With no drivers changing over the winter break for the first time in F1 history, we have ranked the existing line-ups on the grid.
Aside from Daniel Ricciardo replacing Nyck de Vries, the grid that starts 2024 is the same that started 2023, which gives us a good chance to reflect on the new order.
Having done so last year, we have ranked each driver pairing on their combined strengths to see who, in our opinion, is the best.
10. (=) Stake F1: Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu
To say 2023 was a year to forget for Alfa Romeo would perhaps be overdoing it as truth be told, it had largely already been forgotten.
The team seem stuck in a holding pattern waiting for Audi to arrive and neither driver excelled last time out.
Valtteri Bottas is for sure a talented driver but it has been a long time since he has troubled the upper end of the points while Zhou Guanyu has failed to kick on after two years in the sport.
9. (-2) Haas: Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg
Nico Hulkenberg can feel a little hard done by to be this low down in the order but truth be told, the performances of Kevin Magnussen in 2023 have dragged Haas down to ninth.
The German driver was excellent in qualifying before the Haas car left him down in the race but Magnussen could not find form on either the Saturday or the Sunday and faced questions about his seat.
With both over the age of 30, they are unlikely to improve as much as some of the others on this list.
8. (+1) Williams: Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant
Logan Sargeant most likely would come last should this ranking be done by individuals alone but Alex Albon was so good in 2023 that he has pulled Williams to eighth.
In a car that finally had a bit of pace, especially on the straights, Albon recorded a P13 finish, Williams’ best since 2019.
His performances even reportedly put him on the radar of Ferrari and such a link shows how well the British-Thai driver did.
Sargeant meanwhile struggled in his rookie year and needs a big step up in performance if he is to last beyond 2024.
7. (+1) AlphaTauri: Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda
Daniel Ricciardo’s arrival has helped push AlphaTauri up one spot but for now they are still in the lower half with questions remaining over both drivers.
For Ricciardo, the question is how much of the old Danny Ric is still in there with it being a good few years since we saw the best of him.
For Yuki Tsunoda, the question is what is his ceiling after a good if not quite great two years in the sport so far.
6. (-2) Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon
Two very skilled drivers on their day but we just did not see enough of those days in 2023. Pierre Gasly had the highlights, including a podium in Zandvoort and beating Esteban Ocon over the course of the year, but neither are considered to be in the upper echelon of the grid.
They are then perhaps representative of their team who find themselves in no man’s land. Too good to be near the bottom but not good enough to crack the top half.
5. (+1) Aston Martin: Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso
For all the criticism Lance Stroll is subjected to, he is not the worst pay driver we have ever seen. Lest we forget that he has recorded a pole and three podiums in his career but the 2023 season was a year when questions, rightly or wrongly, were raised about his commitment to F1.
The same questions were not asked of Fernando Alonso who was reborn in the Aston Martin car. Even at the age of 42, the two-time World Champion has proven he is as good as the other title winners on the grid.
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4. (+1) McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
This is a duo that has the potential to skyrocket to the top of this order in years to come with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri being two of the younger members of the grid.
For Lando Norris, 2023 was a turning point when he managed to consistently score podiums and finished a joint career best of sixth in the standings.
Oscar Piastri meanwhile suggested he had been driving in F1 for years with a rookie season arguably not surpassed since Lewis Hamilton in 2007.
The future is bright for McLaren.
3. (-2) Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
Lewis Hamilton reaffirmed his dominance in the Mercedes team in 2023 after comfortably beating George Russell on points but it still not the race-winning performances we are used to seeing from the seven-time World Champion.
There were flashes of brilliance, including an excellent pole in Hungary, and there is little doubt that should Hamilton be given a car he is comfortable with once again, then he will be able to compete with the best.
For Russell, it is hard to know where he fits on the list of the best of the grid with just one win to his name thus far and a lacklustre, by his self-proclaimed standards, 2023.
2. (+1) Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz
It is at Ferrari where you will find the most equally talented pairing with Charles Leclerc only marginally ahead of Carlos Sainz at the moment.
It was the Spaniard who picked up the team’s only win in 2023, and indeed the only non-Red Bull victory, in what many will say was the race of his career to this point.
Leclerc meanwhile seems like a firework whose fuse keeps going out before lift off. Everyone knows there is a talent in there but the Monegasque just needs to avoid the crashes and misfortune that have derailed his progress thus far.
1. (+1) Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez
Regardless of complaints made about Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen’s current level is too high for Red Bull not to top this list.
The Dutchman broke just about every record going last season and scored enough points to win the Constructors’ Championship by himself.
The 26-year-old is in that rare form where he can do no wrong and yet everything looks so effortless, to the point that his rivals know it is not just Red Bull they need to beat but a generational talent as well.
For Perez, he is an able deputy to Verstappen but 2023 highlighted his weakness in quali. The Mexican had the ability and the car to recover last year but that may not be the case if Red Bull’s rivals close the gap.
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