Top 3 F1 drivers that should not be on the 2024 grid
F1 can be a very cruel sport at times. The only currency that results in a sustained stay in the sport is performance. The sport used to be infiltrated with quite a lot of pay-drivers once upon a time but the number has dropped drastically.
Almost all of the drivers on the current grid have been majorly successful in Junior categories before making it to the room.
However, even on the current F1 grid, there are drivers that are probably wasting the seat they're in and that seat would be best served with someone else making the most of it.
In this feature, we're shining the spotlight on those drivers. In this piece, we will take a look at the top 3 drivers that should not be on the 2024 F1 grid.
#1 Lance Stroll(Aston Martin)
The points gap between Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso alone should be enough to ask Aston Martin why the "boss's son" finds a seat in one of the best cars on the grid.
Stroll has found it hard to swim in the somewhat deep waters at the front of the grid this season. The Canadian has had a poor season overall. It's not even about nitpicking one or two races where Stroll was bad, it's the entire season.
In terms of points, Lance has less than 1/3rd of the points scored by his teammate. In terms of podiums, while Alonso already has 6, Lance has nothing to his name.
After all these years in F1, we are yet to see any evolution, any growth, and any area where one could say Lance has polished. He's been the same driver since day 1 and he continues to be the same.
On his day, Lance can be great, but that day comes like once or twice a season which is just not enough if one wants to establish oneself as a frontrunner. The Massive gulf between Lance and his teammate and how it continues to increase should be enough of a reason to replace him.
It's safe to say that after these many years in the sport and showing next to no evolution, Lance Stroll does not deserve a seat on the F1 grid.
#2 Logan Sargeant(Williams F1)
It almost seems unfair to pick on a rookie and claim that he's not good enough to be in F1. Especially when he has a teammate like Alex Albon in the same outfit.
Having said that, it's not out of the blue that such an opinion has been formed for Logan Sargeant. This has been formed on the basis of continued challenges faced by the driver when it comes to keeping up with his teammate.
It's been 14 races into Logan's career now and while it might be unfair to expect him to take on the challenge of beating Alex Albon in his first season, one should be looking at a 14-0 whitewash in qualifying and in races. What this number does is that it paints a picture of how things are at Williams.
In the first 14 races, sure Logan could have been inconsistent but the fact that he's been unable to get the better of his teammate even once is a major surprise and to be fair it does not look good on the American's part either.
A lack of performance, a lack of consistency, and an invisible development curve is just not a good look for Logan and in all fairness, a two-time IndyCar champion in Alex Palou will do a good job in that team if given the opportunity.
#3 Guanyu Zhou(Alfa Romeo)
One of the major issues with having a Guanyu Zhou in the team when Theo Pourchaire is waiting in the wings is that it brings Sauber's decision-making into question.
In all likelihood, Theo will be the F2 champion this season and will not have any opportunity available to him in F1 if Alfa Romeo does not give him the opportunity that he deserves.
Zhou has been in the sport for roughly 18 months and in this time the driver has been unable to put together even a single performance that stands out. To add to this, there were question marks around him anyway as the driver got the seat in Alfa Romeo last season ahead of the driver that won the F2 title against him(Oscar Piastri).
The lineup of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou has been one of the least inspiring ones in F1 right now and a driver like Theo Pourchaire deserves the opportunity to show what he can do.