2024 Formula One World Championship — The Fading Crown
It began under familiar skies — Bahrain’s heat, Red Bull’s supremacy, Verstappen’s quiet inevitability.
But somewhere in the shimmer of tarmac and the echo of exhausts, the story began to change.
The sport that had bent to a single will for three years began to breathe again.
McLaren found rhythm, Ferrari found nerve, Mercedes found one last spark — and Red Bull, for the first time in years, found doubt.
2024 was the year Formula One stopped asking who would win, and started wondering how long it could last.
Pre-Season — Bahrain, February 21–23
Three days of desert light and cautious optimism.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. set the pace, the SF-24 dancing gracefully in the wind.
Haas quietly logged the most laps — unnoticed yet impressive — while the paddock watched Red Bull’s RB20 glide around with deceptive calm.
Whispers spread in the garages: “It’s faster. Again.”
Opening Rounds
Round 1 — Bahrain Grand Prix (Sakhir, March 2)
Under floodlights and anticipation, nothing had changed.
Max Verstappen was ruthless from pole, leading every lap for a 22-second victory — his fifth career grand slam.
Sergio Pérez shadowed him home, Sainz completing the podium.
Leclerc battled brake issues to hold fourth; Mercedes were distant echoes of their former selves.
It was clinical, inevitable, and chillingly familiar.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +8 over Pérez
Round 2 — Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (Jeddah, March 9)
The Red Bulls carved through the desert again — Verstappen’s 100th podium and another unshaken victory.
Ferrari’s weekend turned chaotic: Carlos Sainz rushed into surgery for appendicitis, replaced by 18-year-old Oliver Bearman, who dazzled with seventh on debut.
The youngster’s calm defiance became the talk of the paddock — a glimpse of the next generation.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +15 over Pérez
Round 3 — Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne, March 24)
And then, the unthinkable.
Verstappen’s brakes failed.
For the first time in nearly a year, he retired — and the world saw a different winner.
Carlos Sainz Jr., still healing from surgery scars, took command and never looked back.
Ferrari celebrated a one–two, Leclerc second, Lando Norris third.
It wasn’t just a victory; it was rebellion.
Winner: Sainz
Fastest Lap: Hamilton
Championship Lead: Verstappen (+4 over Leclerc)
Round 4 — Japanese Grand Prix (Suzuka, April 7)
Order restored.
Verstappen and Pérez front-row, Leclerc chasing, the world watching.
A heavy crash for Ricciardo and Albon paused the chaos, but not Verstappen’s rhythm.
He controlled, he calculated, he conquered.
Ferrari’s team orders gave Sainz the edge over Leclerc; Red Bull’s empire still stood.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +13 over Pérez
Round 5 — Chinese Grand Prix (Shanghai, April 21)
Return to Shanghai after five long years — and a Verstappen masterclass.
He won both sprint and Grand Prix with clinical calm, while Hamilton briefly rolled back the years in the sprint duel.
Ferrari faded off the podium; McLaren’s quiet progress went unnoticed — but not for long.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +25 over Pérez
Round 6 — Miami Grand Prix (Florida, May 5)
America, and irony.
A Safety Car swung fortune, and Lando Norris — the nearly-man — finally broke through.
He took the lead, stretched it, and delivered McLaren’s first win since 2021.
The orange car glowed brighter than the Miami lights that night.
Winner: Norris
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +16 over Pérez
Mid-Season Rounds
Round 7 — Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix (Imola, May 19)
Verstappen equalled Senna’s eight straight poles and held off Norris by inches.
It was precision against passion, youth chasing history.
McLaren’s shadow began to lengthen behind Red Bull’s dominance.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Leclerc
Championship Lead: +20 over Leclerc
Round 8 — Monaco Grand Prix (Monte Carlo, May 26)
It had taken 93 years.
Charles Leclerc finally conquered his home race, holding back a chaos-strewn field and the ghosts of Monaco past.
Piastri followed, Sainz recovered to third, and the streets of Monte Carlo became a national anthem.
Verstappen, marooned in sixth, looked… human.
Winner: Leclerc
Fastest Lap: Russell
Championship Lead: +13 over Leclerc
Round 9 — Canadian Grand Prix (Montréal, June 9)
A race in the rain, and a day for experience.
Ferrari fell apart — both cars gone.
Verstappen held off Norris and Russell for victory; Hamilton’s fastest lap brought quiet pride.
The sport’s past and future now shared the same racetrack, only separated by seconds.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Hamilton
Championship Lead: +24 over Leclerc
Round 10 — Spanish Grand Prix (Barcelona, June 23)
Norris on pole, but Verstappen three laps away from perfection.
A champion’s patience; a pretender’s hunger.
Hamilton completed the podium — proof that Mercedes’ pulse still beat.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Hamilton
Championship Lead: +39 over Leclerc
Round 11 — Austrian Grand Prix (Spielberg, June 30)
A duel turned disaster.
Verstappen and Norris clashed in battle for the lead; both lost victory.
George Russell inherited Mercedes’ first win in two years.
From the chaos, something shifted: Verstappen was no longer untouchable.
Winner: Russell
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: +29 over Leclerc
Round 12 — British Grand Prix (Silverstone, July 7)
Rain fell like confetti over destiny.
Russell retired from the lead, Norris stumbled, and Lewis Hamilton, at last, found victory again — his 104th, his record-breaking ninth at Silverstone.
He stood on the podium, tears in his eyes, knowing it might be his last on home soil.
Winner: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: +23 over Leclerc
Round 13 — Hungarian Grand Prix (Budapest, July 21)
A sea of papaya.
McLaren locked out the front row, and Oscar Piastri claimed his maiden win ahead of Norris in McLaren’s first 1–2 since Monza 2021.
Hamilton’s 200th podium, Verstappen fifth — the new generation had arrived, side by side.
Winner: Piastri
Fastest Lap: Leclerc
Championship Lead: +14 over Leclerc
Round 14 — Belgian Grand Prix (Spa, July 28)
Russell’s victory evaporated in scrutineering, disqualified for underweight.
Hamilton was handed the win posthumously, Piastri elevated to second.
Ferrari smiled quietly; Red Bull looked rattled.
Winner: Hamilton
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: +9 over Leclerc
Round 15 — Dutch Grand Prix (Zandvoort, August 25)
The home crowd came for Verstappen — but Norris stole the show.
Overtaking the champion cleanly, he won by 22 seconds.
Orange smoke still filled the air, but it belonged to McLaren now.
Winner: Norris
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: Verstappen (+2 over Leclerc)
Closing Rounds
Round 16 — Italian Grand Prix (Monza, September 8)
The Tifosi roared again.
Leclerc, on a daring one-stop strategy, took Ferrari’s first Monza win since 2019.
McLaren’s pair completed the podium.
And in the back of the garage, whispers began — Red Bull’s once-perfect harmony, fracturing.
Winner: Leclerc
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: Verstappen (+5 over Leclerc)
Round 17 — Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Baku, September 22)
Oscar Piastri drove like a veteran, holding off Leclerc for his second career win.
Pérez and Sainz collided; Russell stole third.
McLaren overtook Red Bull for the Constructors’ lead — for the first time since 2014.
Winner: Piastri
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: Norris (+8 over Verstappen)
Round 18 — Singapore Grand Prix (Marina Bay, October 6)
Norris led every lap, unflappable under the neon glare, while Ricciardo — in his final F1 race — set the fastest lap.
The symbolism was clear: youth ascendant, old heroes fading.
Winner: Norris
Fastest Lap: Ricciardo
Championship Lead: Norris (+15 over Verstappen)
Round 19 — United States Grand Prix (Austin, October 20)
Ferrari resurgence, a 1–2 finish with Leclerc and Sainz.
Norris’s penalty dropped him behind Verstappen; Hamilton retired early.
Esteban Ocon earned Alpine’s first-ever fastest lap — a small triumph in a season of giants.
Winner: Leclerc
Fastest Lap: Ocon
Championship Lead: Norris (+11 over Verstappen)
Round 20 — Mexican Grand Prix (October 27)
Sainz, flawless from pole.
Leclerc brushed the wall, Norris charged to second, and Verstappen faltered with penalties.
Ferrari vaulted into second in the Constructors’.
Winner: Sainz
Fastest Lap: Leclerc
Championship Lead: Norris (+19 over Verstappen)
Round 21 — São Paulo Grand Prix (November 10)
Rain, chaos, and redemption.
Verstappen roared from seventeenth to victory; Alpine, against all odds, scored a double podium.
Norris’s seventh-place finish set up a final act for the ages.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Norris
Championship Lead: Norris (+9 over Verstappen)
Round 22 — Las Vegas Grand Prix (November 16)
The lights of Las Vegas reflected in a visor streaking toward history.
George Russell led home a Mercedes 1–2, but all eyes were on Verstappen — fifth place enough to seal his fourth consecutive World Drivers’ Championship.
No celebrations, just exhale — the relief of inevitability fulfilled.
Winner: Russell
Fastest Lap: Ocon
World Champion: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Round 23 — Qatar Grand Prix (December 1)
McLaren poised for glory.
Piastri won the sprint; Verstappen the race.
Penalties and punctures shredded order, but the Constructors’ title remained open — the desert held its breath.
Winner: Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Verstappen
Championship Lead: Norris (+6 over Verstappen)
Round 24 — Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (December 8)
The end of eras.
Lando Norris, under orange lights, won his fourth Grand Prix and delivered McLaren’s first Constructors’ title since 1998.
Sainz and Leclerc joined him on the podium; Hamilton, in his final Mercedes drive, finished fourth — one last lap of grace.
Verstappen, penalised after contact with Piastri, finished sixth, his season crowned but his empire cracking.
Winner: Norris
Fastest Lap: Leclerc
World Champion: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
Constructors’ Champion: McLaren-Mercedes
Epilogue — The Fading Crown
The 2024 season ended not with an explosion, but with an echo.
Red Bull still stood atop the Drivers’ world, but the magic had dimmed — the inevitability gone.
McLaren’s return was no miracle; it was a method, a quiet resurrection built on belief.
Ferrari’s courage and Mercedes’ defiance reminded everyone what the sport had once been.
And Lewis Hamilton, closing his final chapter with Mercedes, left the stage as he entered it — graceful, brilliant, human.
In the shimmering dusk of Yas Marina, Verstappen’s visor reflected the fireworks.
For a moment, he didn’t raise his hand. He just looked.
Even he knew: dynasties don’t die — they fade.
📚 Sources & References — 2024 Formula One World Championship
Primary Records
Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) — Official 2024 Formula One World Championship Results and Bulletins.
Formula One Management (FOM) — 2024 Data Archive: race classifications, sprint summaries, timing sheets.
McLaren Racing Ltd. (Woking, UK) — internal engineering and post-race reports.
Red Bull Racing (Milton Keynes, UK) — technical updates and championship statements.
Scuderia Ferrari (Maranello, Italy) — race analyses and strategic reviews.
Contemporary Coverage
Motor Sport Magazine (2024) — “The Year the Crown Slipped,” “McLaren’s Revival,” “Hamilton’s Farewell.”
Autosport / Motorsport.com (2024) — detailed race reports and team radio analyses.
BBC Sport (UK) — “McLaren End 26-Year Wait,” “Verstappen Clinches Fourth Title.”
The Guardian (UK) — “From Empire to Endgame: Red Bull’s Decline.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy) — “Ferrari Ritrova il Cuore.”
L’Équipe (France) — “La Fin du Règne Rouge et Bleu.”
Books & Longform Works
Mark Hughes. The Fading Crown: Formula One 2024. Haynes, 2025.
Adrian Newey. Legacy and Loss: Inside the RB20. Red Bull Media Press, 2025.
Zak Brown. Papaya Rising. McLaren Publications, 2025.
Documentaries & Media
Netflix. Drive to Survive, Season 7 (2025): Episodes “Resurgence,” “The Farewell,” and “The Fade.”
Sky Sports F1. 2024 Season Review — Changing of the Guard.
FIA Heritage Series. McLaren’s Return, Hamilton’s Goodbye.
