F1 2024 midseason awards: Top driver, best team, more

More than half of the 2024 Formula 1 season is in the books, and there's much to sort through in what's been an unpredictable 14-race stretch. We'll break it down by handing out awards, some prestigious and others less so, for what has been a dramatic season thus far.

Best driver: Max Verstappen

🥇 Max Verstappen
🥈 Lewis Hamilton
🥉 Lando Norris

Verstappen comes into the summer break in an unusual run of form after back-to-back missed podiums, but he's still been the class of the field in an ultra-competitive season. The reigning champion started the year by tying the F1 record of eight straight poles and won four of the first five. He's had a tougher go since then, but he's still the only driver with more than two race wins this year, courtesy of his hard-earned victories in Imola, Montreal, and Barcelona.

Father Time hasn't stopped Hamilton yet. Despite a slow start to the year and a deficit to teammate George Russell in qualifying, the 39-year-old has still been the king on Sundays. Hamilton is the only driver not named Verstappen to win multiple races this year - an incredible achievement considering McLaren and Red Bull's pace advantages over Mercedes.

Norris took his first career victory in Miami. He hasn't had the cleanest of stretches since then (though some of the blame lies on his team's pitwall) but the 24-year-old has been consistent while chasing his second win. His two poles are tied for second most, while his eight podiums trail only Verstappen's nine. Norris is also enjoying a comfortable 11-3 head-to-head lead over Oscar Piastri - who's been no slouch - in qualifying.

Best team: McLaren

🥇 McLaren
🥈 Mercedes
🥉 Red Bull

McLaren completed one of the most impressive turnarounds in F1 history this season, jumping from points finishers in Bahrain to multiple-time race winners and even title challengers. At the midway point, the MCL38 now looks like the car to beat.

If it weren't for McLaren's progress, Mercedes' return to form would be the sport's hottest topic. Starting the year in no-man's land, the W15 has been transformed with each new upgrade package. The result? Toto Wolff's side heads into the summer break with three wins in the last four races and six straight podiums.

Red Bull made us believe 2023-level domination was coming again. Instead, the reigning constructors champions have fallen back into the grasp of McLaren and even Mercedes. The outfit has made more mistakes than we've become accustomed to in recent years - and the decision to retain a struggling Sergio Perez could end up costing the Milton Keynes side another constructors championship.

Most underrated driver: Nico Hulkenberg

🥇 Nico Hulkenberg
🥈 Yuki Tsunoda
🥉 Daniel Ricciardo

When it comes to the best of the rest, there arguably hasn't been a better driver than Hulkenberg. The German driver has been responsible for all six of Haas' Q3 appearances this season, and he's also collected 22 of the team's 27 points. Highlights of his year include a stunning sixth-place start in Silverstone and back-to-back sixth-place finishes in Austria and Silverstone.

Tsunoda is maturing into a complete-package driver right before our eyes. His eight Q3 appearances are the most out of anyone from the bottom five teams and just one shy of tying Perez, and his seven points finishes have been crucial to Red Bull's standing this year.

While there's no denying his inconsistencies, Ricciardo's peaks have been marvellous. A fifth-place start in Montreal has yet to be matched by his teammate and has only been topped by Fernando Alonso out of those driving for a team outside of the top four. There was also his terrific sprint drive in Miami, where he qualified and finished fourth. Ricciardo has now scored points in three of the last six races, too.

Biggest disappointment: Sergio Perez

There's not much left to say about Perez's struggles, but we'll give it another go. After starting the year with four podiums in five races, Perez has sunk to seventh in the championship and 146 points behind Verstappen in first. The Mexican driver has collected just 28 points over his last eight races and hasn't finished in the top six since Miami, nine races ago. And his four Q1 exits equal Aston Martin's combined total (two for Alonso, two for Lance Stroll).

Best race: British Grand Prix

Silverstone is no stranger to epic races, but 2024 took the cake. The event began with the first all-Mercedes front row since 2022 in Brazil and culminated in Hamilton's first win since 2021 in front of his home fans. It was an edge-of-your-seat spectacle from lights out to the chequered flag as rain threw another variable at an already unpredictable race. In the end, four drivers led the race - none being Verstappen - and six pilots took turns running in the podium spots. It was Formula 1 at its finest.

Biggest snoozer: Monaco Grand Prix

Charles Leclerc got the ultimate payoff in Monaco. After a long journey of trials and tribulations, he won on the same streets he grew up on for the first time. It was a highly emotional podium and conclusion - but that was about all the goodwill this race collected. A Lap 1 red flag essentially eliminated any strategy element and reduced this historic race into a glorified procession.

Best qualifying session: Canadian Grand Prix

For the first time this century, Formula 1 had two drivers tie for pole down to the thousandth of a second. It was a jaw-dropping scene at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as Verstappen and Russell finished Q3 with an identical 1:12.000 pole time. Russell was eventually credited with pole because he completed the lap first, but the two drivers accomplished a feat that hadn't been done since 1997 when three drivers tied for pole at the final race of the season. That wasn't all that made this qualifying especially exciting: Norris was just 0.021s off pole, Ricciardo qualified in 5th, and both Ferraris were shockingly eliminated in Q2.

Biggest surprise: Adrian Newey leaving Red Bull

Just a few months after Hamilton's shocking move to Ferrari was announced, Formula 1 was stunned again when legendary engineer Adrian Newey revealed he'd be leaving Red Bull after nearly 20 years. Newey's reputation in the sport has reached near-mythical status since championship cars have come at every stop in his career. Speculation around Newey's next stop went rampant following the announcement, and we're still waiting for an official answer.

Best moment: Hamilton wins his home race

Hamilton and his fans had to wait 945 days between his 103rd career victory and his 104th. But that only made his triumph at the 2024 British Grand Prix that much sweeter. In vintage Hamilton fashion, the seven-time champion held his own in changing conditions and then caressed his soft tires to the finish against a fast-charging Verstappen after capitalizing on a McLaren pitstop error. Hamilton was overcome with emotion as he celebrated on the top step of the podium in front of the British fans for a record-breaking ninth time.

Biggest OMG moment: Norris and Verstappen collide in Austria

It's been a long time since Formula 1's top two drivers in the championship standings came to blows, but Norris and Verstappen ended that era of peace in the Austrian hills. After several tense laps, the reigning world champion made contact with his McLaren rival, puncturing his own tire in the process. Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty and finished fifth and Norris was forced to retire with damage, leaving Russell as the unlikely winner of the dramatic Austrian Grand Prix.

Best overtake: Alex Albon's double overtake in Montreal

Worst strategy call: McLaren's debacle in Hungary

What should have been the biggest moment of Piastri's career ended up laden with controversy. Leading the Hungary Grand Prix and one spot ahead of his teammate, Piastri appeared set for his first-ever win while McLaren was on target for its first 1-2 in three seasons. That changed when McLaren elected to have Norris undercut Piastri before ordering the former to give back the lead in what felt like a hostage negotiation chat on team radio. In the end, Norris obliged and returned Piastri's first win, but it didn't come without some serious self-inflicted turmoil.

Juiciest story: Verstappen to Mercedes?

When Red Bull appeared seconds away from imploding due to an internal power struggle in the early portions of the season, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was ready to lure Verstappen to the Silver Arrows. There was reportedly even a secret meeting with Verstappen's father Jos, and Wolff made sure to mention at every possible opportunity that the driver who slipped through his grasp in 2014 was a key target for Mercedes. Rumors of Verstappen's departure have quieted recently, but Wolff is still keeping his team's door open. With Red Bull's competitiveness apparently decreasing and a 2026 regulation change on the horizon, is it only a matter of time before we see Verstappen in a Mercedes kit?