There could be no second possibilities this time. has been liable to in-race lapses of judgement and focus in 2024 however right here, with a 26-year hoodoo solely in his arms, the Bristolian gave his beloved a long-awaited constructors’ championship on the season finale.
Norris, pole-sitter and the quickest man all weekend, stored it clear and averted hassle – the place his teammate Oscar Piastri didn’t – to win the and seal the groups’ title for the papaya. Ferrari did their finest, with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc each on the rostrum, however finally a 14-point benefit was sufficient.
The final time McLaren sealed the constructors’ championship, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have been the drivers within the 1998 MP4/13 cockpit. Each have been current right here in Abu Dhabi, as one among F1’s largest groups ended their lengthy wait within the MCL38.
As for , in his 246th and last race for Mercedes, a trademark cost by the sphere. Beginning in sixteenth, the seven-time world champion ended the with a fourth-place end, passing teammate George Russell on the final lap with a surprising overtake.
After the chequered flag, he parked his automotive on the house straight, waved to the gang and stated his goodbyes. Ferrari, and all of the glamour that goes with it, as he heads into his 40s.
Russell completed fifth with Max Verstappen in sixth, because the world champion dropped again after a penalty for clattering into Piastri’s rear-left wheel a matter of seconds into the race.
Piastri recovered for tenth, however irrespective of. His teammate had secured the crowning second.
“It feels unimaginable, not for myself however for the entire staff,” Norris stated. “It’s been an extended journey and to finish the season like that is good.
“To win a constructors’ Lando Norris holds his nerve to information McLaren to F1 glory in Abu Dhabi after 26-year wait after 26 years is fairly particular. Zak has already stated we’re going to get fairly hammered tonight!”
It led to very best trend for McLaren, after a begin which was removed from it. The Yas Marina Circuit, with its quick residence straight, will not be liable to drama at flip one at lights out. However this 12 months, as McLaren merely wanted a clear get-away for each their drivers, a Verstappen-shaped curveball threw open the race for the title.
The Dutchman surged down the within and clipped Piastri, who spun and dropped right down to final. Thankfully, his McLaren was not irrevocably broken however the often mild-mannered Australian sharply gave his verdict over staff radio.
“Yep, transfer of a world champion that one.”
Verstappen was duly given a 10-second time penalty, although Piastri himself acquired the identical judgement from the stewards after crashing with the rear of Franco Colapinto, giving the Williams a puncture.
Mercifully for Zak Brown’s staff, and their followers watching again on the McLaren Know-how Centre in Woking, Norris was unimpacted by the first-lap shenanigans and led, comfortably, by the primary part of the 58-lap race.
The Brit pitted on lap 26. Would the mechanics maintain their nerve? You wager they might. A two-second pit-stop meant Norris rejoined the race nonetheless in P1 and, with the quickest automotive on the observe, the Brit simply needed to preserve it error-free handy McLaren their prized silverware.
TOP-10 – ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Carlos Sainz (McLaren)
3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Max Verstappen (Crimson Bull)
7. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
No ignoring yellow flags like final week in Qatar. No flirting with the partitions like in Singapore. Norris was assured, composed and by a margin of eight seconds, he took the chequered flag for his fourth win in Method 1.
Cue jubilation from the orange-clad personnel on the pit-wall. For a staff in no man’s land at first of the season, it has been an excellent turnaround from staff principal Andrea Stella – previously of Ferrari – and his engineers.
Norris’ objective now, with a way of longing about what may need been this 12 months, can be a person title pursuit extra full and cool-headed than final 12 months’s topsy-turvy marketing campaign. He even referenced it on the staff radio straight after the race.
“That is our 12 months,” he stated. “Subsequent 12 months goes to be mine too.”
Solely downside for Norris is that there’s loads of drivers who’ll be pondering precisely the identical.
