Aston was the big surprise this year, going from a mediocre team at the back of the midfield to getting multiple podiums in a row. Their car really made a jump, and they got Alonso who is still a racing god after all those years. They did drop back quite a bit in later races, but seem to be getting back now. Alpine kinda feels like a middle of the pack team, although this time around they seemed to be doing quite well. Gasly managed to keep pace with the people around him. Definitely a surprise given their earlier performance.

Mercedes is still in the mix, and is currently second behind red bull overall afaik. But the field (apart from Max) is so close now that every race seems to have different teams being competitive