Multiple race winners within the first half of the 2024 season alone indicate the progress of the new regulations.
We are 13 races into a 24-race F1 season. One more race before the Summer break. So far, there have been seven different winners. Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Lando Norris, George Russell, and Oscar Piastri have all claimed the P1 spot. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton have also won their home races in Monaco and Britain respectively. McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have closed the gap to Red Bull, raising the stakes higher than ever. Are the 2022 F1 regulations finally working?
The 2024 winners club has inducted a new member 🤩#F1 pic.twitter.com/ukQtqgIRsi
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2024
Ground Effect Era
F1’s ground effect era began in 2022, delayed a year due to COVID-19, ending Mercedes’ domination. With this F1 regulation debut came the era of Red Bull. Many believe this era is over after the team has shown signs of struggle in recent races.
Transformed aerodynamics reintroduced ground effect into F1 regulations for the first time since the early 1980s. This placed emphasis on car floors generating downforce instead of wings and bodywork.
The aim was to reduce dirty air, which had hindered drivers’ grip when running close to other cars. This change hoped to bring the grid closer and increase competition in the Drivers and Constructors championships. Mercedes had dominated both since 2014.
Mercedes won seven consecutive Drivers’ titles from 2014 to 2020 with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. They also won eight consecutive Constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021 with Hamilton, Rosberg, and Valtteri Bottas. These records still stand despite the team’s decline in this era.
The then CEO, Chase Carey, said:
“The goal has always been to improve the competition and action on the track, and, at the same time, make the sport a healthier and attractive business for all.”
However, in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Red Bull and Max Verstappen famously dominated F1. In 2022, they claimed 20 of 25 wins, including Grands Prix and sprint races. In 2023, they won all but one race in Singapore where Carlos Sainz took victory for Ferrari. This dominance led many to question the F1 regulations. Fans and those within the paddock alike wondered whether the regulations worked. They also tirelessly questioned what could be done about the front of the grid to see closer racing happen.
From Competition to Domination
While they lost the Constructors Championship in 2o21, it is fair to say that that year, which many will remember for its controversial end, marked the start of Red Bull’s reign.
They won 11 of 22 races and secured their first Drivers’ Championship since 2013. Sergio Pérez also proved invaluable in the fight for Max Verstappen’s first Drivers Championship, clinched in Abu Dhabi. All in all, they set themselves up for a successful 2022 before pre-season testing.
It fell as predicted. After seeing off an early challenge from Ferrari in 2022, Red Bull dominated to take their first double title since 2013. Verstappen secured a record 15 wins to retain the Drivers’ Championship. Both teams came up with two competing floor and sidepod concepts that proved competitive but it was Red Bull who maintained their successful design concept, which extended into 2023 also.
RB19
The RB19 was considered to be a complete package by all, which was superior in Qualifying, straight-line speed, medium to low-speed corners, tyre management, and over kerbs and bumps.
The car’s advantage revolved around its aerodynamic philosophy, which led to a number of teams following suit for the 2023 season. Ferrari and Mercedes were two who did not, which led to them being slower than teams such as McLaren and Aston Martin, particularly early on in the season.
With this aerodynamic efficiency, the RB19 was able to carry more downforce before drag began to be too big of a problem for its drivers. Their DRS advantage points also helped with this. When the DRS flag would open, it would dump so much downforce and relative drag that Verstappen and Pérez would breeze past others.
Another vital component was its vehicle dynamics. It was the suspension platform that allowed its drivers to access this performance continuously. Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer, and the man considered to be the reason for this success built the car to be at its best in the race when fuel loads, temperature, tyre choice, and other factors fluctuate over the race compared to a single qualifying lap.
It was this that saw them build the most dominant car in F1 history, which won 21 races out of 22 to give the team a 95.4% win rate, the highest of any car recorded previously.
Struggles
The 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix led many to believe that this domination would continue. Verstappen and Pérez drove an unchallenged 1-2 at the race, with the gap to Sainz in P3 over 25 seconds. It seemed that teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes had not done enough over Winter to close that gap, but with one race left until the Summer break, plenty has changed.
In two months, that 25-second deficit has reduced to seven-tenths after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. While Verstappen did go on to win in Imola, it was not as easy as his previous wins have been.
Post-race, he indicated that he could not maximise his performance as he would have liked:
“On the Hard tyres something was not optimised, because I just never felt like the tyres were working on our car. So that’s something that we have to analyse. But clearly the teams around us, they are catching up and they’re doing a really good job. So we also need to try and find improvements, you know, from our side.”
The improvements Verstappen were hoping to be found seemingly are yet to happen. The last race Verstappen won was in Spain. In Hungary in particular, it was evident that he did not have the pace to consider a podium finish. He finished P5, +21.349s behind Piastri, the race winner after a collision with Hamilton and several sweary radio calls that lamented his distaste for the car.
While the team looks to control his sim racing, perhaps it is time they look within to salvage their season before McLaren and co continue their charge upwards.
Pérez’s performance also factors into this. While his Dutch teammate squeezes the maximum out of his RB20, the Mexican driver has consistently failed to conjure up speed at various tracks. He has scored just 11 points in the last five races and between Silverstone and Hungary, has not made it out of Q1 due to crashing in mixed weather conditions.
With neither drivers satisfied with their cars nor their performance, the end of Red Bull is happening. The F1 regulations also finally look to be working as intended, much to the delight of the paddock and audiences alike.
Competition
Sainz won in Australia after Verstappen retired, while Norris claimed his first win at the Miami Grand Prix. Leclerc won his first home race in Monaco, while Russell claimed his second win in Austria after a collision between Verstappen and Norris saw the latter retire and the Briton claim victory in the aftermath. Hamilton won his first Grand Prix in 945 days at Silverstone on pure race pace, while Piastri won his first-ever Grand Prix in Hungary despite a strategy mishap.
Mclaren, in particular, appear to be steadily increasing on their performance with every race. The only problem getting in their way is their strategy calls. These took them out of the win conversation at Silverstone and caused trouble in Hungary.
If they were to act on this and begin to make the right calls that suit both Norris and Piastri, there is no reason why they could not overtake Red Bull in both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships. Whether they will or not remains to be seen.
The scores on the doors from the last five rounds of the championship 📈
McLaren and Mercedes in fine form but Max is still top dog 🔝#F1 pic.twitter.com/nvfXsH4gJa
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2024
What is Next?
As we enter the final year of these regulations, they have finally begun to work as the grid closes up. Qualifying has become closer, as have race days, which makes for an exciting weekend overall.
With seven different winners thus far, will anybody else add their name to the list? One would imagine that Red Bull hope to see Sergio Pérez add his name sooner rather than later.
