One key weakness of each F1 team on the grid

The 2024 F1 grid will have 10 teams and each has its unique DNA. All the teams have been part of the sport for at least a decade with Haas being the youngest.

Having said that, while every team tends to have a certain set of strengths there are certain weaknesses as well. What are they? Let's take a look.

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Key weakness of each F1 team on the grid

Red Bull

If Red Bull did not have Max Verstappen in the car would the team win the last three titles? Probably not as Sergio Perez was nowhere in 2021 and lost out in 2022 to Charles Leclerc in the battle for P2 in the championship.

While Verstappen is certainly one of the aces up the sleeve for the team, the over-reliance on him has to be a weakness.

Mercedes

In one way, the team's obsession with making Lewis Hamilton an eight-time world champion could lead to its downfall. There have been far too many interviews this season where Toto Wolff has stressed the drive to help Hamilton win his eighth title.

While all that is great, Mercedes would be making a major mistake if it is obsessing over this. The aim always has to be to build a strong squad in the long term. This approach might not be the best in that respect.

Ferrari

For the Italian team, it has to be the political side of the sport. Ferrari is one F1 team that seems to be run from the corporate office and when that happens, you see results of the kind the team has achieved in the last 15 years.

McLaren

The one inherent weakness that could slowly come to the fore for McLaren is the fact that the team is not a works outfit. It is still a customer team and hence the operation can never be considered to be run as efficiently as a works set-up.

Aston Martin

Well, the biggest weakness and question mark for Aston Martin is the motive behind having an F1 team for Lawrence Stroll. That motive is making his son a world champion and not having him get humiliated by teaming him up with Fernando Alonso.

The team still feels like a very fragile setup and it will be interesting to see if it can succeed.

Alpine

For Alpine, it's something similar to Ferrari as the French outfit seems to be running from the office of Luca de Meo and that's just not how a team can succeed in F1.

Williams

For Williams at this stage, it just comes down to one very small thing which is a lack of infrastructural might. The Grove-based squad as admitted by James Vowles doesn't have the latest infrastructure in place and that is something of a hindrance at the moment.

AlphaTauri

For AlphaTauri or whatever the new name will be, the biggest concern has to be a less-than-stable driver lineup. The team had as many as four different drivers in the 2023 F1 season and it was all due to an effort to accommodate Daniel Ricciardo and get rid of Nyck de Vries.

Even now, heading into the 2024 F1 season, the team will be looking at an uncertain future for its drivers which is never ideal.

Sauber

For Sauber, arguably the weakest part has to be the overall lack of energy when it comes to the F1 team. There's not much that stands out for the team and this varies from the drivers to the leading men to the car as well. There's nothing that makes one sit back, and take note of how the outfit is functioning at the moment.

Haas

For Haas, it does appear that something that has worked to its advantage could also work to its disadvantage as well. The Ferrari association does help with having a great foundation to start the season but it also makes it very tough for the F1 team to introduce its direction while developing the car.