RACER No.331: The Champions Issue
30 shares
share
post
emailBy
Laurence Foster | December 23, 2024 10:37 AM ET
It’s the end of the year, the off-season for most major race series (although not all – step forward Formula E…) and the perfect time for RACER to look back on just a few of the significant accomplishments from 2024 in our Champions Issue.
But first, let’s rewind to something we said back in the spring… In RACER’s 2024 Formula 1 Preview, we somewhat pessimistically stated that “Far from closing the gap with their own developments, Red Bull’s rivals are chasing a moving target once again.”
Turns out we were wrong and that, thanks to McLaren’s hugely-significant upgrade package that came online at May’s Miami Grand Prix and Ferrari’s perseverance in sorting out a floor upgrade that initially wasn’t, we ended the 2024 season with three teams capable of winning on any given weekend. Even four on occasion, thanks to Mercedes finding its sweet spot on the cold and slippery streets of Las Vegas.
In the end, it was honors even between Red Bull Racing and McLaren-Mercedes. The former’s Max Verstappen put in perhaps his finest season yet for a fourth consecutive drivers’ championship, while the latter’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collectively edged out Ferrari for the constructors’ title – the first team to win a championship with a customer power unit since the heady days of Brawn in 2009.
So roll on 2025, with the very real prospect of a season-long head to head between Norris and Verstappen. And perhaps add in Piastri, Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, and even George Russell and Mercedes, too.
Yes, after three seasons of maturation for the new-for-2022 aero rules and a decade of relative stability for the turbo-hybrid power units introduced in 2014, Formula 1 finally looks set to deliver the evenly-matched, multi-team title battle in ’25 that we’ve all been waiting for.
But what about after that?
Waiting in the wings is F1’s tech overhaul for 2026, featuring major aero changes and a significant makeover for the power units. Rules resets of similar magnitude have tended to lead to one team dominating, at least in the early going. But with F1 this good right now, let’s hope we’re proved wrong on that one, too.
But back to 2024, and our look back on the F1 season includes some insight on why Max and McLaren split the titles (and, no, it’s not all just down to Sergio Perez’s tanking season at Red Bull) and our take on the top five drivers from a campaign that saw seven multiple winners from four different teams. We also get set for the arrival of a rookie wave in 2025, with our focus on Kimi Antonelli taking over Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s drive at Mercedes. Expectations are sure to be high for the Italian teenager, so it’s going to be a fascinating debut season.
Continuing the champions theme, we talk to newly-minted triple NASCAR Cup Series champ Joey Logano, whose second title in three seasons made it a third-straight Cup championship for Team Penske.
And staying with Penske, we look at how Porsche Penske Motorsport’s third season running the Stuttgart marque’s 963 LMDh protototypes in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship delivered a near-full set of titles in 2024.
Also in this issue, we talk to the NTT IndyCar Series’ finest brains to learn how they find a performance edge in a near-spec, ultra-competitive field, celebrate Thierry Neuville finally landing an FIA World Rally Championship title, and check in with world motocross great Jorge Prado as he switches to Monster Energy Supercross’s packed stadiums.
And that’s another year in the books. It was a blast putting this final issue of 2024 together. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to bringing you the best of global motorsports in 2025.
CLICK HERE to purchase the new issue of RACER. Interested in having RACER delivered to your mailbox? CLICK HERE to find out more about print and digital subscriptions.