McLaren is once again one of the greats. Twenty-six years later, the Woking team took the world title of best Formula 1 Constructor by beating Ferrari in the final round thanks to Lando Norris’ authoritative victory in Abu Dhabi, the fourth of the season.
A victory over Carlos Sainz, second in his farewell from Ferrari, which ensured the runner-up position for the young Englishman, the driver who has most stood up to four-time champion Max Verstappen, sixth in the Yas Marina.
McLaren’s evolution in 2024 has been spectacular: from being the fourth team in 2023 (it finished more than 500 points behind Red Bull), to eating the bulls, snatching the Constructors’ title and putting its champion driver in trouble.
The Woking factory has returned among the greats. Their last crown dates back to 1998 with the Hakkinen-Coulthard pairing. It is the ninth Constructors’ title achieved by the team founded in 1966 by Bruce McLaren, which joins the 12 it has as drivers (the last, Hamilton’s in 2008).
The exit
The touch between Piastri and Verstappen at the start left McLaren with one less driver to add, and Sainz rose to second place
The start of the last race was full of tension and was resolved with aggression and little prudence. Norris maintained the front position from pole, but was left without Piastri’s bodyguard, who collided with Verstappen in the first corner. They both backed away. The move favored Sainz, who rose to second place, and also Alonso, from 8th to 6th, and Leclerc, who jumped from 19th to 8th, with the possibility of contributing good points.
Verstappen fell to 11th place and was penalized with a 10-second penalty for causing the collision, and his teammate Checo Pérez spun and went out in what could be his last race at Red Bull. Piastri was also very hurt by the touch: he fell to 18th place and was given a 10-second penalty for hitting Colapinto afterwards. A setback for McLaren, which was left with only one driver to add.
Leclerc comeback
The Monegasque came to third after overtaking Magnussen, Alonso and Hülkenberg, and Russell with an undercut
Leclerc went into comeback mode. After flying at the start from the penultimate position and gaining 11 positions, the Monegasque progressed to 5th place by overtaking Magnussen, Alonso on lap 10 and Hülkenberg on lap 12. At that time, the two Ferraris had 28 points , for Norris’ 25 for McLaren, which had a 21 margin.
Four-time champion Verstappen also advanced like a plane, going from 11th after the touch to 5th after leaving Alonso behind. Although he was carrying the 10-second penalty, which when he fulfilled it delayed him to 11th place. The Dutchman’s irony was corrosive: “Can we ask for a 20-second penalty? “Stupid idiots,” he launched against the race marshals.
At the front of the race, Norris accumulated 4s over Sainz (v. 17/58), who could not get close to the Englishman.
Ferrari moved its pieces with Leclerc. They advanced the stop (v. 21) to attempt an undercut on Russell and thus take the Monegasque to the podium. The Englishman from Mercedes stopped on lap 26 and gave up, losing his position with the red car: Leclerc was virtually third. Ferrari had 33 points.
Norris management
Once the stop was saved (v. 26), the Englishman from McLaren expanded his advantage over Sainz and Leclerc, who did not worry him
After the stops of the front group (p. 26), with 22 laps still ahead (p. 37/58), the race was very much on track, with Norris comfortably installed in the lead, with 3.3s over Sainz, and Leclerc, third, 20s behind his teammate, without worrying about Russell, fourth. Verstappen, after serving the penalty, was 8th and Piastri, who also paid it, was 12th.
As it was, Ferrari’s numbers didn’t work out. I needed a papaya mess. And in Abu Dhabi it was not a day of miracles. Those from Maranello will continue for another year without winning a title… and it has been 16 years, since 2008 for Constructors.
the last dance
Sainz, Hamilton, Ocon or Hülkenberg change teams, and others like Magnussen, Bottas or Zhou leave F1
It was a day of farewells on the grid, due to team changes or retirements from the big circus. Carlos Sainz said goodbye in style to four seasons at Ferrari to make way for Lewis Hamilton, who leaves behind 12 seasons with Mercedes with a great fourth place and final overtake over Russell.
Nico Hülkenberg will change Haas for Sauber (before becoming Audi). They were also the last races in F1 for Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Guanyu Zhou, and the futures of Checo Pérez (on a tightrope at Red Bull, which could turn to Liam Lawson in his position) and Franco Colapinto remain up in the air. (who leaves Williams to give his place to Carlos Sainz).
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