ABU DHABI: The last hurrah
NUMBER TWENTY FOUR
Abu Dhabi. The last one.
All to play for between McLaren and Ferrari for the Constructors. Hamilton’s last race for Mercedes. Strap in.
Spoiler alert, McLaren win the battle. Initially, it appears to be theirs for the taking – Norris and Piastri lock out the front row, with Sainz at P3 but Leclerc all the way down at P19. Then Verstappen goes full villain mode and tags Piastri at Turn 1, spinning them both down the grid. We then get a virtual safety car, giving Piastri a couple of laps to recover. Then he decides to shunt Colapinto into next week and lands himself a 10 second penalty. After serving the penalty, coming out at P15, and very nearly losing his car in an incredibly well saved snap, Piastri does manage to nab a point for his team at P10. But it is Lando Norris, who starts and finishes pole - driving a cool, calm and collected race, aided by an absolutely perfect 2 second pit stop by his team, that awards McLaren the Constructors Championship Title. Deserved.
Ferrari. So close. It looks entirely possible as they get going. Out of nowhere, Leclerc climbs 11 places from P19 to P8 in the first moments of the race. The man is on a mission, zooming past drivers left right and centre, until he sits comfortably behind his teammate. Sainz has a great race too, but it’s not good enough. Norris builds his gap out front and the Ferraris simply cannot get there. A final Ferrari podium for Sainz at P2, alongside his teammate as Leclerc takes P3. A fitting end.
It's not a brilliant one for Red Bull, but it didn’t really need to be. The Constructors is too far out of reach and Verstappen solidified his Drivers Title 2 races ago. The driving into Piastri incident is a tad aggressive and unnecessary, but would we expect anything less? Verstappen is hit with a 10 second penalty which he serves, and finishes his season with a P6, (and a fourth World Championship). Perez does what he does best and spins out the race in Lap 1. Classic.
Mercedes finish their season off strong. It’s a solid race from Russell, but it’s Hamilton who really puts on a show in his final outing for his beloved team. Starting down at P16, he picks off his competitors one by one until he finds himself 14 seconds behind his teammate at P5. Battling until the very end, Hamilton manages to swoop past Russell and fly over the line at P4. A great send off.
It's not a wildly eventful day for our 5th place Constructors, Aston Martin. What is great to see though, is at one point Alonso goes to wheel to wheel with fellow World Champions Hamilton and Verstappen in a battle for P6. With Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Newey’s move to Aston Martin, and Verstappen just being Verstappen, we should be seeing more closely fought battles between the 3 of them next year. For now, it’s P9 for Alonso and P14 for his teammate Stroll.
Alpine are our 6th place Constructors, which is huge. After a slow season, they have really come into their own over the past few races, and Gasly seals their position with an impressive P7 finish. It’s a first outing for Doohan in his Alpine and he takes P15 – at least he doesn’t break it.
Haas round off their season with a solid P8 from Hulkenberg, and a slightly less solid P16 from Magnussen. Next is RB who suffer from a dodgy pitstop for Lawson, who eventually has to retire on his last lap of the race, and a no point finish for Tsunoda at P12. Then we have Williams and a very unlucky last race for Colapinto, who retires mid race following damage from the Piastri shunt. Albon narrowly misses out on points at P11. Bottas is another last race retiree as he locks up and runs into Magnussen, finishing his season for Sauber on the sidelines, while his teammate comes in at P13.
A race that signifies the start of change.
Bring on 2025.