Abu Dhabi - Race

The 2024 season came to a heated end in Abu Dhabi, a place that had already seen the greatest heartbreaks and the greatest elations. Today was no different. When the checkered flag fell, who was left drying their tears, and who celebrated like there was no tomorrow? 

Everyone but the ever-so-hopeful Leclerc assumed that the fight for the WCC was all but done when he was announced to be starting the race from P19. As the cars lined up on the grid, the McLaren drivers could taste the victory coming their way. The feeling wouldn't stay with them for long. At the very first turn, Verstappen, starting fourth fought with Piastri aggressively enough for the two cars to make contact. They spun in opposite directions and while Verstappen was able to rejoin relatively quickly, placing himself around the middle of the pack, Piastri wasn't as lucky. He also rejoined the race but finished the lap 18th. 

Norris remained in the lead, with Sainz ending up right behind him. The real standout star of the first lap was Charles Leclerc, who managed to make up 11 places and finished it in P8. Before he could try and move up any further, a yellow flag waved over the circuit. Perez, who had previously made contact with Bottas, spun and stopped on track. His last race of the season, and perhaps last race in Red Bull, ended on lap 2. The accident brought out the virtual safety car which was in effect until lap 3. While the drivers slowly made their way around the track, prohibited from overtaking, Piastri drove into the back of Colapinto. Both cars needed to pit, losing precious time before the race could even properly begin.

For causing the accident with Piastri, Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty. It might have sweetened the Australian's day, but it wouldn't make up for how much had gone wrong for him, especially since soon after, he too received a 10-second penalty for his incident with Colapinto. 

As racing resumed, the drivers who found themselves further back began slowly climbing through the field. Within a couple of laps Verstappen moved up to 8th, Leclerc to 5th, and Hamilton to 10th. Some of the cars going for a two-stop strategy began pitting around lap 13, and the first car out of the top 5 to change tires, the Ferrari of Leclerc, did so on lap 21. The stop pushed the driver back down to P8, but he was able to make up places relatively quickly on his new hards. 

Having been overtaken by Leclerc for P7, Lawson also dove into the pitlane. For him, things did not go as smoothly as they did for the Monegasque. During his out lap, he radioed the team and said that his front left tire had not been bolted on properly and was therefore loose. He pitted again soon after for the issue to be resolved but was still penalised with a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the unsafe release. 

Ferrari's only hope for winning the WCC was Sainz finding a way past the McLaren of Norris. The Spaniard was called into the pits on lap 26, with the team hoping that he could undercut the Brit. McLaren reacted quickly and called their driver in a lap later. While Sainz didn't manage to overtake Norris, he did decrease the gap between the two of them. It was around that time that Russell also changed his tries. Although his stop was decent, it still allowed Leclerc to move past him and into P3. With that, the Ferrari driver managed to make up 16 places. 

A bit past the halfway point of the race, we saw two more retirements, both from drivers who will not have a seat on next year's grid. First was Franco Colapinto, who ended his race on lap 28. The second was Bottass, who made contact with Magnussen in one of the corners. Both cars spun and while Magnussen was able to continue, Bottass had to finish his last race much earlier than he might have expected. 

For the second half of the race, the situation at the front looked quite stable and the scales of victory were tipping towards McLaren. While Ferrari was on track to gain more points than their rivals, the 2-3 was not enough to combat the 25 points Norris was set to get for the win. Behind the top 3, Russell was chased by his teammate, who had managed to make up 12 places throughout the race and was hoping to finish his last Grand Prix with Mercedes at least 4th. 

Although we did get one more yellow flag on the last lap, this one caused by Lawson, it was not enough to stop Lando Norris' inevitable win. The young Brit crossed the finish line first for the 4th time this season and secured the championship for his team. The two Ferraris finished the race right behind him in quite the bittersweet ending to the emotional season. Lewis Hamilton ended his last race with Mercedes 4th, after a phenomenal performance, while his teammate closed out the top five. The fastest lap of the race belonged to Kevin Magnussen. 

With that, the 2024 season came to an end. It was filled with surprises, intense fights, and emotional moments. It saw McLaren winning the constructor's championship for the first time since 1998, and Verstappen became the second Red Bull driver to win the driver's championship four times in a row. It saw Tifosi cry as Leclerc won both Monaco and Monza, and the fans of Hamilton rejoice as he ended his winless streak by taking his home trophy for the 8th time in his career. It was a season that won't be forgotten. 

On a more personal note, I would like to thank everyone who followed the season along with me and read any of the many articles and reports I published. You have made this year so special and I hope that you will stay with me for the seasons to come. And the biggest thank you goes out to my dad, my number one fan. I couldn't have done any of this without your support. Everything I do, I'm doing for you. 

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Carlos Sainz

3. Charles Leclerc

4. Lewis Hamilton

5. George Russell

6. Max Verstappen

7. Pierre Gasly

8. Nico Hulkenberg

9. Fernando Alonso

10. Oscar Piastri

11. Alex Albon

12. Yuki Tsunoda

13. Zhou Guanyu

14. Lance Stroll

15. Jack Doohan 

16. Kevin Magnussen

DNF: Liam Lawson, Valtteri Bottas, Franco Colapinto, Sergio Perez