Written by Owen Bradley
Lando Norris controlled and dominated the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to subsequently help McLaren claim victory in the Constructors' Championship over Ferrari. Charles Leclerc would come through from the back row of the grid to finish on the podium in third place, with Lewis Hamilton also coming from the back of the grid to beat teammate George Russell.
The race began in chaotic fashion, with Norris holding his lead from pole position, as Max Verstappen sent a huge dive-bomb up the inside of Oscar Piastri, the pair making contact on the exit of the corner, both being sent into a spin. Verstappen would be given a 10-second penalty for this incident.
Valtteri Bottas would clout the kerbs at Turn 5, sending the Finn flying into the path of Sergio Perez, the Mexican picking up terminal damage, being forced to retire from the race. Bottas would pick up a 10-second penalty as well, the incident bringing out a Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
Charles Leclerc would come through from 19th on the grid, to complete the first lap in 12th position, quickly coming through to eighth place as well. The Monegasque stayed out of trouble from the early incidents and managed to gain a huge advantage from those caught up in the crashes, one could compare Leclerc's Lap 1 antics to that of a fictional Lightening McQueen from the film Cars.
Once the VSC was cleared, Oscar Piastri and Franco Colapinto would make contact at Turn 5, with Colapinto moving to the left at the very end of the straight, due to cars in front of his Williams also braking earlier than expected. However, this would catch Piastri out, the Australian surprised by the Williams moving off the racing line, subsequently running into the rear of the Williams.
Piastri would be given a 10-second penalty for this incident. Pierre Gasly held third place after Verstappen and Piastri's incident, the Frenchman held a slim advantage over George Russell in fourth, with Alpine desperately needing points to defend their position in the Constructors' Championship.
Gasly would come and pit onto the Hard compound tyre seeking to defend from a potential undercut of Russell, with Charles Leclerc also in the mix for the podium.
Norris and Sainz would both come into the pits around the halfway mark, most of the field starting on the Medium tyre and coming onto the Hard tyre. The gap between the pair would come down dramatically from four seconds to just two seconds, as Sainz attempted to work his way into DRS range.
Leclerc would overtake both Russell and Gasly, setting his sights on chasing down the leading duo, despite being almost an entire pit stop behind. At one stage, with Piastri outside of the points and the Ferrari's closing down on Norris, it looked as though Ferrari may have had a real possibility to take the Constructors' Championship.
Colapinto would retire from the race in what could be his final race in Formula One for a while, to the dismay of Williams and Colapinto, who sadly retired due to the contact with Piastri.
Liam Lawson would have a dreadful race, with the RB's front left tyre coming loose after a pit stop, the Kiwi picking up a penalty for an unsafe release and then retiring after an engine failure as well, a truly difficult race for Lawson.
Valtteri Bottas would sadly pick up a front left puncture on Lap 31, the Finn being forced to retire from his final Formula One race. The puncture came after Bottas locked up both front tyres and slammed into the side of Kevin Magnussen's Haas at Turn 5.
Lewis Hamilton would perform an alternate strategy to those ahead, starting on the slower Hard tyre and moving onto the Medium tyre at the end, gaining a lot of time and eventually coming through to overtake George Russell on the final lap of the race at Turn 9's tough and long left-hander.
Hamilton would finish a remarkable fourth place in his final race with Mercedes, also outscoring Russell overall on points since the pair first became teammates back in 2022.
Norris would come through to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, giving McLaren their first Constructors' Championship in 26 years, with Oscar Piastri also finishing in the points despite a crash and a penalty.
The Ferrari duo gave it a great run, completing the season with a double podium finish, Leclerc the shining star after coming from 19th to 3rd, Sainz also finishing second after trying his best to close the gap to Norris out front. Sainz would end his time with Ferrari with a final podium finish.
The 2024 Drivers' World Champion, Max Verstappen, would come home to finish in sixth place after a 10-second penalty, a spin at Turn 1 which saw the Dutchman fall to the back of the field, with possible damage sustained as well.
Pierre Gasly would finish in seventh despite a valiant effort to finish ahead of Russell and Leclerc early on when competing for the podium. Gasly led Nico Hulkenberg home to an eighth place finish in his final race for Haas, as Fernando Alonso finished in ninth and Oscar Piastri toom the final points-paying position with a 10th place finish.
F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Results
1st Lando Norris, McLaren
2nd Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3rd Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5th George Russell, Mercedes
6th Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7th Pierre Gasly, Alpine
8th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
9th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10th Oscar Piastri, McLaren
11th Alex Albon, Williams
12th Yuki Tsunoda, RB
13th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
14th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
15th Jack Doohan, Alpine
16th Kevin Magnussen, Haas
DNF Liam Lawson, RB
DNF Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
DNF Franco Colapinto, Williams
DNF Sergio Perez, Red Bull
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