2024 F1 season: five things to look forward to in the new year!

Can anyone challenge Red Bull Racing in 2024?

Yes, Red Bull Racing was the dominant force in Formula 1 in 2023, but dominance is never eternal. Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull itself had such dominance at times in the last 25 years, but were eventually stopped by another team. After a huge peak in 2023, it will be interesting in 2024 to see which teams can make the leap to Red Bull.

Whether McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes or Ferrari will already be able to challenge Red Bull in 2024 remains to be seen, but it would be nice if any of these teams come closer. That way, Adrian Newey and his men will also be further challenged and that would only make the sport better.

Sergio Perez 4.0?

Should the competition still not come close enough to make the 2024 F1 season truly exciting, eyes will still be on Max Verstappen's teammate once again. The Dutchman has clearly been the better one within Red Bull Racing's team for three years, but Sergio Perez will be only too keen to win the world title himself.

In 2023, Perez had just said the words that he wanted to become world champion, after which the Mexican would not win a single race. Perez starts the 2024 season with fresh courage. Like Valtteri Bottas, will he become the laughing stock who tries every year but fails to come close, or can he surprise one year like Nico Rosberg did in 2016?

Who will be Verstappen's (new) teammate in 2025?

Sergio Perez's contract runs until 2024, so this is the year of truth. The Mexican will turn 34 years old in January and so the Austrian racing stable will think carefully about a contract extension. This will mainly depend on the performance of Verstappen's teammate and so keeping an eye on Perez is already a nice part of 2024.

If Perez performs very well, he can probably count on a new contract at Red Bull Racing. Still, there are many hijackers on the coast. Fourteen of the 20 drivers on the grid have expiring contracts and, as world champions, Red Bull has the luxury that many drivers will be only too happy to make the switch. What about Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg, for example. Will they drive themselves to a seat next to Verstappen in 2025?

Silly Season F1 2025

Whereas the exact same 20 names will be on the grid in 2024 as at the last Grand Prix of 2023, it will be a miracle if that is the case again in 2025. Last year seemed like that was the calm before the storm, as 2025 may well be the year of the big seat swap, just before F1's regulations are up for grabs.

The best seat has already been discussed, but at Ferrari the contracts of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are expiring. Sainz looks set to leave, but where to (Sauber) Stake F1 becoming Audi in 2026 or a return to Red Bull after all? Aston Martin also has two free seats on paper. Will Fernando Alonso continue for longer, will Yuki Tsunoda make the switch to the team that will run with Honda engines in 2026 and what does Lance and Lawrence Stroll's future look like at the British team? Also at Williams and Haas, both drivers' contracts are expiring. Will there be a place for new talents in 2025?

F1 teammates who will clash/crash

An important part of Silly Season is also the battle within teams. Who will win that duel and who should start packing their bags? At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc seems to be the intended front-runner, but Sainz has proven on several occasions that he is not much inferior to his teammate. When will things really clap between these two?

The same can be said of the duo at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell both have contracts until 2025, but already clashed a few times last year. Things still went well at McLaren in 2023, but what if Oscar Piastri is closer to Lando Norris soon. Will things still be so friendly between the two next to the track?

At Alpine, they have long known that the bomb is about to burst. Sworn arch-enemies Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were already having occasional fights in 2023. Gasly also revealed already that they definitely do not treat each other as friends. With both having expiring contracts in 2024, that can hardly go down well for long.

Bonus: Andrea Kimi Antonelli versus Oliver Bearman

Not Formula 1, but an important starter in this year's F1 weekends. Tune in to F2 more often this year, because with Andrea Kimi Antonelli, perhaps the greatest talent of a generation is at the start of his F2 season. Mercedes deliberately skipped F3 with their talented driver because the Italian simply wins everything. If he succeeds in F2 too, a seat in F1 beckons for 2025.

Bearman will be his biggest rival in that. Bearman made a huge impression as a rookie in his first year in F2. The Brit already drove a season in the class, making him an ideal benchmark for Antonelli. Bearman impressed during tests for Haas, but will need to win this duel to secure a seat in F1.