A highly competitive 2024 included reinstating iconic brands McLaren and Ferrari to the forefront of Formula One.
At Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, McLaren sealed its first Constructors World Championship since 1998. In context, that was before either of its current drivers, Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, was born.
McLaren inarguably had the best car on the grid since the Miami Grand Prix in May, and with two of the top drivers on the grid, the team was under added pressure and expectation to get over the line.
Not all Formula One fans may know that McLaren has had the second-most successful Constructors’ Championship run in Formula One history, with nine triumphs overall (Ferrari has 16 titles). So, it’s remarkable that the team went 26 years without a championship. But for its part, Ferrari, which finished second this year, hasn’t won a Constructors’ title since 2008.
Recent years notwithstanding, McLaren vs. Ferrari is one of the all-time great sporting rivalries, the motorsport equivalent of Manchester United vs. Liverpool in football or the Yankees vs. in baseball. The rivalry provokes great memories! Consider the 1974 season when McLaren’s Emmerson Fittipaldi beat Ferrari’s Clay Regazzoni to the Drivers World Title at the final race of the season, and with it, also sealing McLaren’s first-ever Constructors World Title. Then there was the 2007 spy-gate controversy that saw McLaren thrown out of that season’s championship for spying on Ferrari. This offense came to light when McLaren driver Fernando Alonso publicly accused his team at the time.
However, both teams have suffered droughts from being at the pinnacle of Formula One. That changed this past season, and there is every reason to believe there will be a carryover to 2025.
There is also hope (based on 2024 results) that the field will be generally competitive. The 2024 season saw seven race winners across four teams, with all seven drivers winning at least two races. 2024 was not like other recent years when (first) Lewis Hamilton and (later) Max Verstappen won win race after race. In 2024, predicting the race winner weekend after weekend was a challenge, and with the current Formula One regulations remaining stable for 2025, there is good reason to expect that to continue.
2025 also brings intrigue. Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton leaves Mercedes to join Ferrari. Meanwhile, rookie Kimi Antonelli will take Hamilton’s place at Mercedes–a debut that rivals the attention Lewis Hamilton received when he entered Formula One with McLaren in 2007. There is also much discussion about who might join Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s partner. While Verstappen claimed the Drivers’ title with 437 points on the season, Perez’s poor performance (152 points, 8th place) kept Red Bull out of the Constructors’ race. However, there is currently no consensus regarding whether Perez will be dropped and, if so, who will replace him.
So, even as the dust settles on a great 2024 Formula One season, excitement is building for 2025, which will begin in Australia in March. But no matter how things turn out, there is every reason to believe a must-watch season is straight ahead.
