Honestly, if you had told anyone back in March that Red Bull would finish third in the championship, they would have laughed you out of the paddock. But here we are. The 2024 formula 1 standings ended with a landscape that looked nothing like the one we expected after Max Verstappen cruised to victory in those opening rounds. It was a year of "what-ifs" and a massive power shift that basically turned the sport on its head for the first time in the ground-effect era.
Max won. Again.
But that’s only half the story. While Verstappen clinched his fourth consecutive World Drivers' Championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix, his team, Red Bull Racing, watched their dominance evaporate like water on a hot exhaust pipe. By the time the circus reached the finale at Yas Marina, the narrative had shifted entirely from Red Bull’s perfection to McLaren’s resurrection.
The Numbers That Defined the Drivers' Title
Max Verstappen finished the year with 437 points. On paper, that looks like a comfortable margin over Lando Norris, who ended up with 374. But anyone who actually watched the races knows it was way tighter than a 63-point gap suggests. Max started the year by winning seven of the first ten races. Then, he went ten straight Grands Prix without a single win. Ten. For the reigning king of the sport, that felt like an eternity.
Lando Norris became the "main character" of the summer. He finally grabbed that elusive first win in Miami and then spent the rest of the year hunting the Dutchman. Lando’s season was a mix of brilliant speed and some really frustrating mistakes, mostly at the starts. He’d put the car on pole, then lose the lead by turn one. Those missed opportunities are probably what he'll be thinking about during the off-season.
Behind the top two, Charles Leclerc snagged third with 356 points. He was the model of consistency for Ferrari, even when the car wasn't quite there. Oscar Piastri followed in fourth with 292, proving he’s not just a "number two" driver. He’s a winner. Then you had Carlos Sainz in fifth with 290, which is wild considering he missed a whole race in Saudi Arabia to have his appendix removed.
Why the 2024 formula 1 standings Looked So Weird for Constructors
For the first time since 1998, McLaren is at the top of the pile. They finished with 666 points, beating out Ferrari who had 652.
Wait, where was Red Bull?
They fell to third with 589 points. It’s pretty rare to see the drivers' champion come from the team that finishes third in the constructors'. It hasn't happened since the 80s with Piquet and Rosberg. The reason is simple: Sergio Perez. While Verstappen was fighting for podiums in a car that had become "undriveable" (his words, not mine), Checo struggled to even get out of Q1 some weekends. He ended the year with 152 points, less than half of what his teammate managed. You just can't win a team title with that kind of lopsided scoring.
The Midfield Scramble and Emotional Exits
Further down the order, the 2024 formula 1 standings tell a story of a massive gap between the "Big Four" and everyone else. Mercedes sat in a lonely fourth with 468 points. It was a bittersweet year for them. Lewis Hamilton got that incredible, tear-jerking win at Silverstone—his first in nearly three years—before saying goodbye to the Silver Arrows. He finished 7th in the drivers' standings with 223 points, just behind George Russell who had 245.
Then there was the battle for "best of the rest."
- Aston Martin (94 points) – A massive disappointment after their 2023 highs.
- Alpine (65 points) – They actually surged late, thanks to that double podium in the Brazil rain.
- Haas (58 points) – Nico Hülkenberg basically carried this team on his back.
- RB (46 points) – A season of musical chairs between Ricciardo and Lawson.
- Williams (17 points) – Franco Colapinto brought some life to the team after Logan Sargeant was dropped.
- Sauber (4 points) – A total disaster. They didn't score a single point until the very end.
What We Actually Learned
The biggest takeaway from the 2024 formula 1 standings isn't just that McLaren is back. It's that the technical regulations are finally working. We had seven different race winners this year. Seven! That’s parity we haven't seen in a decade. We saw that developmental dead-ends are real; Red Bull hit a ceiling, and they hit it hard.
We also learned that driver psychology is huge. When McLaren gave Lando a car that could win, the pressure changed him. He became more self-critical, sometimes to a fault. Meanwhile, Max showed why he’s a four-time champ. He didn't always have the fastest car in the second half of the year, but he drove the wheels off that RB20 to minimize the damage. His drive from 17th to 1st in Brazil? That was the championship-defining moment.
How to Use This Data for 2025
If you're looking at these standings to figure out what happens next year, keep an eye on the momentum. McLaren and Ferrari are the ones with the upward trajectory. Red Bull is in a period of soul-searching, especially regarding their second seat and their aero philosophy.
Actionable Insights for F1 Fans:
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- Watch the Wind Tunnel Time: Because McLaren won the constructors' title, they get the least amount of wind tunnel testing time for the 2025 car. Ferrari and Red Bull get more. This usually levels the playing field even further.
- Keep Tabs on Ferrari's New Duo: Lewis Hamilton moving to Ferrari is the biggest story of 2025. He'll be joining a team that finished just 14 points shy of the title this year.
- Monitor the Red Bull Seat: The gap between Verstappen and Perez was the deciding factor in the team standings. Any change there will drastically shift the 2025 points spread.
The 2024 season was a marathon that turned into a sprint, and while the record books will show another Verstappen title, the 2024 formula 1 standings reflect a sport that is finally, truly, competitive again.
Next Steps:
To get a better sense of how the 2025 season might play out, you should check the official FIA technical regulation updates for next year, as these will influence how teams like Red Bull attempt to fix their balance issues. Additionally, following the post-season tire testing results can give you an early look at which cars are handling the new compounds most effectively before the Bahrain opener.