McLaren beat Ferrari by 14 points to win their first constructor’s championship since 1998 after Lando Norris cruised to his 4th race win this season.
Just like in Qatar, the opening lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix provided a fair deal of chaos.
Max Verstappen tried to send his car down the inside of turn 1 on Oscar Piastri, though went in too quickly and caused both of them to spin, though Verstappen was able to recover much better. For this, Verstappen caught a 10 second time penalty.
Going into turn 6, Kevin Magnussen made a huge lunge on the inside of multiple cars, meaning that there was not much space for drivers to go side by side in what is a rather narrow chicane.
This meant that Bottas hit into Sergio Perez, causing the Red Bull to spin and then eventually lose drive, taking him out of the race in what is an unceremonious way to end what is potentially his last race in F1.
Perez’s retirement brought out a Virtual Safety Car, and when green flag running resumed, further chaos ensued.
Piastri locked up and ran into the back of Franco Colapinto, and whilst both were able to continue for the time being, both would need to pit, and Piastri would receive a 10 second penalty of his own.
In all the chaos of the start, Charles Leclerc found himself up to 8th, having started in 19th. This was a great start for Ferrari’s chances of staying competitive in the constructors’ championship, especially with Piastri so far adrift.
Leclerc would make quick work of the slower cars ahead, and would be in 5th by lap 12.
Drivers like Hulkenberg and Alonso were pitting as early as lap 13, indicating that we could be in for a two stop race, though those at the front were staying out and trying for a one stopper.
Leclerc would pit on lap 21 for his only stop of the race, looking to undercut Russell as he now competed for the podium positions. He would come out behind some traffic, though he made quick work of Tsunoda and Gasly, all the while Russell stayed out.
Whilst this was happening, Lando Norris was cruising in the lead, maintaining a 3 to 4 second gap to Carlos Sainz behind.
Lap 25 saw a silly moment from the RB garage, as it appeared that the green light came on too early for Liam Lawson during his pit stop, and his front left tyre was not fitted properly. The Kiwi had to trundle back to the pits to ensure that this was fixed.
Carlos Sainz tried to get an undercut on Norris by pitting on lap 26, though Norris would respond a lap later, and with the gap that he had, Norris was able to comfortably stay ahead, though the gap had been reduced to 2 seconds.
Franco Colapinto had to retire due to a power unit issue on lap 28, with his stint in F1 ending prematurely, though the performances he put in during his time at Williams means that he has potential suitors for the future, so he may appear again in this sport.
Valtteri Bottas ended his last F1 race early after locking up on the inside of Kevin Magnussen on lap 32, causing his wheel to take too much damage and was forced to retire. Magnussen was lucky enough to continue to see out his last F1 race to the end.
Lewis Hamilton was the only driver to start on hards in this race, and he made decent progress during his first stint to come out of the pits in seventh place. The rest of his race would be characterised by chasing down Russell to take fourth place in his final race at Mercedes.
However, before chasing down Russell, Hamilton would need to pass through some traffic ahead. He made quick work of Hulkenberg to jump into 6th, and then overtook Gasly soon after.
It was a 14 second gap that Hamilton needed to overturn, but Hamilton was gaining on Russell by roughly a second per lap. By lap 50, Hamilton was just 7 seconds behind. If he was going to get 4th, it was going to go down to the wire.
By the final lap, Hamilton had gotten within DRS range of Russell. Whilst DRS wasn’t active during the first zone due to Lawson retiring nearby, Hamilton still gained well with slipstream alone. This set him up well for an overtake on the second straight, which he was able to utilise well in order to overtake around the outside of turn 9.
The race ended with Norris winning by just under six seconds, with Sainz picking up second place in his final race for Ferrari, joined by Leclerc in third.
In spite of the double Ferrari podium, Norris’ win and Piastri’s 10th place finish was enough for McLaren to win their first constructors’ championship since 1998.
The 2024 season is now officially over, with the 2025 season due to begin on March 16th, where Melbourne returns to being the season opener for the Australian Grand Prix.
REPORTING BY SAMUEL FINAN
PHOTO CREDIT: @McLarenF1 X
