How would the Drivers’ standings look without Max Verstappen? We’ve run the numbers.

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 has cantered to victory four times out of six, 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.

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 looking 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.

Alternative 2024 Drivers’ Championship standings without Max Verstappen

[Correct as of 2024 Miami Grand Prix]

1: Sergio Perez – 132
2: Charles Leclerc – 113
3: Lando Norris – 97
4: Carlos Sainz – 96
5: Oscar Piastri – 52
6: George Russell – 48
7: Fernando Alonso – 43
8: Lewis Hamilton – 38
9: Yuki Tsunoda – 18
10: Nico Hulkenberg – 11
11: Lance Stroll – 10
12: Oliver Bearman – 8
13: Daniel Ricciardo – 6
14: Esteban Ocon – 3
15: Zhou Guanyu – 2
16: Alex Albon – 1
17: Kevin Magnussen – 1
18: Pierre Gasly – 1
19: Valtteri Bottas – 0
20: Logan Sargeant – 0