Back in February, I made my Predictions for what the 2024 Formula 1 Grid would look like. It’s safe to say that article is my most successful yet as it currently (as of writing) has 1,274 views and it’s still on the first page of Google (it was top at one point)! Still, I’m not necessarily sure if that means my Predictions have got any better though. Also, the format of this list was how confident I was about each Team’s pairing.
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
I couldn’t see any way that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz wouldn’t be teammates at Ferrari in 2024 and that proved to be correct. Both Charles and Carlos had positive seasons and they’ll be looking to compete for more victories in 2024.
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Unless something crazy happened, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were never going to leave Aston Martin at the end of the 2023 F1 Season. Fernando had a great year overall whilst Lance showed glimpses of talent, and I can honestly see these being Aston’s line-up for quite a while.
Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
I was pretty confident about Lewis Hamilton and George Russell sticking around with Mercedes for 2024, and I think the only reason I didn’t have this pairing first on my list was simply down to thinking that Lewis would probably retire had he won his 8th World Championship (he obviously didn’t). I am interested to see what happens heading into 2025 though.
Alpine: Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly
Given Esteban Ocon’s run with Alpine/Renault since 2020 and Pierre Gasly only just joining them, it felt like it would be very odd for Alpine to change their Driver line-up heading into 2024. That was proven to be true, and I honestly see no reason why Alpine would change their two drivers unless in the foreseeable future unless one of them decides to leave (that’s more likely to be Gasly).
McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
The idea of McLaren getting rid of Lando Norris or dropping Oscar Piastri after just one year seemed pretty ridiculous and given how both guys performed this year, I think it would be even more ridiculous to go with anything else for next year. However, the reason why McLaren weren’t higher on this list was simply because I thought Lando would be the one to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes if Lewis chose to retire (which he didn’t).
Williams: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant
I felt very confident about Alex Albon staying at Williams due to there not really being anywhere else for him to go. As for Logan Sargeant, even though he didn’t do as well as I expected him to, I still thought Logan would stay with Williams simply down to loyalty. Loyalty won’t keep Sargeant there in 2025 though.
Haas: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg
Whilst I was correct to keep Haas’ line-up the same, I wasn’t very confident about it, particularly regarding Kevin Magnussen. I expected Nico Hulkenberg to have a good year, but I was worried about Magnussen losing his seat due to being beaten by his teammate. However, like I said then, there weren’t really any options for Haas going into 2024, but I think that will be a very different story come this time next year.
Sauber: Valtteri Bottas and Theo Pourchaire
I fully expected Theo Pourchaire would find his way onto the Formula 1 Grid with Sauber for 2024 given his connections with the team. I then picked Valtteri Bottas to stay over Zhou Guanyu simply down to Bottas having more experience. In the end, both Valtteri and Zhou are sticking around for 2024, but I would argue that Sauber have made a mistake there.
Alpha Tauri: Nyck de Vries and Dennis Hauger
Oh gosh, I will never not be able to do a Predictions article without having at least one stinker! I expected Nyck de Vries to beat Yuki Tsunoda which would win Nyck the seat over Yuki. However, that obviously didn’t happen. I also predicted Dennis Hauger to win the Formula 2 Championship which didn’t come anywhere near close to happening, and in the end, Alpha Tauri’s 2024 line-up is Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo so I was completely wrong!
Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo
This was my boldest Prediction by far, and whilst I was wrong, I wasn’t a million miles off at some points in the season. I thought Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez would clash a lot which would result in Red Bull getting rid of Checo (who ultimately retired from Formula 1). However, I then had the dilemma of who would replace Perez and I went with Daniel Ricciardo simply because Red Bull knew/know how to set up a car for him. I should also mention that part of the reason why I went for Danny Ric was simply because there weren’t really any other options, and yeah, there’s a reason why this was my least confident Prediction.
Comments