The 2023 F1 season saw what many people would expect a race weekend finishing, with Max Verstappen at the top of the podium in the Abu Dabai season finale, however, with the 2023 season now behind us, all eyes start to wander over to preparation for 2024.
In terms of changes, the schedule sea all tracks intact, aunque con some movement in dates for next season, but many begin to wonder what changes in lineups could we see for 2024.
While most of the teams look to be remaining the same, especially some of the more prominent teams on the grid, there is some interest in terms of who could be driving for some of the teams down towards the bottom of the grid.
The two teams that have yet to announce are Williams and Alpha Tauri, with both teams having openings for 2024.
Williams, who currently have yet to announce the status of the only American on the grid, Logan Sargeant, are one of the teams being looked at in terms of what their move will be.
Although Sargeant did not have an impressive year one in F1, finishing a best 10th on a casualty to say the least, I believe that there probably be any movement from Williams in terms of replacing Sargeant.
While disappointing, Sargeant still has learning to do given it being his first year and with it being hard to judge what his future may hold, giving a redemption sophomore season may be best to see what Sargeant could truly be.
Sargeant’s leash may be shorter than others given his season, but, if Williams can see improvement out of the American, there could be something there in 2024.
As for Alpha Tauri, there seems to be more questions, especially with Daniel Ricciardo.
Ricciardo, who was tabbed as the reserve driver for Red Bull here in 2023, found an unlikely opportunity to get back behind the wheel with Alpha Tauri, however, with it being a fill-in role, the question will be if he will return to the seat.
In reality, Ricciardo is talented enough to be behind the wheel in F1 and has the skills to help a team like Tauri with Yuki Tsunoda build and grow.
While Ricciardo doesn’t seem to be a long term option given his talents, he does seem like someone who can bring value to a bottom end team, which could help build the team to run towards the middle of the pack, something the Australian has done, grabbing a top 10 in Mexico a few weeks back.
As for the competition for 2024, it will be quite interesting to see who makes leaps in terms of development and improving, with teams such as Aston Martin, McLaren and even Alfa Romeo as teams who could see an uptick in improvement on the grid but it will be very hard to surpass the juggernaut that is Red Bull, which should continue in 2024.
