The big retro 2024 AUTOhebdo: our favorites

Jérémy’s favorite

Isack Hadjar, the new kid on the block Formula 1

In Melbourne next February, it will be the first time since the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix that a French driver will make his F1 debut. It was about time that Pierre Gasly et Esteban Ocon be joined by a compatriot from the new golden generation, made up of Theo Pourchaire, Victor Martins and Isack Hadjar. It is indeed the latter who will become our 3rd French driver on the grid, making France the second largest contingent of drivers in 2025, Red Bull having decided to place him within the sister team Racing Bulls. Access to F1 is a story of talent, work, mental strength, success, and a hint of luck, too. Isack has managed to combine all of that. From a personal point of view, how can I not be delighted by the advent of this exceptional boy, endowed with a loyalty and sincerity that is sometimes disarming? Through all the days of reporting shared over the last five years with Autohebdo, and the sometimes existential discussions fueled on the circuits, I have learned to know the champion personality of an Isack sure of his strength and despite everything inclined to question himself when necessary. Apart from R-ace GP in FRECA in 2021, Isack has never played within a historic top team during his career, which did not prevent him from playing for the title both in F3 and F2His driving skills are no longer in doubt, and with such a well-made mind, there is a good chance that his stint in F1 will last at least as long as those of the two compatriots he is about to join.

© Eric Alonso /DPPI

Valentin's favorite

The podium ofAlpine at the 6 Hours of Fuji

It is in the shadow of Mount Fuji thatAlpine signed a major performance. His first with the A424. Until the 6 Hours of Fuji, the season of the French manufacturer had been studious, but marked by the terrible fiasco of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the double retirement due to engine failure before nightfall. For the brand with the arrowed A, it was important to bounce back, to leave with its head held high despite the hangover. The second half of the year was a constant progression. Discreet in Brazil, the two cars proudly displaying the blue Alpine, unlike the impersonal A524 of Formula 1, sounded the revolt in Texas. On the Austin side, Paul-Loup Chatin, Charles Milesi and Ferdinand Habsburg signed a top 5, premise of the feat to come in Japan, two weeks later. In the land of the rising sun, it is still theAlpine #35 who initially believed in the podium before a penalty. It was finally #36, led by a Mick Schumacher in great shape, who seized the chance to get on the box. Giving back to Alpine balm to the heart and its letters of nobility to a brand now without a soul in F1.

© Thomas Fenetre / DPPI

Gonzalo's favorite

Youth takes back power in F1 

There has often been a tendency to argue that Formula 1 is a sport that should favour experience over youth. It must be said that the examples of recent years have not argued in favour of young talent with drivers who really lack pure talent or the ability to progress quickly, such as Nicholas latifi, Nikita mazepin or, Logan sargeant. But this trend has reversed somewhat in this year 2024. A few new young drivers have had their chance and have not let it pass them by. We think of Oliver Bearman who dazzled the paddock when he had to replace Carlos Sainz on a Ferrari in Saudi Arabia seeking his first points for his first Grand Prix. Then again in Baku when he got the better of Nico Hulkenberg this time under the colors of Haas before dominating him in Brazil a few weeks later in both qualifying and the race, all in the rain. Franco Colapinto didn't take long to make Logan Sargeant forgotten at Williams with points and a Q3 in his second weekend in addition to having beaten Alex Albon in the qualifying exercise, he who was said to be intractable. The same goes for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls, in the Top 10 in the United States when he had just taken over from a Daniel Ricciardo disoriented. F1 has not been indifferent and the teams, although cautious with these profiles in recent times, have finally come to terms with the evidence: the youngsters are ready! Thus, the 2025 grid will see no less than 6 rookies arrive: Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, Jack Doohan at Alpine, Oliver Bearman at Haas, Liam Lawson at Red Bull, Gabriel Bortoleto at Sauber and Isack Hadjar at Racing Bulls. Or proof that youth is making a new place for itself in Formula 1, to the great delight of the public.

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

Michael's favorite

The title of champion of Thierry Neuville

The Belgians and the rally, it's a love story! A story of valiant warriors, like Bruno Thiry, Freddy Loix or François Duval, names that the generation of the late 80s and early 90s grew up with. Among them, a certain Thierry Neuville, who was also quickly carried by an entire country. Hopes were immense from his debut in WRC, but it took a long time and five second places in the championship before the native of Saint-Vith finally won the supreme crown. His status as Poulidor of the world rally gave him a particular sympathy, but his move to the next level allows him to make a lasting and definitive mark in the sporting history of the small Kingdom. Just look at the atmosphere in Deidenberg at around five o'clock in the morning after the retirement ofOtt Tänak and the triumphant welcome reserved for the Belgian on his return from the Land of the Rising Sun to convince himself that an entire nation had pushed Thierry and his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe towards the title. And now, a second?

© Nikos Katikis / DPPI

Dorian's favorite

The double podium ofAlpine Brazil

In the middle of a very dark season for Alpine, overshadowed by poor performances on the track and controversial decisions off it (stopping the engine program in 2026, stormy separation with Esteban Ocon, return of Flavio Briatore to enstone…), the unthinkable double podium obtained by the A fléché at Interlagos has given the French team some colour again… and we really needed it! An exceptional and salutary result for the French team, which we owe solely to the talent of its drivers and strategists. As good Normans that they are, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly knew how to keep their ship afloat, perfectly read the physiognomy of the race despite the atrocious conditions and take the risk that paid off by staying on track, when everything indicated that they had to put on rain tyres. A driving style worthy of the greatest. With a formidable harvest of 33 points, Alpine made a good determinant from 9th to 6th place in the Constructors' Championship, saving a year that was more gloomy than joyful. From this very difficult season, let us remember the happiness of the two Norman teammates on the Paulista podium, as if reconciled from all these years of war and mutual friction. Even if we would have preferred that this scene of peace and friendship rediscovered not be tarnished by the brutal end of the adventure between Esteban Ocon and Alpine...

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

Jean-Michel’s favorite

The victory of Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone

On his land and in front of his subjects, King Lewis Hamilton puts an end to his torments by signing his first victory since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. A 104th victory with the accents of a "comeback" after a too-long crusade! Begun on the evening of a stolen victory in distant Abu Dhabi on December 12, 2021, his exile ends on July 7, 2024. During these thirty months of crossing the desert, there were indeed a few podiums like so many oases but nothing with the inimitable flavor of victory. He who had delighted in its succulence more than a hundred times in the past had even lost the taste for it. A few more moments to savor the moment before extracting himself from the cockpit. Never has the verb to stand up had so much meaning for him who has come back from so far away. So, he takes his time, brandishes the Union Jack that a steward handed him during his lap of honor. He unfolds it. The King is back. It is not with bravado that he comes to greet the British crowd but with humility and gratitude. She too has been in all the fights, she too has waited 946 days and she too deserves all the honors. She who has always been there, for him and with him since 2008 when he won his first British GP. He now has nine, a new record to his name!

© Eric Alonso / DPPI

Medhi’s favorite

The 48H Chrono stage at the Dakar

Rally-raid is a discipline that places a strong emphasis on the notion of a change of scenery and travel. Its flagship event, the Dakar, added in 2024 the ability to travel... in time. The organizers, Amaury Sport Organisation, had the brilliant idea of ​​incorporating a stage split into two days, the 48H Chrono, on January 11 and 12. In an evocation of the Paris-Dakar of yesteryear, the competitors were launched into the desert of dunes, without benefiting from any external assistance, or even information relating to the provisional classification. This gave rise to exceptional images, such as a Sébastien Loeb enjoying a succulent military ration offered by the members of the organization, before unfolding his tent and sleeping there in wild camping mode. Everyone was accommodated in the same way, amateurs and legends of motorsport. Author of a campfire, the drivers, co-drivers and motorcyclists exchanged their experiences, under the stars. Then, the next day, the race resumed its rights. It was only at the end of the morning that the best arrived at the finish of the 600 km long stage, and discovered their ranking. On a sporting level, the 48H Chrono had major effects on the outcome of the Dakar. Leader before the start, Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) rolled over (retirement), Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) broke his 4x4. Only Carlos Sainz (Audi) and Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive) escaped without damage, and offered a crazy exchange of arms in the middle of the immensity of the Empty Quarter. It was awesome!

© Florent Gooden / DPPI

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