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The final edition of our Formula 1 driver rankings for the 2024 season comes with an unusually low placement for the campaign's clear standout driver.
That, though, is more a reflection of the grid by and large performing quite well across the board at Yas Marina, despite the fatigue built up over the preceding 23 rounds.
How do the rankings work? The 20 drivers will be ranked in order of performance from best to worst on each grand prix weekend. This will be based on the full range of criteria, ranging from pace and racecraft to consistency and whether they made key mistakes. How close each driver got to delivering on the maximum performance potential of the car will be an essential consideration.
It's important to note both that this reflects performance across the entire weekend, cognisant of the fact that qualifying is effectively 'lap 0' of the race and key to laying the foundations to the race, and that it is not a ranking of the all-round qualities of each driver. It's simply about how they performed on a given weekend. Therefore, the ranking will fluctuate significantly from weekend to weekend.
And with each of the 10 cars fundamentally having different performance potential and 'luck' (ie factors outside of a driver's control) contributing to the way the weekend plays out, this ranking will also differ significantly from the overall results.
Started: 1st Finished: 1st
This was a classic example of a weekend where a driver got the most out of the best car, adding up to a dominant weekend.
That didn’t look like a foregone conclusion in qualifying, which proved trickier than anticipated, although Lando Norris ultimately bagged a comfortable pole. He converted that into a well-executed win, controlling the gap in the first stint and ensuring a comfortable finish in the second.
Verdict: On top all weekend.
Started: 16th Finished: 4th
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes farewell weekend was a strong one on which he may even have had the pace to threaten Norris.
He looked the quicker of the Mercedes drivers and would have breezed through to Q2 but for Kevin Magnussen flicking a bollard under his car on Hamilton’s final lap.
He executed the race well, running long on hards and being rewarded with fourth place after passing George Russell on the last lap.
Verdict: Result didn’t do him justice.
Started: 8th Finished: 9th
Given Aston Martin’s struggles, to put the car in Q3 and bag a couple of points added up to a strong weekend for Fernando Alonso. That didn’t look possible on Friday but a big step forward came on Saturday.
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He ran sixth early on in the race, inevitably falling behind Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Hamilton but staying ahead of the closing Oscar Piastri late on.
Verdict: Got everything out of the car.
Started: 3rd Finished: 2nd
Led the charge for Ferrari and while it might have been possible to split the McLarens in qualifying, he couldn’t have done much more in the race.
It wasn’t enough for Ferrari’s constructors’ championship hopes, but it ensured he signed off his successful Ferrari stint on a relative high.
Verdict: Close to the maximum.
Started: 5th Finished: 7th
Pierre Gasly capped his outstanding end to the season with another outstanding qualifying-and-race performance.
He even ran third early on, although the combination of the pace advantage of the top teams and the fact his mission was to cover the threat of Haas and RB in the fight for sixth in the championship meant he slipped to seventh. That amounted to a ‘victory’ in the midfield fight.
Verdict: Another strong weekend.
Started: 19th Finished: 3rd
Leclerc was genuinely quick behind the wheel of the Ferrari, albeit probably not quick enough to do anything about Norris. But his weekend turned on a 10-place grid penalty for a battery change and a track limits violation in Q2 that left him at the back of the grid.
His recovery was outstanding, with a leap to eighth on lap one and the subsequent charge to third.
Verdict: Minor Q2 error counts against him.
Started: 7th Finished: 8th
Hulkenberg was on great form and kept Haas in the mix in the battle for sixth in the constructors’ championship. That was a battle he couldn’t win, not helped by the three-place grid penalty for overtaking in the pit exit that cost him a startling fourth on the grid.
His race was well-executed, as he pressured Gasly despite not being able to challenge him. The only negative was that penalty, although as he says “circumstances pushed us into it” given the risk of not getting a lap in amid the Q1 pitlane traffic jam.
Verdict: Finished on a high.
Started: 18th Finished: 11th
By his own admission, he didn’t get everything out of the car in qualifying - though that made little difference given the five-place grid penalty he was carrying.
But he drove a strong race, getting within six laps of hanging onto points on a one-stopper before being passed by two-stopping Alonso and the rapid Piastri in the closing stages.
Verdict: Kept Williams in the hunt on Sunday.
Started: 6th Finished: 5th
Russell had a tricky weekend, running an experimental suspension design in order to make it eligible for use in the post-season test.
He qualified and raced well, but ultimately didn’t have the pace of team-mate Hamilton, slipping behind him to fifth place on the last lap.
Verdict: A good, solid weekend.
Started: 11th Finished: 12th
The RB didn’t quite have the pace of Alpine, Haas or Alonso’s Aston Martin in the midfield battle, but Yuki Tsunoda did a good job to qualify 11th.
Unfortunately, his race was ruined by a disastrous launch that he put down to a clutch problem. That was confirmed by the fact he also encountered a clutch glitch in the pits, with team boss Laurent Mekies also referencing a problem.
Verdict: Start disaster ruined his points shot.
Started: 17th Finished: 15h
Doohan’s early F1 debut wasn’t the heroic and eye-catching outing of his dreams, but it was clean and tidy. Qualifying started promisingly as he was only one tenth off Gasly after the first runs before any hope of a Q2 place was harpooned by the traffic chaos at the start of his final lap.
His race pace was respectable, but inevitably off Gasly’s speed - and he never threatened the points.
Verdict: An educational experience.
Started: 12th Finished: 17th
Having lapped only half a tenth off Tsunoda in qualifying, Lawson led the RB charge in the first stint and even briefly ran in the points.
But a problem attaching the left front tyre properly at his first pitstop, forced an immediate return to the pits and earning him another visit for the resulting stop/go, put him a lap down before an engine problem forced him out late on.
Despite the problems, he described it as “probably one of the best races I’ve driven”.
Verdict: Not to blame for race woes.
Started: 20th Finished: DNF
He qualified just a tenth off Alex Albon, which added up to last on the grid thanks to a five-place grid penalty not of his making.
His race was effectively over on the first lap when he was hit in the rear by Piastri, suffering a puncture and sustaining damage - but he showed good pace once he’d returned to the track before retiring with a power unit problem.
Verdict: Low-profile, quick but unlucky.
Started: 10th Finished: DNF
This wasn’t a bad weekend for Sergio Perez in terms of performance despite struggling with a car he couldn’t balance up given he made it to Q3 and qualified about three tenths off his team-mate, albeit with the caveat Verstappen didn’t deliver the pace he could have done in qualifying.
His race was short-lived, with a loss of drive at Turn 6 that led to contact with Bottas that was incidental to his retirement.
Verdict: A relatively good weekend by recent standards.
Started: 14th Finished: 16th
What will probably be Kevin Magnussen’s F1 farewell was almost a microcosm of his career - with misfortune, mistakes and on-paper results that shrouded his true performance level. He was as quick as Nico Hulkenberg but jumping out of the way of Hamilton, who he hadn’t been warned about, in Q1 led to damage from the bollard he hit.
He was mauled by Bottas after his second pitstop on Sunday.
Verdict: Better than the results suggest.
Started: 2nd Finished: 10th
In line with the recent trend, Piastri was a small step behind team-mate Norris on pace. But with the constructors’ championship on the line, he did the job needed by backing up Norris to round out a McLaren one-two in qualifying.
The Turn 1 spin after contact with Verstappen wasn’t his fault, but subsequently clobbering the back of Colapinto was, earning him a 10-second penalty that ensured he only recovered to 10th.
Verdict: Unfortunate but also untidy.
Started: 15th Finished: 13th
Zhou would certainly have at least joined Bottas in Q2 had he not been sent out at the front of the queue in Q1, denying him a tow that would have ensured he advanced.
His race was well-executed, but a five-second penalty for a jump start caused by the car moving in the grid box didn’t help his cause.
Verdict: A frustrating Sauber farewell.
Started: 13th Finished: 14th
This was another quiet weekend for Stroll, who was well off his team-mate’s pace in qualifying. However, after jumping to ninth on the opening lap his race pace was decent and he came home 12th after being overhauled by faster cars.
What damages his ranking is the five-second penalty for track limits, which cost him two places.
Verdict: Nothing special.
Started: 4th Finished: 6th
With nothing left to play for and little realistic chance of winning, Verstappen opted for a maximum attack approach in both qualifying and, particularly at the first corner, in the race. It didn’t pay off.
But given he was in a car he described as “never really planted”, the fact he had the pace to challenge for a front-row start proves he was as quick as ever. And he can be forgiven a bad weekend with nothing at stake at the end of a brilliant season.
Verdict: Attacking approach backfired.
Started: 9th Finished: DNF
Bottas was delighted with qualifying, putting the vastly-improved Sauber into Q3 thanks to the gains from a floor upgrade.
But what might be his final grand prix didn’t go well as he was hit with a harsh 10-second penalty for contact with Sergio Perez that was partly caused by the Red Bull's sudden loss of power - then an entirely deserved grid penalty for clobbering Magnussen.
Verdict: The race went badly wrong.
