The F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen has now won his fourth straight Drivers’ Championship, but in case of this scenario, we have been calculating this alternative table all season long.

With Verstappen having won 19 of the 22 races in 2023, our calculations last season led to a world in which a thrilling title fight would have taken place elsewhere, and this time around, Lando Norris would have been World Champion with a race to spare.

Calculating the World Championship standings without Max Verstappen

Calculating these standings was simple, in that any result Verstappen achieved was taken out of the equation and wherever he finished, every driver below moved up a place, and in the cases where he earned a point for fastest lap, the point gets redistributed to the next-fastest driver on the list.

As this applied at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc clocked the second-quickest lap of the race, so an extra point went to him in this instance.

Given the seven-point difference between first and second (where Verstappen finished almost every time), the differences gained by the drivers behind led to changes in the World Championship standings that, had both Red Bull drivers not been involved last season, Lewis Hamilton would have edged away from Fernando Alonso as a hypothetical World Champion.

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Of course, this is all just for fun, so you don’t have to take it too seriously, but we thought it might be interesting to take a look at an alternative universe nonetheless!

After Verstappen sealed his real-life title in Las Vegas, Lando Norris would hold a healthy lead over Charles Leclerc in these alternative standings for the season.

There would only be 18 points between Norris and Leclerc in the fight for P2 in real life, but without Verstappen in the picture, Norris would have been crowned champion himself in Qatar – due to the points advantages of jumping up from P2 to P1 in the Red Bull driver’s absence so often this season.

Alternative 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

[Correct as of 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix]

1: Lando Norris – 435
2: Charles Leclerc – 393
3: Oscar Piastri – 332
4: Carlos Sainz – 322
5: George Russell – 284
6: Lewis Hamilton – 253
7: Sergio Perez – 207
8: Fernando Alonso – 99
9: Nico Hulkenberg – 67
10: Pierre Gasly – 61
11: Yuki Tsunoda – 44
12: Esteban Ocon – 36
13: Lance Stroll – 34
14: Kevin Magnussen – 26
15: Alex Albon – 22
16: Daniel Ricciardo – 18
17: Oliver Bearman – 10
18: Franco Colapinto – 9
19: Liam Lawson – 9
20: Zhou Guanyu – 8
21: Logan Sargeant – 1
22: Valtteri Bottas – 1
23: Jack Doohan – 0

Read next: F1 points all-time rankings: Where do Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso feature?