So far, the greatness of the 2024 F1 season can be talked about and expressed in many different ways.
Probably lots of gestures too.
Let’s start with the smile. Daniel Ricciardo’s smile may be the most famous on the entire grid, but that smile was gone at the start of the season. It wasn’t there when Ricciardo spoke to the media on Thursday ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, but it returned when Ricciardo took an impressive fourth place in the Formula 1 Shootout before the Miami Grand Prix, and then defended that position to finish fourth in the Formula 1 Sprint race.
The smile was still there when Ricciardo spoke to the media after the race, after another difficult qualifying session at the Miami Grand Prix, with the glow of his result in the F1 sprint race still fresh in everyone’s minds.
The story of the 2024 F1 season is told through this embrace: Oliver Bearman and his father When the young driver made his F1 debut in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, replacing the ill Carlos Sainz Jr., out of the SF-24, Bearman not only finished the race in the points, but also finished in seventh place, holding off both Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton in the closing stages.
Speaking of those two Englishmen…
The new chapter of the 2024 F1 season so far can be told through three sighs felt in the paddock and around the world: when Ricciardo’s trademark smile returned in Miami, and when Lando Norris shook off the nickname “Lando Norwins” that was attached to him when he took his first F1 victory there.
And finally, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief at the top of the podium.
A few weeks later, there was a similar relief in Monte Carlo: after so many heartbreaking endings and disappointments in his home races, Charles Leclerc finally won the Monaco Grand Prix in the city where he learned to drive as a child, and a sigh of relief echoed throughout the Principality: the local prince was finally king.
Then there was Silverstone.
Lewis Hamilton has had eight wins at the British Grand Prix, but this Sunday was different: it wasn’t a victory that came in the midst of a winning streak and championship, but during an era of Silver Arrows dominance.
No, it was a victory that came after years of wondering if Hamilton would ever win again. But that Sunday, another beloved son, a local hero, one of the sport’s greatest drivers of all time, culminated at Silverstone after nearly 1,000 days without a win.
It was his home race, his final one with Mercedes, and years of doubt, wondering if it would ever happen again, were erased with an incredible drive and a mighty sigh.
Of course, there are other gestures that can tell the story of the first half of the season, like the smiles exchanged between Norris and friend and rival Max Verstappen in the cool-down room at Silverstone after the British Grand Prix, or Verstappen putting his hand on Norris’ shoulder just after the race finished. A week after the wheel-touch that reverberated around the sporting world, sparked by their sudden rivalry in Austria, the friends exchanged quiet words of remembrance and raised the question of what happens next.
What happened since then? A return to tough and fair racing and the perception that a title fight was on the horizon.
In the end, it’s the wink that says it all about the first 12-race weekend of the 2024 Formula 1 season. It’s the wink that Ferrari team principal Frédéric Vasseur directed at me after speaking with the media in Miami on Sunday night. The reason for that wink? The quiet confidence of a team boss who had just finished telling me how teams like McLaren, Mercedes and, of course, Ferrari had closed the gap on Red Bull and were finally starting to put the pressure on the defending constructors’ champion. The wink was clear, and so was the message.
The battle on the front lines has begun.
Red Bull may ultimately win this battle, but they will have to win it if they want to secure a third consecutive constructors’ championship.
We’re halfway through a dramatic F1 season that has brought many twists and turns to its story, but there are more to come.
We are witnessing what could be four title battles between Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes: four giants of the sport, four legendary teams, fighting for glory.
Max Verstappen certainly looks like he has all the makings of a Drivers’ Champion, but the title race is still up in the air and he is clearly the favourite to win, and could either win again or put in another strong showing at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix to chip away at his rivals.
But that may not happen, and the title certainly won’t stick the way it has in recent years.
F1 seasons in recent years have felt more like a coronation than anything else: in the Red Bull garage, the team and one of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history have secured yet another victory, slowly building towards the inevitable celebration.
But this season feels different: While the celebrations may be the same in the fall, they’ll be a lot harder to come by.
There’s plenty to play for and plenty of uncertainty as the grid heads into the second half of this season. Battles are being waged on and off the grid, with drivers fighting for their legacies and their future in the sport. And with a schedule that will take the sport from Hungary to Abu Dhabi and everywhere in between, there are 12 gruelling race weekends left to decide it all.
Welcome to the Hungarian Grand Prix, what could be a fantastic start to the second half of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
