McLaren clinched the 2024 Constructors’ Championship, ending the season with Lando Norris’s victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Following the win, Norris issued a bold statement, warning Red Bull and Max Verstappen that McLaren aims to contend fiercely for both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships next year. This triumph marks McLaren’s first Constructors’ Title in 26 years, with its last victory in the championship dating back to 1998.

McLaren faced intense competition from Ferrari, with the championship outcome hanging in the balance until the final lap of the race. Both teams prepared for any last-minute twists, highlighting the high-stakes environment that defined the season’s dramatic conclusion. The eventful race saw both Ferrari SF-24s firing aggressively on all cylinders as Carlos Sainz finished P2, followed by Charles Leclerc securing an impressive P3 despite starting 19th on the grid.

Norris, who started the race from pole position, maintained a commanding lead from the beginning and cruised through the Grand Prix without major challenges. Unfortunately, the same could not be said about his teammate Oscar Piastri, who started second on the grid but was knocked off the track by Max Verstappen’s contact on Turn 1 of the opening lap.

While Verstappen was handed a 10-second penalty for causing the incident, Piastri received a similar penalty for making contact with Williams’ interim driver Franco Colapinto. The Australian driver still managed to finish with points in P10, but Colapinto was asked to retire the car mid-race for a reason yet to be ascertained. Verstappen, on the other hand, finished the race in sixth place.

Apart from Leclerc’s phenomenal recovery, for which he was voted driver of the day, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton remained in the spotlight, considering this was his last race with Mercedes. The Briton started P16 with hard Pirellis and raced his way through to P4, making up several positions in the second stint after his W15 was switched to medium tires.

It was at that moment when Hamilton was told it was ‘hammer time’ by his race engineer Peter Bonnington, which followed some serious overtaking action. The 39-year-old gained on the cars in the front with nearly a second-per-lap advantage. In the closing stages of the final lap, he even managed to pass his teammate George Russell but missed out on a podium finish by around 6 seconds to his 2025 teammate, Leclerc.

McLaren maintained its lead in the Constructors’ Championship after overtaking Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but Norris lost his shot at the title after Verstappen secured his fourth championship in Las Vegas. But with the competition expected to be more intense next year, Norris was heard making a big claim on the team radio after crossing the finish line. He said:

“Congrats, everyone!