Top 10 DRIVERS OF THE YEAR

Forget about the official F1 drivers' championship for now. Here, Karun Chandhok gives a detailed analysis of which racers rose to the challenge in 2024 and places them in his order of performance. And if you're looking for Sergio Pérez... you'll be disappointed

- Karun Chandhok

1 Max Verstappen

Across the entire 2024 season, there's really no doubt that Max Verstappen has been the stand-out driver. This was a very different campaign to his previous three titles. After a season of dominance in '23, this year started well for Max with four wins in the first five races. From Miami, however, the competition caught up with Red Bull and the team seemed to lose its way in terms of development.

This is where the Dutchman really earned his position at the top of the rankings and the world championship in my opinion. There were times when the Red Bull was the fourth-best car and while team-mate Sergio Pérez failed to get on the podium from Miami onwards, Max kept himself and the team in play with brilliant wins in Imola, Canada and Barcelona (the latter two could have been won by Lando Norris) plus podiums at Silverstone and Zandvoort.

There was clearly frustration building but I never subscribed to the theory that Max was feeling the pressure. To me, he's a driver who sets very high standards for himself and the people around him. When he feels the team aren't meeting those standards, he lets them know. His diplomatic skills are swiftly overpowered by his desire to win and the team members take that on the chin because they know how valuable his talent is.

The sub-par weekend in Baku, clumsy collisions with Lewis in Hungary and Oscar in Abu Dhabi and the road rage in Mexico were the only blemishes in an otherwise consistently brilliant season, with the rain-soaked victory in Brazil, left, a reminder of just how much raw talent he possesses.

BEST RACE: Brazil is the obvious choice for an utterly faultless and dominant victory, but Barcelona, particularly the first stint, was also outstanding.

KEY CHALLENGE FOR 2025: Can Max win a fifth title without potentially the fastest car for the whole season?