As the 2024 F1 season has concluded, Sky Sports F1 did their annual ranking of all drivers based on their performances and consistency this season. During this exercise, Karun Chandhok put Charles Leclerc in P2 in his rankings, even ahead of Lando Norris who was Max Verstappen’s main title challenger and finished runner-up in the championship standings.
Justifying this on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Chandhok explained how Ferrari’s car wasn’t consistently competitive throughout the season, unlike McLaren who had a package working well at almost all tracks. Despite the SF-24 having a roller coaster-like trajectory, Leclerc was supremely consistent in eking out every ounce of performance and maximizing his results.
A solid 2024 season for Leclerc
P3 in the drivers’ championship and P2 in the constructors’ #F1 pic.twitter.com/HYu8qx9TBZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 13, 2024
The Monegasque driver could only finish P3 in the drivers’ standings with 356 points, 18 behind Norris. Many would claim that 2022 was Leclerc’s best season, as he finished second that year like the #4 driver in 2024. Chandhok addressed that and gave his perspective on why he rates Leclerc‘s 2024 season as a better campaign.
“The strong argument to say 2022 was Leclerc’s best season because he finished 2nd, but he made more mistakes. And I actually thought this was his best season in Formula 1,” the Indian former driver said.
Chandhok reasoned that few aspects changed around the #16 driver in these two years. He had a new race engineer this season and the strategy team at Ferrari overall was also better at their execution relative to 2022. The Sky Sports pundit also mentioned how the Italian team’s tendency to be indecisive on strategic calls has improved a lot.
It makes sense why Chandhok would rate Leclerc higher than Norris, as he was able to capitalize on his car’s potential better. The British driver, meanwhile, made a lot of mistakes despite having the fastest car underneath him.
How Norris didn’t maximize his car’s potential
Norris finishing only 18 points ahead of Leclerc in the end-of-season standings points toward a concerning reality about the 24-year-old’s season this year. In fact, the Monegasque driver got the same number of podiums (13) and had won the same number of races (3) as Norris until the Briton’s win in Abu Dhabi.
While he was the lead contender for the championship against Max Verstappen, the #4 driver dropped points at several races costing him a better chance at the Drivers’ title.
Norris tended to have poor race starts, especially from pole position. His awful record off the line perhaps cost him several race wins. Had he won those races, he could have chased down Verstappen’s lead in the standings and had a closer fight till the final race.
Still no luck on lap one for Lando!
That’s 7 F1 P1 starts and no opening laps led from any of them for Norris ❌ pic.twitter.com/CghxIT4G2F
— Autosport (@autosport) September 1, 2024
McLaren’s strategic errors at some races also contributed to Norris losing crucial points against the Dutchman. But mainly, the #4 driver’s errors in races like Spain, Hungary, Italy, Austin, and Brazil were avoidable.
Many still argued that Norris had matured over the season via his mistakes and his win in Abu Dhabi reflected the same. His stellar drive at Yas Marina helped McLaren clinch the Constructors’ title. The Briton was a day late and a dollar short for the drivers’ championship despite having the fastest car.
