So 2024 is approaching. An epic racing season has come to an end, with the Constructors’ Championship reaching the finals and threatening a huge upset in the driver standings. This means it’s time to reflect on each team’s performance and give them my own grade. It will definitely have a huge impact on their holiday.
mclaren
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good: I almost reposted last year’s entry. “The development of the car has been amazing,” I said, “there’s a lot of drive behind Andrea Stella and his team.” The former was retained and the latter was utilized. It was a great achievement to repeat McLaren’s strong progress with the car and they were able to manage their drivers well to secure the constructor’s title early on in the progression curve.
Bad points: A similar problem remains this time too. Just like the summary from 12 months ago, it still rings true that “the execution is poor and both sides have some cleaning up to do.” Lando Norris is on track to become a true title contender, but he doesn’t get there early enough in 2024, and Oscar Piastri likewise won two races but still had the weekend off. I would say that it is early days in McLaren’s development and that the whole team is clearly on the rise, but they still need to be a bit more clinical in everything if they want to win the drivers’ title.
Rating: 8.5/10
ferrari
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The Good: This is a clear continuation of the positive signs from last year. Ferrari had an equally impressive race team execution, along with good overall car development, ending the year as the highest scoring team after the summer break, with Charles Leclerc ranked as the leading driver for the same period. As the year went on, there were fewer competitive weekends, and we made the most of a car that became a better all-rounder once the mid-season issues were ironed out.
Bad points: It was a great year for Ferrari. These mid-season problems were costly, with misdirection in car development costing them huge losses in both championships. Add in the odd missed opportunity in Singapore, partly the fault of the team and partly the fault of the drivers, and Ferrari stumbled slightly when the Constructors’ Championship was offered. Leclerc also had a slightly slower start compared to Carlos Sainz, which left him too far behind in the drivers’ title fight and cannot afford to do so next year.
Rating: 7.5/10
red bull
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The Good: Red Bull still won the Drivers’ Championship this year, and considering the chaos off the track and the form of the car mid-season, that’s somewhat of an achievement. Additionally, despite some announced departures, there were real signs of recovery in the year-end stages, providing ample evidence that Max Verstappen will still be a major factor in 2025.
Bad points: In stark contrast to 12 months ago, there is so much we can fit into here. After the first quarter, Sergio Perez’s season was a horror show. The summer of car development was the same, and the team atmosphere that had still dominated the team since the beginning of the year was not good at all. Big names have left, reputations have been tarnished and the Perez situation has cost them the Constructors’ Championship big time. The momentum is still leaning in the wrong direction and the title will likely have a strong performance next year.
Rating: 6/10
mercedes
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The Good: When the car was good, it was really good. In fact, it was downright dominant in Las Vegas. George Russell also had a strong year, and by mid-year it looked like Mercedes were heading in the right direction. Especially the way they went 1-2 before Russell’s DSQ in Belgium. There seemed to be a little more understanding of how the cars were set up, and Mercedes had multiple wins with both drivers this year after going winless in 2023.
Bad points: When the car was bad, it was really bad. The two wins at Austria (sheer luck) and Silverstone (a strategic mistake by McLaren) weren’t entirely down to the car either. It was flattering to deceive the mid-season race and even Las Vegas after the summer break with the only podium coming in Azerbaijan where Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez clashed late in third and fourth. Lewis Hamilton’s farewell season has been very difficult at times and although the car set-up has become slightly easier, it still looks like Mercedes are well behind in the top three.
Rating: 6/10
aston martin
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The Good: The season is over and Adrian Newey arrives in 2025. The factory is also nearing completion with the wind tunnel coming online soon after, and Aston Martin appears to have identified one of the reasons for poor development after changing its technical team. . Plus, the initial launch vehicles weren’t all that bad. Fernando Alonso has had three top six finishes in the first four rounds and the Spaniard can still pull off some good results.
Bad points: The development of the car was truly disappointing. Aston ended the year with arguably the 9th fastest car. Combine that with another disappointing season from Lance Stroll, who scored just one point in the second half in Hungary, and you’re left with a very talented and expensive team well outside their potential. Things are so bad that we might be surprised to see Aston deliver a car good enough to make the top five again next year, or potentially cancel early to focus on 2026.
Rating: 4/10
alpine
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The Good: The team’s track transition was actually one of the most notable of the year. At the start of the season the car was nowhere to be found and, unlike many other teams, they had made no effort to build and improve reliability. However, Alpine improved from a 10th-place finish in the Stake battle to a double podium finish in Brazil and a repeat of 6th overall. The Esteban Ocon partnership may have fizzled out as Pierre Gasly and the race team have put in some very impressive performances of late.
Bad points: The improvements shouldn’t obscure where Alpine began and what was expected of it. Although it was a work uniform made by skilled workers, it became a laughing stock at the beginning of the season. Ocon’s decline in form suggests more than just a driver checking out before moving on, they still face uncertainty moving forward and no one will feel completely safe due to the presence of Flavio Briatore.
Rating: 5/10
Haas
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The Good: Haas, who were in a really poor position at the end of last year, now feel like a team on the rise with big ambitions. The appointment of Komatsu Ayao to replace Guenther Steiner raised eyebrows, but he proved to be an astute team leader who helped Haas make the most of what they had. Moreover, we now plan to grow rapidly through our partnership with Toyota. Haas would have finished a strong sixth in the standings if not for Alpine’s one-off weekend in Brazil. And we were very consistent in the second half of the year and made strong developments in automotive, an area where we have struggled recently.
Bad points: Haas didn’t need to make any major changes, but failed to hold on to Nico Hulkenberg earlier this year when he was weighing whether to stay or join Audi. He has been a major asset and now a completely new line-up will have to try to match the tone created by the German and Kevin Magnussen. Strategically they could be better, they might need to be a bit sharper on that front as the midfield isn’t going to get any easier.
Rating: 7.5/10
RB
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The Good: The fact that Yuki Tsunoda is still a member of the team. In terms of performance, he has been the best driver RB have had over the past few years, but he continues to be overlooked by Red Bull, meaning the team still has a fast and experienced head scoring most of the points. Cars were also very competitive at times.
Bad points: There are still many inconsistencies regarding RB, which is inevitable depending on the driver’s situation. The way Daniel Ricciardo’s transfer was handled – although largely Red Bull’s fault – was messy and distracting, and the management situation between Laurent Mekies and Peter Bayer appears to still be finding its sweet spot. The message is still confusing. Although Red Bull insists they are not a junior team, both teams talk about their role in developing young talent for the frontrunners. There are limits to what you can achieve and you feel like you are drifting.
Rating: 5.5/10
williams
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The Good: The FW46 was a clear improvement over its predecessor and was always a much better all-rounder capable of competing with other teams. Alex Albon once again put in a strong performance and Franco Colapinto’s discovery was a good one, but nowhere near his greatest achievement in persuading Carlos Sainz to join the project going forward.
Bad points: A better all-round car meant Williams lacked the peak of performance that could have resulted in big results, consistently finishing just outside the points. The initial vehicles were fast, but they were extremely heavy and arrived late, missing a great early opportunity and ultimately leading to the embarrassing withdrawal of the vehicles from Australia. Logan Sargeant’s year started off brutally with a Melbourne withdrawal, with too many crashes and errors from both drivers as of late. There are many things to do in winter.
Rating: 5/10
pile
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The Good: Stake Kick Sauber is a year closer to joining the Audi works team, and there have been positive shots at the end of the season as new lightweight wheel nuts turned around a disastrous pit stop situation prone to cross-threading due to high temperatures. In order to be competitive in the race conditions, we developed the car enough to score points in the final round, which we finally did in Qatar. Incumbent drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have only performed well out of hiding and may find it difficult, but the replacement pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto is a powerful combination.
Bad points: The car wasn’t competitive all year, and didn’t get much better in the closing stages. The pit stop situation in the early rounds was a mess, and there was a clear sense of uncertainty behind Andreas Seidl’s replacement (by the impressive Mattia Binotto, of course). It already feels like Audi has to catch up, they’ve made no effort to make a clear plan overall, and there’s little hope for around 2025. Of course, it couldn’t be much worse than this year.
Rating: 3/10
