Formula 1 is back at it’s most competitive right now and after a string of dramatic races with seven different winners, here are five questions I’m looking forward to seeing answered when racing resumes in the second part of this thrilling season…
1. Who will be constructors’ champions?
The constructors’ fight seemed a foregone conclusion when Red Bull unveiled the RB20 in Bahrain. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez racked up the wins and podiums and took a dominant lead in the standings. But a few months later and the situation is totally different.
Red Bull have been caught – and possibly even passed – in the development race, with McLaren coming on strong and providing a huge threat.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have both won races, whilst Perez’s form has fallen away dramatically – he hasn’t finished in the top six since Miami, nine races ago.
Verstappen has been holding his own as a bit of a one-man-band, scoring good points for the team, and as a result the drivers’ championship still seems out of reach for anybody else – but the constructors’ is in danger of slipping away from under Red Bull’s nose.
The gap that was once 115 points between the two teams after Miami, is down to just 42 and McLaren are now within one race of taking the lead. Can the reigning champions respond throughout the rest of the season, or is the constructors’ title heading back to Woking for the first time since 1998?
Can Red Bull maintain their lead in the title race after the summer break?
2. Can McLaren get on top of their operational woes?
The competitive field is incredibly close right now with three or four teams competing for wins at any given Grand Prix – but McLaren have emerged as the most consistent team out front and it has launched them into that position of being in contention for the constructors’ crown.
But in reality the gap could have been even smaller now had they perfectly executed their recent races. Norris won in Miami and Piastri won in Budapest, but there were potential wins that evaded them in Canada and at Silverstone.
READ MORE: Brown admits surprise at McLaren’s position as he identifies key factor in constructors’ battle
There were some questions of their strategy in Spa too, and even their one-two win in Hungary was confused and overshadowed by an over-complicated final round of pitstops and the subsequent team orders.
Add in missed opportunities for Norris in Barcelona and Austria, and McLaren are close to becoming serial winners. Can they put things right on the operational side in the second half of the year and take advantage of their rapid car and super fast drivers?
3. What do Red Bull do with their driver line-up?
As the dominoes continue to fall in the driver market, the biggest remaining questions are at Red Bull. They’ve affirmed their intention to keep Sergio Perez until the end of the season at least, but with the wealth of talent at their disposal underneath it still begs two questions.
Firstly, if Perez is not be able to rediscover some form, Red Bull will surely need to bring someone else in who could consistently deliver bigger points. Now they’ve lost the option of Carlos Sainz – following his move to Williams – is there even anybody else available who could do that?
READ MORE: Red Bull make decision on Perez’s future and RB driver line-up
Secondly, we are back to the days of old with Red Bull having a roster of young talent available to them, but do they have the desire to put them into their F1 line-up? With Liam Lawson on the bench and Isaak Hadjar currently dominating Formula 2 there are two potential stars of the future that need drives.
In the days of old a punchy Red Bull team might have thrown them both in at RB for next year to see who comes out on top, in a bid to find the next Vettel or Verstappen. Will either – or both – get the chance they deserve?
Could we see Liam Lawson on the grid next year?
4. Can Ferrari return to the top step?
Ferrari started the year very positively, announcing Lewis Hamilton as a driver for 2025, and stepping up to be the closest challengers to Max Versteppen – even picking up the pieces for a one-two finish in Australia.
Charles Leclerc also took an emotional home victory at Monaco in May, but since then the Scuderia have missed a step with their upgrades and have fallen away from the leading pack.
Leclerc did have a more encouraging run in Spa, on a circuit where they didn’t necessarily expect success, and with more classic Ferrari tracks coming up in the second half of the calendar like Singapore and Baku, as well as their home race in Monza, can they get the prancing horse back to the top step before the year’s out?
As Hamilton eyes his winter switch to Maranello, he’ll certainly be hoping to see some improvement before he dons the famous red race suit next year…
)
Leclerc’s emotional home win in Monaco seems like a long time ago now…
5. Who comes out on top in some of F1’s best battle grounds?
The last part of the season has some great venues in it. I always enjoy the Grands Prix at Austin and Interlagos – and of course there’s a return to Vegas as well to come, which also provided a thriller in its inaugural race last year.
The calendar is packed out this year with our busiest season ever, but these are races that are often wide open – even in less competitive years – so heading to them with the field so tightly matched is going to be really exciting and hopefully it’ll lead to some memorable races.
Last year in Austin, Leclerc was on pole, Norris lead most of the race, before Verstappen won, harried home by Hamilton. That shows just how open that Grand Prix can be!
Verstappen-mania at Zandvoort is always fun too, as well as the magic of the tifosi in Monza. With 10 races to go still there is so much to look forward to, even without looking at the big picture. Each race has had its own story this season and I’m sure there is much drama still to be told in 2024.