Formula One 2024 season came to an end on 8th December 2024, Sunday, in Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi. Although the champion of the season Max Verstappen clinched his fourth title in Las Vegas two races prior to the finale, the competition for the Constructors’ Championship was still alive until the very last wave of the chequered flag between the two legendary F1 teams, McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren overcame its rival and after 26 years of hunt for the crown, they once again earned the Constructors’ Title.
The final F1 race of the season was won by the McLaren driver Lando Norris who was also the polesitter of the race. He executed flawless driving and earned his team the first Constructors’ Championship since 1998. His teammate Oscar Piastri also started from the front row but unfortunately got in a collision with Verstappen who launched a bold bid on Piastri’s inside in the first corner. This contact cost both drivers a steady competition in the fronts which they had to recover throughout the race.
Losing his teammate to a collision in the first lap, Norris had to be even more careful in securing his team with the critical points needed to overcome Ferrari. However, his mirrors were filled with the pressure of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc, the sister Ferrari, was showcasing an incredibly quick rise from the back row of the grid, the 19th place, aiming to bring Ferrari the title by supporting his teammate. He executed the best performance of his career gaining 16 places over his starting position and won the Driver of the Day.
The race concluded with Norris coming first with the two Ferraris on the podium. Nevertheless, this wasn’t enough for Ferrari to pip McLaren. The historic British team concluded 2024 with 666 points, only 14 points ahead of the Italian team.
With that, the 26 years of drought for the championship has ended for McLaren. Their last win of the Constructors' Championship was taken by Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard in 1998, when neither Norris or Piastri was born. Although the team would fight for championships back in Lewis Hamilton’s time, they have been witnessing a period of stagnation. However, under Zak Brown’s leadership, the team was steadily restructured and progressed year by year. When originally an engineer Andrea Stella became the team principal and technical figures like Rob Marshall joined the Papaya team, they produced the best car on the grid.
“It’s like a child that grows. If you see them in two months or in one year, you say, ‘Oh, they’ve grown!’ But if you see them every day, you may not see it. But in reality, they have grown,” Stella said about the progress of the car in an interview with The Athletic.
The engine of the car also played a key role in their journey to victory. McLaren had previously used Honda and Renault engines which did not result in an efficient collaboration. Since 2021, the cars have been powered by Mercedes-AMG engines that demonstrated a gradual increase in performance. They further overthrew the perception of “a championship cannot be won with a customer engine” by claiming the title with the Mercedes power. Now, they have caught up with Williams in the Constructors' Championship, achieving their ninth title in the history of F1.
Furthermore, the two young talents of McLaren have worked very hard to show consistent and successful performance on track throughout the season. Both have won their first wins in F1 this season by always supporting and pushing each other's drives. While Norris stood out with 4 triumphs, Piastri garnered 2 race wins for the Papaya.
"It feels incredible, not for myself but for the whole team, they've done an amazing job this year to come from where we were at the beginning. I am so proud of everyone, it's been a lovely journey and to end the season like this is perfect,” Norris said after the race. “We want to win the Constructors’, we want to win the Drivers’ next year. I made my mistakes this year but I’ve learned a lot – I’ve learned a lot from Max and my competitors around me. As much as I’m happy now, I’m excited to get next year going,” he further stated.
Although Piastri finished the race in P10 due to an unfortunate start, he still gave it all to contribute to his team, not only in Abu Dhabi but the entire year. “It was a pretty miserable race for myself! But I think of course the biggest thing today is we clinched the championship and it’s a massive credit to everyone at McLaren for what they’ve achieved this year and couldn’t be prouder of them all,” Piastri remarked. “Very, very happy with the year’s work and obviously today was tough, but nice to seal the deal.”
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix served as an emotional goodbye weekend to not only an intense 2024 season but also to many drivers and their teams. Lewis Hamilton was among these drivers. The F1 community heard the famous “It’s Hammer Time” from the seven-time world champion's race engineer Peter Bonnington “Bono” for the last time. “When [Bono] said it was ‘Hammer Time’, I did notice in the moment, I was like, 'that’s the last time I’m going to hear that.’ It really clicked for me in that moment,” Hamilton said.
The Briton took fourth place by passing his teammate George Russell with a clean overtake on the final lap of his legendary Mercedes career. Over the team radio, Hamilton bid his farewell to his team saying, “What started out as a leap of faith turned into a journey into the history books. We did everything together and I'm so grateful to everyone back at the factory from the bottom of my heart. All the best."
His engineer Bono replied as "It's been an amazing journey and I'm so grateful to have been a part of this chapter of your life and best of luck for the next one." The final comment came from the team boss Toto Wolff, "We love you too and you're always going to be part of the family. And if we can't win, you should win."
Sir Lewis Hamilton ended his legendary Mercedes journey with a farewell donut to honor the unmatched history and legacy they built together. After getting out of the car, he spent a few emotional moments collecting his thoughts next to his Mercedes W15 for the last time.
Before the start of the season, many Italian news agencies speculated about a contract between the British Mercedes driver and the Scuderia Ferrari team. But, this wasn’t the first time Hamilton’s name had been linked with the Italian team. During the years of fierce rivalry between the two, rumors would emerge all around the media, particularly at the contract renewal times. However, in February, Ferrari and Hamilton shocked the F1 world by proving true all the rumors for the first time with an announcement stating that at the end of the 2024 season, Hamilton would leave the Silver Arrows and wear the iconic red suit, taking Sainz’s seat.
“It was obviously the hardest decision that I think I’ve ever had to make,” Hamilton expressed. “We’ve created history within the sport, and it’s something I take a lot of pride in and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved. But I think ultimately I’m writing my story and I felt like it was time to start a new chapter,” the Briton added.
He further remarked that for many drivers, growing up in the prime era of Michael Schumacher had an influence in their sense of Ferrari and finally switching to red was a chance to fulfill a childhood dream of his.
Fred Vasseur, the team principal of Ferrari, played a key role in enabling his move to Ferrari. The pair previously worked together in Hamilton’s early years at ART Grand Prix. Both acknowledged that their close relationship was an important factor for the contract.
While many F1 fans welcomed the decision with surprise and excitement, it was also emotional since this meant a farewell to the legacy Hamilton created in Mercedes. The Briton’s name has almost become one with his team for all the achievements they contributed to the sport.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes was the team where Hamilton stepped into F1 in 2007 and won his first title next year in 2008. After the separation of the team, he joined the line-up of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport in 2013. Their partnership dominated the sport unprecedentedly between 2014-2020, only one year gap in 2016 when Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won the title. In 12 seasons they spent together, Hamilton started 246 races, won 84 of them and claimed six of his seven world championships, a record for a driver with a single team.
On the other side, the joining of Hamilton to Ferrari meant the team had to drop their current Spanish driver Carlos Sainz for 2025 who contributed more to the sentimental nature of Abu Dhabi. The seven-time world champion’s transfer had left the Spaniard without a seat, therefore, “Smooth Operator” decided to race for Williams and partner Alex Albon in 2025.
It was rather a questionable move from Sainz to go for Williams in terms of being able to fight at the front since the constructor’s machinery performance has been very poor. However, Sainz does not agree with the perception of joining Williams as a step down and he further stated that he will enjoy being a driver for them.
“There will be positives, there will be other negatives, but you need to remember that what I enjoy is putting on a helmet and driving a Formula 1 car,” he said. “Doesn’t matter the colour, I just enjoy driving. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy challenging myself, and especially more than anything I enjoy living a weekend thinking there is nothing else I could have done to make that car faster than what I did, and to drive as fast as I did. Because I think I’ve managed to execute the maximum out of the package, and that’s what I will be trying to do weekend in, weekend out next year,” Sainz added.
Before leaving Maranello, Sainz added one last farewell podium win in Abu Dhabi. This year, he has accomplished wonders with the car improvements. He previously stated that Ferrari is probably gearing up for the world title hunt next season when he will no longer be a part of the squad. This added bittersweetness to his departure.
“At the same time, it's bittersweet because it gives me a feeling Ferrari might be in the fight for the world championship next year and I will not be there to use it,” Sainz remarked. “I feel like I've been quite a big part of this team during the last four years trying to prepare the team to fight for that championship next year. And the fact that I'm driving well, being fast with the car and I'm leaving in five races is definitely leaves me a bit… I don't know how to say it, but not with a very good feeling.”
At the final race of the season, both reds gave their all to the race to win the Constructors’ Championship and bid farewell to Sainz with a victory. Although they couldn’t claim the title, Sainz and Leclerc secured a 2-3 podium finish for the last time together as teammates.
"I knew that was obviously going to be my last race with a group of people that I've enjoyed these last four years. The last time that I would jump in a Ferrari car, probably," the Spaniard said. "I tried to remind myself to try and enjoy the race as much as possible and to give the absolute maximum for this team."
Unfortunately, the melancholic disappointment was there for both Ferraris.
“Obviously I have a bit of mixed feelings. I think we all came into this race trying to win the Constructors' Championship and ultimately we did manage to do it. McLaren have put together a very strong weekend. Lando hasn't put a foot wrong all race and all weekend. And in the end, congratulations to them because they deserve it. On my side, I tried to do everything I could to keep within reach of McLaren,” Sainz said in a post-race interview. “Both Charles and I have given absolutely everything this weekend. It hasn't been an easy weekend for me, obviously, knowing it was the last one. But I did the best I could to stay focused and to do the maximum that the car could do today.”
“We’ve had an amazing relationship. We’ve pushed each other. I really hoped that we could finish these four years together with a constructors’ title. We both gave it all, it wasn’t enough,” the Monegasque driver summarized in the post-race interview. He wore a special helmet for his teammate’s last race in a Maranello suit, writing on top “Mucha5 Gracia5 Carlos.”
For the 2025 F1 season, the driver line-ups look quite different compared to the faces we are familiar with for several years now. Valtteri Bottas competed in his last F1 race on Sunday. Following the successful years he had in Mercedes, the veteran Finn has been witnessing an unfortunate decline in his career. Bottas and his teammate Zhou Guanyu announced their departure of their team Stake F1 and further the sport (at least for now) at the end of the 2024 season. What might be waiting for them in the future of Formula is still unclear.
Kevin Magnussen is another to leave F1. The former Haas driver will continue his career as a BMW M works driver and will compete in races for the 2025 season in their LMDh programme. While the next grid consists of multiple rookies such as Oliver Bearman, Kimi Antonelli and Jack Doohan, the future of Liam Lawson and Franco Colapinto, who replaced some of the F1 drivers during the season, is still undetermined. There is currently only one seat available waiting to be filled for the next season.
And with that, the 2024 F1 season concluded. It has been an incredible year in terms of the fierce competition among both drivers and constructors until the last chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. The end of the season was also full of emotional farewells. Hopefully, next season will offer the F1 fans an even more dynamic racing experience by introducing new blood to the sport. The 2025 calendar’s first race will take place in Melbourne, Australia, on March 16.
Edited by: Yağmur Ece Nisanoğlu