In Pictures: Abu Dhabi 2024

Formula 1’s grand finale to the longest season in its history.

Emotions ran high, even before the Grand Prix wekend started, this was Lewis Hamilton’s last race with Mercedes, Carlos Sainz’s with Ferrari, Valtteri Bottas with Sauber, Kevin Magnussen with Haas, and Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez with Red Bull. At Alpine, Esteban Ocon was sustituted by Jack Doohan, so the Frenchman could better prepare his post-season tests with his new team for 2025, Haas.

The Abu Dhabi weekend brings the curtain down on the longest ever Formula 1 season, during which the sport travelled the world taking in 24 rounds. To date, the Yas Marina circuit has hosted motor racing’s blue riband category 15 times, twelve of them rounding off the year.

FRIDAY

There were no fewer than six young drivers on track for the first session: Arthur Leclerc for Ferrari, Felipe Drugovich for Aston Martin, Ryo Hirakawa for McLaren, Isack Hadjar for Red Bull, Luke Browning for Williams, and Ayumu Iwasa for Racing Bulls. The fastest of this group was the Brazilian, Drugovich, who placed ninth overall with a lap time of 1:25.471.

Friday’s lap times were considerably quicker than those recorded during free practice last year, highlighting the progress made in car performance over the past twelve months, given that the baseline for the tires has remained unchanged. The differences were 1.751 seconds for FP1 and 1.292 seconds for FP2.

McLaren appeared in strong form on the first day of free practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Woking team's drivers topped the time sheets in the second session, the most representative one since it took place at the same time as Sunday’s race—namely, as the sun was setting. Lando Norris was quickest with a lap of 1:23.517, ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri, who clocked 1:23.751. McLaren, therefore, seemed to have an edge over their Constructors’ title rivals, Ferrari. Charles Leclerc was fastest in the first session with a lap of 1:24.321, but he dropped to sixth in the second session with a time of 1:24.201. Meanwhile, teammate Carlos Sainz was fourth with a time of 1:24.099.

Adding to Ferrari’s challenges, Leclerc faced a ten-place grid penalty for a third Energy Store (battery) of the two allowed stipulated by the sporting regulations.

SATURDAY

McLaren was once again in the spotlight on the second day of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Lando Norris taking pole position ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri. The pole time of 1:22.595 was almost a second quicker than last year’s (1:23.595) and nearly identical to the pre-event simulation of 1:22.6. They were followed by two Ferrari-powered cars: Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, with a time of 1:22.824, just 20 thousandths off Piastri’s, and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas, clocking in at 1:22.886.

This was Norris’s ninth pole. His first came in Sochi in 2021, while the remaining eight were all this season. The Englishman and Max Verstappen share the top spot for most poles this year, but the Dutchman will receive the 2024 Pole Position of the Year Award tomorrow, thanks to his three additional poles in Sprint Qualifying, compared to Norris’s two.

Some time later, the stewards handed Nico Hulkenberg a 3-place grid penalty for overtaking in the pit lane.

SUNDAY

On the starting grid, 19 of the 20 drivers were on Medium tires, with only Hamilton opting for the Hard compound. The one-stop strategy proved to be the quickest: of the top ten finishers, only Fernando Alonso (eighth for Aston Martin) made a two-stop strategy work. Piastri also pitted twice, but that was due to a collision with Verstappen at the first corner on the opening lap.

Abu Dhabi provided a perfect showcase to conclude the 2024 season, featuring plenty of excitement from start to finish—and even after the flag. Lando Norris took the win for McLaren, leading from lights out to the checkered flag, which was waved by the world’s No. 1-ranked tennis player, Jannik Sinner. Also on the podium were the two Ferrari drivers: Carlos Sainz finished second, ahead of Charles Leclerc, while the winner’s teammate, Oscar Piastri, placed tenth. The result secured McLaren the Constructors’ World Championship title—their ninth—putting them tied with Williams for second on the all-time list, behind Ferrari’s 16 titles. For the Woking-based team, it was their first title since 1998, even before Norris and Piastri were born.

For Norris, it was career win number four, while it marked McLaren’s 189th victory from 970 Grands Prix entries. Piastri avoided being lapped by his teammate, making him the only driver this season to have completed 100% of the total laps (1,444) and kilometers (7,314) across all 24 Grands Prix.

Ferrari finished second in the Constructors’ Championship with the most podium finishes of the season (22), ahead of McLaren and Red Bull, who both tallied 21.

Kevin Magnussen, competing in his final Formula 1 race today, set the fastest lap—a feat he had previously achieved twice, in Singapore in 2018 and 2019, both while driving for Haas.

Red Bull ended the season third in the Constructors’ standings. It’s the first time since 1983 that the team whose driver won the Drivers’ Championship finished outside the top two in the Constructors’. On that occasion, Nelson Piquet claimed the title, while his Brabham team finished third.

Charles Leclerc was voted 'Driver of the Day' by the F1.com fans after climbing from 19th on the grid to finish on the podium.