Revealed: The 10 best-performing drivers so far in F1 2024 season

We’ve already had a look at the 10 worst-performing drivers of the season so far, now it’s time to turn our attention to those to shine in the F1 2024 season to date.

Some drivers could easily have made a claim for making it into the top 10, but rather than our Power Rankings with every driver rating this season taken on average, we have taken these in another form: grading the drivers from A to F.

F1 2024: Grading our 10 best drivers of the season so far

Fernando Alonso

Just about getting into our top 10 this time around, it hasn’t quite been a vintage year from Fernando Alonso’s perspective, certainly having some off-weekends by his extremely high standards at Imola, Monaco and the Red Bull Ring in particular.

However, the fact remains he has twice the points tally of his team-mate, holds a comfortable 9-5 lead in the head-to-head records and is pushing the Aston Martin car underneath him to its limits more often than not.

Grade: C+

Yuki Tsunoda

A reward for his strong start to the year, Yuki Tsunoda has performed well alongside Daniel Ricciardo and has often looked the faster of the two VCARB drivers, though Ricciardo has out-raced his team-mate four times in the last six.

Nonetheless, 22 points is a strong return so far for the Japanese driver and an early contract renewal was a just reward for his early performances.

Grade: B-

Carlos Sainz

The season’s first non-Verstappen winner in Australia, how long ago does that feel since Sainz managed to win just one race after having his appendix removed? Time really does fly.

In any case, Formula 1’s hottest property on the driver market finally made his move in joining Williams, and with him sitting only 15 points behind his team-mate with five podiums to his name, they are getting one of the best on the grid who is coming into his peak years, and is having another strong season.

Grade: B

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Charles Leclerc

For a while, that glorious ecstasy in Monaco looked like a crescendo for Charles Leclerc’s season that would extinguish any other success – even still, we’re sure he would take one home win over success elsewhere this year, because it really was sensational.

A podium at Spa last time out will go some way to giving the Ferrari driver a feel-good factor into the summer break, with six podiums for the season and P3 in the Drivers’ Championship far from a poor showing from his point of view, though the Scuderia appear to have slipped to fourth in the pecking order.

Grade: B

George Russell

In qualifying at least, George Russell appeared to have put Lewis Hamilton to the sword in the early part of the year, and still holds a 10-4 lead in that department as we head into the summer break.

But as the W15’s speed has improved, so has Hamilton’s, and Russell has to contend with a fully-formed seven-time World Champion once again in the second half of the year.

Nonetheless, he has driven superbly at times this year, with pole and a podium in Montréal followed by being in the right place to pounce on *that* collision at the front in Austria, but disqualification at Spa will have hurt, leaving him 34 points behind his team-mate having led him for so long this season.

Grade: B

Nico Hulkenberg

When in a car that isn’t as fast as those around it, you need a driver to do as Nico Hulkenberg has done this year and get absolutely everything out of it.

P6 finishes in Austria and Great Britain were just rewards having been in and around Q3 for most of the season so far, and with a car that is performing well enough to back him up, Hulkenberg has been delivering the goods to an extent where Kevin Magnussen has been forced into a support role at times.

Haas will miss him when he moves to Sauber next year.

Grade: B

Lewis Hamilton

We’re taking the whole season to date into account here, so we cannot forget the sluggish start to the year by not just Mercedes’ standards, but by those of Hamilton himself.

It took until Miami, the sixth race of the season, for him to finish ahead of George Russell in a Grand Prix as he struggled to get to grips with a troublesome W15, but now that he has clicked with the car, the results have deservedly come his way.

Hamilton’s victory at Silverstone was right up there with Leclerc’s at Monaco in terms of the raw emotion, the seven-time World Champion in tears after his first win since 2021, and after Russell was disqualified at Spa, he goes into the summer break with two wins in three races and four podiums in five – second only to Max Verstappen in the recent form table.

We’re only just past the halfway stage of the season, but Hamilton’s campaign can almost be seen as two seasons within one already from a results perspective, and the trajectory is upwards.

Grade: B

Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri told Sky F1 after the Belgian Grand Prix that he does not see himself as being fully out of title contention yet, which tells you all you need to know about how he sees his season so far.

Now a Grand Prix winner, multiple podium finisher, he is backing up the experience gained in his rookie year by edging ever closer to his team-mate as the year has progressed so far and, with that first victory in Hungary, is now an established player on the main stage in Formula 1.

We’ll see how the second part of the year pans out for him, but if there is anything to go by, there could be some tight battles ahead at McLaren.

Grade: A-

Lando Norris

The word ‘if’ could characterise so much of Lando Norris’ year so far, if you were to listen to the man himself, but let us not forget how well he has done to get to this point.

Now a Grand Prix winner too with that Miami triumph, he has been the closest challenger to Max Verstappen all year with his McLaren and was often the only one to hold a candle to the Red Bull driver when he was running away with race victories in the early part of the season.

Yes, starts remain an issue for him and McLaren need to make the most of their opportunities when they are running at the front now they appear to have the fastest car in the field, so the remainder of the season will be crucial for Norris if he is to sustain a title challenge.

Grade: A

Max Verstappen

Yes, Max Verstappen is without a win in four races, but don’t let recency bias fool you – he’s still in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship by 78 points, has won seven of the 14 races so far this year and looks well set for another title as it stands.

While it also looks like Red Bull have officially been caught by their rivals, Verstappen has had to find his highest level in his driving to stay ahead, with victories at Imola and Barcelona utilising all the skills that led him to three World Championships in the first place.

That moment of contact with Norris in Austria sparked a huge amount of debate at the time about whether or not the ‘old’ Max of his early days in Formula 1 had returned, but even still, the fact of the matter is even without the fastest car, he has managed to hold onto a similar World Championship lead or even extend it at times, such has been his consistency.

Grade: A

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