McLaren starts leading the final battle for the constructors’ title in Abu Dhabi

The papaya They start in front of everything. McLaren has started the first day of the last round of the 2024 World Championship, confirming itself as the best car of the moment. Abu Dhabi will decide who takes the constructors’ title. The Woking team’s rival is Ferrari, 21 points behind, a considerable margin since there are 44 points at stake.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri set the two best times in the second free practice session at the Yas Marina track. The Briton stopped the clock at 1m23s517 and the Australian was two tenths behind his teammate. The ‘top 3’ was completed by a surprising Nico Hülkenberg (Haas), just under half a second behind the Englishman.

It is not until fourth position when the first red car appears, that of Carlos Sainz (+0.582s). Charles Leclerc, who finished in first position in free practice 1 (they were not very representative and up to 6 ‘rookies’ competed, including his brother Arthur Leclerc), was only sixth in the next session (+0.684s). Between the two Ferraris, Lewis Hamilton ‘snuck in’, with whom the Monegasque will share a garage starting in 2025. However, the Mercedes are further away than expected after the good performance in the last two races. Russell was 13th.

Setback for Ferrari

Leclerc, sanctioned with 10 places on the starting grid for changing the battery of his car

Added to this more promising start for McLaren is the grid sanction that Charles Leclerc will have to serve on Sunday, something that impacts the Maranello team’s aspirations to compete for the constructors’ championship. The ’16’ had to change the battery in his car, so he will face a 10-position penalty.

Red Bull did worse. Max Verstappen complained of problems with his car in both practice sessions and, in the last one, he was seventeenth, more than a second behind Norris. ‘Checo’ Pérez was ahead of the Dutchman (14th), although they were in the same tenth.

Back to reality

Fernando Alonso is sixteenth in free practice 2 and the weekend does not look positive for Aston Martin

As for Fernando Alonso, after performing better than expected in Qatar, it seems that in Abu Dhabi he is returning to harsh reality. The Spaniard was 16th, while his teammate Lance Stroll was 18th. The Yas Marina circuit does not seem to fit the AMR24.