At the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, predictions unanimously placed the ten teams on the grid into two groups. On one side, the five top teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren, and Aston Martin), and on the other, the rest of the field. In what we can call the battle of the second-tier teams, the competition is wide open.
Racing Bulls currently holds sixth place with 34 points, but Haas is catching up, reaching 31 points after the Singapore Grand Prix. The rise of the U.S. team is the most surprising result in the lower half of the standings, especially given preseason predictions.
Racing Bulls has scored points in ten of the eighteen weekends so far, while Haas has done so in nine. However, the trend favors the U.S. team slightly, making them the favorite in what will be a tight finish. The stakes are high: finishing the season in sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship secures 80 million euros, a figure guaranteed by Liberty Media’s revenue distribution according to the Concorde Agreement.
This is a significant amount for a team like Haas, enabling long-term investments in its infrastructure, such as the remote garage, which the team currently lacks.
Even though he avoids taking credit for this progress, Ayao Komatsu knows the team’s improvement will be linked to his leadership. In part, this is true, but there’s also work from further back, dating to when the VF-24 began taking shape. The technical department’s main objective in the summer of 2023 was to definitively solve the biggest problem of the VF-23, which was poor tire management. Haas did its part, but the guidelines from Maranello also helped a lot, with the new rear suspension system solving several issues.
The VF-24 has proven to be a race car, and Nico Hulkenberg has provided significant added value. The German driver has contributed 24 points to the team so far, standing out for his impressive consistency.
His recent weekend in Singapore was an example of top-driver performance, from sixth place in qualifying to over thirty laps of the race completed with Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in his mirrors. The two points earned at the checkered flag were extremely valuable for the team, especially considering that no top driver faced any unexpected issues. It was a result earned purely on merit.
At Racing Bulls, alarm bells have been ringing since the summer break. The last point they scored was at the Belgian Grand Prix, and since the return to action at Zandvoort, they’ve posted zeros at every race. In this context, the decision to put Liam Lawson in the car was made to give the team a boost for the final six races of the season. The New Zealander is under evaluation for a potential move to Red Bull in 2025, but his immediate goals align with those of the team: to score as many points as possible.
Williams could also join the race for sixth place. The gap in the standings is significant, but of the 16 points they currently have in the Constructors’ Championship, 12 were earned in the last three races.
After the massive update package introduced at Zandvoort, the team has shifted gears, and the arrival of Franco Colapinto has allowed Williams to compete with two drivers. If they can deliver a strong performance between Austin and Mexico City, similar to their success in Baku, Williams could also be in the fight.
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