Lewis Hamilton’s Surreal Resurgence, McLaren Duo’s First Wins, to Max Verstappen’s Drought, Here Are the Biggest Winners & Losers of the Formula 1 Season So Far

The first half of the 2024 Formula 1 season had all the ingredients to be a blockbuster Hollywood movie. The downfall of the ‘bad guys’, the resurgence of a historic figure (team), the forgotten hero tasting glory again and most importantly the elements of surprise. We have 7 different race winners in the 14 races that the F1 circus ‘performed’ across the circuits. A season that started with expectations of Red Bull and Max Verstappen has turned out more thrilling and unexpected than a Christopher Nolan movie.

The Milton Keynes-based team witnessed gut-wrenching blows to their dominant run after McLaren emerged as the strongest and most reliable of teams. Lewis Hamilton announced his exit from Mercedes and won two races after a wait of 945 days, and so on. There have been multiple winners and losers in the first half of the 2024 season. Let us take a look at who they are.

Winners of the first half of the 2024 Formula 1 season

The two names that emerge on top of this list are McLaren and their ex-prodigal son, Lewis Hamilton. Last year, McLaren entered the season with one of the strongest lineups. Contrary to their assets, they bottled the first few races, and the entire clan of experts and media mocked their performance in the beginning. However, post their first upgrade, or rather the first outing of their 2023 challenger at Baku, the tides of time began turning. This year in Formula 1, the team is the biggest challenger to Red Bull’s constructor champion throne and Max Verstappen’s peace.

The team has already bagged multiple pole positions and wins in the first half of 2024. They outscored the reigning champions in the past 7 races by 72 points. The debates in the media are already ripe if the Orange Papaya team can poke an irreparable hole in Red Bull’s dominance. The next one is Lewis Hamilton, the 7x champion, who also has 105 race wins to his name had to wait for a staggering 945 days at the 103 mark before he found his fairytale ending at home.

The 2024 Silverstone Grand Prix saw their most decorated driver extend the margin of his greatness. Lewis found a perfect way to bid goodbye to Mercedes as he won his 104th GP, which drew applause even from their arch-enemies, Red Bull. The Belgian Grand Prix, which saw his teammate assert tactical dominance and take the win for a couple of minutes, also had F1 and Britain’s Knight promoted to the race win after his teammate’s car was found underweight. But for a complete recap, we also need to look at who stands to lose the most or the ones who already have.

The biggest losers in the first half of the 2024 Formula 1 season

Disclaimer: The word loser signifies the one who lost the most or is on the verge of the said loss. It in no way is a jab at motorsport’s finest.

Now, let us get to the point. The team that stands to lose the most is Red Bull. I’ll give you some context first. The 7 drivers that have won races in 2024 have all come from the Big 4. The last piece of this puzzle is Red Bull’s second driver, Sergio Perez. He has been in shockingly dismal form this season at times, struggling to make it to Q3 or not hitting the barrier. The 6 time Grand Prix winner played the ideal second fiddle to Max Verstappen before the competition entered an Olympic-like showdown and Checo’s form never really came into the game.

For context, Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri scored 80 points each and won 3 races between them in the last four Grands Prix, whereas Sergio Perez has only scored 20 points. F1 Experts came out to suggest that if Red Bull is serious about its championship dream, the team needs both its drivers to consistently score. This sparked rumors of Checo’s dismissal from the Austrian team. However, the team has decided to stick with the Mexican driver marking an uphill battle for them to save their crown.

This was my analysis. Who do you think stands as the biggest winner and loser of the first half of the season? Share your opinions in the comments.