F1 Review: Lando Norris Ignores Early Drama And Clinches McLaren Constructors Title With Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Win

Lando Norris started from the pole, was fast off the line, and got well clear of the Max Verstappen–Oscar Piastri collision immediately behind him at lights out. He then led from start to finish to win the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday (December 7th) over the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, in second and third, respectively. The victory clinched the constructors championship for McLaren, their first since 1998. 

“It feels incredible,” Norris said. “Not for myself but for the whole team. The team have done an amazing job this year to come from where we were at the beginning.

“I’m so proud of everyone. It’s been a lovely journey, and to end the season like this is perfect. For us to win a constructors’ [championship] after 26 years is pretty special.”

Lewis Hamilton finished fourth after starting 16th in his final race for Mercedes, making a last-lap pass for the position on teammate George Russell, who took fifth. Verstappen overcame a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Piastri to finish sixth, while Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished seventh for his second straight points-scoring effort. Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg finished eighth, and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso took ninth. Piastri finished an eventful 10th after dropping to last after his collision with Verstappen while also overcoming his own ten-second penalty for causing a subsequent collision with Williams’ Franco Colapinto.   

In the final driver standings, Verstappen finishes 63 points ahead of Norris, 437 to 374. Leclerc finished third 18 behind Norris.

In the constructor standings, McLaren took the title with a 14-point cushion over Ferrari, 666 to 652. Red Bull finished third, 63 behind Ferrari.

The Race

Norris finally nailed a start, but Piastri wasn’t so lucky, as Verstappen looked to the inside. The two collided, and both spun, with Piastri coming to a complete stop and facing the wrong direction. Verstappen fell to 11th, with Piastri dropping to 19th. It was one-half of the start McLaren was looking for, but at least Norris was clear in front.

Perez also spun in the first chicane after contact with Valtteri Bottas, bringing out a virtual safety car. Perez’s Red Bull was damaged and continued but ultimately retired on lap 2.

Leclerc, who started 19th after a 10-place grid penalty, was already up to eighth at the end of lap 2. 

Green flag racing resumed on lap 3 after a brief virtual safety car, and Norris quickly opened up a nearly three-second lead over Sainz. Piastri pitted on lap 5 to address damage sustained on the first lap when he rammed Franco Colapinto’s Williams from behind.

Meanwhile, stewards handed Verstappen a 10-second penalty for causing the lap 1 collision with Piastri. Verstappen, of course, disagreed with the penalty, but one can’t blame him for the effort, however reckless, because he had nothing to lose except respect.

More bad news arrived for McLaren on lap 9, when Piastri was issued a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Colapinto. Piastri ran 17th, with both Ferrari’s in the top 6.

After 10 laps, the order was: Norris, Sainz, Gasly, Russell, Hülkenberg, Leclerc, Alonso, Verstappen, Magnussen, and Stroll.

Norris’s lead over Sainz was 3.5 seconds on lap 12, and McLaren’s constructors championship hopes rested squarely on a Norris win. If Norris wins the race, McLaren wins the constructors, no matter what Ferrari does.  

Norris’ lead was four seconds by lap 19, with Russell well back of Sainz in third and Leclerc ready to challenge the Mercedes for the position. Piastri, on hard tires, was up to 13th.

Sainz came in on lap 26, and Norris immediately responded a lap later. Sainz’s stop was 2.2 seconds, and McLaren’s crew was up for the task and sent Norris back out after a 2.0-second stop. Norris re-entered with the lead, with Sainz less than two seconds back. 

Bottas locked up entering the Turn 1 chicane and bounced into Magnussen. The damage knocked Bottas out of the race, but he limped back to the pits, and no safety car was needed.

Piastri served his 10-second penalty during a lap 33 pit stop, and the McLaren emerged in 15th. 

Hamilton made his first pit stop on lap 35, replacing his hard tires with mediums. Hamilton came back on the track in seventh, with all six cars in front of him on hard tires. Mercedes race engineer Peter Bonnington announced that it was “Hammer Time,” and Hamilton began an all-out dash to try and claim a miraculous podium finish.

Norris’ lead over Sainz sat at three seconds with 20 laps remaining, and if Norris was feeling the pressure of having the entirety of McLaren’s hopes on his shoulders, he wasn’t showing it.

Hamilton snatched sixth from Hülkenberg on lap 40, and was immediately on Gasly’s tail for fifth and took the spot on lap 42. Russell was 14 seconds ahead in fourth with 16 laps to go.

Norris was solid up front, now with a lead nearing five seconds, while Piastri was languishing in 12th, stuck behind the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton was making progress on Russell, with the gap now down to 11 seconds. Behind Hamilton, Verstappen took sixth by passing Gasly on lap 46. 

With eight laps remaining, Hamilton had trimmed Russell’s lead to 6.5 seconds; a fourth place was attainable for Hamilton, but a podium looked to be a way too ambitious.

With three laps remaining, Norris’ lead over Sainz was over seven seconds, while Hamilton was just over one second ahead of Hamilton. The battle between Mercedes’ drivers was the only drama left in the race.

Hamilton was within DRS range with two laps to go, and Hamilton would likely have one chance to make the pass. He capitalized by slipping by his teammate in Turn 9.

Norris took the checkered flag nearly six seconds ahead of Sainz, clinching McLaren’s first constructors championship since 1998. Leclerc came home third, 31 seconds behind Norris.

The Good

In his final race weekend with Mercedes, Hamilton stormed from all the way back in 16th to finish fourth. The result didn’t seem possible on Saturday (December 6th) when Hamilton was knocked out of Q1 after an odd, unlucky incident on Saturday. Hamilton was in the midst of a lap that would have advanced him to Q2 when Haas’ Kevin Magnussen moved out of Hamilton’s line, but in doing so displaced a bollard into Hamilton’s line. Hamilton ran right over the bollard, which ruined his lap.

It was doubly satisfying for me. I get to see Hamilton say goodbye to Mercedes with a solid finish, and I again reminded what a bollard is.

https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/1865780027184251035

Congratulations to Max Verstappen and girlfriend Kelly Piquet, daughter of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet. The pair announced they are expecting a child. Although it’s their first child together, Max and Kelly seem they will be welcoming the second whiny little baby to the family unit.   

The Bad

After serving his 10-second penalty, a clearly upset Verstappen said on his radio, “Could we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots.” Verstappen is indeed a world champion of the pot calling the kettle black. And I think it is likely that George Russell is feeling a great deal of satisfaction right now. 

But a driver shouldn’t be able to denigrate race officials with such language without repercussions. “Repercussions” seems to be a word Verstappen hasn’t been familiar with until now. Verstappen has really leaned into the role of villain this season and leaned into the role of “punk” even more. I don’t see any other driver being this disrespectful to officials. It’s simply a matter of class, and Verstappen seems to lack it on many occasions – those occasions being any time something does not go his way.

I’m sure the FIA won’t officially reprimand Verstappen for his words. But they could unofficially reprimand him by changing the wording of his penalty from “10-second penalty for causing a collision” to “10-second penalty for being a ‘stupid idiot’.”

Verstappen could have cost McLaren the constructors championship with his move that knocked Piastri way down the order. I hesitate to say that was Verstappen’s goal in doing so, so I’ll just imply it. 

Grid Walk Moments

If you run into actor Terry Crews on the grid, Martin Brundle, then talk to the man for more than 10 seconds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as excited to be on the F1 grid as Crews, so give him the ability to spread that energy and spirit. And I’m sure, if you would have asked nicely, Crews would have been happy to make his pecs bounce for a national television audience. 

But why stop there? Dump Danica Patrick as a Sky Sports pundit and replace her with Crews. And give him his own segment in which he takes a hot lap, shirtless, around an F1 circuit with an F1 driver, and call the segment “Crews Control.”

And did I see rapper and former Black Eyed Pea will.i.am hovering behind Brundle, desperately hoping to be recognized and interviewed? Sadly for Mr. .am, Brundle had no idea he was in the presence of a legend whose career seemed to have expired over a decade ago. A little advice to you will.i.am for future reference the next time you’re on an F1 grid: wear a nametag.

Prior to the “Grid Walk,” Ted Kravitz hung out with Brad Pitt as Pitt explained the ins and outs of one of the cars used in the filming of the “F1” movie, due in theaters in June 2025. Pitts’ career has run the range from struggling actor back in the mid-1980’s to his current stature as Hollywood leading man and F1 ambassador. So Pitt has really come a long way since playing the stoner Floyd in 1993’s “True Romance.”

The Driver

With plenty of pressure already on Norris (knowing he needed to ace the start without having any incident with Piastri), the McLaren driver handled that pressure, as well as the added pressure after Piastri’s incident with Verstappen, to win the race handily. Norris and his pit crew were flawless in Norris’ only stop on the race, servicing Norris in 2.0 seconds to easily cover Ferrari’s quick 2.2 second stop for Sainz. 

The Results (Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Yas Marina Circuit)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	58	1:26:33.291	25
2	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	58	+5.832s	18
3	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	58	+31.928s	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	58	+36.483s	12
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	58	+37.538s	10
6	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	58	+49.847s	8
7	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	58	+72.560s	6
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	58	+75.554s	4
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	58	+82.373s	2
10	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	58	+83.821s	1
11	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	57	+1 lap	0
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	57	+1 lap	0
13	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	57	+1 lap	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	57	+1 lap	0
15	61	Jack Doohan	Alpine Renault	57	+1 lap	0
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	57	+1 lap	0
17	30	Liam Lawson	RB Honda RBPT	55	DNF	0
NC	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	30	DNF	0
NC	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	26	DNF	0
NC	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	0	DNF	0