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McLaren takes the 2024 F1 Championship as Norris wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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McLaren F1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Courtesy of McLaren Racing

The F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw cars crashing into each other in the first turn of the first lap. Two drivers made incredible advances from the back of the starting grid. When the checkered flag waved, McLaren driver Lando Norris won the race, with Ferrari drivers Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing second and third, respectively.

Despite both drivers finishing on the winner’s podium, Ferrari could not catch up with McLaren in the season’s championship points total.  The 2024 season comes to a close, with McLaren taking on the Constructors’ Championship title for the first time since 1998.

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Lando Norris wins the 2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The Grand Prix got off to a thrilling start when, on the first turn, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen appeared to catch McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s left rear wheel, spinning Piastri off the track. Verstappen, penalized later for the collision with a 10-second wait at his pit stop, spun around on the track but could continue.

So, almost immediately in the race, Piastri went from the second starting position to the back of the entire field of 20. Piastri finished in tenth place, good enough for one Championship point.

Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both gave Master Classes in overtaking during the race. Leclerc, who started the race in the 19th position rather than in the pit lane as last reported, eventually passed 17 other drivers, finishing third.

Hamilton, who raced for the last time for Mercedes before next year’s move to Ferrari, progressed from 17th position on the starting grid to fourth place.

2024 F1 Constructors’ Championship points

Team Constructors’ Championship points
McLaren 666
Ferrari 652
Red Bull 589
Mercedes 468
Aston Martin 94
Alpine 65
Haas 58
RB Honda 46
Williams 17
Sauber 4

2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix results

Race finishing position Driver Team Championship points
1 Lando Norris McLaren 25
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 18
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 15
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 12
5 George Russell Mercedes 10
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 8
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine 6
8 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 4
9 Fernando Alonzo Aston Martin 2
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1
11 Alex Albon Williams 0
12 Yuki Tsunoda RB Honda 0
13 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 0
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 0
15 Doohan Alpine 0
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas 0
17 Liam Lawson RB Honda 0
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 0
19 Franco Colapinto Williams 0
20 Sergio Perez Red Bull 0
Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown
Former Contributing Editor
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
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