The top 10 F1 drivers of 2024

10. Pierre Gasly

2024 position: 10^th, 42 points

There may be a degree of 'recent-ism' attached to Gasly's position in the top ten, and when you consider a couple of the drivers beneath the Frenchman, such as the more consistent Yuki Tsunoda for RB. But Gasly merits his place based on where Alpine started the season: rock bottom, allied to the fact he kept his head down and supported the team in its hours of darkness.

By season's end, Gasly was regularly qualifying in the top ten such was the remarkable turnaround in the car's performance, which reaped its due reward. His 42 points, predominantly accrued in the final four races, were vital in Alpine securing a lucrative sixth in the constructors' championship.

9. Nico Hülkenberg

2024 position: 11^th, 41 points

For anybody questioning the wisdom of former team principal Guenther Steiner in signing Hülkenberg for the start of the 2023 campaign, after just four grands prix in three seasons as a back-up, they were made to eat their words in 2024. New boss Ayao Komatsu brought the best out of the veteran German to such an extent that when Audi came calling, Haas had no financial answer to combat the lure and lucre being offered.

Haas provided Hülkenberg with a car to suit his driving style, and as the team and machinery evolved, results and performances were delivered. Hülkenberg scored points in six of the final seven races, and but for Alpine's 'miracle' outing in São Paulo, it would have been the American, not French marque, hailing sixth. 

8. Fernando Alonso

2024 position: 9^th, 70 points

A lofty position, you may feel, on the back of Alonso only finishing ninth in the drivers' standings, 136 points adrift and five places shy of his superb performance over the preceding 12 months. But make no mistake, what the two-time F1 champion achieved with a dog of a car was nothing short of inspirational. Aston Martin can consider itself fortunate it retained its fifth position in the constructors' standings – albeit scoring 186 fewer points, even with two additional races this year – and it has the 43-year-old Alonso to thank for that.

Not for the first time in his stellar career, Alonso extracted performances over and above the capabilities of his car, picking up crucial points along the way. But for Alonso, Aston could easily have suffered a $30 million (£23 million) hit in prize money this year compared to last. Alonso is worth every penny of whatever he is being paid, and the team knows it.

7. Lewis Hamilton

2024 position: 7^th, 223 points

It was far from the swansong Hamilton and Mercedes had hoped for, after the seven-time F1 champion dropped one of the biggest bombshells the sport has encountered in decades, announcing he was stepping out from under the wing of a Mercedes organisation that supported him for 26 years and heading to rivals Ferrari to write one final chapter of his storied career.

Many will feel Hamilton's inconsistency over the 24 races is not worthy of his position on this list, particularly after being humbled by team-mate George Russell in qualifying. Mercedes' failure to provide Hamilton with the aggressive car he requires over one lap, an unwanted trait of this ground-effect era, saw to that. In races, though, he more often than not came alive. His victory in the British Grand Prix, ending a 31-month drought, will live long in the memory.

6. George Russell

2024 position: 6^th, 245 points

It was a coming-of-age season for Russell, who entered the campaign knowing there was an opportunity within his grasp to show he has what it takes to become de facto team leader, as will be the case next year with rookie Kimi Antonelli as a team-mate. And he did so on many occasions; his qualifying performances were often exemplary. Two wins and two additional podiums, however, were arguably not a just reward for his efforts.

There was, however, a very strong finish to the season, with almost half of his points collected – 117 of 245 – in the final eight races. It has at least provided Russell with a platform on which to build, and with Hamilton no longer on the other side of the garage, it is a chance for him to firmly step into the spotlight.

5. Oscar Piastri

2024 position: 4^th, 292 points

As remarkable as it may seem, this was only Piastri's second season in F1. It feels as if he has been around far longer, yet he is still learning the ropes. Following a standout debut campaign, perhaps it was too soon to expect Piastri to launch a full-on assault this year against team-mate Lando Norris, who has an additional four years under his belt with McLaren in comparison.

For the most part, Piastri held his own. But, once Norris hit his stride after finishing third on Piastri's home soil in Melbourne, the points gap steadily widened between the two until McLaren was faced with the difficulty of imposing team orders. Piastri showed on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix that he is far from afraid of Norris. Although ultimately settling for second best, enabling McLaren to become constructors' champions in the process, he has teased the prospect of a far more enticing scrap with Norris in 2025.

4. Carlos Sainz

2024 position: 5^th, 290 points

You have to hand it to Sainz. There are many drivers who, when told before even a wheel had turned in anger that their dream drive would be taken away from them at the end of the year, would likely take their foot off the gas for the season ahead and bank the accompanying pay cheque that comes with being cast aside. Not a bit of it with Sainz. Instead, he displayed a level of maturity and professionalism that underlined why he is one of the best drivers on the grid.

The fact he missed the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia due to appendicitis, yet returned two weeks later to score a win in Australia, underlined his outstanding commitment to the Scuderia's cause. He gave his all and earned further just reward with another victory in Mexico. It is fair to suggest he deserves more than fighting in the midfield with Williams next season.

3. Charles Leclerc

2024 position: 3^rd, 356 points

This was a close call, and there may be many who would position Leclerc higher; he barely put a wheel out of place at any stage. With experience, we saw a driver far removed from the 2022 version of himself when he made errors that questioned whether he was worthy of his exalted, and to some, even saint-like status inside Ferrari, and which compromised his title challenge against Verstappen.

Under a more wisened team principal in Fred Vasseur, who previously guided Leclerc in his debut F1 campaign at Sauber, the Monégasque driver has matured considerably and grown in stature and composure behind the wheel. It could be argued that, but for a second major upgrade on the SF-24 at the Spanish Grand Prix that dragged the car backwards after the positivity of the initial update in Imola, then Leclerc would have finished ahead of Norris in the drivers' standings, given the gap was only 18 points at the end. But then, many an F1 season is full of ifs, ands, buts and maybes.

2. Lando Norris

2024 position: 2^nd, 374 points

Without doubt, this was, by a country mile, Norris' best F1 season to date – four positions and 169 points better off than last year. But for a slow start compared to Verstappen's out-of-the-blocks beginning in which saw Norris score 58 points to the Dutchman's 110 over the first five grands prix, then the title race may have been a very different affair. Instead, after Norris finally broke his victory duck in the sixth race in Miami, he was always playing catch up to Verstappen.

What we did witness along the way, however, was a more accomplished, assured and polished driver, albeit prone to the odd mistake here and there which undermined his championship quest. But with four victories to his name overall, Norris now knows he has what it takes to not only win grands prix but mount a more concerted title tilt, as will be expected of him – and he will no doubt expect of himself – in 2025.

1. Max Verstappen

2024 position: 1^st, 437 points

It had to be, for the simple reason that we saw a very different side to Verstappen this past season.  He had to display a level of maturity behind the wheel that arguably had not been seen in any of his three previous title-winning years. Following a rosy start, with four wins in the first five races, Verstappen had to extract performances from an RB20 that went off the boil to such an extent that by the time the Italian Grand Prix rolled around, there was the distinct possibility he would fail to defend his title. He even described the car as "a monster," such was his level of frustration with its overall inconsistency.

Instead, Verstappen dug deep and extracted performances and results that allowed him to keep Norris at arm's length. There were still moments when the Verstappen of old resurfaced and when he allowed petulance to get the better of him, such as in Mexico. But then, there was that drive for the ages in Brazil when he delivered a consummate performance worthy of one of the all-time greats. 

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.