McLaren came out on top to win the 2024 Formula 1 World Constructors’ Championship in an emotional final race of the season, as Lando Norris’ dominant drive helped the team win the title after more than a decade on Sunday. at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Norris led every lap of the race with Carlos Sainz in a close pursuit for the lead, but the Spaniard could only manage P2 in the final race for Ferrari before moving to Williams. He was followed by Charles Leclerc, who powered through the field to take the final spot on the podium after starting 19th on the grid.
The race was chaotic from the start, as Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastre collided on the first lap. The Dutchman received a 10 second time penalty, which he served in the pit stop, and had to settle for P6. Piastre gave McLaren a small scare as he also received a 10 second time penalty for a collision with Franco Colapinto, who retired the car in his final F1 race for the time being. But Landau did enough to hold off his former teammate and win the constructors’ title, as Piastre finished P10.
Also in their final race, Valtteri Bottas turned into Kevin Magnussen, causing the former to retire the car, and the latter ending his career with P16. Sergio Perez’s potential final race for Red Bull also ended with the car retiring after a minor accident, with the Virtual Safety Car coming on on lap 2.
Lewis Hamilton overtook team-mate George Russell from P16, and his late overtake in the final sector of the race pushed him to P4, in what was an emotional race for the seven-time world champion, his last for Mercedes. Hamilton won six World Drivers’ Championship titles with the Silver Arrows during his 11-year tenure with the team.
Nico Hulkenberg managed to score points for Haas in their last race in P8, with the other two points taken by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in P9 and Alpine driver Pierre Gasly in P7.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda lost P12 to Alex Albon in P11, while Zhou Guanyu completed the final race for Kick Sauber in P13, ahead of Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin in P14. Ahead of his first full season in the sport the following year, Jack Doohan’s Alpine debut ended with a P15 score.