The longest-ever Formula 1 season closed another chapter under Abu Dhabi’s sunset/stars. The bout for the Constructors’ championship between McLaren and Ferrari was the main story of the race.
McLaren ended a 24-year-long drought without a Constructors’ title after the last one came in 1998. Despite struggles on Sunday’s race thanks to Piastri’s spin/penalty and Ferrari’s quick pace throughout the race, Lando Norris cruised towards his 4th career victory, thus bringing a Constructors’ title back to Woking.
Albeit challenging Sunday, Oscar Piastri managed to contribute to McLaren’s Constructors’ celebration with one championship point in 10th place.
Norris was joined on the podium by the Ferrari’s roster of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
McLaren already had a big advantage for the constructors’ on Saturday, with a 1-2 finish helped by Leclerc’s 10-place grid penalty, hence Ferrari’s chances were much lower heading into Sunday’s race.
Advantage slightly swung into Ferrari’s favor at the start of the race when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri tumbled down the grid while Charles Leclerc gained 11 positions from the get-go.
Virtual Safety Car was brought out after a hectic race start which saw both Red Bull drivers spun in different sequences of the first lap of the race.
Max Verstappen optimistically went into turn 1 resulting in the spin that took McLaren’s Oscar Piastri out of the points contention. Ultimately, the 4-time World Champion was given 10 seconds time penalty.
McLaren’s driver switched onto hard tires in what seems to be a one-stopper.
Another contact just a couple of corners later saw Perez retiring after a spin in contact with Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver was given a 10-second time penalty as well.
Moreover, Alpine’s Gasly with a phenomenal start fend off Mercedes’ Russell at the restart for the 3rd place.
In the meantime, both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were in a ‘recovery mode’ overtaking the midfield of Haas drivers and Aston Martin’s Alonso.
The most interesting battle out on track halfway into the race was the one between George Russell and Charles Leclerc, as the Monegasque driver opted for an undercut strategy on lap 21.
Leclerc successfully undercut Russell with the gap standing at 3 seconds between the two drivers in what seemed to be a battle for the final podium spot.
Lap 32 was the scene of a contact between Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen whose final race of the Formula 1 career resulted in Bottas’ retirement and Magnussen’s spin.
As the situation calmed down with just 15 laps to go, most of the spotlight was on Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton as the only driver out on the track on yellow-branded medium tires.
The 7-times World Champion dispatched both Nico Hülkenberg and Pierre Gasly with ease standing in 5th at that moment and is expected to battle his teammate George Russell for 4th in the final laps of the season.
Ultimately, Hamilton took 4th from his teammate.
The 2024 Abu Dhabi GP marked a final race for Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, and Zhou Guanyu as the Formula 1 drivers.
The 2025 Formula 1 season will open with the Australian GP between 14th and 16th of March.