Lando Norris won the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and securing the McLaren team it’s first constructors’ championship since 1998, with Carlos Sainz taking second in his final appearance as a Ferrari driver.
The Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri incident at Turn 1 on the first lap benefited Charles Leclerc’s run up from the final row of the grid to finish third, which was not enough to aid the Scuderia as it ended up 14 points behind in the constructors’ title battle.
At the start, Norris easily led away from pole, with any concerns of intra-McLaren contact at the first corner wiped away – replaced by the drama of Verstappen’s dive on Piastri at Turn 1.
As Piastri came across with the Red Bull committed on the inside, they collided just past the apex as Verstappen understeered in the McLaren’s side and both spun – Verstappen falling deep into the pack and Piastri at the back.
That promoted Sainz to second – getting back the position he had lost to Verstappen off the line – with Norris clear in the lead.
His advantage at the end of lap one of 58 was 1.8 seconds, which was preserved for the next lap and a third, as the virtual safety car was activated for Sergio Perez stopping on the run out of Turn 9 due to contact sustained in another lap one clash – this time with Valtteri Bottas at Turn 6.
By the time the VSC ended, Verstappen and Bottas had been handed 10-second penalties for their collisions, with Norris then moving to increase his lead over Sainz to around three-seconds over laps four to nine.
They were soon in a two-horse race for the win as Pierre Gasly held up Russell to the tune of nearly 10 seconds by the time the Alpine stopped on lap 14 – by which point Norris was nearly four seconds clear of Sainz.
They were able to lap in the low one minute, 29 seconds and high one minute, 28 seconds for Norris, with Russell unable to match their pace even when unleashed from behind Gasly.
While lots of cars pitted from the pack behind, the leaders stayed out for the next phase of the race, with Sainz finally coming in to switch the mediums all the frontrunners had started on for hards on lap 25.
He had just squeezed Lando’s lead back under four seconds and when the McLaren was called in to cover the next lap, the chase for the lead resumed with Sainz having gained two more seconds back.
Lando’s advantage then held at the two-second mark as they went around matching each other in the low one minte, 28 seconds.
But by lap 34, Norris was able to quickly edge his lead back above three seconds, as he was able to hit the high one minute, 27 secinds and Sainz could only do so intermittently.
On lap 41, Norris was back to 4.6 seconds ahead and from there he continued stretching away – bar a phase as the final ten laps kicked off when he lost a little bit of time lapping traffic.
But when Sainz hit this too, Norris was in the clear and he eventually eased home to win by 5.8 seconds.
Leclerc finished 26 seconds behind his teammate after making a series of bold moves on the opening lap around the various contacts, then charging up towards Russell’s attempt to overcut Gasly.
On lap 20, Leclerc stopped for his medium-hards switch and he quickly caught and passed Gasly and when Russell pitted for his sole service at the same time as Norris Leclerc was through into third.
Hamilton had started on the hards and stayed out until lap 34, rejoining in seventh and then rising – including getting by Fernando Alonso’s two-stopping Aston Martin – while reducing the 14 seconds gap to Russell.
On the final lap, Hamilton attacked Russell with DRS into the outside of Turn 9 and claimed fourth on the exit, with Verstappen 12 seconds behind the Silver Arrows pair after serving his penalty at his stop on lap 29.
Gasly ended up seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, which sealed Alpine’s sixth place in the constructors’ against Haas.
Alonso took ninth as Piastri recovered to P10 after serving his own 10-second penalty at his pitstop – for colliding into Franco Colapinto’s rear at the VSC restart.
Colapinto was one of three retirements in addition to Perez, as the Williams driver’s Formula 1 cameo ended due to an engine issue, which was what also appeared to eliminate Liam Lawson late on for RB.
Valtteri Bottas’s career ended in disappointment as he also hit Kevin Magnussen at Turn 6 just past halfway – an incident that gave the Sauber too much damage to continue but from which the Haas was able to escape after a spin and Magnussen finished his own Formula 1 career having made three stops.
K-Mag secured the race’s fastest lap at one minute, 25.637 seconds on the final lap.
So congratulations to Lando Norris for winning the race and securing the constructors’ title for the Woking-based outfit since 1998. Well deserved.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26:33.291
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +5.832s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +31.928s
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +36.483s
5 George Russell Mercedes +37.538s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull +49.847s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +72.560s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +75.554s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +82.373s
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren +83.821s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda RB +1 lap
13 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1 lap
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +1 lap
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
Liam Lawson RB DNF
Valtteri Bottas Sauber DNF
Franco Colapinto Williams DNF
Sergio Perez Red Bull DNF
Lando Norris has brought the 2024 season to a close in style by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in dominant form, the Briton putting in an assured drive to claim victory and also help McLaren to clinch their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
It was a strong start to the race for pole-sitter Norris amid chaos behind him, with Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen making contact in a battle for second, which saw the latter receive a penalty and the former drop down the order. There was also further trouble for the Australian, who received a punishment of his own for a collision with the Williams of Franco Colapinto.
And while various other fights played out across the field – which saw a solid performance from McLaren’s title rivals Ferrari – Norris kept a cool head up front to triumph, taking the chequered flag by five seconds from former team mate Carlos Sainz, which confirmed that the constructors’ crown had gone to the papaya squad.
Charles Leclerc put in a fighting performance for the Scuderia to climb back up to third, having started back in P19 on the grid. Behind him a late duel played out between Mercedes team mates George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, with the seven-time world champion snatching fourth in the final moments to bring his chapter with the squad to an emotional close.
Verstappen was sixth, the Red Bull man having bounced back from his earlier penalty, with Pierre Gasly following in seventh as Alpine sealed P6 in the constructors’ championship, while Nico Hulkenberg was eighth for Haas ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in ninth. Piastri’s recovery drive ended with 10th place, a disappointing outcome for the Australian despite his team’s success.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-sails-to-victory-ahead-of-sainz-and-leclerc-in-abu-dhabi-as-mclaren.52fogZq77Kgmdt75WN8kGM
Sergio Perez has accepted for the first time that his Red Bull future is in doubt, admitting a meeting after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix could bring an end to his Formula 1 career.
Until now, the Mexican has remained steadfast that he will keep his place at Red Bull next year despite a dismal season that has seen him finish a lowly eighth in the drivers’ championship.
Team principal Christian Horner has refused to confirm Perez’s position for 2025, even though a new contract was agreed between the team and the driver earlier in the season.
RB pair Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda have both been linked with Perez’s seat, with reports over the past week suggesting the former is now set to be promoted to the flagship team.
Speaking after an early retirement at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix having been hit by Valtteri Bottas, Perez conceded his future is up in the air.
“Well, at the moment, I don’t know. I just know I’ve got a contract to race next year. Unless something changes in the coming days, that’s going to be the situation for next year,” he said.
“I think at the moment, all I can say is I’ve got a contract, that I signed up in the middle of the year to race for the team for the next three years. So we’ll see what happens and how the conversation goes in the coming days.
“Like I say, we’re going to be talking in a couple of days. We will discuss what is the situation for both parties and see if we’re able to reach an agreement. Like I say, I’ve got a contract for next year.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/perez-admits-his-red-bull-f1-future-will-be-settled-in-the-coming-days/10680670/
Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc admitted they were left ‘hurting’ to miss out on the 2024 Formula 1 constructors’ title.
Both Ferrari and McLaren were in the running for the teams’ title this year, but ultimately McLaren claimed the crown by 14 points courtesy of Lando Norris taking victory in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The second McLaren of Oscar Piastri was restricted to fighting back to 10th having been hit by Max Verstappen at the start, with Sainz finishing second and Leclerc recovering brilliantly from 19th to also make the podium.
Despite taking second and third place, Ferrari’s 16-year wait for a constructors’ championship goes on.
“Obviously, it is a bit of a bittersweet feeling, in the end,” said Sainz, who took second place in his final race for Ferrari ahead of his move to Williams.
“P2 I think was the maximum we could do today, given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. Yeah. I gave it everything, especially the first stint it looked like, we could hang on to them.
“Then as soon as we put the hard tyres, they just seemed to be that one or two tenths quicker per lap, like we’ve seen all weekend, and they just got a bit out of out of reach.
“But yeah, congratulations, first of all, to McLaren. They deserved this championship. They’ve been rock solid in the last two-thirds of the championship, and they’ve been incredible from our side, I think we can be proud of the effort and the championship we put together.
“It’s been a tough year, but definitely a year where we need to be proud of and hopefully be back here soon.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-left-licking-wounds-as-it-misses-out-on-ending-f1-title-drought/10680711/
Lando Norris’s fourth victory of 2024 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ensured that McLaren held off the challenge of rivals Ferrari to claim their first constructors’ title since 1998 – a feat Norris declared he was “so proud” of.
From pole position, Norris avoided the first lap chaos that saw his P2-starting team mate Oscar Piastri spun around by 2024 champion Max Verstappen.
Norris went on to control the race, withstanding the pressure of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc – who earned the Driver of the Day accolade after a searing run from P19 on the grid to P3 – to close out McLaren’s first constructors’ title since Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard achieved the championship 26 years ago.
“It feels incredible, not just for myself but for the whole team,” said Norris, who joined McLaren’s young driver programme in 2017, before making his F1 debut with the squad in 2019.
“The team have done an amazing job this year to come from where we were at the beginning. I’m so proud of everyone – it’s been a lovely journey.
“And to end the season like this is perfect, so just a congrats and big thank you to everyone in McLaren, everyone in papaya, everyone who supported us this year because it’s been a tough one. For us to win a constructors’ after 26 years is pretty special.
“We’re going to celebrate, this is a historic moment for the team,” added Norris. “They’re going to want to celebrate, and I want to celebrate with them so it’s going to be a good night!”
Norris’s cool-down lap saw him vow over team radio that “next year’s going to be my year too”. And after ending the season in a career-best P2 in the drivers’ standings to Verstappen – 63 points adrift, but having taken his first victories in the sport this year – Norris was clear that drivers’ title glory was next on his hit list.
“It’s my goal, it’s our goal as a team,” said Norris. “We want to win the constructors’, we want to win the drivers’ next year. I made my mistakes this year but I’ve learned a lot – I’ve learned a lot from Max and my competitors around me. As much as I’m happy now, I’m excited to get next year going.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/norris-so-proud-of-mclaren-as-abu-dhabi-win-ensures-team-take-first.3zORGryvho6xIdXJxlYPiY
Max Verstappen apologised to Oscar Piastri after hitting his McLaren at Turn 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but questioned the current penalty procedure in Formula 1.
The 2024 world champion tried to go up the inside of Piastri at the start of the season finale but instead crashed into the Australian, who dropped to the back as a result.
It could have had a huge impact on the constructors’ championship but, ultimately, McLaren still ended its 26-year wait for a teams’ title as Lando Norris won and Piastri recovered to 10th.
Verstappen said over team radio that the incident was “unlucky” but revealed he had said sorry to Piastri after the race.
“My launch was good and then I tried to grab the inside and I quickly realised, once I committed to it, that the gap was closing and I wanted to try and get out of it, because I didn’t want to naturally, of course, crash with Oscar,” he said.
“But unfortunately, we still clipped each other, but I already apologised to Oscar, it is not what you want to happen, and especially not with him. He’s a great guy but it happened, and it is a bit unfortunate.
“The thing was that, when you’re in that position, you’re focusing on the car ahead…you commit. When you start first or second, you never really look behind.
“So I went for it, and then I realised, ‘shit, he doesn’t see me there’. So I was like trying to get out of it, but then we still clipped.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-takes-blame-for-piastri-crash-but-unhappy-with-10s-penalty-at-abu-dhabi-gp/10680755/