Her new season Formula 1 is just around the corner, with winter testing set to begin Wednesday, February 21and the competitive action the Thursday, February 29when the cars will take to its track Bahrain for its first free trial period Grand Prix.
It's certainly difficult to read things before even getting a taste of the dynamics of teams, drivers and cars on the track, but not impossible. Two of its editors Car and Driver they do their own thing predictions before the start of the championship F1 2024.
Dimitris Bizas:
Red Bull will struggle
2024 is the third consecutive season with fixed regulations, and regulations that are quite restrictive in nature. This means that, little by little, with each evolution cycle that passes, the distance between the first and the last group decreases.
Red Bull will not be an exception to this natural flow of things, and it is a given that they will be under greater threat this year than in 2022 or 2023. They may not lose the lead, they may not lose many races, but they will struggle. Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin will push, they will fight, they will try to close the gap, and maybe they will succeed.
McLaren will make mistakes
That, however, does not rule out the possibility of the competition stumbling – and the most likely team to do so this year is McLaren.
It's true that the British made no mistakes in the development of the MCL60 last year, but now it is preparing to take not just steps, but leaps forward. And like any jump, this too carries the risk of falling flat on the floor, instead of landing firmly on the ground.
The new technical staff with the trio of Bob Marshall, David Sanchez and Peter Prodromou will be tested hard this year, and will have to show that they can work together well and not result in cacophony instead of polyphony.
Antonelli will convince ahead of 2025
Lewis Hamilton's departure from Mercedes at the end of 2024 leaves a big void in the team, and the selection of Andrea Kimi Antonelli is not extremely unlikely.
As time passes, the more it seems that the Italian, a member of the Mercedes academy, is the plan A of the Germans. However, he will have to prove it with his presence in Formula 2, and being still 17 years old (he turns 18 in the summer), we will have to talk about a Max Verstappen-type super talent to achieve it.
But that is the expectation, and we dare say that he will live up to the expectations that have been created for him. It is, after all, a good chance for him to do well in F2, now that the cars have changed and everyone is starting from scratch.
Marili Piniataro:
Lewis Hamilton will return to winning ways
The last time Lewis Hamilton took the top step of the podium was at the (how ironic) 2021 Saudi Grand Prix. This was followed by the traumatic for him and controversial for the rest Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as well as two full winless seasons, thus completing a 15-year winning streak.
With him leaving Mercedes at the end of 2024 to wear the red of Ferrari, it is expected that he will do his utmost to close this chapter successfully. If the scissors start to close and the Germans offer the 7-year world champion a “tool” to work with, it is a given that he will return to where he used to be.
Ferrari will keep the ball low
The truth is that the Hamilton-Ferrari crossover is something that many have been waiting and hoping to see. After all, the Briton himself declared that it was a childhood dream that had just come true. But already having plans for 2025, how will the year of the Italians go in 2024?
Their early on-track samples have been positive, but Ferrari are said to be more focused on giving Hamilton a car capable of winning a world title, having already begun development of next season's car. A year without big, costly mistakes, composed and with good results, is what the team needs to achieve this goal.
We will see new winners
Usually, after each period of “omnipotence” of a driver or team (see Schumacher, Vettel, Hamilton, Verstappen coke) and before the also traditional change of regulations, there is a plurality of winners.
With the midfield moving closer to Red Bull as early as 2023, and the next big regulation change scheduled for 2026, two years from now, it looks like 2024 will be the year we see this phenomenon. to return
Of course, there are not a few who could win their first victory this season. Lando Norris has been in the hunt since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix when a bad decision in the rain cost him a fairly certain victory, while Oscar Piastri has already come close to stepping up to the top step on several occasions as a rookie. The same goes for Alex Albon, who has proven in every race of the past year that he is fully capable of “juicing” the car that is offered to him.
Special mention to Fernando Alonso, who is of course no stranger to victories, but is waiting for the moment when the Spanish national anthem will be heard again in his honor from the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.
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