The 2024 F1 half-term driver grades

Max Verstappen: A
Championship position: 1st

Verstappen's early season form hinted at a 2023 repeat - but the summer rounds have generated a different story

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The Red Bull domination may have subsided, but he’s still out in front. Verstappen’s title lead stands on a foundation of two things: his early carryover of crushing performance from 2023, and his early European/Canadian season of winning races that he probably shouldn’t have. He did enough to keep Lando Norris at bay at Imola, pounced on the McLaren driver’s and George Russell’s mistakes in Canada, and made the most of Norris’s iffy start at Barcelona. Austria and Hungary were blemishes, characterised as ‘old Verstappen’ displays of petulance as the pressure of competition started to get to him.

Lando Norris: A-
Championship position: 2nd

A breakthrough win in Miami should have been followed by further triumphs for Norris, but it has still been an impressive first half of the season

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There have been many highlights in Norris’s season, led by his opportunistic Miami win and poles in Spain and Hungary. He has become the master of early tyre saving to time his race-winning threat towards the end, but ran out of time at Imola and Barcelona to fully test Verstappen. His biggest problem this year has come with race starts. The chance of victories in Spain and Hungary faded with either poor getaways or unfortunate choices into Turn 1, but McLaren must shoulder some of the blame (eg Canada) with strategy. Should have won at least two or three more races this term.

Oscar Piastri: A-
Championship position: 4th

Piastri has stepped up this year and despite team order drama overhanging his Hungary win it was fully deserved

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F1’s newest grand prix winner has come on in leaps and bounds. He entered the year with a tyre-management deficit to Norris, but outclassed his more experienced team-mate in Monaco in contending for victory against Charles Leclerc. Team orders affair took the shine off his Hungary breakthrough victory, yet he had done the hard work with an assured performance in the lead of the race across the opening two stints – minor mistakes notwithstanding. Pitstop overshot aside, Spa was an excellent display of his progress. The young Australian has been consistent too.

Nico Hulkenberg: A-
Championship position: 11th

Hulkenberg has shone in the midfield fight for Haas

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Ensconced within a tight midfield battle in which Haas was expected to struggle, Hulkenberg’s performances have been a ray of light this year. He’s been responsible for all six of Haas’s Q3 appearances, and racked up two sixth-placed finishes on the bounce at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone. That Haas sits within seven points of RB is thanks to him. A poor start in Bahrain led to his Turn 1 scuffle with Lance Stroll, and he endured a similarly iffy first lap in Hungary, but other low moments have been few and far between. When the car is right, Hulkenberg makes the most of it.

Charles Leclerc: B+
Championship position: 3rd

Leclerc's obvious highlight was his maiden home win, but either side of that there has been dips

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His Monaco race was a masterclass, becoming the first Monegasque winner of his home grand prix since Louis Chiron in 1931. He didn’t get out of the blocks quite as quickly as Carlos Sainz, finishing behind his team-mate in Bahrain, Australia, and Japan, but results picked up from China onwards as he got to grips with the SF-24. Blew hot and cold after his Monaco win, not helped by wild Canada experimentation, and Silverstone inters switch being terribly timed. Seems to have gotten over his “worse than a nightmare” form, despite Ferrari losing ground to other top-four teams.

Carlos Sainz: B+
Championship position: 5th

Sainz's return from appendicitis to win in Australia will be one of the stories of the season

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Even without Verstappen’s retirement, Sainz looked on to win in Australia either way. Missed Jeddah race with appendicitis, so had catching up to do, but otherwise has been a lock for consistent top-six results whatever the weather. Silverstone was a great under-the-radar drive too. Canada was the low point, with a Turn 6 spin, and was clumsy in intra-team battle with Leclerc in Spain. His Hungary start wasn’t so hot either, costing three positions. Nonetheless, has been a perfect foil to Leclerc: a more consistent, steady operator versus his more mercurial team-mate.

George Russell: B+
Championship position: 8th

Russell's taken on gambles this year, while a stroke of luck gave him Austrian GP victory

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Russell has pushed himself to perform, but sometimes at the expense of results. Assumed victory in Austria, after picking up the pieces from the Norris/Verstappen clash, but his Spa masterclass after lobbying for a one-stop ended in disqualification for being underweight. Mistakes in Canada cost another possible win after starting on pole, and a water system issue after Silverstone pole was very unlucky. In further bad luck, his Australia crash came after an Alonso brake-test at Turn 6. Lowlights: Hungary Q1 elimination was a misstep, and he lost places at the start in both Miami races.

Lewis Hamilton: B
Championship position: 6th

The seven-time F1 world champion's long goodbye to Mercedes has already witnessed some incredible highs and tough lows

Photo by: Malcolm Griffiths

With recency bias, Hamilton should be pushing the A-grades, but let’s not forget his poor opening to the season that led to just 10 points in the first four races. Second in China sprint kicked his season into life, although he’d only outqualified Russell once until Spain, a weekend where Hamilton finally meshed with the W15. A win at Silverstone finally broke a two-and-a-half-year drought, and defensive efforts in Hungary were sublime. But a weird mood in Monaco set him against the team, and he decried strategy after losing to Russell’s one-stopper at Spa, a move Russell called himself.

Yuki Tsunoda: B
Championship position: 12th

Tsunoda remains in the shadows at RB even though he's putting in some eye-catching displays

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Frustrated by opening rounds in Bahrain and Jeddah, but had a stellar weekend in Australia to convert eighth on the grid into seventh. Miami was an arguably better weekend, albeit helped by safety car pitstop in the GP, but he genuinely got the better of Russell for seventh. Defensive driving in Monaco was also expertly judged. Should have got points in Canada if he’d been less clumsy, and form tailed off with RB missing the mark on its Barcelona upgrades. Still, was another top performer at Silverstone and in Hungary one-stop heroics. Remains criminally underrated by Red Bull higher-ups.

Alex Albon: B-
Championship position: 18th

Albon needed to 'borrow' Sargeant's car to take part in the Australian GP

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Has found points harder to come by this year with overweight Williams. Holds a 13-0 qualifying record for grands prix over Sargeant, and was within touching distance of points in Jeddah. Finally broke his duck in Monaco after converting ninth on the grid, and has since done the same at Silverstone to double his – and Williams’s – tally for the year. Probably on for a point or two in Canada had he not been wiped out by Sainz. It’s not all been rosy; his Australia practice shunt was the nadir. Miami was also lacklustre, albeit with floor damage.

Fernando Alonso: C+
Championship position: 9th

After the encouraging start to his time at Aston Martin, Alonso has slipped backwards in 2024

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Racked up the points in the opening rounds, even when it became clear that Aston Martin had fallen back over the winter. A top-six qualifier in four of the opening five races, but the team has endured a slide towards the midfield since Miami in May. Imola was dire, with a pitlane start leading to an extended test session after FP3 crash and Q1 off. Punted Zhou in Austria, and Hungary was sacrificed to help Stroll score. After setting lofty standards in 2023, he’s switched off more often this year. Sixth in Canada and fifth in Jeddah remain the highlights so far.

Pierre Gasly: C
Championship position: 15th

It has been a steady but unspectacular season for Gasly and Alpine so far

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Outperformed in qualifying by Esteban Ocon, but accrued more points than his team-mate during brief purple patch. Of the two, Gasly has had the worse luck with mechanical issues: his race ended after a lap in Jeddah with gearbox pain; he didn’t make the start at all at Silverstone for similar reasons; and suffered a hydraulics issue at the Hungaroring. Survived Ocon’s Monaco attack to bag a point, starting a points-scoring streak of four races, before the pre-summer run of mechanical issues. He’s been a ‘steady Eddie’ in the races, but qualifying has left a little to be desired versus Ocon.

Esteban Ocon: C
Championship position: 17th

With his future now resolved, albeit away from Alpine, Ocon will look to steady himself for the rest of the season

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Marginally ahead of Gasly in qualifying over the year, leading the head-to-head 10-4 (8-4 if corrected for issues), but only by slender margins. Led the line in impressive China race, but was the only Alpine driver equipped with the new floor. Got the team off the mark in Miami, but trailed his long-time adversary in the four-race stretch from Monaco to Austria. That race in Monaco was a significant low point, after his cynical tackle on Gasly ultimately led to crunch talks over his future. Buoyant at Spa after Haas deal was confirmed, with series of passes to break into the top 10.

Valtteri Bottas: C
Championship position: 21st

A tough season thus far for Sauber hasn't stopped Bottas from dominating his team-mate Zhou

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Saddled with a poor car, Bottas has scarcely had the equipment to show what he can do. He’s had to put all his chips into qualifying, where he’s got a 13-1 advantage over team-mate Zhou, complete with a Q3 outing in China and five Q2 appearances. Early chances of results were undone by Sauber pitstop woes and convoluted strategies that did little to offer a chance of results. Might have scored a point in Australia without 30s pitstop loss, and in Japan without pitlane traffic. Marked down as Miami and Monaco had glaring errors, and Silverstone pace was way off the mark.

Lance Stroll: C-
Championship position: 10th

On his day Stroll has impressed, but those days have been few and far between

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In recent rounds, performance gap relative to Alonso has shrunk as the AMR24 falls behind in competitiveness. Inconsistent, as ever; an early shunt in Saudi Arabia was followed by a stellar sixth in Australia. Proved steady at Imola against Alonso’s erratic weekend, and genuinely beat his team-mate at Silverstone. Qualifying has been closer between them, currently at 9-5 in Alonso’s favour. But Stroll has had as many anonymous drives as good ones: Miami and Spain were poor and offered little, and he speared into Ricciardo during the China restart bunch-up.

Daniel Ricciardo: C-
Championship position: 13th

The Miami sprint race statement hasn't been back up by Ricciardo

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Nowhere near as bad as he’s made out to be, but lacking a tenth or two relative to Tsunoda. Fourth in Miami sprint was a statement result, but it took him until June’s Canadian round to score in a full grand prix. Outperformed Tsunoda all weekend in Austria, and was set for a good result in Hungary before strategy cost him hugely. But form has been inconsistent, particularly in the early season; his younger team-mate outqualified him in the first four races. Suzuka shunt with Albon was his biggest blunder, and full Miami GP was also uninspiring. Early season issues seem to have subsided for now.

Logan Sargeant: D+
Championship position: 20th

Sargeant has made gains this year but nowhere near enough to look destined for a third season in F1

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A better sophomore campaign, lacking the car-bending antics of 2023. Is still shy of team-mate Albon’s pace across qualifying and races, although older-spec parts haven’t necessarily helped. Sacrificed in Australia after Albon’s shunt, took himself out in Montreal, but recovered from thorny opening to 2024 to get within a sniff of points at Silverstone, after outqualifying Albon in the Austria sprint. That said, his racing efforts at Spielberg undid that work after breaking his front wing against Stroll. Disillusioned with F1 and appears set for a move Stateside next year.

Kevin Magnussen: D
Championship position: 16th

Magnussen's aggression has helped Haas at times, but he is starting to look like a rebel without a cause

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Almost on for a race ban after picking up 10 penalty points earlier this year. Spent the early season acting as Hulkenberg’s attack dog; his defensive efforts in Jeddah and Miami helped earn points, but felt his penalties were deserved after clashes with Albon and Sargeant respectively – among other indiscretions. Qualifying efforts have been lacklustre, not once making Q3. Regardless, Australia and Austria were both strong races that justly rewarded the Dane with points, and has cleaned up his act as race ban looms. Looks to be on his way out of F1 at the end of the year.

Zhou Guanyu: D
Championship position: 19th

Zhou finally got him home race, but it has been the only highlight of his campaign

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Statistically the worst qualifier on the grid – he’s made it out of Q1 only twice this year. The Bahrain opener remains the season highlight because he was a contender for the final point, and his alternative Jeddah strategy was nixed by a slow pitstop. SQ3 appearance in China was an emotional moment, but since then his season has been short of quality, albeit he’s struggled since Imola in May with a new chassis. Canada was the culmination of that with a shunt and a spin in practice, succeeding his Monaco FP1 crash.

Sergio Perez: D-
Championship position: 7th

A solid start to the year has been replaced by constant questions about his Red Bull future

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Like 2023, his performance level suffered a precipitous drop after Miami. Unlike 2023, the closer field has punished his under-par efforts. Started the year per expectations, with a trio of second-place finishes in the opening four races, but has dropped off considerably. Failed to clear qualifying’s first hurdle with his Monaco and Silverstone Q1 crashes, and his Canada accident (after another Q1 drop-out) was equally weak. Redemption opportunities ahead of the summer break came with a Belgium front row, but he ended the day eighth on the road… in a Red Bull.

Autosport average driver ratings for F1 2024 so far

What will the second half of the 2024 F1 produce?

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