F1 2024 power rankings: Verstappen edges clear heading into final round

PlanetF1.com’s driver ratings are a key element of our post-race coverage, and whether you agree or not with our scores (mostly not, judging by the comments sections…) we are keeping track of each driver’s average rating in F1 2024.

As a result, this is forming our ‘power rankings’ for the season as a whole, so a good race for any driver can push them up and a bad race can push them down. Come season’s end, we’ll have a full table for you to look through – and it aims to reflect driver performance in their cars rather than the outright World Championship order.

F1 2024 power rankings by driver

First, a bit of housekeeping. Any regular reader of our post-race ratings will know that each driver is given a number between 1 and 10 for their performance across the whole race weekend, the majority of which will be for their performance in the Grand Prix but, in other circumstances, their qualifying and Sprint performances can also be taken into account.

We’ll just be looking at full-time drivers to avoid skewing the ratings, so with apologies to Oliver Bearman after his three excellent stand-in appearances this season, he’s not counted as he is not (yet) signed as a full-time driver. He would have appeared right towards the top with his average score, though, so he can take that as solace nonetheless!

Now with just one race to go, here is how our average driver ratings have played out up until this point.

Ready? Let’s take a look.

[Average scores correct as of 2024 Qatar Grand Prix]

1: Max Verstappen: 8.37
[Last race: 9]

Having been neck-and-neck with Leclerc after 22 races, Verstappen nudged himself ahead once more heading into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Can he stay there, however?

2 (-1): Charles Leclerc: 8.33
[Last race: 8]

So consistent for so much of the year in our driver ratings, Leclerc sits second heading into the final race – and there is an outside chance he may yet take second in the Drivers’ Championship, too.

3: Lando Norris: 8.11
[Last race: 5.5]

Lando Norris has fallen away from contention with his last three races average just 6.17, but his high overall season average keeps him well among the top three.

4: Oscar Piastri: 8
[Last race: 7.5]

Piastri has received an exact 8/10 average after 23 races of 24, having shown excellent consistency for much of the year in our driver ratings.

5: George Russell: 7.76
[Last race: 6.5]

Two nines and a 10 in his last four races were wiped out with a 6.5 this time around for Russell, but his form is such that a top-five place for the year is warranted.

6: Carlos Sainz: 7.66
[Last race: 7]

Sainz had an eventful weekend in Qatar, starting and finishing sixth but overcoming a puncture in between, and his place in the top six looks more comfortable now after a tough weekend for Hamilton below.

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7: Lewis Hamilton: 7.48
[Last race: 4]

An excellent drive from Lewis Hamilton in Las Vegas was followed by his lowest rating of the season in Qatar, on a weekend that saw a false start, drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding and the added bad luck of a puncture for good measure.

8: Nico Hulkenberg: 7.13
[Last race: 5]

Will look to finish his Haas career on a high after a Turn 1 shunt in Qatar, but remains among our top 10 for the season to date.

9: Pierre Gasly: 6.95
[Last race: 8]

Gasly’s average has steadily improved along with his team’s fortunes this year, and scored yet more vital points for Alpine in Qatar in their Constructors’ battle.

10: Franco Colapinto: 6.75
[Last race:6]

Colapinto’s power ranking is obviously skewed compared to the rest of the field given most of their averages are taken over the full season to date, so his rating is likely to fluctuate more than most for the remainder of the year.

A tough weekend in Brazil represented his lowest rating to date, before an even lower ranking in Las Vegas – but was blameless when he was shunted off in Qatar this time around.

11 (+1): Yuki Tsunoda: 6.70
[Last race: 6.5]

Tsunoda moved ahead of Fernando Alonso after a strong showing in Las Vegas, and gets past his VCARB team-mate this time around following Qatar.

12 (+1): Fernando Alonso: 6.69
[Last race: 8]

Alonso looks to be getting all he can from his Aston Martin at present, though the edge of the points appears to be the car’s ceiling.

He even admitted in Las Vegas that getting out of Q1 is now no guarantee in the AMR24, but managed to score valuable points in Qatar – his first points since Singapore in September.

13 (-2): Liam Lawson: 6.60
[Last race: 6]

Like Colapinto, Lawson’s score is flattered as a result of his comparatively small data base, leading to what is likely to be bigger swings in his placing for the rest of the year.

After an impressive debut in Austin after replacing Daniel Ricciardo, it’s up to him to maintain this performance level for the rest of F1 2024.

14: Esteban Ocon: 6.5
[Last race: 6]

What turned out to be Ocon’s final race of 2024 lasted only a few hundred metres, and he will look for new beginnings when his stint with Haas starts in post-season testing in Abu Dhabi.

15: Alex Albon: 6.41
[Last race: 6]

Things really are not going Alex Albon’s way of late, who has now only finished two of the last six races.

16: Kevin Magnussen: 5.98
[Last race: 7.5]

Magnussen’s ratings have had the widest variation from race-to-race of any driver on the grid so far this season, such as an 8/10 performance at Imola either side of a 2/10 at Monaco and Miami.

17: Lance Stroll: 5.76
[Last race: 5.5]

Lance Stroll endured a retirement after contact on the first lap in Qatar, but has undergone a season with his team-mate scoring the lion’s share of points at Aston Martin.

18 (+1): Zhou Guanyu: 5.5
[Last race: 8.5]

Zhou’s highest rating of the season came to reflect his and Sauber’s first points of the season, and his current stint in Formula 1 deserved to end with a flourish after a difficult year at the back of the field.

19 (-1): Valtteri Bottas: 5.61
[Last race: 6.5]

Bottas’ career has not deserved to end with as much of a whimper as it has this season, with Sauber not looking worthy of points for much of the year. He has dominated the in-team battle in qualifying but all signs point to him not featuring on the grid next season.

20: Sergio Perez: 5.30
[Last race: 4]

A stronger qualifying showing from Perez but a retirement under Safety Car conditions saw him out of the race, and with one race to go in 2024, he appears resigned to the bottom of our power rankings for the year.

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