Lando norris crossing the line in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Recap: Norris seals the 2024 title for McLaren as Hamilton bids emotional farewell to historic Mercedes partnership in Abu Dhabi

It’s been a rollercoaster of an F1 season – one of the best we’ve seen for a very long time – and, true to form, the season finale in Abu Dhabi didn’t disappoint, with the Brits at the forefront of all the action. From the celebration of McLaren’s first championship title since 1998, as Lando Norris sealed his fourth career victory with the team, to Hamilton’s bitter-sweet departure from Mercedes, as the seven-time World Champion rounded off his worst season in the sport yet. Here’s all the highlights and what we learnt from the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi. 

 

Norris 'so proud' as the Brit brings the title home for McLaren after 26 years

Abu Dhabi worked out to be a good weekend for McLaren’s Lando Norris. Fresh from the pain of losing out on the drivers’ title to Max Verstappen in Qatar, the 25-year-old needed to dig deep in Abu Dhabi to be in with a chance of clinching McLaren’s first constructors’ title in 26 years. No pressure, then.

Despite the daunting task that lay ahead of him, Norris picked up pole, which he then capitalised on by shooting off the line to keep clear of the chaos that consumed his teammate and 2024 drivers’ champion Max Verstappen.

Going on to control the race, Norris held off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, who were similarly tasked with bringing home the title for the Maranello-based team. Pulling across the line in P1, Norris had managed to bank enough points to secure McLaren’s first constructors’ title since Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard brought home the championship 26 years ago.  

“It feels incredible, not just for myself but for the whole team,” said Norris after the race.

“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.

First joining McLaren’s young driver programme in 2017, Norris went on to make his F1 debut with the team in 2019, before finding himself in close contention for the drivers’ title this year.

With a constructors’ title in 2024, Norris vowed to get something for himself in 2025. “Next year’s going to be my year too,” he said over the radio on his cool down lap.

As for his teammate, Piastri recovered from his early knock-back following his clash with Verstappen by pulling in P10, meaning McLaren finished the year 14 points clear of Ferrari, despite Leclerc and Sainz’s double podium. 
 

 

Ferrari's Leclerc-Sainz partnership 'not enough' despite double podium

Just 14 points were all that ended up separating Ferrari from constructors’ champions McLaren by the time the chequered flag dropped in Abu Dhabi.

Coming into the race, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz had to overcome a 21-point deficit but after McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row, it was looking unlikely that Ferrari would manage the feat, particularly with Leclerc facing a 10-place grid drop.

Desperate to do his best, Leclerc fought through the pack from P19 to make it to eighth by the end of the opening lap and third by the end of the race. Despite the effort, the Monegasque driver was too far back to attack Norris for the win, while his teammate Carlos Sainz took second place, gifting Ferrari 33 points to McLaren’s 26.

“I knew that on Lap 1, I had to take all the risk possible to gain as many places as possible, to then be in a good position for the rest of the race,” explained Leclerc after the race.

“This was achieved but unfortunately we were just starting too far back to do anything better than what we’ve done today. I think we’ve done the maximum.  

“It hurts obviously, because when the season is so close until the end, it was a hard hit on Friday when we knew we had the penalty. We still gave it all and just came short of our goal which is a shame, but in the end we’ve tried everything.”

With another podium to his name, Sainz leaves Ferrari on a high before he moves to Williams next season, while both drivers have enjoyed their most successful season together in 2024, with 652 points and five race wins between them.  

“Obviously a bit of a bittersweet feeling,” said Sainz after the race. “In the end, P2 I think was the maximum we could do today given the pace of Lando in the McLaren.

“I gave it everything, especially the first stint – it looked like we could hang onto them, then as soon as we put the hard tyres [on], they just seemed to be that one or two-tenths quicker per lap like we’ve seen all weekend.

“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 [that] we need to be proud of.” 

 

 

Hamilton rounds off worst season yet as he bids emotional farewell to Mercedes 

The 2024 season will not rank highly in Lewis Hamilton’s memory of his time in F1. Rounding off the season seventh overall, it’s the Brit’s worst result in his F1 career to date – a far cry from the period of unrivalled dominance that we witnessed between 2014 and 2021.

Despite his underwhelming season, it didn’t stop Hamilton from giving his all in his last run with Mercedes, as he battled his way from P16 to P4 in the final race of the season.

After a dismal qualifying, that saw him drop out of the first part of qualifying in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton opted for a hard-to-medium tyre strategy, that saw him rise through the ranks, capping his phenomenal drive off with a last-lap pass around the outside of Turn 9 on his team mate George Russell.

“I just didn’t give up, kept pushing, ‘come on we can get there’,” said Hamilton after the race. “[We] switched onto the [medium] tyres and the car came alive. But I had a massive gap to close, so I just focused on getting just absolutely everything from the car and not giving up.”

The race was the last of his 246 appearances for Mercedes – the team that’s powered him to six of his seven World Championships, 84 race wins and 78 pole positions.

“I just wanted to finish on as much as a high, and just give every ounce of me to the team as they’ve given to me all of these years,” said the Brit as he bid an emotional farewell to Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari in 2025.

“Obviously I did the whole race, and there’s so much to do in it, but just to be able to hold onto that moment, because it’s history now and all my races have all been powered by Mercedes, and all the success we’ve had – I just sat there to think about all that and just contemplate how great a journey it’s been.  

“I’m going to miss them – I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss them, it’s going to be a huge amount. I’ve worked with them every day for the past 12 years. There’s a lot of love within this team, and that’s not going anywhere.”

 

 

Controversial opening lap clash between champion Verstappen and Oscar Piastri 

With another drivers’ title already under his belt and Red Bull firmly out of the running for the constructors’ title, you could argue that Abu Dhabi didn’t really matter for Verstappen.

And that’s exactly how it looked when the four-time World Champion attempted to pull off an audacious move up the inside of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on Turn 1 on the opening lap.  

Getting another solid start off the line, Verstappen surged forwards to take on Piastri for P2 as the pair headed into Turn 1 but contact occurred, sending both cars spinning back down the order.

“I went up the inside, of course I was not all the way alongside so I tried to then back out of it on the apex, tried to run onto the kerb but the damage was already done and we clipped with Oscar’s left rear with my right front,” admitted Verstappen after the race.

“Yeah, it’s not what I want to happen of course, and after that it was just a very difficult race. We didn’t have the pace also, so a bit of a shame.”

Receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, the fault lay at Verstappen’s door but it was Piastri who was most affected, with the spin sending the Australian all the way to the back of the pack.

“It was a pretty miserable race!” Piastri admitted after finishing P10. “But I think of course the biggest thing today is we clinched the championship and it’s a massive credit to everyone at McLaren for what they’ve achieved this year and couldn’t be prouder of them all.

“Very, very happy with the year’s work and obviously today was tough, but nice to seal the deal.”

 

Missing Formula 1 already? The 2025 season kicks off in March. With a new line-up, teams closer than ever, and another 24 races to look forward to, it's going to be an other unmissable season of racing action. Don't miss the British Grand Prix in July! Tickets are on sale now.