It’s barely been three months since Max Verstappen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but the 2024 Formula 1 season is already upon us. The new campaign gets off to a bizarre start thanks to the relative lack of drama at the top of the grid. Red Bull Racing was so dominant last season—the team won 20 grands prix—that it’s hard to imagine anyone, even Mercedes or Ferrari, catching up with them this season. But the best part of sports is that things rarely go as planned, even in Formula 1. We’re 15 years removed from Jenson Button claiming one of the most unexpected titles in the championship’s history. Regardless, as Netflix’s Drive to Survive has shown us, F1 is about more than just who wins. With that in mind, here’s a rundown of all the cars that will be part of the grid in 2024.
-
Red Bull Racing RB20
Image Credit: Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing would appear to be sitting pretty after completing one of the most dominant season in the competition’s history (it won 20 of last year’s 22 grand prix). That didn’t stop the team from trying to iron out a few kinks with its 2024 car, RB 20. So far the early signs are good, with the car performing excellently in pre-season testing. It also helps that Red Bull still has three-time-defending driver’s champ Max Verstappen in one its cars (teammate Sergio Perez is no slouch, despite some of last season’s struggles). The biggest question as the season starts is if the misconduct allegations surrounding team principal Christian Horner prove to be a distraction—which it almost certainly will, thanks to Max’s father—even after team has cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Red Bull Racing RB20
Red Bull Racing
Racing Since: 2005
Principal: Christian Horner
Drivers: Max Verstappen (1st place last season) and Sergio Perez (2nd)
Team Titles: 6
Last Season: 1st -
Mercedes-AMG Petronas W15
Image Credit: Mercedes-AMG Petronas After two years of spent dealing with serious design issues, Mercedes-AMG Petronas will hope they finally have things right this season. The new race car, W15, is a new concept and has performed well enough in testing. The team may have finished second last year, but we imagine principal Toto Wolff would love to get Lewis Hamilton his record-breaking eighth driver’s championship in his final season with the team before switching over to Ferrari. Mercedes’s other driver, George Russell, also wouldn’t mind a strong season that shows his team they’re still in good hands.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas W15
Mercedes-AMG Petronas
Racing Since: 1954 (2010 for AMG Petronas)
Principal: Toto Wolff
Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (3rd) and George Russell (8th)
Team Titles: 8
Last Season: 2nd -
Ferrari SF-24
Image Credit: Ferrari Mercedes may feel like they’re on the right path, but there may be no team better equipped to catch Red Bull than Ferrari. The oldest and winningest team on the grid believes it has solved the pace, cornering, and tire-wear issues that plagued it last season with the new SF-24 car, and it would appear its drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz agree. Still, it will be a strange year for Ferrari. Next year, the legendary Hamilton will join the team, displacing Sainz. We imagine the Spaniard wouldn’t mind using this year’s grand prix to remind the rest of the field of his worth.
Ferrari SF-24
Ferrari
Racing Since: 1950
Principal: Frédéric Vasseur
Drivers: Charles Leclerc (5th) and Carlos Sainz (7th)
Team Titles: 16
Last Season: 3rd -
McLaren MCL61
Image Credit: McLaren If any team is going to crack the front three’s grip on their spots this season, it’s most likely to be McLaren. Although last year’s car got off to a rough start, it was the second fastest behind only Red Bull down the stretch. Team principal Andrea Stella would like to build on this and will hope that the lessons learned from the team’s new wind tunnel can drive this year’s car, MCL38, to success. He’d love to see either (or both) Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri win their first race, especially since that will bring even more attention to the team’s new Papaya-heavy livery.
McLaren MCL61
McLaren
Racing Since: 1966
Principal: Andrea Stella
Drivers: Lando Norris (6th) and Oscar Piastri (9th)
Team Titles: 8
Last Season: 4th -
Aston Martin AMR24
Image Credit: Aston Martin Like McLaren, Aston Martin will be looking to build on the progress it made in 2023. This season’s entry, AMR24, is the first F1 car built at the automaker’s new AMF1 Technology Campus in Silverstone, England. Unless something has gone awry in the offseason—there were no signs of this in pre-season testing—it should be one of the more well-balanced (as well as one of the best-looking) cars on the grid. The team remains ever thankful to have Alonso in one of its driver seats, as the Spaniard gives it a chance at making the podium every single race.
Aston Martin AMR24
Aston Martin
Racing Since: 1959 (2021 for Aston Martin F1)
Principal: Mike Krack
Drivers: Fernando Alonso (4th) and Lance Stroll (10th)
Team Titles: 0
Last Season: 5th -
Alpine A524
Image Credit: Alpine No one would call the buzz currently surrounding Alpine positive, but it’s hard to imagine things going any worse than last year. The 2023 season was one of disappointment for the team and culminated in the July firing of former team principal Otmar Szafnauer. His replacement, Bruno Famin, needs to find a way to reverse course. A new car, A524, was a bit sluggish in testing, but Famin can rely on a pair of drivers in Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, who’ve already tasted race victory despite having spent their careers racing for mid-table teams.
Alpine A524
Alpine
Racing Since: 2021
Principal: Bruno Famin
Drivers: Pierre Gasly (11th) and Esteban Ocon (12th)
Team Titles: 0
Last Season: 6th -
Williams FW46
Image Credit: Williams Seventh place may seem like nothing write home about, but it was a huge show of progress for Williams. Team principal James Vowles will be looking to build upon this in his second year in charge of the once-great team. He and the rest of the folks at Williams seem well aware that the path back to victory lane is a long one, but they’ll hope that their new car, FW46, and returning drivers Logan Sargeant (the competition’s sole American) and Alexander Albon can help keep them at the front of the rear pack.
Williams FW46
Williams
Racing Since: 1977
Principal: James Vowles
Drivers: Alexander Albon (13th) and Logan Sargeant (21st)
Titles: 9
Last Season: 7th -
RB VCARB 01
Image Credit: Visa Cash App RB The big story here is the new branding. The team’s third name since it began racing in 2006—after Toro Rosso and AlphaTauri—has turned its new car, the VCARB 01, into a speed billboard. A new livery isn’t all that’s different about this ride, though. It also has a new suspension setup that puts it more in line with big brother Red Bull Racing’s car. The team’s new principal, Laurent Mekies, will hope the change can give drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda the boost they need to earn more points this season.
Visa Cash App RB VCARB 01
Visa Cash App RB
Racing Since: 2006 (first as Visa Cash App RB)
Principal: Laurent Mekies
Drivers: Yuki Tsunoda (14th) and Daniel Ricciardo (17th)
Team Titles: 0
Last Season: 8th -
Kick Sauber C44
Image Credit: Stake Kick Sauber Visa Cash App RB isn’t the only new name on the grid in 2024. Sauber will be taken over by Audi in 2026, but until then it’s brought in Kick, a video-streaming service backed by a casino company, to take the place of Alfa Romeo. Aside from that, the most notable thing about the team’s new car, C44, is its neon-green livery. Expect it to stand out, especially if drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu can crack the top 10 more often in 2024.
Stake Kick Sauber C44
Stake Kick Sauber
Racing Since: 1993
Principal: Andreas Seidel
Drivers: Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas
Team Titles: 0
Last Season: 9th -
Haas VF-24
Image Credit: Haas New team principal Ayao Komatsu, who replaces Guenther Steiner, has a huge job on his hands. Last season couldn’t have gone worse for Haas, which spent the majority of its time ineffectually fighting debilitating tire-wear issues. The new car, VF-24, looks better equipped to finish races in 2024. Still, Komatsu and drivers Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg will need to do more than that if they want to convince team owner Gene Haas that the team is making concrete progress.
Haas VF-24
Haas
Racing Since: 2016
Principal: Ayao Komatsu
Drivers: Kevin Magnussen (19th) and Nico Hülkenberg (16th)
Team Titles: 0
Last Season: 10th
