2024

After one of the most dominant campaigns in Formula One history, Max Verstappen and Red Bull entered 2024 as overwhelming favourites. Verstappen began the season in familiar fashion, but as the year unfolded it became increasingly clear that Red Bull's advantage was disappearing. McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes all found race-winning pace, turning what had once been a one-team show into the most competitive grid in years.

Lando Norris emerged as Verstappen's closest challenger after claiming his maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami, while McLaren's remarkable development transformed them into regular front-runners. Ferrari and Mercedes also enjoyed multiple victories, leaving Verstappen without the fastest car for much of the second half of the season. By the end of the year, Red Bull had fallen to third in the Constructors' Championship.

With the competitive balance shifting beneath him, Verstappen's title defence became increasingly dependent on his own performances rather than outright machinery. A series of exceptional drives, most notably his victory from seventeenth on the grid in São Paulo, allowed him to preserve a championship lead that had been built during Red Bull's dominant start to the season.

Verstappen ultimately secured a fourth consecutive World Championship, but 2024 marked a turning point. It was the season that proved Red Bull's dominance had come to an end, and that Formula One had entered a new era in which multiple teams were once again capable of fighting for victories and championships.