Who Can Challenge Max Verstappen For The F1 Drivers’ Championship In 2024?

Dutchman Max Verstappen won his third straight Formula One Drivers’ Championship in 2023. He became the 11th man in history to win a hat-trick of titles, bringing himself level with the legends of the sport like Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda, and Jackie Stewart.

Verstappen remains the man to beat in 2024 as he bids for more world title glory. His rivals will be working hard in the off-season to ensure they’re ready to go for the opening Grand Prix of the year in Bahrain. 

Here’s a look at four men who could push the defending champion this year and cause an upset in the sport at the end of the season.

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

As a seven-time world champion, nobody in F1 knows what it takes to win a Drivers’ Championship better than Lewis Hamilton. The British driver has won 103 Grand Prix titles – his first success came back in 2007 in Canada.

It’s been four years now since Hamilton lifted the Drivers’ Championship trophy. His Mercedes car has struggled over the last couple of years, as he failed to win a single Grand Prix in 2022 and 2023. The constructors are confident they can be far more competitive this season and that bodes well for the 39-year-old. His car was inconsistent in 2023 but Hamilton was still able to finish as the highest-scoring non-Red Bull driver.

Hamilton is currently priced at +1100 in the F1 betting odds for the win this season. It’s important he gets off to a good start, just like he did in 2020. That will put pressure on Verstappen, and it will also give a big confidence boost to everybody at Mercedes about the prospects ahead this year.

There’s been some talk about Hamilton retiring from the sport over recent years. He, however, remains motivated to win an eighth world title, which would ensure he holds the record outright for the most Drivers’ Championship crowns.

George Russell (Mercedes)

This season will be George Russell’s sixth year in Formula One, so he has plenty of experience in the competition. Mercedes believe he’s ready to challenge for a world championship now and it’s just a case of delivering him a car that’s good enough.

In 2022, Russell had seven podium finishes, including a victory in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as documented in the BBC race report. He remained consistent in 2023, but his number of podiums was down to just two. His best performance came in the final race of the year, as he finished third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix behind Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, respectively.

Russell made several mistakes in 2023 but he’s focused on putting things right this year. The British driver signed a contract extension at the back end of last season, committing his future with the constructors until the end of 2025.

Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had the best season of his career in 2023, having finished second behind his teammate Verstappen. The Mexican driver will be looking to build upon that campaign and get his hands on the F1 title for the first time.

Perez had wins in Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan in the early stages of 2023 before Verstappen went on another level to any other driver in F1. If he can turn some of the second and third-place finishes into victories this year, he can push his teammates very close.

The 33-year-old is fortunate to have the car to challenge in the sport. It’s his last year under contract with Red Bull so he’ll want to earn another contract with the defending champions in the Constructors’ Championship.

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)

It’s been 17 years since Ferrari produced a world champion in F1. Kimi Raikkonen was the last to do so in 2007 when he finished ahead of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso by one point in one of the closest Drivers’ Championship battles in history.

Ferrari will be hoping Sainz Jr. can end their wait for some silverware in 2024. There were signs last year that his car could be successful. As you can read in the Reuters race report, he won the Singapore Grand Prix in September, while he was competitive in Italy and the USA, finishing third in both of those races.

Improvements will need to be made by Ferrari in the off-season and, should they get it right, Sainz can challenge for a world title. The Spaniard and his teammate Leclerc are both out of contract with the constructor at the end of 2024. They need a big year to showcase why they deserve to remain in the Ferrari cars beyond this season.

The opening Grand Prix on the 2024 F1 calendar takes place on March 2 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. The calendar runs through to the final grand prix of the year in Abu Dhabi on December 8.