There would be no second chances this time. Lando Norris has been prone to in-race lapses of judgement and concentration in 2024 but here, with a 26-year hoodoo solely in his hands, the Bristolian gave his beloved McLaren a long-awaited F1 constructors’ championship at the season finale.
Norris, pole-sitter and the quickest man all weekend, kept it clean and avoided trouble – where his teammate Oscar Piastri did not – to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and seal the teams’ title for the papaya. Ferrari did their best, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc both on the podium, but ultimately a 14-point advantage was enough.
The last time McLaren sealed the constructors’ championship, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard were the drivers in the 1998 MP4/13 cockpit. Both were present here in Abu Dhabi, as one of F1’s biggest teams ended their long wait in the MCL38.
As for Lewis Hamilton, in his 246th and final race for Mercedes, a trademark charge through the field. Starting in 16th, the seven-time world champion ended the greatest driver-team partnership in F1 history with a fourth-place finish, passing teammate George Russell on the last lap with a stunning overtake.
After the chequered flag, he parked his car on the home straight, waved to the crowd and said his goodbyes. Ferrari, and all the glamour that goes with it, awaits Hamilton as he heads into his 40s.
Russell finished fifth with Max Verstappen in sixth, as the world champion dropped back after a penalty for clattering into Piastri’s rear-left wheel a matter of seconds into the race.
Piastri recovered to finish 10th, but no matter. His teammate had secured the crowning moment.
“It feels incredible, not for myself but for the whole team,” Norris said. “It’s been a long journey and to end the season like this is perfect.
“To win a constructors’ [title] after 26 years is pretty special. Zak has already said we’re going to get pretty hammered tonight!”
It ended in ideal fashion for McLaren, after a start which was far from it. The Yas Marina Circuit, with its short home straight, is not prone to drama at turn one at lights out. But this year, as McLaren simply needed a clean getaway for both their drivers, a Verstappen-shaped curveball threw open the race for the title.
The Dutchman surged down the inside and clipped Piastri, who spun and dropped down to last. Fortunately, his McLaren was not irrevocably damaged but the usually mild-mannered Australian gave his sharp verdict over team radio.
“Yep, move of a world champion that one.”
Verstappen was duly given a 10-second time penalty, though Piastri himself received the same judgement from the stewards after colliding with the rear of Franco Colapinto, giving the Williams a puncture.
Mercifully for Zak Brown’s team, and their fans watching back at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Norris was not impacted by the first-lap shenanigans and led, comfortably, through the first phase of the 58-lap race.
The Brit pitted on lap 26. Would the mechanics hold their nerve? You bet they would. A two-second pit-stop meant Norris rejoined the race still in P1 and with the quickest car on the track the Brit just had to keep it error-free to hand McLaren their prized silverware.
TOP 10 - ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
No ignoring yellow flags like last week in Qatar. No flirting with the walls like in Singapore. Norris was assured, composed and by a margin of eight seconds, he took the chequered flag for his fourth win in Formula One.
Cue jubilation from the orange-clad personnel on the pit wall. For a team in no man’s land at the start of the season, it has been a superb turnaround from team principal Andrea Stella – formerly of Ferrari – and his engineers.
Norris’s goal now, with a sense of longing about what might have been this year, will be an individual title pursuit more complete and cool-headed than this topsy-turvy campaign. He even referenced it on the team radio straight after the race.
“This is our year,” he said. “Next year is going to be mine, too.”
Only problem for Norris is that there’s plenty of drivers who’ll be thinking exactly the same.
