51 replies to this topic

[Disgrace]

That was a bit better than expected, no? The sheer dominance of 2023 was left behind and we had four teams in the mix.

 

Lots of storylines, off-track intrigue (not all good...), fairytale results, new winners, and a reshuffling of the deck for 2025.

 

However, the Max vs. Lando duel for the title was a bit of a stillbirth, and the FIA and the stewards, well... 

 

I thought it was one of the best seasons in recent years, enough to keep me engaged until the end, despite the comical length of the calendar.

 

It's a 7/10 from me. Thoughts?

[jonklug]

Come on it was fun. Multiple winners, best car changing a lot of the times from track to track, nobody expected such a competitive year. 9/10 for me

[noikeee]

A solid 8. The performance swinging between 4 different teams was very exciting and rare, and the racing was good. The championship battle was a bit of a damp squib, but, good fun to watch still.

[FullThrottleF1]

I give it an 8, but it's probably more like 7.8

[FLB]

That was a bit better than expected, no? 

A *bit* better than expected?

 

How about *A LOT* better than expected! 

[Anuity]

The season was very nice, but ultimately way too long for me to follow it in detail.

i would give it a 7 just because of it.

[FullThrottleF1]

The season was very nice, but ultimately way too long for me to follow it in detail.
i would give it a 7 just because of it.

I really do feel like 25 races is the ,imit to what people can put up with

[Ali623]

Probably a solid 8 for me, first few races were generally the same dullness from 2023 but it became far more interesting from Miami onwards.

Lots of good moments like Leclerc winning Monaco and Monza, Hamilton winning Silverstone and Max’s Brazil drive to name a few.

Completely agree that the season dragged on though, the final triple-header especially felt like three races too many in the end. Also don’t think the random gaps in the second half of the season helped either.

Edited by Ali623, 08 December 2024 - 17:11.

[Ruudbackus]

Voted for an 8, would have been a 9 if the competitive order in the first 5 races would be as it has been since. It just feels to long and the fia and stewards always are worth a mark off it seems. Also this year. Races themselves weren't always that great but the fact you didn't know who would come out on top on saturdays made it fun,

[TomNokoe]

7 for me. Midfield still weak, no championship fight and although we had four fast teams it wasn't as competitive as it sounds.

[DJH63]

6.5/7.

 

We should’ve had a blockbuster WDC going to the last race but ultimately nobody was good enough to get close to Verstappen. 

[Clrnc]

It was fun, 4 teams that can win on any given track. Pity for the first 4 races dominance from Red Bull or it would have been super tight for the WDC

[F1Frog]

It was a brilliant season. The first part of the season was bad, except for Imola which was okay. Then after the Monaco snoozefest, we had a run of races from Canada, Spain, Austria, Britain, Hungary and Belgium which were all enthralling. Zandvoort was disappointing but encouraging for the championship at the time. Then came Monza and Baku which were both amazing, Singapore less so, Austin was great, Mexico middling, Brazil perhaps the best of the whole season, then Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi all interesting as well. That is a fantastic strike-rate for interesting races, especially considering 2023 was among the worst I have seen.

[messy]

8. Best season since 2021. Loses a point for a lack of a proper title battle, but aside from that, the way the balance of power constantly seesawed between Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes (will all their drivers aside from Sergio Inoue scoring multiple wins) was brilliant. Some heroics from midfielders too (mainly Gasly and Hulk but also Ocon in Brazil), lots of off-track handbags and controversies, and the brilliant elation feeling that came from the season gradually showing its hand after lulling us into believing it was going to be crap.

[1player]

9, but actually an 8.5 - the deducted points were solely because of shoddy stewardship and nonsense drama about rules and swearing

[Laster]

It wa a good season I rated it a 7. With 4 different cars capable of producing race winners and them coming on strong through the season, there was an element unpredictability over who would one weekend to the next. The big down side of course was the championship never felt close. Max made his lead early and it never felt like it closed in a meaningful way for it to become an actual battle for the championship.

[Joseki]

Multiple winners, WCC going to the line, WDC won by a driver with a performance that will become legendary.

Yet it feels like it was ruined a bit by some external factors.

 

7/10

[MKSixer]

I gave it a 6. The 1st third started as a duplicate of 2023 so I had to give that portion a 3. I gave the mid third a solid 7 and the last third an 8.5.  I think 24 races is the limit. I never thought I'd want less Formula One but I think 21 or 22 races is ideal.

[Ruusperi]

9.

Would have been 10 with tighter WDC fight. But otherwise if had everything.

What made the season great was a constant unpredictability. It feels that for ages you have been able to predict the race winner before Friday, or at least after the qualifying. This year for majority of the weekends you didn't know in advance which team would be fast, or on which day (Friday, Saturday or Sunday), or which driver within the team would be ahead (bar Red Bull). Unpredictability made the race weekends just so much better than we've been used to. Let's hope it will continue next year.

[AlexPrime]

Brilliant season, similar to 2012 which I love. So many different winners was a blast. The performance of Max was incredible. The rise of McLaren, the first wins of Lando and Oscar, the victory of Charles in Monaco and of Lewis in the UK - so many great memories. I will treasure this one for a long, long time. 10 out of 10 

[Benchulo]

Lots of individual races where 3-4 teams had a realistic chance for the win with right strategy and setup. But also disappointing that a potential championship fight failed to materialize.

[DeKnyff]

I voted 9: many different winners (both drivers and teams), pecking order at the top and the midfield continuously changing, good on-track action and both championships quite open until the final races (WCC more open, obviously).

 

The negative side: too many races. I'd have 20 as a limit. Or even 18.

[P123]

The first three or four races seemed very similar to 2023... like a continuation.  So the remainder of the year was a welcome surprise.  A bit of a mix from race to race as to which team had the pace to win. 

[JHSingo]

Definitely one of the most fun and enjoyable in the last decade - it's been great to have not really had a clue who's going to win going into a lot of race weekends. A nice surprise how this year turned out after last year and the first few races of this season, when we were all expecting more of the same. I'm sure the F1 bosses are delighted how it turned out too.

 

I wish there had been a stronger title challenger to Max than Lando, but hopefully we'll get that next season. So much to look forward to in 2025 - fingers crossed it lives up to the billing, because typically it's seasons that get hyped up turn out disappointing, and those where you don't expect much (2021, 2024) turn out to be great. 

 

I'll give this year an 8. Anything higher is reserved for a season that features more winners from different teams or a closer title battle imo. 

[Marklar]

Giving it a 9.

What's missing for a 10
- a title fight that goes down the wire, or at least isn't decided 3 races before (lacks tension ultimately)
- a midfield that can occasionally bother the top teams, unfortunately that continues to be lacking

[TF110]

Gave it a 5. Average season imo. Terrible driving for some supposedly top drivers. Fastest car in McLaren and the driver(s) shoot themselves in the foot with their results or lack thereof. A lot of useless races and tracks. Terrible officiating which looked to be targeted officiating. Crybaby drivers with an agenda. Ugly huge cars that sound trash even if they are fast. Racing also subpar. Only one consistently good driver in Verstappen. Goofy politics inside of teams ruining a more exciting constructors title. For all the positives I can think of there's equal negatives, maybe even more. That's why I think it was average (5)

[teejay]

After the opening race was ready to write it off. 

 

Pleasantly surprised in the end. 

 

Some of my random thoughts - 

 

- WDC battle was all media driven - Lando was never in with a shot. Had Max's car not decided it was not a BBQ in Aus, this would have been done even earlier. And even when "in the mix" , Lando shows he still needs polishing to be a genuine WDC contender.

 

- From Miami on, the performance swings across the big 4 were insane - crazy to think that every team still doesn't have a grip on this concept of aero. 

 

- Alpine - kudos. To be utterly nowhere, to claw their way through the season is great to see. Could have written year off, but chose to fight. 

 

- Lewis with these crazy swings was just odd - showed he still has it come race time, but I do think he's lost a step over a lap...maybe? I really hope he gels with the Ferrari and reminds of us who he truly is. 

 

- Lawson is going to prove over rated. Nothing personal but all this chat and he's yet to show it. Perez being utterly useless this year means RBR has to try though, and it's obvious Yuki isn't in their plans. 

 

- Changing of the guard is a good thing, shame they couldn't add Stroll to the list. 

[404KF2]

That was a bit better than expected….

It's a 7/10 from me. Thoughts?

Yes, better than expected. I gave it a 6.

[KPower]

8.

 

I don't think we'll see a season with this many multiple winners for a long time.

[Gravelngrass]

6.5. Even though the championship was closer than in other years, the racing itself continues to be relatively stale. The cars aren’t exciting and the on-track fights are usually quickly killed by penalties, DRS or orders to conserve something. Next year we’ll have, in theory, the most convergence of the current regulation cycle so the highest probability of a close championship. Let’s cross fingers that it’s a good one and 2026 doesn’t bring a new dominator. In terms of improving the car itself and racing, I’m not holding my breath though. ..

[kumo7]

This was the very first season, which WCC meant more than WDC! 

 

Pause after the summer was so irreegular and there were a bit too many three in one go races. Hope 2025 will be less than 2024...

[Risil]

Pretty good. I have a rule when scoring things out of 10 that you can't pick 7 as this is often the safe, don't-really-want-to-express-an-opinion score.

 

Great to see four teams capable of delivering victories; as a consequence we had plenty of competitive races and I hope a few genuinely memorable ones.

 

However, no title battle to speak of and from the drivers I didn't detect much development from previous years. I felt that only Max truly stepped up and delivered his best work (and we already knew he would). The season threatened to catch fire around the Austin/Mexico mark but then fizzled remarkably quickly, for reasons we've discussed at length (and I mean at length).

 

When it came to the midfield we were starved of interesting stories and breakthrough performances from F1's B-list. The best I could think of would be Pierre Gasly grabbing a podium in Brazil and Franco Colapinto's impressive and extremely high-energy sub appearance for Williams.

 

So that adds up to 6/10. Probably the most fun F1 has been since 2021.

[JimmyClark]

8 for sure. I can't remember when we last had a year with so many races where you just had no idea who was most likely to win going into the weekend. 

 

But a lack of a proper title fight, and the usual gripes with modern F1, bring it down a couple of notches from a 10. 

[PayasYouRace]

It’s been a superb season. One of the best in my lifetime. Let down by the drivers’ championship being a bit of a damp squib. 9/10.

Best thing is that for most of the season, it’s been genuinely an unknown who was going to win on Sunday afternoon. That is was four teams capable of winning on at any given track is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before in Formula 1.

Last year was an absolute slog. This has been a delight.

[PrinceBira]

 

So that adds up to 6/10. Probably the most fun F1 has been since 2021.

 

Scary to think how you'd rate 2022 and 2023 then! .

 

My feeling is that this season deserves an 8. It started out very boring, seemed to be a continuation of 2023. And then suddenly bam, RB could only find the reverse gear and Mclaren catched up and surpassed them. Ferrari got in the mix, Mercedes were either hero or zero. Every weekend we were asking ourselves 'who could have the best car this race?'. 

 

At the same time we had the WDC and WCC fights ramping on. The storyline was pretty good actually. Maybe in hindsight everyone feels like 'yeah it was never on', but I disagree on that one. The Qatar and Abu Dhabi races would have been totally different had Norris won Brazil and had Verstappen finished low (which always could happen in a rainy race, even by a competitor). 

 

The only negatives that prevent a higher grade than an 8 were:

 

- Lack of a powerful opponent for the WDC (think Hamilton 2021)

- All the discussions about the penalties and the inconsistencies

- Fans vs fans discussion heated up in no time and made it less friendly

- Apart from Brazil no legendary other races this year that I will remember in 20 years time

[Risil]

Scary to think how you'd rate 2022 and 2023 then! .

 

Sounds like you already know the answer

[PrinceBira]

Sounds like you already know the answer

 

Well, there is a lot of space between 5 and 1 

[Gareth]

Gave it a 9. The closeness of performance between the top 4 (4!) cars was phenomenal, and we had about 7 or 8 absolutely fabulous races. Any race weekend you went in to it thinking 7 drivers had a genuinely decent shot at winning.

 

It was a WDC deciding final race away from a 10 IMO.

 

Key downsides:

• FIA seemingly getting more and more shambolic
• Risk of just getting "lost" (kind of like 2017/2018) in a sea of dominance, and people remembering it as "just one of those years Max won again"
• Austria, Austin, Mexico leaving a bit of a sour taste in the mouth
• IT'S JUST TOO BLOOMIN' LONG

I think those feelings will fade, and I'll mostly remember those absolutely cracking races, Lando and Oscar getting their first wins, McLaren winning a WCC, and (some occasional unfortunate and unnecessary driving aside) Max with one of the best driver performances of all time over a season.

[LolaB0860]

Well, 9

 

[BerniesDad]

The season turned out so much better than expectations.

Good :

The return of having-to-actually-watch-the-race to see who's going to win is very welcome.

Much as I'll cheer for Lando, I think he's shown this year that he's not ready yet for a WDC. Ultimately Max was driving at another level (from everyone else) over the year - a worthy champion.

Seven different GP winners! And 4 teams in the mix most of the time.

Some races were close enough that the team strategy was enough to make the difference, so the strategic element becomes more important.  

 

Bad :

season too long / stewarding decisions too random / title decided early.

(basically we knew the WDC from about 1/3 of the way through the season, barring any freak results)

Some of the circuits really need to be bulldozed - they are set up to host a boring race, and deliver every year.

 

7/10

[SenorSjon]

7 or 8.

 

+

Verstappen King of the Hill. He was always a force to be reckoned with and always dragging out the results.

Fastest lap point will end after this year.

Brazil was one of the best races in a decade. Silverstone was very nice as well. I doubt previous race directors would have run it.

 

-

Too long, the season kept dragging on with so many races. Individual results races count less. Yesterday was the first race in ages I watched delayed because I chose other pastimes on Sunday afternoon.

Stewarding decisions seems rolling the dice. Impeding, Lap 1 incidents, everything gets measured differently during the season.

Pirelli. The softs have no strategic value in the race at all. Almost every race was a one stop. Balloon pressures and they are overheating like crazy. 

Perez.

Despite the standings, it was an overpowered car winning most of the time. 

Still sprints.

FIA internal organisation is a mess.

[Lennat]

This year was maybe objectively better than 2022 or 2023 since we had a semi-longshot-almost-maybe title fight rather than nothing, but the Alonso fanboy in me honestly enjoyed 2023 more because Alonso had a real shot at winning races for a bit.

 

 

The beginning of the season sucked, maybe 2/10, but the ending was more like maybe 5/10. In total I'd say 4. 

 

A high score requires a great season with a great title battle, like 2021 or 2012 to give a few recent-ish examples, and even a "good" one should have a real title battle for most of the season. But that's me, as I honestly prefer "boring" races and a good title battle compared to 48 different winners and exciting individual races. This was sort of like 2011 in a way, as we had exciting races but a pretty predictable champion.

 

I do think there is a decent chance of 2025 being properly good and reminding us all what a true 8, 9 or 10 is.

Edited by Lennat, 09 December 2024 - 13:47.

[KavB]

Positives:

- For the first time in years, you could enter a race and have no idea who would win. Even in 2021, you entered a race knowing it was either Max or Lewis who was going to win. 

- We had 4 teams able to win races on pace.

- McLaren finally are back where they belong.

 

Negatives:

- The first third of the season was a bore. I don't think I watched many races live until half way through the season.

- There was no title fight. Lando was never close enough for it to be exciting. Although I was excited for the constructors title for the first time ever.

 

This was tough to rate as the races were exciting but because of the lack of a title fight I can only give it a 7. It was a fun season though and reignited my love for the sport. If we continued the dominance of 2023 then I think I would have taken a break from this sport.

[CPR]

As a McLaren fan I’m very happy to see both drivers get their first victories and the overall championship. The weekend-to-weekend variation was nice and varied and you could never be sure who would come out on top coming into the weekend.

 

I felt qualifying was particularly exciting this year. Lots of races where the margins were incredibly tight. Once the races started though, they tended to be somewhat predictable for the front-runners after a few laps. There certainly was wheel-to-wheel action at the front but I would have liked to have seen a bit more. I’d particularly liked to have seen more strategic variation - the top 10 would almost always start on the same tyre and run very similar strategies.

 

A good year for rookies. Oliver Bearman at Jeddah being particularly memorable. The future is bright.

 

A bad year for the FIA - if they got the boot I wouldn’t shed any tears. The sprint races were mostly lackluster processions - I wouldn’t care if they got canned. Too much tyre management still.

 

Fingers crossed for 2025 picking up where 2024 left off in terms of competitiveness.

[RekF1]

The first few races were pants. The sudden performance drop off from RB and all of the BS following Horner made it seem exciting, especially with everyone leaving the team. Same with the drama within the FIA.

I'm convinced there's a 'set up' lottery because the performances swings between races was noticeable. As for the idea that these cars create less turbulence? Bollocks to that idea.

5/10

[Gareth]

Oliver Bearman at Jeddah being particularly memorable.

This feels like a lifetime ago! 

 

That is one thing next season will have going for it, I guess - some new guys coming in. The grid was static at the start of this year, and (combined with RBR starting the year looking like a 2023 repeat) it was amazing how much Bearman coming in freshened a race up and provided something to watch.

 

Having him, Antonelli, Bortoleto, and probably Hadjar all as rookies next season will be nice.

[Gareth]

I'm convinced there's a 'set up' lottery because the performances swings between races was noticeable.

Qatar made that incredibly obvious, with a massive change in performance levels between the sprint and the full race.

[Radman]

An 8 from me

Started off a bit dull with RB dominating, but the swings between teams and tracks kept it interesting, even if Max never really seemed under threat. Lovely to see McLaren come good. Frustrations with Lewis’ qualifying, but some great races from lower positions and a couple of wins. Far too many races though, we could have easily done without at least 3 or 4 races

[vlado]

We are in for a 10 in 2025

[Alfisti]

Solid 8 from me, it's been 12 years since we have had a season like this and yeah, back then felt like red bull would inevitably get the wdc too but still. Racing was quite good, these cars can get way closer than the previous rule set and god help them if it was say 2000 or so where you needed a 2 to 3 second a lap advantage to pass.

The three long breaks really hurt the flow of the year, I can handle 24 races with the f1tv but man, 3 weeks between races is asinine other than summer break.

I'm encouraged by the tweakingBof DRS so it's not a free pass and the gravel going back in on most corners. I'm also encouraged that we may finally be seeing the rules and penalties changed so running a bloke off track is not the default defensive play.

I do wish we had pure internal combustion engines though, I still feel like I am watching irobot 10 yrs into these engine regs.