F1 cars 2024: championship-winning Red Bull RB20 revealed

The 2024 Formula 1 season is just around the corner, but the big news of the off season has us wishing it was 2025 already. Yeah, Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari should really shake up the grid. 

Still, there’s a packed schedule with 24 races to get through before then, with the 2024 campaign kicking off for real in Bahrain on 2 March.

We’ll see testing at the same circuit before that, so expect everything to have been revealed before 21 February.

And just to make things nice and easy for you, we’ll be updating this very page as each contender is unveiled, so make sure to bookmark it and come back every so often. Fingers crossed for lots of pretty colours.

Red Bull RB20

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the 2024 World Championship-winning Red Bull RB20.

Yep, the car that Max Verstappen will secure his fourth world title in gets pretty much exactly the same livery as last season’s RB19, but the actual design concept is suprisingly radical. Worrying for the rest of the grid when they're all playing catchup. Although actually, the new look that Adrian Newey and co. have cooked up is strangely similar to Mercedes' old zero-sidepod design with vertical air inlets at the side of the car (although these have been removed in the official renders you see here). Is this Red Bull trolling?

Heck, the two giant drainpipes on either side of the engine cover are very similar in style to the 2023 Mercedes too, although both these and the RB20's sidepods do look like they'll serve an impressive aerodynamic purpose. 

Of course, things aren’t all rosy at Red Bull right now, though. Sergio Perez’s struggles last season were well documented, and the Mexican finished with less than half the points of his teammate – although that still meant he secured second in the championship. Yawn.

And in more serious news, team principal Christian Horner is currently under investigation after a complaint was made to the Red Bull parent company. More on that as we have it.

McLaren MCL38

Having already shown off its intended 2024 livery a while back, McLaren has now revealed the fully finished MCL38 as it conducts a filming day at Silverstone Circuit.

We’re told that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will share driver duties for the cameras, meaning both of McLaren’s prospects will get their first proper experience of their 2024 company car.

Looks good, no? McLaren says it “incorporates fan-favourite elements of papaya and anthracite with a touch of chrome” and at least there isn’t too much bare carbon on display. We need some colour on the grid this year. 

“It’s awesome to be able to launch our 2024 competitor, the MCL38, at Silverstone today. It’s great to see our new car in its 2024 livery on track and see the hard work and dedication of the team come together,” said team boss Zak Brown.

“The fantastic thing about this sport is how competitive it is, and therefore we must remain realistic as every team will have made progress in the off season. The true test of whether we’ve made steps in the right direction will be qualifying in Bahrain. We’re all excited to go racing again, but we know there’s a long season ahead of us and a lot of work still to do to ensure we build on the progress we made throughout 2023.”  

Mercedes-AMG W15

“We know we have a mountain to climb to fight at the very front. There are no miracles in this sport,” said Merc F1 boss Toto Wolff. Meet the Brackley team's black und silver new pair of mountain boots, then: the much improved, massively upgraded W15. A car that hopes to cure all the 'stinging' lessons from last year's sometimes vindictive W14.

Merc acknowledged last year's car had a limited architecture, and so for 2024 have fitted a completely new chassis in a bid to cure the rear-axle unpredictability that so afflicted Hamilton and Russell. There's a new gearbox casing too, along with 'housekeeping' in the form of upgraded aero - a bid to find more downforce and less drag - improving the DRS effect and even the team's pit stop performance.

"As the saying goes: when it stings, it sticks," said Wolff. "I believe the previous two years were necessary for us to readjust, recalibrate and reinvent ourselves in certain areas. That root-and-branch approach is never easy. But we’ve made progress and look forward to taking the next step with the W15. It won’t be a linear path, but when we stumble, we will get back up and keep climbing.”

Hamilton - who of course enters his last season as a Mercedes F1 driver before moving to Ferrari - said: “If you’re not comfortable with the car, you’re not able to extract the maximum performance. A more stable, more predictable car will enable us to extract the potential from not only the car, but ourselves as drivers."

“We made progress with some of the nastier characteristics of the W14 throughout last year," his teammate George Russell added. "But we still had a narrow operating window and, once we were outside of that, the car was difficult to drive. If we can continue to widen the operating window of the car, that will provide confidence for us as a drivers and from there, lap time is easier to find."

Enough lap time to give either a fighting chance against the Red Bulls? Only time - and a few pre-season tests - will tell. "There are no crystal balls in this sport," Wolff added. "But we will at least know the gap we are aiming to close down. Our ambition is strong and we’re ready to get going.”

Ferrari SF-24

Finally, a splash of colour to the 2024 F1 grid. And not just any colour, but one shared with a Le Mans-winning hypercar. Welcome to the Ferrari SF-24, the 70th Formula One car built by the Scuderia. A long history, and one that a certain Lewis Hamilton will soon be a part of.

For now, Carlos Sainz Jr and teammate Charles Leclerc will look forward to a car that, says Ferrari, builds on the good feeling they had in the last few races of 2023; a car that promises to be "easy to drive and that reacts predictably", allowing the two hotshoes the chance to wring it out proper.

Ferrari said the same thing about the 499P Le Mans car too, and that did fairly well last year. So the matt colour scheme is carried over to this car - it's the same shade of red as the 499 - along with splashes of yellow and white. A glossy rosso wouldn't have gone amiss, Ferrari. Just sayin'.

Still, Leclerc likes the look and (simulator) feel of the 24. "I like the look of the car a lot," he said, "including the white and yellow parts on the bodywork. But of course, what really interests me is how it will perform on track, as that’s all that matters. The SF-24 ought to be less sensitive and easier to drive and for us drivers that’s what you need in order to do well. I expect the car to be a step forward in several areas and from the impression I formed in the simulator I think we’re where we want to be."

Ditto Sainz Jr, who of course enters his last season with the Scuderia. "When I saw the SF-24 for the first time, I couldn’t wait to jump in and fire it up. Now, I’m looking forward to driving it on track to see if it correlates with the feeling I had from the simulator, which is that it’s the step forward we all want. The aim is to have a car that’s more driveable and therefore able to run at a consistent race pace, as these are the basic requirements to fight for wins."

Will it? Hamilton will certainly be keeping a close eye on its fortunes this year...

Aston Martin AMR24

Despite a strong start to the 2022/23 season, with Fernando Alonso claiming a triumvirate of podiums on the bounce, the AMR23 failed to sustain its pace and withered away as the season wore on. It was still Red Bull’s closest competitor, but Aston Martin will be hoping for more consistency this year with the new AMR24.

Continuing the British Racing Green theme with a few revisions to the decals and sponsors, you’ll notice a new front diffuser design and revision to the nose. Despite what appear to be minimalist changes, Aston Martin is adamant the car is more aerodynamically efficient than its predecessor and should see joy in a wider variety of circuits this year.

“Since the last race in 2023, everyone has been hyper-focused on improvements in every area, concentrating our efforts on what makes a difference and matters to be better,” said team principal, Mike Krack. “Almost every area of the car has been refined and improved, building on our strengths, and taking on board the lessons of the previous campaign.”

Meanwhile, Dan Fallows, technical director, said: “I would call the AMR24 a strong evolution of last year’s car, and it does look quite different with many new parts to give us a strong platform for development. The chassis design is new, as well as the nose, front wing, front suspension and rear suspension. We want to compete in the development race this season and this car is designed to do just that.”

VCARB 01

Visa Cash App RB - let’s just call it RB from now on - has earned itself some early brownie points in the world of F1 by coming up with a livery that actually has some colour on it.

With the old AlphaTauri branding ditched, the team has returned to the deep blue, red and white scheme that marked the end of the Toro Rosso days back in 2019.

Naturally there is still some carbon fibre on show, but this looks like a far better effort than those we’ve seen so far. Agree?

All eyes will be on Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda this season: rumour has it RB will be leveraging its relationship with parent team Red Bull to the max this year in order to move up the grid. Could it be the pink Mercedes saga all over again?

Alpine A524

Alpine has left no stone unturned in its bid to escape perpetual mediocrity, and so for 2024 its entire car has been redesigned to the extent that only the steering wheel has been carried over from last season. “The A524 approach has been aggressive but deliberate in the fact we are creating a wider scope to add performance to the car," explains technical director Matt Harman. "We have pushed some elements to the limit and, in some cases, beyond that."

We'll find out what effect the new parts have had soon enough...

Another extreme that Alpine has embraced is, er, the lack of colour in its livery. Like the cars seen already (keep scrollin'), there's a worrying amount of exposed carbon fibre on show as the team attempts to shed every possible gram. Dark colours famously work so well on television. Alpine also promises to run a 'pink' version of what you see here at eight races this season, but the difference is minimal. Boo.

We'd go on a rant about the grid needing diverse colours, but we already did that last year. Prematurely, it turns out.

Sauber C44

Or should that be the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44? Your guess is as good as ours. Anyway, now that Alfa Romeo has made way for a gambling platform and a streaming service as Sauber’s title sponsor, the classy red and white livery of old has been replaced with this striking green and black scheme for 2024. Looks like the same fluro paint they use for aero testing, doesn’t it? 

Once again the team’s driver line-up will consist of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, and collectively they’ll be aiming for an improvement on the ninth place they achieved in the constructors’ championship last season, in which they beat only Haas and landed a best race finish of eighth place.

And both will be out to impress team boss Andreas Seidl, who is a known fan of Carlos Sainz. And it just so happens that the Spaniard has activated his #OpenToWork status on LinkedIn for 2025…

Williams FW46

This, folks, is the new Williams FW46 to be driven by the returning line-up of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.

Revealed in New York (American driver, American fanbase right?) the livery is predominantly blue; a nod to the team's racing heritage which includes nine constructor's championships, seven driver's titles and 114 wins. There's a red 'n' white pinstripe to reflect Williams' British roots too.

“Coming off the back of a very positive year we’re hoping to build on our progress into 2024, working hard to make some good steps forward in performance," said Alex Albon. "We’ve asked a lot of the team and the factory to get this car where it needs to be, and we’ve also slightly changed the philosophy of the car, so I’m interested to see if we can improve some of the characteristics it has historically had. It will require an adjustment in driving style but I’m confident it will be a change for the better.”

Meanwhile team principal James Vowels said: "Since joining Williams Racing a year ago, I’ve seen this team pull together to overcome a number of challenges and claim seventh in the Constructors’ Championship, which meant a great deal for everyone involved. We’ve also shown the world that we’re building the foundations for moving forward.

"Of course, there’s still a long way to go on this journey together but I know our fans, partners and everyone at Grove HQ is pushing as one to create new history for this iconic team."

Haas VF-24

Haas is the first of the 10 Formula 1 teams to unveil its new look for the 2024 season. And yes, that probably is the only time we’ll use the words ‘Haas’ and ‘first’ in the same sentence this year. 

The Kannapolis-based team does like to be quick out of the blocks with its new season livery reveals though, and 2024 is no different. So, say hello to the Haas VF-24. These renders show a fairly large amount of weight-saving bare carbon fibre, and as we’ve come to expect it’s a variation on the black/white/red theme. Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will be hoping that it’s a little quicker than last year’s VF-23 though, even if the colour scheme isn’t wildly different.

Us? Well, we’re still sad that Guenther Steiner has been sacked as team principal…