The 2024 Formula 1“silly” season was a thrilling season with major rivalries, intense competition, and lots of drama within the paddock. This season held a record-breaking twenty-four races across the globe. Among the twenty drivers, specifically, two stuck out among the rest; Red bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris. These two drivers had an action-packed rivalry that became a focal point of the Drivers’ Championship. Verstappen, aiming for his fourth consecutive championship, was pushed to new heights in the title race as Norris attempted to dethrone him. This rivalry not only added much-needed excitement to the season after a horrible 2023 but kept fans on the edge of their seats until the very end.
Max Verstappen is a Dutch prodigy who has been the most dominant force in the sport since 2021. He began his debut in Formula 1 as a 17-year-old in 2015. He is known for his aggressive driving style and has won multiple championships. He is widely regarded as one of the sport’s best drivers. Norris on the other hand is a rising star from the UK. He debuted with McLaren in 2019 and made a name for himself rapidly. He secured his first Grand Prix Win earlier this year at the Miami Grand Prix.
The beginning of the 2024 season continued with Verstappen’s winning streak while Norris continued to consistently get podium finishes. However, their clashes began early in the season leading to amazing on-track battles. These battles were taken to whole new levels during races such as Austria, Austin, and Mexico.
In Austria, Verstappen made a controversial overtake which led to a heated exchange. The two drivers were on turn 3 when they made contact. Norris attempted an overtake but Verstappen defended aggressively leading to the collision that forced both of them off track. Verstappen was seen responsible and was given a 10-second penalty dropping him to fifth.
The tension only ended up carrying over to Austin where Verstappen was accused of unsportsmanlike attitude by Norris. Norris took the lead off the start but was pushed wide by Verstappen into the first corner, giving Leclerc an opening to take the lead. Norris managed to overtake Verstappen again later in the race but was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. This dropped him from third to fourth place. The penalty made Norris’ title fight even harder as he was behind Verstappen by fifty-seven points with 5 races remaining.
In Mexico, the situation only became worse as during the race Verstappen became aggressive with his driving which forced Norris off track twice. The first situation occurred at Turn 4, where Verstappen pushed Norris wide, and the second happened at Turn 8, where Verstappen left the track and gained an advantage. Both incidents resulted in two 10-second penalties for Verstappen along with two penalty points added to his license.
The race decider of the season was filled with intense races each of which had their heated moments. The Vegas circuit was the champion decider, featuring 50 laps of high-speed action. “It’s a terrible track to be the deciding race, it’s one of the worst on the calendar. I’d rather it be anywhere else, anywhere else but Vegas” (Joshua Shepherd, 10). The weekend started rocky for Red Bull as Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez both struggled with grip ending the first practice P5 and p10. The conditions were described as “slippery” and it was mentioned by Verstappen that the car felt like it was driving on ice. The Vegas GP had some of the coldest temperatures on track since the Canadian GP of 1978. Most of their struggles came in the low-speed corners. McLaren struggled with tire temperature as the cold and dusty conditions on the track made it hard to reach optimal temperature. The grip started to improve but McLaren struggled in the beginning to adapt to the conditions. Fine-tuning and balancing the handling of the car were also struggles that took time to sort out; however, the McLarens were able to achieve better results in the free practice sessions.
Come race day, Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive Driver’s Championship with Red Bull Racing by finishing 5th place in Vegas in front of Norris. Verstappen only needed to finish ahead of Norris to claim the title which he was able to do. “What a season. Four times. Thank you guys. I mean it was a little bit more difficult than last year but we pulled through and we gave it all” (Max Verstappen). He expressed his frustration with the RB20’s handling issues but was proud of how the team managed to defend his championship. Norris who finished behind Verstappen in the title fight had a remarkable season regardless. He admitted that his competition was fierce and that he was proud of the team’s ability to stay competitive.
