Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Race Recap
A historic 2024 Formula 1 championship culminates in a historic final run at the Yas Marina Circuit in the UAE. The constructors championship is still wide open between two leading teams, Ferrari and McLaren, legendary marques that haven't won a championship in decades. Last time out in Qatar, Ferrari closed the gap on McLaren with Lando's 10-second stop-and-go penalty.
Meanwhile, off the track, things have started to get fierce between the two other teams in the top 4: Mercdes' George Russell and Red Bull's Max Verstappen have reignited a rivalry between the two teams in a dramatic feud over Verstappen's one-place grid penalty in Qatar that gave Russell the pole. Verstappen has criticized Russell for trying to "screw (him) over" in the stewards' room, Russell has responded with allegations that Verstappen threatened to "put (him) on (his) f****** head in the wall." The two bosses Christian Horner and Toto Wolff have joined the drama in Abu Dhabi this weekend, Wolff calling Horner a "yapping little terrier" for accusing Russell of being “hysterical”.
The weekend is also set to host numerous farewells, with Ocon prematurely ending his career at Alpine, with rookie Jack Doohan set drive his car this weekend. Ocon will join Haas next year, where either driver is retained for next year. Kevin Magnussen is leaving the team to drive BMW Hypercars next year and Nico Hulkenberg transfers to Sauber for 2025. Down at Sauber, too, neither of the drivers are retained. Both Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are yet to announce their plans with reserve roles in the talks for Zhou at Ferrari and Bottas at Mercedes. The two teams bid farewell to their current drivers as Carlos Sainz celebrates his last race with Ferrari before Lewis Hamilton goes on to take his place at Maranello. The seven-time world champion will drive for Mercedes for the last time this weekend, his partnership at the team marked with glory: 153 podiums, 84 wins, 6 titles. In every aspect, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix seems likely to put on a popcorn-worthy show.
Qualifying
Qualifying at the Yas Marina circuit proved properly hair raising. A great day at the office for Mclaren, but they wouldn't have it easy. Ferrari and Max Verstappen challenged the papaya team throughout the session, with a Haas and an Alpine taking a couple of the top positions. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have their work cut out for them on Sunday, as Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri aim to bring home another 1-2 finish and the constructors championship.
Q1
The first qualifying session featured a tightly packed Yas marina circuit with traffic hindering the final hot laps of numerous drivers. Lewis Hamilton lost the most, losing pace after picking up a bollard kicked onto the track by Kevin Magnussen. He will start his final race for Mercedes in P18. Rookie Jack Doohan posted the slowest time in his first Grand Prix qualifying session, and he, along with Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu, and Franco Colapinto joined Lewis Hamilton in the bottom five. The Williams pair each have 5-place penalties for exceeded the annual gearbox allocations.
Q2
The second session proved detrimental for Championship contenders Ferrari as Charles Leclerc, moments after setting the fastest time of the session, had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 1. With a 10-place penalty for exceeding his battery allocation, his Q2 elimination will mean he will start the race right at the back of the grid. Magnussen, who had been flying in the Haas prior to the session, found himself out of contention for Q3 along with Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, and Lance Stroll.
Q3
The shootout for pole ramped up in dramatic fashion as Hulkenberg momentarily took provisional pole, proving the evolution of the track. It was clear at this point that the McLarens were favorites for pole, but the sole remaining Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and the Max Verstappen's blistering first lap gave the woking outfit a proper run for their money. Piastri persevered and secured provisional pole before teammate Lando Norris stormed through and out 2 tenths between himself and his teammate to take his 8th pole position of the year. Carlos Sainz ended up in third merely a couple hundredths off of Piastris's time.
Behind the Spaniard came arguably the most impressive lap of them all, Haas man Nico Hulkenberg securing a spot on the second row, just eight-one-hundredths off the first row. A tremendous result in his last qualifying for Haas, only to be demoted to 7th after qualifying because of a 3-place penalty for overtaking cars at the pit exit. Pierre Gasly also impressed in the Alpine, setting a time fast enough for P6, just behind Max Verstappen. Then came George Russell and Fernando Alonso, who were followed by Valtteri Bottas in an incredible performance to qualify P9 for his final race for Sauber. Sergio Perez took the last position in the top-10 shootout. Mclaren go into their final pursuit of the constructors title with the ideal Saturday-- 1-2 in Qualifying.
Race
The final round of the 2024 season provided an absolute thriller of a finale with dramatic lap 1 chaos, Hamilton and Leclerc rising from the back of the grid, and Lando Norris holding on to pole position to secure the constructor's title for Mclaren.
As the lights went out at Yas Marina, Lando Norris had a perfect run to turn but it could not be more different for his teammate. Oscar Piastri, starting P2 ran side by side with Max Verstappen, who lunged from P4 until they eventually made contact and spun around. Piastri sarcastically radioed, "Move of a world champion, that one".
He found himself facing the wrong way and right at the back of the field, leaving Mclaren's title bid in a bit of a crisis. The 4-time champion was later given a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz dodged the duet of spinners to chase former teammate Norris for the win. A lunge from Kevin Magnussen sent Valterri Bottas breaking late into turn 6, the Sauber clipping the rear wheel of Perex, causing him to add to the lap 1 spins down at Red Bull and triggering the virtual safey car. Bottas was handed a 10-second penalty for that incident. Perez would then lose drive and end up retiring from the grand prix on what was his 90th and rumored to be the final start for Red Bull. Simultaneously Charles Leclerc, starting from P19, made up 3 cars in that very corner. By the end of this dramatic first lap, Charles Leclerc was up to P8, 11 positions up from his starting grid slot. A phenomenal first lap that was a sign of what was to come.
On the 3rd lap, a late move from Oscar Piastri, P18 at that point, sent him into the rear diffuser of Franco Colapinto, resulting in a puncture for the Argentinian driver. Oscar Piastri was then given a 10-second penalty for that collision, adding to the burden of the lap 1 incident. Franco Colapinto would go on to retire from the race due to a suspected power unit issue, ending his incredible 9-race rookie career at Williams.
On Lap 7, Charles Leclerc overtook Kevin Magnussen on the back straight to inherit P7. At this point, he looked set to join teammate Sainz in the hunt for the title. Lewis Hamilton, who started in P18 was also making moves, up to P12. He started on hard tires while everyone else started on the mediums, providing intel that the white-ringed rubber was not the ideal race tire. Norris was steadily increasing his lead, at the time around 2.8 seconds to Sainz. Pierre Gasly was running in the final podium spot in his alpine, defending against Goerge Russell in P4. Russel would eventually go on to overtake Gasly, but it was a phenomenal defense by the Frenchman nonetheless. By lap 10, Leclerc overtook Alonso and went up to P6. Then in a couple of laps, he overtook Hulkenberg in a relentless charge up the field.
Following the final round of pitstops, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen, two drivers on what could be their final outing in a Formula 1 car, came together at turn 6. Bottas locked up deep into the corner and right into the side of Magnussen, spinning the haas and destroying his front right tire. Valtteri Bottas, as a result, came into the pits to end his Formula 1 career in an unfortunate fashion.
On lap 20, Leclerc stopped to switch his mediums for hards and he quickly caught and passed Gasly and when Russell pitted for his sole service at the same time as Norris, Leclerc was through into the final place of the podium.
Piastri overtook Alex Albon to take the final points-paying position towards the latter stage of the race. He gave it his all to help his team win the title, his race hindered by the lap one incident and the Colapinto penalty. Hamilton put on the mediums and demolished a 14-second gap to Russell, catching him at a rate of knots. On the final lap, Hamilton attacked Russell with DRS into the outside of Turn 9 and claimed fourth on the exit, with Verstappen 12s behind the Silver Arrows pair after serving his penalty at his stop on lap 29.
Liam Lawson stopped on track at the exit of turn 5 to trigger yellow flags due to a power unit issue, his future in the Red Bull family is still unconfirmed. Whether we see him or Tsunoda at Red Bull next year is a question that only time has the answer to. Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen, running last after his coming together with Bottas, took the fastest lap on his final ride of the Yas Marina circuit.
Lando Norris, starting from pole position, survived the chaos of the first lap and withstood the pressure of the Ferrari breathing down his neck to secure a victory in the final round of the 2024 Formula One World Championship. And with that victory comes Mclaren's first constructors title since 1998, when neither of their current drivers were even born. The Papaya team had an unbelievable turnaround, to commence 2023 with the slowest car and to conclude 2024 as the champions.
Behind the Brit came Carlos Sainz in his swang song race for the Scuderia, a career spanning 4 years and marking 4 victories. To round out the podium came Charles Leclerc, the golden boy of Ferrari who did all he could this evening to take up 16 places, 15 points, and a very well-deserved driver of the day award.
Following his tremendous last-lap overtake on Russell, Lewis Hamilton concluded the most successful driver-team painting in the history of Formula 1 with celebratory donuts on the main straight. Every race of his career had been powered by Mercedes, and it was one of many wonderful things to come to an end this evening. The 2024 season has hosted a historical record of seven different winners in a single season. 4 different teams consistently fought at the front, with immense competition and constantly shifting momentum. Here is compilation of some of the celebrations down at the paddock at Abu Dhabi:
