Norris takes fine victory in Abu Dhabi to seal McLaren constructors' title
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Lando Norris took a fine victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that sealed McLaren's first constructors' championship since 1998. That victory meant the papaya-coloured team just held on to the title, with the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc rounding out the podium to close the gap in the standings, but ultimately unable to claw the 21-point deficit before the race began.
McLaren were first and second on the grid before the Grand Prix got underway at the Yas Marina Circuit, but as a result of a collision between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen, it saw the Australian tumble all the way down the field and to the back of the grid. A ten-second penalty was then given for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto and that meant the chance to score a good haul of points to seal the title was gone, putting huge pressure on Norris and McLaren.
However, the Brit did not waver, holding onto the lead of the race from the first to the last lap, showing great poise and race pace over the Ferraris, with the tyre degradation of the Scuderia letting them down in the second phase of the race. Sainz took P2, while Leclerc drove a sublime race to finish on the podium after starting in P19. In his final race with Mercedes, before he moves to Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton went from P16 to P4 with a great drive, with teammate George Russell finishing behind in fifth after being overtaken on the last lap.
Verstappen could only take P6 after he was given his ten-second penalty, and behind the Dutchman, Pierre Gasly took a well-deserved P7, meaning Alpine held on to P6 in the constructors' championship, a brilliant result for the French team after a disastrous start to the season. Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso and Piastri, who recovered from the back of the grid, rounded out the top ten.
Carnage at the start in the Middle East
Coming into the season finale in the Middle East, there were plenty of storylines, with the main one being that McLaren were on the verge of sealing their first constructors' championship title since 1998. Along with that, it was, of course, Lewis Hamilton's final race with Mercedes, moving to Ferrari in 2025.
Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg had their final races at Ferrari and Haas, respectively, before they make the move to different teams for the next season, while Kevin Magnussen, Colapinto, Bottas and Zhou Guanyu had their final race in F1 for the foreseeable future, with no seat on the grid at this moment in time.
Lap 1 saw absolute carnage at the start, with Verstappen and Piastri colliding at turn 1 as the Dutchman looked to dive down the inside of the Australian. There was some space when he lunged down the inside, but that space quickly disappeared, meaning both came together and spun around, with Verstappen getting a ten-second penalty as a result of that incident, as Piastri went right to the back of the grid.
Just a few corners later, it was then the end of the race for Sergio Perez in what could be his final race for Red Bull Racing. At the turn 6 and 7 chicane, Valtteri Bottas looked up the inside of the Mexican, but he bounced off the kerb awkwardly, meaning he tapped the Red Bull and spun him around. That collision resulted in Perez being forced to retire the car on the side of the track, bringing out the virtual safety car and giving him a rather fitting end to what has been an extremely tough and disappointing season.
Norris controls the race superbly
At the front, Norris held on to the lead of the race with a solid start, and with Piastri's tumble down the standings, it was vitally important for him to hold on as Carlos Sainz sat right behind him in P2 as the battle for the contractors' title hotted up. To make it even more interesting, Leclerc moved up from P19 to P8 when the VSC came out too, meaning there was even more pressure on the Brit and his team.
It went from bad to worse for Piastri and McLaren, as he then got a ten-second penalty of his own as a result of a collision with Colapinto just as the VSC finished, hitting the back of the Williams car in a surprise collision that saw the Argentine get a right-rear puncture as a result. That incident saw Colapint retire with too much damage after lap 29.
As the sun set in Abu Dhabi, Norris put his great race pace to use, pulling a four-second gap to Sainz after 20 laps of the 58-lap race, with Russell in P3 13 seconds off the Ferrri as the Mercedes struggled mightily with their own race pace after the Alpine of Gasly came into the pits. Sainz came in on lap 26 to try and undercut Norris and McLaren.
It was a good stop, but a lap later, Norris came in and made a perfect two-second stop onto the hard tyres, as did everybody else bar Hamilton, who started on the while-walled tyres. Sainz closed the gap by two seconds with the undercut, but as Norris warmed the tyres up, he kept the gap at two seconds. Russell pitted at the same time as Norris and came out behind Gasly, but he got back out ahead on the same lap. However, thanks to an earlier stop, Leclerc was ahead of both of them after starting in P19.
Bottas became the third retiree of the race due to a collision with Magnussen, with the Dane making the move past the Finn, but then a lock up from the Sauber driver meaning he slammed into the back of the Haas driver. Damage to the suspension and the wishbone of Bottas' car meant he could not continue in his final race for the Swiss team.
Ferrari struggle in the second phase
Hamilton was the final car to come in on lap 35, coming off the hard tyres he started on and went onto the mediums, just coming out ahead of Fernando Alonso and into P7, ahead of Verstappen who was in P9 behind the Spaniard. At the front, Norris pushed the gap out to three seconds ahead of Sainz, with the Spaniard and Leclerc, up 16 places, in P2 and P3.
However, with less than 15 laps to go, Norris' second-phase race pace, something that McLaren have been sublime with all year, came into its own, putting a six-second gap between himself and Sainz as the tyres on the Ferrari car seemed to drop off, with the same happening to Leclerc as well.
It was a great effort from Ferrari, but it was all in vain, as Norris crossed the line to give McLaren their constructors' title, giving them their first title joy in 26 years, with great celebrations in the pit lane and paddock for the British team. On the last lap, Hamilton made the move past teammate Russell to take P4, moving up from P16 with a sublime race in his final race for Mercedes, capping off one of the great team and driver partnerships the sport has seen.
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