THE F1 2024 DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS WITHOUT MAX VERSTAPPEN

Yes, we know it’s early to make it look like the season is a foregone conclusion, but given how comfortably Max Verstappen won the title last year and how he cantered to victory seven times in the first 10 races, it doesn’t hurt to look at the alternatives.

With Verstappen having won 19 of the 22 races last season, our calculations last season led to a world in which a thrilling title fight would have taken place elsewhere.

Calculating the World Championship standings without Max Verstappen

Calculating these standings is simple, in that any result Verstappen achieves is taken out of the equation and wherever he finished, every driver below moves up a place, and in the cases where he earned a point for fastest lap, the point gets redistributed to the next-fastest driver on the list.

As this applied at the Bahrain Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc clocked the second-quickest lap of the race, so an extra point went to him in this instance. He didn’t need any help for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix however, taking the fastest lap bonus point all on his own merit on the final lap of the race.

In Japan, it was Carlos Sainz who inherited the fastest lap point with his 1:33.841 a tenth down on Verstappen’s 1:33.706.

Given the seven-point difference between first and second (where Verstappen finished almost every time), the differences gained by the drivers behind led to changes in the World Championship standings that, had both Red Bull drivers not been involved last season, Lewis Hamilton would have edged away from Fernando Alonso as a hypothetical World Champion.

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So where Charles Leclerc overtook Sergio Perez in the real-life championship at Imola, in these standings for now, his P2 finishes earlier in the season would have kept him top of the standings without his team-mate – but that turned around in Monaco when Leclerc took an emotional home win, where Perez crashed out on the first lap after a tangle with Kevin Magnussen.

But with Leclerc and Perez out of the race in Canada and a P2 for Norris in real life, which would have been promoted to victory, he would take the lead in these alternative standings by just three points – which would have extended further in Spain.

Of course, this is all just for fun, so you don’t have to take it too seriously, but we thought it might be interesting to take a look at an alternative universe nonetheless!

With the Red Bull RB20 having looked imperious at the start of the season, particularly with Verstappen behind the wheel, you get the feeling that this might become slightly more pertinent as the F1 2024 season progresses – although the form of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari have made the field an awful lot tighter in the real world as the year has gone on.

At the summer break stage, Lando Norris would have held a healthy lead over a congested chasing pack of Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, with George Russell hanging on in there.

Alternative 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

[Correct as of 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix]

1: Lando Norris – 305

2: Charles Leclerc – 260

3: Oscar Piastri – 247

4: Carlos Sainz – 210

5: Lewis Hamilton – 192

6: Sergio Perez – 191

7: George Russell – 169

8: Fernando Alonso – 80

9: Nico Hulkenberg – 36

10: Lance Stroll – 33

11: Yuki Tsunoda – 32

12: Alex Albon – 21

13: Daniel Ricciardo – 18

14: Pierre Gasly – 17

15: Esteban Ocon – 11

16: Kevin Magnussen – 10

17: Oliver Bearman – 10

18: Franco Colapinto – 6

19: Zhou Guanyu – 2

20: Logan Sargeant – 1

21: Valtteri Bottas – 0

2024-03-04T15:36:31Z dg43tfdfdgfd