Five memorable moments from a Formula One season unlike any other

(CNN) — Heading into the 2024 Formula One season, many fans feared it would be more of the same.

Max Verstappen was fresh off a comfortable 2022 and then a historically dominant 2023 campaign, entering 2024 as a three-time world champion with Red Bull appearing untouchable. And when it was announced that the calendar would feature a record-breaking 24 races, it was hard to shake the underlying feeling that this year would drag on and on and on.

However, this season has been anything but boring. There was a parity across the grid that hadn’t been seen in recent years, with seven different drivers winning multiple races for the first time ever. Ten different drivers also finished on the podium, and there was a genuine attempt at unseating Verstappen.

And at the final race in Abu Dhabi, McLaren won its first Constructors’ Championship since 1998 after Lando Norris capped off a stellar season with a victory.

“This feels incredible,” said Norris. “The team have done an amazing job this season to come from where we were at the beginning. I’m so proud of everyone. It’s been a lovely journey and to end the season with another race win is perfect.

With attention already turning to next year’s campaign, here’s a look back at five moments to remember from a breathtaking 2024 F1 season.

Verstappen victorious… again

Though Norris put up a valiant fight throughout the season, it still appears that no one can stop the Flying Dutchman.

After a titanic battle with Lewis Hamilton for the championship in 2021, Verstappen swept to the title in 2022 before winning 19 out of 22 races the following year to win the championship by an almost 300-point margin.

He won seven out of the first 10 races in 2024 and it appeared as though he would romp unchallenged to the title for the fourth straight season.

However, Red Bull’s pace and typical dominance faded as the chasing pack, particularly McLaren, began catching up. Verstappen only won two of the next 14 races after taking victory at Round 10 in Spain.

Season-long struggles for teammate Sergio Pérez meant that Verstappen was frequently left without a rear gunner in his fights at the front, further tipping the odds against him, but the Dutchman isn’t a multi-time world champion for no reason.

He hasn’t finished outside the top six all season and his remarkable show of consistency prevented Norris from making any inroads into the lead that had been built up in the first half of the campaign.

A fourth straight World Drivers’ Championship came with two races to spare in Las Vegas, putting an end to a title fight that saw him forced to produce his best.

“It’s been a long season and, of course, we started off amazing, it was almost like cruising, but then we had a tough run,” he said after the checkered flag in Sin City.

“But as a team, we kept it together, we kept working on improvements and we pulled off the win. Incredibly proud of everyone, what they have done for me.

“I think in a way, of course, I still prefer last season; I enjoyed it a lot, but I think this season, definitely again taught me a lot of lessons. I’m very proud of how we handled it also as a team. So in a way, of course, that makes it also very, very special, and a beautiful season.”

It appeared as though 2024 couldn’t possibly get sweeter for the Dutchman, but ahead of the final race of the season he and his partner Kelly Piquet – daughter of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet – announced that they are expecting their first child together.

Title rivals come together in Austria

The Austrian Grand Prix turned out to be a flashpoint in the championship battle.

Verstappen qualified for the Grand Prix on pole with Norris behind him in P2 and they remained in that order for much of the race.

The Brit made several brave attempts to take the lead while Verstappen fiercely defended – actions from both drivers threatened to venture into the ‘reckless’ category.

Things came to a head on lap 64, when the rivals collided as Norris attempted an overtake around the outside of Turn 3 and Verstappen tried to cut him off. Norris sustained race-ending damage to his car, while Verstappen tumbled to P5, allowing Mercedes’ George Russell to swoop to victory, with Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completing the podium.

“It depends what (Verstappen) says. If he says he did nothing wrong, then I lose a lot of respect for that,” a “disappointed” Norris told Sky Sports during his post-race interview.

“If he admits to being a bit stupid and running into me and just being a bit reckless in a way, then I’ll have a small amount of respect for it.”

“Everyone can have their own opinion. From the outside, it’s easy to judge and comment,” Verstappen said to Sky Sports. “Of course, we’ll talk about it. It’s just unfortunate that it happened.”

Hamilton takes emotional Silverstone victory

Arguably, the most shocking F1 moment this year came before the season, when it was announced that Hamilton would leave Mercedes after 12 seasons with the team, joining Ferrari in 2025 in one of the most stunning driver transfers of all time.

The 39-year-old won six Drivers’ titles with the Silver Arrows and helped them to seven straight Constructors’ championships between 2014 and 2021. However, he seemed visibly affected by Mercedes’ downturn in performance, suffering some early qualifying exits, frequently struggling with race pace and going all 2022 and 2023 without a win, the first winless seasons of his 17-year career.

With Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari all showing superior pace to Mercedes, it looked as though it might be more of the same for Hamilton, until he took a memorable victory at the British Grand Prix in July.

He held off a charging Verstappen in a rain-affected race to clinch his first win in over two-and-a-half years.

“There’s definitely been days between 2021 and here where I didn’t feel like I was good enough or whether I was going to get back to where I am today, but the important thing is I had great people around me continuing to support me,” an emotional Hamilton said post-race.

He celebrated on the podium draped in the British flag in what was his final home race as a Mercedes driver.

Team orders drama in Hungary

Much of the focus at McLaren was on Norris’ title challenge, though his teammate Piastri, driving in his second season after impressing as a rookie last year, showed why he has often been touted as the sport’s next big thing.

The Australian took his first career Grand Prix victory in Hungary earlier this year, though it was not without controversy.

After overtaking teammate Norris at the start of the race for P1, Piastri built up a lead and looked nailed on to score the win. However, McLaren pitted Norris first on the second round of stops, ‘undercutting’ Piastri and allowing him to take the lead.

McLaren wanted Norris to let Piastri retake the lead that he had earned once the Aussie had closed the gap using his fresher tires, but he was unable to reel in the Brit. Meanwhile, Norris consistently resisted calls from the team for him to ease up, despite his race engineer Will Joseph urging him to “do the right thing.”

It seemed as though McLaren was headed towards an embarrassing intra-team conflict that likely would have been avoided by simply pitting Piastri first, but Norris eventually eased up to let Piastri through on lap 68 of 70 to give McLaren its first one-two finish since 2021 as the entire garage breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The grid says goodbye to Danny Ric

One of F1’s most beloved characters seemed to bid farewell to the sport earlier this season.

Daniel Ricciardo participated in what is likely to be his final F1 race at the Singapore GP in September, bringing an end to a glittering 257-race career that saw him win eight races and score 32 podiums.

Though there had been speculation over Ricciardo’s future all season, rumors that Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson would replace the Aussie at RB intensified heading into Singapore. He crossed the line in P18 after pitting for fresh tires towards the end of the race in a successful attempt to record the fastest lap of the GP.

Ricciardo was seen taking his time to get out of the cockpit in parc fermé and was visibly emotional in his postrace interview. Four days later, his departure was made official by RB, with Lawson stepping in for the rest of the season.

The 35-year-old sat down exclusively with CNN Sport earlier this year and discussed how he looks back on his career.

“I’m proud. Like, don’t get me wrong, if it ended today, I would be proud of what I’ve done,” he said at the time. “But on the same note, you’re never fully satisfied because the reason I got into Formula One was to try to become world champion.”

His ultimate goal may have eluded him, but Ricciardo put together a resumé that would be the envy of many drivers over the course of his 15-year F1 journey.

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