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| Written by Keith Collantine
Throughout the 2024 Formula 1 season, our readers rated every grand prix and sprint race as soon as the chequered flags fell.
Which was their favourite? Which earned the lowest scores? And is there much love for F1’s deeply divisive sprint format?
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Here’s the verdict on all 30 of last year’s races:
Average rating: 3.1/10
As the field climbed the hill towards Massenet on lap one it looked like Charles Leclerc had a tricky race ahead of him: His team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr had been hobbled by contact with Oscar Piastri, and the Ferrari driver faced the prospect of being hounded all afternoon by the two McLarens.
Then Sergio Perez tripped over Kevin Magnussen and destroyed his Red Bull against a barrier at Massenet. The red flags flew, Sainz got his third place on the grid back, every driver completed their mandatory tyre change and all that remained was for Leclerc to lead the remaining cars on 77 interminably tedious laps of his home town. This is the second-lowest rated race of all time since the 2008 season.
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Average rating: 3.4/10
The top four circulated in order until Lando Norris handed victory to his team mate on the final lap. There’s 27 minutes of our lives we’ll never get back.
Average rating: 3.9/10
The opening race of the season did not bode well for the year ahead. Max Verstappen won as he pleased, Red Bull so far ahead of the competition Perez was able to complete a one-two well ahead of their rivals.
Average rating: 4.4/10
Bahrain part two: Another dominant performance by Red Bull, though with some added interest provided by Oliver Bearman’s impressive debut at short notice for Ferrari.
Average rating: 4.8/10
The race which left everyone wondering why Norris, after working so hard to prise the lead out of Verstappen’s hands, left the door wide open for him at the next corner? A day later, Verstappen gave him a lesson in defending.
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Average rating: 4.8/10
Fired up by losing his pole position to a contentious call by the stewards, Verstappen brushed George Russell aside at the start, made sure the stewards did not overlook Norris failing to slow for yellow flags, and collected his ninth win of the year.
Average rating: 4.8/10
The race where Daniel Ricciardo briefly looked like he might get back in a Red Bull one day. Perez demoted him to fourth place, which was the only change of position in the top seven after the first lap in another less than riveting sprint race.
Average rating: 4.9/10
Norris dominated proceedings but flirted with disaster, touching the wall twice, and lost the bonus point for fastest lap to Ricciardo in what turned out to be his final race.
Average rating: 5.4/10
The McLaren pair held the top two places throughout, Piastri eventually letting Norris into the lead seconds before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed late on. Verstappen took third from Leclerc. This race marked the high point of Norris’s championship challenge, as he drew within 44 points of the lead.
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Average rating: 5.5/10
Norris chased down Verstappen over the final laps in a superbly tense finish, though his chances of passing the Red Bull around Imola always looked slim.
Average rating: 5.6/10
Norris started poorly, losing the lead to Hamilton and falling to the lower end of the points. Verstappen ascended to the head of the field and notched up another win.
Average rating: 5.8/10
Despite losing the lead to Verstappen at the start, Norris rebounded to inflict the first home defeat on the Red Bull driver.
Average rating: 5.9/10
Verstappen won as he pleased but Norris rose to finish second in McLaren’s most competitive showing before their Miami upgrade.
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Average rating: 6.0/10
An untroubled win for Verstappen but there was plenty going on behind him as Norris’s tyres faded and the Ferraris attacked in the final laps. This was the highest-rated sprint race of the year.
Average rating: 6.0/10
After a first-lap red flag in response to Ricciardo and Alexander Albon crashing, Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two while the Ferrari pair overtook Norris.
Average rating: 6.2/10
Russell daringly passed Verstappen and Norris at the start, but couldn’t keep either behind, though the Red Bull driver had just over two seconds in hand at the flag.
Average rating: 6.5/10
The constructors’ championship fight enlivened what was otherwise a straightforward drive to victory by Norris. With Verstappen knocking Piastri into a spin at the start, and Leclerc mounting an unlikely recovery from 19th to the podium, Norris had to keep both Ferraris behind to had Norris slipped up McLaren would have lost the crown to Ferrari.
Average rating: 6.5/10
When Verstappen unexpectedly succumbed to a brake problem early on, his nine-race winning streak (beginning in Japan the previous year) came to an end. Sainz, back after a weekend away due to an appendectomy, took a timely victory, as Lewis Hamilton’s impending arrival at Ferrari meant he was on the driver market.
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Average rating: 6.8/10
Norris made the costly mistake of letting Verstappen get by at the start, which put them on a collision course at the end of the race.
Average rating: 6.8/10
Unexpectedly, Mercedes were the team to beat in Las Vegas. Russell took a lights-to-flag win, while Hamilton recovered from 10th to complete a Mercedes one-two. Verstappen secured the title with a patient drive, avoiding fights with the faster Ferraris, who were busy scrapping between themselves.
Average rating: 7.2/10
McLaren were comfortably quickest but Verstappen did his best to make a nuisance of himself for them and – not for the last time – compromised Norris’s chance to win. McLaren upheld their drivers’ original running order to the flag, telling Norris to get back behind Piastri.
Average rating: 7.3/10
Verstappen again thwarted Norris’s victory chances, forcing him off twice and allowing Leclerc by. Sainz took a fine farewell win for Ferrari.
Average rating: 7.4/10
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Armed with McLaren’s upgraded car, Norris was already making progress from fifth on the grid when a timely Safety Car intervention handed him the chance to score his first grand prix victory.
Average rating: 7.7/10
Leclerc made himself the darling of the tifosi by passing Norris’s McLaren at the start, then gambling on a one-stop strategy which allowed him to beat Piastri and take victory.
Average rating: 7.7/10
Verstappen and Norris resumed their battle from the previous day, the Red Bull driver defending with his usual vigour, until the pair clashed at turn three. Russell picked up the pieces and won while Nico Hulkenberg impressively beat Perez to sixth.
Average rating: 8.0/10
As Leclerc would do successfully in Italy, Russell gambled on a single-stop strategy to win. Unfortunately for the Mercedes driver, excessive plank wear caused a post-race disqualification.
Average rating: 8.1/10
Verstappen recovered superbly from 17th on the grid in a wet race to move into contention for victory. Unable to pit during an early Virtual Safety Car period, he and the Alpine drivers benefited from a subsequent red flag, much to Norris’s frustration, as his championship chances effectively ended here.
Average rating: 8.4/10
Piastri took revenge on Leclerc for Monza at the first opportunity, springing a surprise attack on the Ferrari driver to take victory from him in Baku. Meanwhile Norris, lucklessly eliminated in Q1 by an ill-timed yellow flag, recovered to a useful fourth, passing Verstappen on the way and gaining two more places when Sainz and Perez collided.
Average rating: 8.4/10
Verstappen prevailed in a gripping, three-way fight between him, Norris and Russell which any of them could have won in slippery conditions which caught out Perez and Sainz among others.
Average rating: 9.1/10
Unpredictable conditions made for a similarly thrilling British Grand Prix with even more potential victory contenders in the mix. Strategic errors took the McLaren drivers out of contention but Hamilton read the conditions perfectly and held on to end his longest-ever win-less streak – and on home ground to boot.
The 2024 British Grand Prix enters our top 10 best races, as rated by you, in 10th place.
Look out for our updated top 100 races, bottom 10 races and circuit ratings coming soon.
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Red Andy (@red-andy)
2nd January 2025, 7:50
Not a single sprint race in the top half. I know RaceFans users aren’t the target audience, but that’s pretty damning.
notagrumpyfan
2nd January 2025, 9:28
If you remove the protest votes (e.g. people voting 1 whilst claiming they don’t watch Sprint races) then all Sprint Races score significantly higher.
Especially the USA event would end up high in the total ranking.
This is a common issue with Social Media polls. But it does what it is supposed to do: more clicks and comments.
Maybe it’s time to move on to other sources which are more based on reviewing the events, results, and stats, rather than fishing for clicks & likes and then reporting on that in a round-up.
MacLeod (@macleod)
2nd January 2025, 8:05
And the rain effected races are on top … Still I would remove the top and lowest scores to get a real score as an 1 for a race is silly and i didn’t saw a race worth for a 10 (while the race in Brasil I rated as a 9 came near)
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
2nd January 2025, 9:39
Pretty sure Russell was not disqualified at Spa for plank wear, but for his car being underweight.
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