After 26 years, the Constructors’ title returns to Woking; Norris’ dominance in Abu Dhabi proves decisive. The two Ferraris complete the podium.
Lando Norris wins the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi! The English driver secures his fourth victory of the season and delivers the Constructors’ title to McLaren, despite Piastri finishing in 10th place. The papaya team can finally bring the trophy back to Woking, 26 years after 1998, when Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard were behind the wheel.
A double podium for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz bidding farewell to Maranello in second place, marking his 25th podium with the Scuderia. An extraordinary comeback for Charles Leclerc, who rises from 19th on the grid to secure the third spot on the podium.
Lewis Hamilton finishes in fourth place in his Mercedes farewell, overtaking his teammate George Russell on the final lap. Max Verstappen takes sixth, ahead of Pierre Gasly, who helps Alpine secure sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship after a disastrous first half of the season.
The report of the F1 race in Abu Dhabi
The lights go out in Abu Dhabi for the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season. Lando Norris gets off to a great start, while Verstappen dives inside and collides with Oscar Piastri. Both drivers spin but manage to continue. Leclerc has an excellent start, and by the end of the first lap, he’s already in eighth place. Perez is stationary after a spin, and the Virtual Safety Car is immediately deployed!
Lap 3: In his furious attempt to recover, Oscar Piastri misjudges the braking point at Turn 6 and collides with Franco Colapinto’s Williams. The Argentine driver suffers a puncture, and McLaren is under investigation. At the end of lap 4, the Woking team calls Piastri into the pits for a stop and hard tires.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen receives a 10-second penalty, deemed responsible for the contact at the start. This confirms the strict approach seen in Qatar. A 10-second penalty is also given to Bottas for the contact with Sergio Perez. Finally, Oscar Piastri also receives a 10-second penalty for the incident with Colapinto. Meanwhile, Leclerc climbs to sixth place, passing Magnussen and Alonso.
On lap 12, Leclerc passes Nico Hulkenberg with a beautiful move on the inside of Turn 9, moving into fifth place, while Verstappen gets past Alonso and rises to seventh. The first pit stops begin: Magnussen, Albon, and Zhou pit, all three rejoining behind Oscar Piastri. The following lap, it’s Hulkenberg and Alonso’s turn to stop.
Lap 15: Pierre Gasly pits, pressured by Russell. The French driver re-enters behind Jack Doohan, who immediately lets him through, with a 4-second gap to Hulkenberg.
Lap 20: Charles Leclerc pits, attempting an undercut on George Russell. The Monegasque exits just ahead of Hulkenberg but now needs to work on overtaking Gasly.
After passing Lawson, Leclerc also reclaims the position from Gasly. He now has clear track ahead to push and attempt to overtake Russell.
Lap 26: Carlos Sainz, the other Ferrari driver, also pits, attempting an undercut on Norris.
In the following lap, it’s Norris’ turn to pit, rejoining ahead of Sainz with a reduced margin of just 1.6 seconds. George Russell also pits, re-entering just behind Pierre Gasly, but manages to pass him in Turn 9. Meanwhile, Colapinto retires from the race.
On lap 30, Max Verstappen makes his pit stop and serves his 10-second penalty. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas suffers a puncture following a hard contact with Magnussen, who had already completed the overtake. Bottas is forced to retire, while Magnussen has to make an additional pit stop.
Lap 33: Oscar Piastri makes his second pit stop and serves his 10-second penalty. He re-enters in 15th position and will now need to rebuild his recovery.
Lewis Hamilton makes his pit stop, meaning all drivers have now completed at least one stop. The standings show Lando Norris in first place, with a 2.7-second lead over Carlos Sainz. Charles Leclerc is in third, followed by Russell, Gasly, and Hulkenberg. The points positions are rounded out by Hamilton, Verstappen, Alonso, and Albon, while Oscar Piastri is in 15th place.
Lap 40: Hamilton passes Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, while Piastri, taking advantage of Zhou’s pit stop, climbs into 12th position.
Lap 46: Alonso passes Tsunoda, and Piastri tries to capitalize, but almost loses control of his McLaren in the high-speed Turn 11. Two laps later, the Australian driver successfully overtakes him with a brilliant move on the outside of Turn 9, moving up to 11th place.
With 4 laps to go, Hamilton is closing in on George Russell, while Piastri passes Albon and re-enters the points positions. The finale is heart-stopping, with Lewis Hamilton making a magnificent move on the outside of Turn 9 to overtake Russell.
PHOTO: Sergio Perez, Scuderia Ferrari HP, Mclaren F1 Team, Mercedes AMG Petronas.