformly excellent, whatever the conditions, and gathered and kept on winning to end up with double Perez’s tally.

FOR THE RECORD

Team base:

Milton Keynes, England

Active in Formula One:

As Stewart GP 1997–99, Jaguar Racing 2000–04, Red Bull Racing 2005 on

Grands Prix contested:

503

Wins:

114

Pole positions:

96

Fastest laps:

95

Constructors’ titles:

6

Drivers’ titles:

7

THE TEAM

Team principal:

Christian Horner

Motorsport consultant:

Helmut Marko

Chief technical officer

Adrian Newey

Chief engineer, car engineering

Paul Monaghan

Chief engineer, technology & analysis

Guillaume Cattelani

Technical director:

Pierre Wache

Head of performance engineering:

Ben Waterhouse

Head of race engineering:

Gianpiero Lambiase

Sporting director:

Jonathan Wheatley

Chassis:

Red Bull RB20

Engine:

Honda RBPT V6

Tyres:

Pirelli

Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey celebrate in India in 2013, another win in his fourth title-winning year.

“I hardly have to say anything [to race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase] anymore. If I report that I have understeer or oversteer, he immediately knows what he needs to adjust.”

Max Verstappen

Illustration MAX VERSTAPPEN Illustration

It appears unlikely that anyone will stop Max Verstappen from making it four titles in a row for Red Bull. He was in such imperious form last year, winning 19 of the 22 Grands Prix, that he must surely be heading for another title.

Max scored a record 19 wins last year, so his only target can be to try to beat that in 2024.

Max was born to race, with a mother – Sophie Kumpen – who followed her father into racing and excelled in karting plus a father, Jos, who shone for Benetton in F1 in the mid-1990s.

Not surprisingly, Max began racing karts as soon as he was old enough and there was little that young Max didn’t win on the way up through the karting ranks, peaking with the World and European KZ titles in 2013 as he turned 16. Top kart racers often bypass the first rung of single-seaters, Formula 4, and go straight to Formula Renault. Max didn’t do that, but skipped directly to racing’s third level, Formula 3, taking an incredible ten wins to rank third in a European championship that was won by Esteban Ocon.

Everyone suggested a campaign in Formula 2 would prepare him further, but Jos encouraged Max to try to go straight to F1. And this is what he did, joining Scuderia Toro Rosso for 2015 to become F1’s first 17-year-old driver. Many watched on with concern that he wouldn’t be ready for this giant leap, but it never fazed Max and he bagged a couple of fourth places before the year was out.

Just five races into 2016, Red Bull Racing decided that Max would do better than Daniil Kvyat and they swapped drives. Not only that, but Max then shocked everyone by winning on his debut for Red Bull Racing in the Spanish GP.

Although Max drove increasingly well over the next few years, it was always in pursuit of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Then, after claiming nine wins in 2021, he was handed victory in strange circumstances in the Abu Dhabi finale to pip Lewis Hamilton to the crown.

Then, after Red Bull adapted the best to 2022’s new technical rules, Max made it two titles in a row.

SUCCESS AT ALMOST EVERY TURN

It didn’t appear to matter to Max what sort of circuit he was competing on. Whether high-downforce, low-downforce or something in between, Max was able to win on them all. He was in such strong form that there were clear reasons for the few races he didn’t win. In Jeddah, he had a driveshaft failure in qualifying and started down in 15th on the grid and could make it back only to second place behind team-mate Sergio Perez by flag fall. Then in Baku he was called in for a pit stop at a less than optimal time, consigning him to second place behind Perez again. All his other finishes, bar in Singapore when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr came out on top, were victories. As the season advanced, Red Bull’s quest to become the first team to win every round became more and more beguiling but, once this was ended, it was time for Christian Horner and the team to bathe in the glory of their achievement. Max just kept on winning to take a record number of wins in a season, 19.

TRACK NOTES

Nationality:

DUTCH

Born:

30 SEPTEMBER 1997, HASSELT, BELGIUM

Teams:

TORO ROSSO 2015–16, RED BULL RACING 2016–24

CAREER RECORD

First Grand Prix:

2015 AUSTRALIAN GP

Grand Prix starts:

185

Grand Prix wins:

54
2016 Spanish GP, 2017 Malaysian GP, Mexican GP, 2018 Austrian GP, Mexican GP, 2019 Austrian GP, German GP, Brazilian GP, 2020 70th Anniversary GP, Abu Dhabi GP, 2021 Emilia Romagna GP, Monaco GP, French GP, Styrian GP, Austrian GP, Belgian GP, Dutch GP, United States GP, Mexico City GP, Abu Dhabi GP, 2022 Saudi Arabian GP, Emilia Romagna GP, Miami GP, Spanish GP, Azerbaijan GP, Canadian GP, French GP, Hungarian GP, Belgian GP, Dutch GP, Italian GP, Japanese GP, United States GP, Mexico City GP, Abu Dhabi GP, 2023 Bahrain GP, Australian GP, Miami GP, Monaco GP, Spanish GP, Canadian GP, Austrian GP, British GP, Hungarian GP, Belgian GP, Dutch GP, Italian GP, Japanese GP, Qatar GP, United States GP, Mexico City GP, Sao Paulo GP, Las Vegas GP, Abu Dhabi GP

Poles:

32

Fastest laps:

30

Points:

2586.5

Honours:

2021, 2022 & 2023

F1 WORLD CHAMPION, 2013 WORLD & EUROPEAN KZ KART CHAMPION, 2012 WSK MASTER SERIES KF2 CHAMPION, 2011 WSK EURO SERIES CHAMPION, 2009 BELGIAN KF5 CHAMPION, 2008 DUTCH CADET KART CHAMPION, 2007 & 2008 DUTCH MINIMAX CHAMPION