And breathe. Formula 1's 24-race marathon is done, dusted, and to be securely entrenched in the history books; it's already gone from present to past tense on Wikipedia.
It's been a terrific year for F1, as anticipation of another Max Verstappen title blowout were thoroughly dispelled as the increasing forces behind Red Bull knocked it off its throne. Verstappen withstood the renewed challenge to maintain his hands on the title belt but, on the basis of this year, he'll have his job cut out to earn a fifth.
The lingering loose ends were wrapped up at the Abu Dhabi finale, as McLaren stitched up its first constructors' crown in 26 years to put Ferrari's mounting challenge completely to bed. In his commanding victory at the Yas Marina track, Lando Norris took the oh-so-coveted vice-champion honor to go down in history as one of seven billion persons who didn't win the F1 title in 2024. Better luck next year, dude.
An arduous struggle for sixth in the constructors' championship also had its conclusion: after a season-long duel waged by Haas and RB, the honours went to Alpine owing to a spectacular turnaround in the last quarter of the season (plus a useful stroke of luck with bad weather in Brazil). There's still a few things left to address away from the track, particularly the Red Bull and RB line-ups, even if Sergio Perez clearly has a contract and surely won't be moving elsewhere...
So, for the last time this year, let's do this: here's everything we learnt from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
1. Mclaren Travels Through Hell And Back Again For First Constructors' Title Since 1998
In 1998, McLaren ended a fallow stretch in the mid-1990s owing to the Adrian Newey-penned MP4/13 chassis and a strong line-up in Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, and walked away from the year with both titles in tow.
The team was back at the head of the field but, somehow, didn't win another constructors' title for 26 years. Hakkinen won the drivers' title in 1999, while Ferrari took the teams' crown by four points although after having their disqualification at the Malaysian Grand Prix reinstated despite allegedly illegal bargeboards. The Prancing Horse subsequently followed up on this in 2000 to start on a string of supremacy while McLaren paled in contrast.
The 2007 season should have been the year when McLaren secured its ninth constructors' championship, if not for a Surrey copy-shop owner blowing the whistle on the wife of technical director Mike Coughlan - a request to photocopy 780 pages of confidential Ferrari documents had not gone entirely under the radar...
McLaren challenged for titles in the early 2010s, but could not overcome Red Bull throughout that time period before facing a decline over the next three years. Poor vehicles in 2013 and 2014 led to a disastrous transition to Honda powertrains, and its ongoing decline led to Zak Brown coming in 2016 and taking the main post from 2018. Thanks to his ability for drawing in partners and putting people in the appropriate locations, McLaren's fortunes rose up. Now, it has a title to show for the last five or six years of steady, consistent regrowth.
2. The Prancing Horse Can't Catch Team Papaya
Ferrari had a jolly good try at getting engaged in Formula 1's constructors' war but, despite the massive advances the team has made operationally and with its racing pace over 2024, it didn't have quite have the legs over McLaren to close it off.
Through Charles Leclerc's Monaco triumph, Ferrari at least maintained in touch with Red Bull in the constructors' standings but, following their disasterclass in Canada, it lost substantial position and was eventually overtaken for second by McLaren in Hungary. At one point, Ferrari was nearly 70 points out from the top of the championship, but Red Bull's fading fortunes and Sergio Perez's lack of performance brought the reigning champion outfit into view.
Ferrari went ahead of it in Mexico, and drew to within 29 points of McLaren for the next four races. The difference was barely 21 points at the conclusion of Qatar, leaving Ferrari requiring two solid wins from Sainz and Leclerc and hope other results went their way to steal a first manufacturers' title since 2008.
But Norris proved too powerful to overcome, as Ferrari dropped a tenth or two to McLaren over the weekend. It sought to put McLaren under strain with a few pitlane dummies, intending to persuade Norris to predict and cover off a false pitstop, but the Briton's distance was too huge - he was in the position where he could simply respond to anything Ferrari did. There was nothing that Maranello's best could do but pray that Norris encountered trouble, but that ultimately never occurred.
3. Verstappen Against Russell, Round Two; Wolff Vs Terrier, Round 348
First, congratulations must go to Max Verstappen on his revelation that he is to be a father, although he already considers himself a "bonus" parent to his partner Kelly Piquet's kid. Verstappen is someone who has great appreciation for his close friends and family, and one imagines he's really glad for his family to grow. And, even with the genetics of a Verstappen-Piquet child, the Dutchman is very much hoping his child doesn't enjoy continuing in the family profession...
Right, that's the pleasant thing out of the way - it's now time to focus our attention to Verstappen's soap opera-adjacent fight with George Russell. After Qatar qualifying, Verstappen was particularly irritated with Russell's antics in the stewards' room and accused him of hard lobbying to give him a grid penalty.
Russell took his right of reply and argued that Verstappen's attitude in the stewards' room was also dubious and alleged that the eventual race winner had a) threatened to push him into a wall and b) had spent a lot of the stewards' meeting cursing.
First complaint: alright, ok, it's probably legitimate to be upset at that. Second complaint: reminiscent of Milhouse shrieking "Mom, Bart's swearing" when Bart Simpson merely requested to have a go on the blue-haired poindexter's new copy of Bonestorm. All this, weeks after the GPDA declared it wanted drivers to be treated like adults...
4. Perez's Stubbornness Ultimately Wavers - Yet He Still Has A Deal Until 2025
If you were in absolutely any question, Sergio Perez has a contract for next year. To be fair to the embattled Perez, it must be increasingly difficult to answer the inevitable question about his future after finishing outside of the points again in a race-winning vehicle. He can't answer "I don't know what the future holds", since it undermines his stance; Red Bull gave him a contract earlier this year, he accepted it, and since then has been decidedly pants. But, and here's the essential bit: he has a contract.
Ultimately that deal - which Perez has, by the way - will require some type of buy-out money to release him from. And, since his results have continued to decline with nine points from the previous eight races, Red Bull's choice looks very much made up.
It is thought that Liam Lawson will join Max Verstappen, as Horner continues to deny that the mere notion of Yuki Tsunoda exists, and that F2 runner-up Isack Hadjar would move up to RB to spend a year blowing up the team radio with his irascible attitude. If you thought Yuki was a touch shouty, Hadjar is going to make him appear like a contrite saint of patience.
That leaves Perez who, despite having a contract for next year, will be out of luck. And, despite his earlier defiance that he, indeed, has a contract for next year: that defiance perhaps showed its first sign of slipping in the post-Abu Dhabi media sessions - which he was apparently in a great rush to get to after retiring on lap one from damage with his clash with Valtteri Bottas.
Read Also: Lingering After Verstappen Vs Norris In Austin
5. Hamilton Goes Forth After Last Dance With Mercedes
So that's it: after 12 seasons, 246 races, 84 victories, and six titles with Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton is departing following a tumultuous last season with the club. Initial promise with this year's W15, a considerable break from its prior lineage of ground effect vehicles, dissipated as its volatile nature meant the team blew hot and cold throughout the season. Hamilton, who appreciates predictability and consistency in his racing machinery, never quite gelled with the silver-and-black machine.
Finishing fourth is a little bit of a damp squib to end on: it's not a victory, and nor is it a podium, but it was a really superb drive from 16th on the grid - no thanks to the involvement of a misplaced bollard on his last qualification lap. The last-lap pass on George Russell would have been a gratifying way to cap a monumentally successful era with Mercedes, even if the team was rather low-key with their send-off for the seven-time champion given his decades-long affiliation with the brand. One wonders if Hamilton begged them not to get too wild with the farewells, or if it was vice way.
It's impossible not to feel nostalgic, since it's in the pantheon of stronger driver-team combinations: consider Senna and McLaren, Schumacher and Ferrari, Vettel/Verstappen and Red Bull, Piquet and Brabham, Clark and Lotus, Stewart and Tyrrell. Regardless, Ferrari now beckons for Hamilton's expected last years in F1 - and it's a change of setting and a change of style that he'll nonetheless embrace.
