Karun Chandhok: The top moments of a vintage 2024 F1 season

We’ve made it to the end of the longest ever Formula 1 season with an unprecedented 24 grands prix and six sprints. Let’s be honest, after the first two weekends we were all nervous that a third consecutive season of Max Verstappen walking to the title loomed ahead of us. I can tell you that there were a lot of nervous conversations around how we were going to pretend to sound excited about the next 22 races. Fortunately the season came alive and we can look back with genuine joy at a vintage year.

Of course the stats have been skewed by having such a long season, but this was still the first time we had seven drivers taking multiple victories and the top four teams all took a 1-2 finish at some point this season for the first time in F1 history. We were getting used to having the top four cars all within a few tenths in qualifying and races where it genuinely looked like more than two teams could have won. That probably hasn’t happened in a decade!

Elsewhere in the magazine you can read through my rankings for the top 10 drivers of the season but I thought I would use this opportunity to look back at some of my personal highlights from the year. My favourite race was undoubtedly the British Grand Prix. Despite the miserable weather for most of the weekend making a mess of the campsite we were staying in, the race was outstanding. At the half-way mark, there were five drivers who could have all won the race. From the commentary box, we had a great view of watching Lewis Hamilton come around that final lap to the roar of his beloved British crowd. It was such an intense weekend but at the end of it, the home hero showed that he’s not done yet, the sun came out and everyone went home with a smile on their faces after a brilliant grand prix.

“I believe this was Carlos’s best season  at Ferrari.  He could be back for 2027”

There were other feelgood stories this year. Both the Ferrari drivers are some of the nicest people you can meet in the sport and watching them win makes the whole paddock happy. Carlos Sainz’s victory in Melbourne just a few days after climbing out of his hospital bed as a result of having his appendix removed was wonderful to see. I do believe that this was Carlos’s best season at Ferrari and I really think that in two years’ time he could be a contender to come back to Ferrari for 2027 if Lewis doesn’t carry on.

Charles Leclerc winning at Monaco, on the streets where he rode his bike around as a kid, was pretty special. After a couple of near misses, we were all wondering if he would ever be able to win at home and it was wonderful to see him get that. I have to say that going on the podium at Monza when Charles was up there celebrating was quite something too. It’s the best podium in motor sport and I feel enormously fortunate to have been able to join a Ferrari star up there when he delivered a win for the tifosi.

It was cool to see both McLaren drivers win races for the first time. Lando Norris had a great season and some of his qualifying laps this year were extraordinary. The pole laps in Barcelona and Austin in particular were just top class, with the car balancing on the precipice of grip at every single phase of every single corner. Oscar Piastri had a breakout season and the victory in Baku was one of the most enjoyable races that I have ever commentated on. I was literally bouncing up and down at one point as the tension ramped up between Piastri, Leclerc, Sergio Pérez and Sainz.

The journey that McLaren has been on since finishing a dreadful ninth in 2017 has been remarkable. The big step came in the middle of last year and since then the team has grown in stature. Andrea Stella and Zak Brown are deeply passionate racers with complimentary skills who have led that team to the front. To my 1980s F1 superfan mind, McLaren will always be the team that Ron Dennis built, but the current regime has done an outstanding job of delivering a title. At times the team didn’t yet seem as slick operationally as Mercedes or Red Bull but it was coming together towards the end of the year and they will start 2025 as the favourites.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first season as a columnist at Motor Sport. It’s been fun to bring you some insights from the paddock and personally the day spent driving the Lotus 49 for our cover story in the summer for the Race Car of the Century edition has been one of the absolute highlights of my year. It’s time for a bit of a recharge and before you know it, pre-season testing for the 2025 season will be upon us!