Are the 2024 single-seaters faster than those under the old regulations?

It’s Max Verstappen – once again – who brought up the question. Once again on pole position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the Dutchman broke the track record during this fast lap. Eclipsing Lewis Hamilton’s record with his Mercedes in 2021.

The Red Bull driver achieved this feat with his next-generation car, which on paper is much slower than the previous ones. So, is this an isolated case or will it become the norm?

What about Bahrain?

For the moment, we can only give a partial answer since only two Grand Prix have been held in 2024: Bahrain and Jeddah. Regarding the second destination, we already know the result. But for the first one, we went much slower than in 2021 and even slower than in 2020.

This year, Max Verstappen set a time of 1:29’179” compared to 1:28’997” in 2021, and 1:27’264” in 2020, set by Lewis Hamilton. It is indeed much slower. But much less than in 2022, the year new cars were introduced. Here, Charles Leclerc started from the front row with a time of 1:30’558”. So, it’s nearly a second and a half gained in three seasons.

A parameter to take into consideration

In theory, with a constant improvement of cars, the 2021 brand should be surpassed, but the 2020 one will be much harder to achieve in 2025. However, there is a parameter to consider. In 2020, the British driver set the best time while Bahrain was at the end of the championship, therefore with an ultra-developed car, whereas in 2024 it is the opening race and the single-seater does not offer 100% of its capabilities.

Evolution of the pole in Bahrain

Evolution of pole position in Jeddah