With F1 drivers putting their feet up, we are taking a look back at the 14 races of 2024 so far to see who has been the best on average.
After every race, we assign all 20 driver a score from 0-10 and with the season now in the summer break period, it is the perfect time to take a look back at who is on top based on the average of their ratings.
F1 2024 rankings: From worst performers to the best so far
20: Logan Sargeant: 5.12
Highest score – 7.5 (Britain)
Lowest score – 2 (Spain)
When Formula 1 returns in Zandvoort, Logan Sargeant will enter the Williams co*ckpit knowing he is out.
This might sound trivial as it was a decision we all expected to be coming but the clarity could give the American the freedom to drive without pressure.
As for his season so far, it is a case of déjà vu with Sargeant yet to score a point, a position he found himself in for much of 2023.
19: Valtteri Bottas: 5.61
Highest score – 7 (China)
Lowest score – 4 (Saudi Arabia, Britain)
A forgettable year so far for Valtteri Bottas in what could be his last in Formula 1.
With a poor car, Bottas has not done much that lives long in the memory so far and is one of three drivers yet to score a point.
=17: Kevin Magnussen: 5.79
Highest score – 8 (Austria)
Lowest score – 2 (Miami, Monaco)
Kevin Magnussen’s season has not really got going 14 races in, with the main talking point being if he will be banned for exceeding the FIA penalty point limit.
He is not just being beaten by his teammate, but destroyed, with Hulkenberg on four times the points tally of the Dane.
=17: Sergio Perez: 5.79
Highest score – 9 (Saudi Arabia, Japan)
Lowest score – 1 (Canada)
Heading into the summer break, it seemed to many that we had seen the last of Sergio Perez at Red Bull after some frankly poor performances and yet the Mexican driver has survived.
He started the year in good spirits with a number of podiums – yet his form has not so much fallen off a cliff, but fallen off a cliff into a big hole and into the centre of the earth.
Scores of two in Monaco and one in Canada reflect how poor Perez has been and if he has any hope of making it to 2025, that simply has to change.
16: Zhou Guanyu: 5.92
Highest score – 8 (Bahrain)
Lowest score – 3.5 (Britain)
With Zhou Guanyu midway through another one-year deal, this has hardly been the season he would have hoped for.
He is one half of the only team not to have scored a point and perhaps the most critical thing you can say of Zhou is that nothing memorable sticks out this season.
=14: Lance Stroll: 6.21
Highest score – 8.5 (Bahrain, Imola)
Lowest score – 3.5 (Saudi Arabia, Monaco)
Lance Stroll is suffering from many of the same problems that Fernando Alonso is but aside from Imola and Britain, the Canadian has been way off it.
Away from the track, he seems as dejected as ever but maintains he wants to keep racing.
=14: Alex Albon: 6.21
Highest score – 8 (Britain)
Lowest score – 4 (Spain)
Williams have been nowhere this season and even the talent of Alex Albon has not been able to make up for the car’s shortcomings.
The Thai-British driver is on just four points with his best result being two P9s but it currently does not look like he will be able to best that going into the second half of the season.
13: Daniel Ricciardo: 6.5
Highest score – 8.5 (Canada)
Lowest score – 5 (Saudi Arabia)
With his eye on a Red Bull seat, perhaps Daniel Ricciardo was a little too desperate starting the season and his driving suffered.
With flashbacks of his time at McLaren, it seems as if Ricciardo had forgotten how to be quick but he did turn it around from Canada onwards.
He is still in contention for the Red Bull seat but will need to be more consistent if he is to be a serious candidate.
12: Fernando Alonso: 6.64
Highest score – 8 (China, Canada)
Lowest score – 4.5 (Imola, Monaco)
Fernando Alonso will say the car is not allowing him to be at his best but there have been occasions where he himself has not been without blame.
Back-to-back scores of 4.5 in Imola and Monaco saw his rating take a hefty hit but he appeared to turn a corner going into the summer break.
No doubt the car is at fault but we are not seeing the kind of Alonso magic we have become accustomed to.
11: Yuki Tsunoda: 6.68
Highest score – 8.5 (Australia, Japan)
Lowest score – 3.5 (Spain)
After VCARB overcame their early difficulties, Yuki Tsunoda was able to add some good points to his Championship tally.
However, there have been a few mistakes too, especially in Spain where he finished 19th, and his form has fluctuated a lot for a driver aiming for a top team seat.
10: Pierre Gasly: 6.69
Highest score – 8 (Canada, Spain)
Lowest score – 5.5 (Belgium)
A consistently slow start to the year for Pierre Gasly saw him score either six or 6.5 in all four opening races but his form did pick up in the middle portion of the first half of the season.
A DNS in Britain though was another reminder of the difficulties Alpine have and he scored six and 5.5 in the final two races before the summer break.
9: Esteban Ocon: 6.71
Highest score – 9 (Britain)
Lowest score – 4 (Monaco)
Esteban Ocon started the year in good form but has fallen away quite dramatically since then.
A score of three in Monaco after he crashed into his own team-mate reduced his average and it is Gasly that appears to be in better form of the two Alpine drivers currently.
With his move to Haas confirmed, Ocon will want to spend the second half of the year showing his new team they made the right call.
8: Nico Hulkenberg: 7.18
Highest score – 9 (Britain)
Lowest score – 4 (Monaco)
Nico Hulkenberg picked up where he left off in 2023 as he continues to show himself as an almighty qualifier.
The difference this year is that Haas have a car that allows him to convert his high quali spot into some points.
Back-to-back P6s in Austria and Britain were fine rewards for the Audi-bound Hulkenberg.
7: George Russell: 7.64
Highest score – 10 (Belgium)
Lowest score – 3 (Australia)
Both Mercedes drivers have hit form just as we approached the summer break and while there was some fortune in George Russell’s Austrian win, there was equal amounts of misfortune in his Belgium DNF.
Russell though is showing himself to be an accomplished driver who is fighting back after being soundly beaten by Hamilton in 2023.
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6: Carlos Sainz: 7.69
Highest score – 10 (Australia)
Lowest score – 6.5 (Canada)
Carlos Sainz, barring his Saudi absence, started the year in great form which was the perfect comeback to his Ferrari dropping being announced but, as the season has gone on, he has found it harder to be at his best.
Perhaps he was distracted by the off-track issue of finding a home for 2025 or the failed upgrades Ferrari placed on the car from Spain but since his home race, Sainz has not scored above 8.5.
5: Lewis Hamilton: 7.86
Highest score – 9.5 (Britain, Belgium)
Lowest score – 6 (Japan, Monaco)
After a difficult start to the year, Lewis Hamilton seems back to his near best with some assured drives towards the end of the first portion of the season.
His Silverstone victory, one of skill rather than luck, saw him hit the high marks of 9.5 and he replicated that score in Belgium.
With a car that he finally seems to like, will he continue in this form when F1 restarts?
4: Charles Leclerc: 8
Highest score – 10 (Monaco)
Lowest score – 5 (Canada)
A rose amongst thorns is perhaps the best description of Charles Leclerc’s 2024 with his Monaco victory being an obvious highlight in what has otherwise been a year of frustration.
When Ferrari had a quick car, it was Sainz that got the better out of it but Leclerc’s consistent performances – he finished within the top four for the opening seven grands prix – saw him high up these rankings.
However, he has now slipped down with Ferrari struggling to find any form since Spain.
3: Oscar Piastri: 8.14
Highest score – 9.5 (Hungary)
Lowest score – 6.5 (Japan, Spain)
Oscar Piastri’s form has mirrored that of McLaren’s performance with the Australian steadily improving as the season went on.
Now, he is a fully fledged top driver in F1 who has just as much a chance of race victories as the other, far more experienced, drivers around him do.
His maiden race win earned him a deserved 9.5 and he looks set to get more of those scores when the season picks back up again.
2: Lando Norris: 8.29
Highest score – 10 (Miami)
Lowest score – 5.5 (Belgium)
A slow start has been made up by an excellent end to the first portion of the year.
Norris began the season around the 7-8.5 mark but a run from China to Spain often saw him score above nine and never below eight, including a 10 for his first race win in Miami.
However, there have been mistakes in his drives, most notably from the start, meaning he ended the last race in Belgium on just a 5.5.
1: Max Verstappen: 8.54
Highest score – 10 (Bahrain, Japan, Imola)
Lowest score – 6.5 (Austria)
Taking away his mechanical DNF in Australia, Max Verstappen started the season by scoring no lower than a nine at the first six races. At this point in proceedings he was the runaway leader both in the Championship standings and in his overall average here but since then, he has found life a little harder going.
But while Sergio Perez has struggled for form, aside from Austria there has not been a moment where you can point to a Verstappen mistake per se. Instead, he has found it harder to show off his usual excellence and now has one eye over his shoulder for the approaching Norris and Piastri.
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