Throughout the 2024 Formula 1 season, our readers rated every grand prix and sprint race as soon as the chequered flags fell.
Which was their favourite? Which earned the lowest scores? And is there much love for F1’s deeply divisive sprint format?
Here’s the verdict on all 30 of last year’s races:
30. 2024 Monaco Grand Prix
Average rating: 3.1/10
As the field climbed the hill towards Massenet on lap one it looked like Charles Leclerc had a tricky race ahead of him: His team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr had been hobbled by contact with Oscar Piastri, and the Ferrari driver faced the prospect of being hounded all afternoon by the two McLarens.
Then Sergio Perez tripped over Kevin Magnussen and destroyed his Red Bull against a barrier at Massenet. The red flags flew, Sainz got his third place on the grid back, every driver completed their mandatory tyre change and all that remained was for Leclerc to lead the remaining cars on 77 interminably tedious laps of his home town. This is the second-lowest rated race of all time since the 2008 season.
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29. 2024 Qatar Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 3.4/10
The top four circulated in order until Lando Norris handed victory to his team mate on the final lap. There’s 27 minutes of our lives we’ll never get back.
28. 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Average rating: 3.9/10
The opening race of the season did not bode well for the year ahead. Max Verstappen won as he pleased, Red Bull so far ahead of the competition Perez was able to complete a one-two well ahead of their rivals.
27. 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Average rating: 4.4/10
Bahrain part two: Another dominant performance by Red Bull, though with some added interest provided by Oliver Bearman’s impressive debut at short notice for Ferrari.
26. 2024 Austrian Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 4.8/10
The race which left everyone wondering why Norris, after working so hard to prise the lead out of Verstappen’s hands, left the door wide open for him at the next corner? A day later, Verstappen gave him a lesson in defending.
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25. 2024 Qatar Grand Prix
Average rating: 4.8/10
Fired up by losing his pole position to a contentious call by the stewards, Verstappen brushed George Russell aside at the start, made sure the stewards did not overlook Norris failing to slow for yellow flags, and collected his ninth win of the year.
24. 2024 Miami Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 4.8/10
The race where Daniel Ricciardo briefly looked like he might get back in a Red Bull one day. Perez demoted him to fourth place, which was the only change of position in the top seven after the first lap in another less than riveting sprint race.
23. 2024 Singapore Grand Prix
Average rating: 4.9/10
Norris dominated proceedings but flirted with disaster, touching the wall twice, and lost the bonus point for fastest lap to Ricciardo in what turned out to be his final race.
22. 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 5.4/10
The McLaren pair held the top two places throughout, Piastri eventually letting Norris into the lead seconds before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed late on. Verstappen took third from Leclerc. This race marked the high point of Norris’s championship challenge, as he drew within 44 points of the lead.
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21. 2024 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
Average rating: 5.5/10
Norris chased down Verstappen over the final laps in a superbly tense finish, though his chances of passing the Red Bull around Imola always looked slim.
20. 2024 Chinese Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 5.6/10
Norris started poorly, losing the lead to Hamilton and falling to the lower end of the points. Verstappen ascended to the head of the field and notched up another win.
19. 2024 Dutch Grand Prix
Average rating: 5.8/10
Despite losing the lead to Verstappen at the start, Norris rebounded to inflict the first home defeat on the Red Bull driver.
18. 2024 Chinese Grand Prix
Average rating: 5.9/10
Verstappen won as he pleased but Norris rose to finish second in McLaren’s most competitive showing before their Miami upgrade.
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17. 2024 United States Grand Prix sprint race
Average rating: 6.0/10
An untroubled win for Verstappen but there was plenty going on behind him as Norris’s tyres faded and the Ferraris attacked in the final laps. This was the highest-rated sprint race of the year.
16. 2024 Japanese Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.0/10
After a first-lap red flag in response to Ricciardo and Alexander Albon crashing, Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two while the Ferrari pair overtook Norris.
15. 2024 Spanish Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.2/10
Russell daringly passed Verstappen and Norris at the start, but couldn’t keep either behind, though the Red Bull driver had just over two seconds in hand at the flag.
14. 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.5/10
The constructors’ championship fight enlivened what was otherwise a straightforward drive to victory by Norris. With Verstappen knocking Piastri into a spin at the start, and Leclerc mounting an unlikely recovery from 19th to the podium, Norris had to keep both Ferraris behind to had Norris slipped up McLaren would have lost the crown to Ferrari.
13. 2024 Australian Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.5/10
When Verstappen unexpectedly succumbed to a brake problem early on, his nine-race winning streak (beginning in Japan the previous year) came to an end. Sainz, back after a weekend away due to an appendectomy, took a timely victory, as Lewis Hamilton’s impending arrival at Ferrari meant he was on the driver market.
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12. 2024 United States Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.8/10
Norris made the costly mistake of letting Verstappen get by at the start, which put them on a collision course at the end of the race.
11. 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Average rating: 6.8/10
Unexpectedly, Mercedes were the team to beat in Las Vegas. Russell took a lights-to-flag win, while Hamilton recovered from 10th to complete a Mercedes one-two. Verstappen secured the title with a patient drive, avoiding fights with the faster Ferraris, who were busy scrapping between themselves.
10. 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
Average rating: 7.2/10
McLaren were comfortably quickest but Verstappen did his best to make a nuisance of himself for them and – not for the last time – compromised Norris’s chance to win. McLaren upheld their drivers’ original running order to the flag, telling Norris to get back behind Piastri.
9. 2024 Mexican Grand Prix
Average rating: 7.3/10
Verstappen again thwarted Norris’s victory chances, forcing him off twice and allowing Leclerc by. Sainz took a fine farewell win for Ferrari.
8. 2024 Miami Grand Prix
Average rating: 7.4/10
Armed with McLaren’s upgraded car, Norris was already making progress from fifth on the grid when a timely Safety Car intervention handed him the chance to score his first grand prix victory.
7. 2024 Italian Grand Prix
Average rating: 7.7/10
Leclerc made himself the darling of the tifosi by passing Norris’s McLaren at the start, then gambling on a one-stop strategy which allowed him to beat Piastri and take victory.
6. 2024 Austrian Grand Prix
Average rating: 7.7/10
Verstappen and Norris resumed their battle from the previous day, the Red Bull driver defending with his usual vigour, until the pair clashed at turn three. Russell picked up the pieces and won while Nico Hulkenberg impressively beat Perez to sixth.
5. 2024 Belgian Grand Prix
Average rating: 8.0/10
As Leclerc would do successfully in Italy, Russell gambled on a single-stop strategy to win. Unfortunately for the Mercedes driver, excessive plank wear caused a post-race disqualification.
4. 2024 Brazilian Grand Prix
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