BURSTMcLaren’s remarkable journey back to the top of Formula One was cemented Sunday. Lando Norris took the checkered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to secure his fourth win of the season and, more importantly, the team’s first constructors’ championship since 1998.
Neither Norris nor teammate Oscar Piastri were even born yet when Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard captured that last title for McLaren. The Woking, U.K.-based team has now won nine and is tied with Williams for second on the all-time list.
Longtime rival Ferrari, winners of a record 16 constructors’ championships, was the only other team still in contention heading into the season finale. Even with McLaren holding a 21-point advantage, hope was still there.
McLaren rolled off the truck in top form though and locked out the front row during Saturday’s qualifying with Norris starting on pole position and Piastri lining up beside him. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualified third, but teammate Charles Leclerc had his top Q2 lap time deleted due to exceeding track limits and a 10-place grid penalty for taking on a new energy store sent him to 19th on the grid and a tough task to upend McLaren.
Although Leclerc turned in a huge recovery effort to finish third and Sainz came in second, Ferrari was no match for Norris and his mighty McLaren machine. Norris breezed through clean air leading from start to finish. The 25-year-old Norris avoided the opening lap incident between Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and wasn’t even under threat of an undercut pit stop from Sainz as he crossed the finish line with a comfortable 5.832-second advantage.
Through McLaren’s 24-year championship drought, the team hit rock bottom during its disastrous “McHonda” era finishing ninth in the championship in 2015 and 2017.
The Honda partnership wasn’t the only aspect that needed an overhaul. Zak Brown brought new leadership and sponsorship since becoming CEO in 2018, but it was his promotion of Andrea Stella to team principal ahead of the 2023 season that made a huge difference. That year didn’t start off strong with zero points through the first two races, but by mid-season, McLaren was looking like a team that could dethrone Red Bull.
That came to be this year with Norris and Piastri earning their first career GP victories, combining for six wins and a total of 21 podiums.
The next step is winning both drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 2025. Norris has his sights set on that as he said on the team’s radio: “Next year’s going to be my year, too.”
HAMILTON ENDS MERCEDES ERA ON HIGH NOTE
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said it best, that was the drive of a champion for Lewis Hamilton.
It looked like it would be a bittersweet end to Hamilton’s legendary Mercedes tenure as he qualified 18th after an errand bollard got stuck under his car and ruined his flying lap. Instead, the 39-year-old British driver turned in a throwback performance.
Hamilton was promoted to 16th on the grid thanks to penalties for Leclerc and Alex Albon, but he was also aided by an alternate tire strategy, starting on hard and switching to medium, that worked out brilliantly.
Hamilton chased down George Russell during the home stretch and caught his teammate on the final lap to finish fourth. That pass also meant Hamilton outscored Russell during their three-year run together as they entered the season finale level.
After Hamilton performed doughnuts and exited the cockpit, he knelt beside his car and patted the side pod one last time. Although his departure to rival Ferrari for 2025 had been official for almost a year, it’s like it finally hit him that this is the end.
It’s hard to believe now, but Hamilton leaving McLaren to join Mercedes wasn’t a popular decision, and F1’s social team kept the receipts.
All Hamilton and Mercedes did together was re-write the record books: six world championships and 84 race wins over 12 years for the most successful driver-team relationship in F1 history.
“What started as a leap of faith turned into a historic journey,” Hamilton wrote on social media. “It’s been real, I love you all.”
Both sides begin to write new chapters with Russell as the clear No. 1 driver for Mercedes alongside heir apparent Kimi Antonelli. Time will tell if Hamilton’s move to Ferrari will net him his record eighth world championship, but if there’s one thing he’s proven it’s that he’s good at betting on himself.
MAD MAX STRIKES AGAIN
We mean that quite literally as Verstappen bowled his way through Piastri on the opening corner, resulting in a 10-second time penalty. Verstappen may have won favours with the Tifosi for taking one McLaren out of the mix to keep Ferrari’s slim hopes of claiming the constructors’ title alive, but he ruined his chances of winning in Abu Dhabi for the fifth consecutive time and a 10th GP victory on his championship season.
Verstappen regrouped to finish sixth but it wasn’t exactly the kind of race you wish to see from a four-time reigning world champion.
As Red Bull wrapped up third place in the constructors’ standings, teammate Sergio Perez has been on the hot seat with zero wins this season and not even a podium finish since China in April. The 34-year-old Mexican driver probably felt extra pressure starting 10th with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson (both likely candidates to replace him should Red Bull cut ties) starting right behind him.
Perez didn’t complete a single lap, although no fault of his own, as he was taken out by Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, who was hit with a 10-second time penalty.
Red Bull enters the off-season with huge red flags. Perez, who finished eighth in the drivers’ championship, is signed for next season but will the team honour his contract or call an audible? Lawson hasn’t exactly strengthened his case for a seat on the top team, particularly having been out-qualified by Tsunoda 6-0. But considering Tsunoda has been supported by Honda since he graduated from its racing school in 2016, you could understand if Red Bull would be hesitant to promote him with Honda set to part ways and link up with Aston Martin in 2026.
ALPINE’S ACCELERATION
Alpine’s shocking 2-3 finish in Sao Paulo vaulted the team into sixth in the constructors’ championship, but it was Pierre Gasly’s continued surge that enabled the Enstone, U.K.-based factory to hold on to that position in the standings.
Gasly finished fifth at the Qatar GP and added a seventh-place result in Abu Dhabi as Alpine (65 points) finished just ahead of Haas (58). Let’s not forget that Gasly also qualified third in Las Vegas before bowing out after 15 laps due to engine problems. Since that wasn’t his fault, Gasly set an unusual record as he became the first driver to not incur any damage costs over a season.
It was quite a stunning turnaround for Alpine considering the team scored zero points through the first five races of the season and had accumulated only 14 points before Sao Paulo from the odd ninth and 10th place finishes.
PIT STOPS
• Bottas deserved better during his likely final race and final season in F1, finishing the year as the only full-time driver to not score any points. Bottas’s best chance at getting on the board was in Abu Dhabi as he qualified ninth but that 10-second penalty for colliding with Perez sent him back and a lockup that resulted in him running into Haas driver Kevin Magnussen ended his day.
Bottas was the consummate team player with Mercedes as second fiddle to Hamilton helping them win the constructors’ championship every season during his five-year run from 2017-21. A return to the Mercedes family as a reserve driver seems like the fitting next step but there’s one odd thing: Should Bottas return to the grid, he will have to serve a five-place penalty for causing that collision with Magnussen.
• At least Magnussen set the fastest lap in his F1 swan song as he now joins BMW as a works driver for their sports car team.
• Ferrari finished with a double podium for the third time through the final six grands prix of the season. Not a bad way for Sainz to finish his time with the team and bodes well for next season when Hamilton comes on board.
• More fun facts: Piastri became just the fourth driver ever to complete every lap in a single season, joining Michael Schumacher (2002), Hamilton (2019) and Verstappen (2023). Unlike Piastri though, those three won the world championship in their seasons. Piastri almost didn’t make it though as he was the last driver on the lead lap and was six seconds away from being lapped by his teammate Norris.
• Only 98 days until the 2025 season starts with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, in case you’re counting.
