The early stages of the 2024 Formula 1 season suggested a clear division between the top five and bottom five teams. Red Bull’s resurgence, paired with Aston Martin’s decline, appears to have blurred these once-distinct lines.
At the start of the season, Red Bull was dominating, followed by Ferrari, Mercedes, and McLaren. Aston Martin seemed securely in fifth place, unable to match the race pace of the other top teams but comfortably ahead of Red Bull’s second team and Haas.
Fernando Alonso’s impressive qualifying performances saw him start in the top three rows four times in the first five races. However, during the races, he would fall back, contending for the last few points alongside RB and Haas. A joke circulated that the 10th position would go to whichever driver outpaced the last Aston Martin, even sparking discussions about expanding the points system.
But F1’s relentless development race has overturned this status quo. Ferrari and McLaren have closened the gap to Red Bull, pushing Mercedes down to fourth. Simultaneously, Aston Martin has slid back, being caught up by Red Bull’s second team.
RB introduced their first round of upgrades in Miami, ahead of schedule, which shifted the competitive landscape. Since then, Yuki Tsunoda has consistently outqualified the leading Aston Martin, typically driven by Lance Stroll due to various circumstances.
Notably, Daniel Ricciardo secured fourth place in Miami’s sprint from the same grid position. Aston Martin responded with upgrades in Imola, but they admitted these weren’t enough to keep up with their rivals’ improvements. The upgrades also didn’t help ease the driving and balancing of the AMR24.
Tsunoda has reduced his qualifying gap to pole position from an average of 1.1 seconds to seven-tenths over the past three races, while Aston’s gap to leaders like Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in Monaco has widened significantly.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso admitted, ‘Looking at the results, we are not anymore in the top five group.’ Lance Stroll echoed similar sentiments, acknowledging that the RB cars were quicker in recent races.
RB’s team principal, Laurent Mekies, expressed surprise at how swiftly RB had matched Aston but warned that Aston Martin, with their greater resources, could bounce back. He pointed out that the differences now were more about weekend execution than outright car performance.
‘Ultimately, we are talking about a tenth or half a tenth,’ Mekies said, emphasizing the importance of every small improvement in performance. He noted that teams have to get every element right—driver performance, setup, strategy—and fast-track any performance upgrades.
The evolving competition means that both mid-tier and top teams face immense pressure to perform, further intensifying the already high stakes in Formula 1.
The once-clear split between F1’s top and bottom teams is now a thing of the past. As Ferrari and McLaren gain on Red Bull and Aston Martin grapples with their shifting position, this season is proving to be as unpredictable as ever.
Source: Motorsport
