2024 Season

The 75th running of the Formula One World Championship, contested over a record twenty-four Grands Prix. Max Verstappen enters as the defending Drivers’ Champion and Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT as the defending Constructors’ Champion. Every driver and team combination that competed in the final round of the previous season remains unchanged — the first time in championship history that the entire grid carries over.

Team changes

Alfa Romeo ended their partnership with Sauber and left Formula One following the conclusion of the 2023 season as Sauber prepares to become the Audi works team from 2026. The team is rebranded as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, competing with the constructor name Kick Sauber. AlphaTauri is rebranded as RB and relocates its aerodynamics operations to Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom as part of a management restructure.

Calendar

The calendar comprises a record twenty-four Grands Prix. The Chinese Grand Prix returns for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled for four consecutive years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which was cancelled in the preceding year due to flooding, also returns. The Japanese Grand Prix moves from its traditional autumn date to April as part of efforts to regionalise the calendar. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix moves from April to September. The Russian Grand Prix was under contract but the contract was terminated in 2022 in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Six events feature the sprint format: China, Miami, Austria, the United States, São Paulo and Qatar.

Regulation changes

DRS usage is now permitted one lap after a race start, safety car restart, or red flag restart — one lap earlier than in previous seasons.

The sprint weekend structure is revised: a single practice session is followed by sprint qualifying (which sets the grid for the sprint), then the sprint race on Saturday morning, followed by qualifying for the Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon. Sprint weekends now have two separate parc fermé periods. The sprint qualifying session is now referred to as “sprint qualifying” rather than “sprint shootout”.

The number of internal combustion engine components and associated power unit elements allowed per driver is increased from three to four per season to accommodate the longer calendar.

The standard penalty for overtaking another driver off track and gaining a lasting advantage is upgraded from a five-second to a ten-second time penalty. From the Miami Grand Prix onwards, stewards are allowed to penalise a jump start even if the transponder does not register the infringement.

The C0 tyre compound — the hardest in Pirelli’s range, introduced but not used in 2023 — is dropped. The alternative tyre allocation trial of 11 sets is discontinued; teams revert to 13 sets per non-sprint weekend and 12 for sprint weekends. A proposed trial ban on tyre blankets is abandoned.

Teams are allowed to install a driver cooling scoop in response to cockpit overheating experienced at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. Wind tunnel and CFD work for the 2026 technical regulations is prohibited until 1 January 2025. The deadline for right of review requests is reduced from fourteen to four days, with a fee introduced to discourage frivolous appeals.

Pre-season testing

A single pre-season test was held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on 21–23 February. Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari set the fastest time over the three days; Haas completed the most laps.