In what way does that affect the quality balance among the five driver lineups in Formula 1?
About Formula 1 Driver Line-Ups
The Formula 1 grid for 2024 is the same as the one that concluded in 2023. Although, over the last 12 months, some drivers’ stocks have drastically changed.
While one rookie played just enough to warrant a second season, another exceeded all expectations. Even among the seasoned drivers, there were unexpected developments.
5 ALPINE (NO CHANGE )
Our contributors all agree that Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon are a good mix. However, Straw describes their combo as “lacking a consistent cutting-edge.”
Mitchell-Malm saw it as “a driver pairing perfect for the fifth or sixth best team in Formula 1. Albeit with the same potential for some excellent peaks. Suttill described it as “a well-balanced midfield line-up. Alpine would have traded for another year with Alonso in a heartbeat”.
Beer is ranked sixth and expressed the greatest skepticism. He said it was “hard to be confident they’re getting the most out of the Alpine”.
Though it wasn’t always easy, Ben Anderson (“the best line-up outside of the top teams”) and Benyon (“they worked together better than I was expecting in 2023. Even if it wasn’t all plain sailing. That shows they can work for the good of the team, too”) had slightly more optimistic assessments. Reynolds’s “I don’t think either is elite. However, as a pairing, they are quick and dependable” summed up a mild sense of ambivalence towards this pairing.
4 RED BULL (Driver Line-Ups down 1)
The Red Bull team only places fourth in all but one of the nine individual rankings. It means their lineup, which won the Drive Mad 2 World championship, doesn’t rank highest overall.
“In the end, Verstappen is so brilliant. He offers the buoyancy to take this Formula 1 line-up to the top for me. But Perez is undoubtedly a worse number two than at least Mercedes and Ferrari have. Even with Perez as a ballast, he’s so obviously superior to the competition right now. I’d pick him over the other lineups.” Gary Anderson held a completely other opinion, ranking them tenth because of Perez’s ongoing disadvantage. “I don’t think there is another driver on the grid that could match Verstappen in a car. It is to his liking,” Anderson stated. “Perez might be among the few in a different vehicle that the other driver liked. Red Bull, however, will go in the path Verstappen has asked for over the past few seasons for the time being. “Essentially, Perez needs to improve and adjust. It’s really sink or swim time in 2024.”
The remaining seven donors decided to place them in fourth place. Verstappen is “a stunningly good number one,” according to Mitchell-Malm, but “it’s about time Perez accepts all he can be is a decent number two.” Benyon was the one who made the controversial decision to rank Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez as the top line-up on the grid. “I know I’ll get a few head scratches for this, but the biggest factor in Perez not holding his own in this driver line-up is a proven strategy of developing the car towards and prioritizing Verstappen’s traits,” Benyon said.
Beer feels that Perez “would probably be looking far more impressive in an upper midfield team, leading it to against-the-odds podiums, than he does floundering behind Verstappen”. And that Verstappen is “carrying the team”. Ben Anderson concurred, saying, “Verstappen, like Alonso, is doing the most of the heavy lifting here. If you take out Perez, you could really declare this to be the greatest lineup on the grid. based on Verstappen’s 2023 individual performance!” However, Straw’s statement, “For all Verstappen’s undoubted brilliance, the one thing he can’t do is drive both cars, which combined with Perez’s struggles dents the Red Bull line-up’s potency,” may have best captured the opinions of the majority.
3 MCLAREN (Driver Line-Ups 1)
Oscar Piastri’s incredible rookie season in Formula One and Lando Norris’s growth will be the main reasons for McLaren’s one-place increase in our standings throughout 2023. Ben Anderson and Gary Anderson even found it sufficient to rank them first. “Lando has the experience and Oscar has the hunger of youth. Therefore, they will drive each other to new heights in 2024,” stated Gary Anderson.
Although Piastri is in his second year and no longer the new kid in town, I believe he is a remarkable talent with a lot of room to grow.” “Yeah, I agree with Lando—McLaren has the best driver lineup on the current grid,” Ben Anderson continued. Piastri, who is currently giving Norris a difficult time, appears to have the makings of a very remarkable driver.” This lineup was “the fastest combination on outright pace,” according to Mitchell-Malm, “but Piastri needs to make a step in races and Norris has some qualifying errors to eliminate.” Suttill agreed, claiming that Piastri’s lack of racecraft was what kept this lineup from outperforming Mercedes and Ferrari. That being said, I wouldn’t be shocked if McLaren topped our list in 2025. Norris and Piastri will have moved on by then,” he said.
In near unison, Beer made a similar statement: You could make a strong case for this being the best lineup on the grid-based only on potential. However, Norris tends to miss opportunities too easily, while Piastri’s still very much a rookie with plenty of rough edges on race days.”
2 FERRARI (NO CHANGE)
Ferrari managed to secure the top slot from two out of the nine contributors. However, it was insufficient to prevent the lineup that topped our list in 2021 from finishing third consecutively. Beer chose it to win: “Though they don’t seem to often peak at the same time (is it actually possible to make a car/set-up that suits them both?), Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz offered more evidence than ever in 2023 of how outstanding their peaks can be.”The drive of the year went to Leclerc for his tenacious heroics in Las Vegas. They are sorely in need of a title-calibre vehicle.”
Leclerc and Sainz are “the most exquisitely-balanced Formula 1 driver line-up in terms of complementary skills on the grid”. According to Straw, who showered the pair with accolades. Leclerc is the faster of the two when everything is going well and Sainz is very nearly on his level. It’s a potent weapon in a championship match.” Mitchell-Malm thought Mercedes and McLaren had more potential. However, she nevertheless believed that they were “the most complementary” pair of drivers.
With Ferrari “a very close third,” Benyon felt he had to finish third as well since “Ferrari’s inconsistency has masked some of the talent on show here, just look at Leclerc’s unfair pole conversion rate as an example.”
“The first of the top line-ups with a clear number one/number two dynamic emerging,” said Ben Anderson. While Sainz is performing admirably, Leclerc is superior to him in certain situations. Suttill referred to Leclerc as “the best qualifier in Formula One” and declared that Mercedes and Ferrari were “a real toss-up” for the top spot.
Although there wasn’t much between the Ferrari duo in terms of points in 2023, Gary Anderson predicts Leclerc will be the standout performer in 2024. “I believe Leclerc has a greater potential to benefit from the equipment if it is more appropriate for both drivers. In actuality, the team will always tilt toward him because he is the star driver.”
1 MERCEDES (NO CHANGE)
For the third consecutive year, the Mercedes team maintains its top standing in our rankings, but with less of an advantage.
This is partly because of an uneven 2023 season in which George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in particular experienced weekends when they were apart from their teammate. Gary Anderson, who finished third, summarized, saying, “Actually it’s very difficult to assess these two, because of the lack of consistency from their equipment.” “When Hamilton has a car that gives him what he wants then he is going to be difficult to beat while Russell is happier with a less-than-perfect car.”
In comparison to 2023, Beer, Straw, Benyon, and Ben Anderson all moved Mercedes down to second place in their rankings. “Last season created quite a few question marks about both Mercedes drivers,” Beer said. “Not enough, though, to move them all the way down my list. Not when the overwhelming evidence from their previous careers indicates that Hamilton still has more title fights in him and Russell has the potential to be a champion.” Ben Anderson believes both Mercedes drivers still have a lot of potential. Although their mistakes from the previous year, he handed the nod to McLaren this year.
“Hamilton was below his best through the final races of 2023. However the real him is still lurking in there somewhere – and Russell is occasionally error-prone but basically as fast as Lewis over one lap,” he stated. Four out of the nine contributors, nevertheless, continue to think Mercedes is the finest F1 lineup. Even if every driver is operating at their best, this combination ought to be the best one. Suttill stated: “This is the only lineup in which both drivers could challenge for and win an F1 title . With the right car and without a change in teammate. The question is whether they can be less erratic than last year.” Mitchell-Malm concurred. “Hamilton’s presence puts Mercedes over Ferrari for the best line-up in Formula 1 – but it’s close,” claims Reynolds, contrasting Hamilton with Ferrari.
