Formula One’s “Silly Season” is Much More than a Mid-Season Term in 2024
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According to the Hindustan Times, the term “Silly Season” is phrase used in which it describes the rumors and speculation regarding the driver market for the upcoming season. Typical high-ranking members of various teams make their way in those discussions, point taken with the departure news of RedBull’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey.
With almost every seat locked up for 2025, “Silly Season” has been much more than a mid-season term, it’s actually be the definition of how the 2024 season has gone.
After the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen in 2023, so far this season we’ve seen new & familiar faces atop the podium with the drivers championship margin closing in with just 9 races to go.
The YEAR OF VARIETY
Image via XPBImages
Through 15 race weekends this year, it’s been far from the masterclass that was Max Verstappen in 2023 with 7 different drivers taking that top spot on the podium and the constructors championship battle starting to shape up as well.
With the drivers championship battle now down to 70 points and the constructors title down to 30 points between No. 1 RedBull and No. 2 McLaren, the next closest team in the constructors battle is Ferrari in 3rd with a 34 point gap to P2.
WINNERS This season
Picking up where he left off from in 2023, Max Verstappen started off the year with back to back wins in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and surely gave fans PTSD.
However, after a DNF in Australia and a victory given to Ferrari as a result, this is when RedBull started to show cracks in their foundation, though it's been through no fault of their own.
Max would come back with another string of back-to-back wins in Japan and China along with taking another 3 out of 4 races victories in Italy, Canada & Spain.
Since Spain, things have seemingly turned for RedBull with Verstappen only being able to muster up a pair of P2's in Silverstone and in his home country of the Netherlands this past weekend, though with that recent podium finish coming within a +22.896 margin from 1st.
After essentially losing his seat at the beginning of the year to the shock of Lewis Hamilton joining the Maranello based team, Carlos Sainz would presumably have to prove himself to get another seat for 2025, despite rumored interest from multiple teams.
Sainz opened up the year with a P3 in Bahrain but would be sidelined the next 2 race weekends after undergoing surgery for appendicitis.
Sainz would triumphantly return and claimed a victory in Australia after a Verstappen DNF and it solidified Carlos as a potential top driver for any team that had an open seat for 2025.
Since the victory in Australia, Sainz has claimed three more P3 podium finishes in Japan, Monaco & Austria and currently sits in 5th place in the Drivers Championship.
With the season winding down, Sainz is already under contract with Williams for 2025 onwards but he will look to be a key part of Ferrari's plans until seasons end as the Scuderia look to lock up P3 or higher in the constructors.
Lando Norris has always been viewed as a title contender amongst F1 fans and pundits but has never been given machinery like he's had in 2024.
A P3 in Australia and P2 in China, foreshadowed what has quickly become a special year for Lando and McLaren.
Following the Chinese GP, Lando would finally capture his maiden victory in Miami after a highly debated safety car helped pave the way to the top step.
Since the triumphant victory in Miami, Lando has managed 5 more podiums, helping McLaren's constructors deficit shorten with every RedBull misstep.
Lando's 2nd F1 victory was stripped away from him by team orders in Hungary where he was instructed to let his teammate Oscar Piastri pass, leaving Norris in limbo to get over that next bump in his career.
Unlike his 1st victory, Lando would not have to wait that long for his 2nd victory as he's secured it this past weekend in Zandvoort in DOMINATING fashion with a gap of +22.896.
The Monaco GP has been a race weekend that has cursed Charles Leclerc since his days in junior formulas, from being forced to retire from an F2 weekend in 2017, to colliding with a Toro Rosso and retiring with a brake failure with Sauber to a continuous string of mishaps since joining Ferrari, but that would come to an end in 2024.
Leclerc would secure pole position in this year's Grand Prix but had a lightning quick Oscar Piastri behind him, followed by his teammate Carlos Sainz who was in a close 3rd to start the race. From the moment those 5 lights went out, Leclerc never gave up 1st place even after a crazy 3 car crash to open up the race.
Emotional doesn't even begin to describe this victory for Leclerc as the "Monaco Curse" seemingly came to an end and would hopefully be a sign of things to come. Since then, Leclerc has scored points in 4 of the last 7 races since Monaco and has more importantly bagged back-to-back P3's in Spa and shockingly in Zandvoort.
George Russell was the biggest winner to open up the year after Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari was announced as it indicated what many have said since he was a Williams Junior Driver, that being he how he is the future of the Silver Arrows.
Scoring in 12 race weekends this year and securing a victory in Austria, George Russell has been one of the more consistent drivers this year rebounding from a relatively slow start to the year.
From Canada onward, George and Mercedes have secured major points where Russell would have been the 3rd driver this year next to Max and Lando to have been the only drivers to have won a more than 1 Grand Prix this year if it wasn't for a Disqualification in Spa.
DQ or not, Russell as of late has proved Toto Wolff and the Brackley based team right for giving him the keys to kingdom as him and the team will be looking ahead at the 2025 season where he will officially be Driver 1 next to a particular phenom.
What else is there to say about Lewis Hamilton???
7x World Champion. 105 Grand Prix Victories.
104 Pole Positions. 201 Podiums...
At some point it becomes absurd to even try to describe Lewis as anything other than the "GOAT", but that is a debate for a different day.
LH shocked the world when the news came out less than 3 weeks before preseason testing on February 2nd that he'd be leaving Mercedes and joining the Maranello based Scuderia.
Despite controversy & conspiracy of a potential sabotage job from Mercedes, LH has put together a nice "Farewell" tour with the Silver Arrows where he currently sits in 6th place of the Drivers Championship.
14 Grand Prix weekends Lewis Hamilton has scored points in this season and secured a victory at Silverstone, where it was his 1st GP victory since the Saudi Arabian GP in 2021 and would later secure another victory this year in Spa after teammate George Russell was disqualified.
With 9 races left, it's hard to imagine that Lewis Hamilton won't continue to score points given how successful the Merc engine has been this year but whose to say he won't secure another victory that isn't due to a DQ before the season ends?
Since bestowing utter embarrassment on Alpine in 2022 after deciding to swap out his French uniform for the Papaya jumpsuit, Oscar Piastri has shown fans and pundits a glimmer into the future and has already made a case as to why he'll be knocking at the door of a future driver's championship.
In his rookie campaign in 2023 , Piastri showed promise finishing 9th in the Drivers Championship, helped propel McLaren in the 2nd half of the year alongside Lando by securing a major Sprint Victory in Qatar and riding that wave until seasons end.
After riding that 2nd half wave in 2023, Oscar has scored in 14 race weekends this year and has helped McLaren in their fight for the Constructors Title. All while having one of the more quietly consistent seasons it should be no surprise given Piastri's chill demeanor, it's lead him to securing his maiden F1 victory in Hungary.
Though his maiden victory was marred with controversy, given the team orders that teammate Lando Norris was given to concede positioning to Oscar, that still doesn't show how much of a leap he's made from his rookie year in 2023, doing away with his issues of tire degredation.
WHAT TO EXPECT MOVING FORWARD
CHAMPIONSHIP BATTLE
It's hard to not to be excited about the upcoming battles that will without a doubt be heating up with 9 races remaining on the calendar. With Lando Norris' victory in Zandvoort, he is now 70 points behind Max Verstappen in the Drivers Championship. And with a 22.896 second margin of victory, that 70 point lead could be quickly erased and we could soon be crowing a new champion if McLaren's dominance is true.
Hamilton’s send off and Mercedes prepares for 2025
Though the driver and constructors titles are out of the question, Mercedes should and definitely are looking ahead at the 2025 season. A season in which there is continued speculation that F1 phenom Kimi Antonelli will likely be slotted into the Driver No. 2 spot next to George Russell.
Not to mention the continued rumors that the Silver Arrows are aiming for Max Verstappen's service come 2026, one year before the new regulations take over and the Mercedes power units are expected to be dominant.
Either way, if George and Lewis continue to score points, it could be a bittersweet send off for Lewis before he heads off to Maranello and George takes over as team leader.
can red bull hold on?
RedBull's strong start to open up the 2024 season was something many expected coming off their dominant year in 2023 but their recent "Downfall" has been a result of neither driver having the fastest car on track anymore.
Though that's not to say Max Verstappen hasn't done his job, because he certainly has, bagging 2 podiums over the last 5 races after securing 7 victories in the early part of the year.
However, RedBull could benefit from a strong 2nd driver, given McLaren's consistency and recent surge a top the standings to make both championship title fights that much more interesting.
With 9 races left, it's not hard to imagine that RedBull would dump Perez in favor of a "Stronger" driver but with Team Principal Christian Horner continually shooting down speculation of a driver swap...RedBull's fate in the title fights rely on one man and it isn't Max Verstappen.
FERRARI FIGHTS TO KEEP P3 AND PREPARE FOR HAMILTON’S ARRIVAL
A P3 in Zandvoort shocked the Scuderia and its fans after not many expected a high points finish given the challenges of the circuit come race day, not to mention Leclerc qualifying P6 and Sainz P10 to end Saturday.
Given Lando and McLaren's dominant victory in the Netherlands, Leclerc also fell victim to the large victory margin finishing in P3 on Sunday but most importantly, Leclerc was able to hold off a scorching hot Oscar Piastri behind him to keep him behind in P4.
Though the high-hopes from the beginning of the season have faded in Maranello, they now will surely look to hold P3 in the constructors battle or hope for a major downfall of RedBull.
With the imminent arrival of Lewis Hamilton after seasons end could fuel both sides. Currently Lewis Hamilton shows no sign of slowing down and with 2 victories secured this season, Ferrari could look to rejuvenate Hamilton in his quest for an 8th title as both sides will be given a fresh start.
