F1 2024 grid guide: Assessing every driver and team ahead of the new season

A rare facet of the 2024 Formula One season is how the driver line-up on the grid is completely unchanged from last year.

With no rookies or returning veterans to mix things up, the result is every team and its racers being directly comparable to their efforts of 2023.

Several are fighting for their futures with the silly season for next year already kicked off by Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari.

Here, we assess how the grid is set ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

After finishing sixth in the constructors’ championship, the team have gone for a dramatic change of concept with their car.

Pierre Gasly: Partnership with Esteban Ocon is one of the strongest in F1, even if they don’t always see eye to eye. Gasly edged the all-French contest last season by four points.

Esteban Ocon: Among those linked with Lewis Hamilton’s seat at Mercedes. He knows he needs a strong start to the year to make that a possibility.

Had an electric start to last season with Fernando Alonso at the wheel. They tailed off as the season carried on, but have looked good in testing.

Fernando Alonso: The 42-year-old, with seven podium finishes on his way to finishing fourth in the championship last season, has no plans to hang up his overalls yet.

Lance Stroll: A huge disparity between the Canadian and Alonso — 206 points to 74 — but owner Lawrence Stroll has kept his son in a seat.

There is genuine excitement at Ferrari over the direction of the team. Signing Lewis Hamilton for 2025 will give them a boost.

Charles Leclerc: Extended his contract to partner Hamilton next term. A consistent top-five finisher for most of the latter part of last year.

Carlos Sainz: Dropped for 2025 when Ferrari got whiff of Hamilton’s availability, Spaniard needs a good season to earn himself a new drive of note.

After a struggle last season, the team need a regroup under Ayao Komatsu, who replaced Guenther Steiner, the larger-than-life star of Drive to Survive, as team principal.

Kevin Magnussen: The Dane warned his team not to have “unrealistic optimism” going into Bahrain. He expects a climb up the grid during the season.

Nico Hulkenberg: He has lost a key ally in Steiner, but hopes Komatsu will have a similar impact to James Vowles at Williams.

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New name and a new look, with the team in green and black livery. Much rests on James Key, the technical boss arriving from McLaren.

Zhou Guanyu: The first Chinese driver in F1 admits he has struggled with the expectation of a nation. Picked up three points finishes last year.

Valtteri Bottas: The Finn’s car blew hot and cold last season, and he had to make do with 10 points and 15th in the drivers’ standings.

Later in the season, McLaren were the best of the rest. CEO Zak Brown has performed a massive rebuild. Expect steady improvement.

Lando Norris: Briton staked his hopes on McLaren, rejecting suitors by signing a long-term deal. Seen as the man to bring the world titles back.

Oscar Piastri: There were questions over the Australian when he joined. Norris may have scored double his points, but he ended the season with podiums in Japan and Qatar.

Suffered a seismic shock when Lewis Hamilton announced he would be leaving to join Ferrari for 2025 — hardly a vote of confidence in the team.

Lewis Hamilton: It’s the beginning of the end for Hamilton at the team where he’s won six world titles. He hopes a switch to Ferrari can bring number eight, but is determined to end on a high at Mercedes.

George Russell: Mercedes will now build the team around the younger Brit. After an impressive first season, he struggled at times last year. Needs to close the gap on Hamilton more regularly.

They may be the most ludicrously named in the history of F1, but hopes are high that Red Bull’s B team can slowly rise through the ranks.

Daniel Ricciardo: Driverless until the then AlphaTauri team lost patience with Nyck de Vries. The Australian’s reputation improved with some impressive displays.

Yuki Tsunoda: Previously regarded as something of a hot-head prone to crashes by his critics, he has matured, picking up four points-scoring finishes last season.

Pre-season should have been straightforward, but team principal Christian Horner has been in the midst of an investigation. The team should still run away with both titles.

Max Verstappen: Dutchman looks a cert for a fourth straight drivers’ title. Word is Adrian Newey and Co have extricated even more pace from the quickest car on the grid.

Sergio Perez: After a stunning start last season, the Mexican fell away. Red Bull have stuck with him for this year, but knows he needs to raise his game.

Team boss James Vowles has announced “absolutely enormous” changes to the car concept. There is growing optimism from the one-time backmarkers on the grid.

Alex Albon: Impressive 13th place in the standings helped catapult Williams to seventh and earned Albon admiring glances from Mercedes.

Logan Sergeant: The American rookie struggled last year and there were a series of crashes and incidents. Williams have stuck with him, despite earning just one point last season.

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