Abu Dhabi, 8 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Lando Norris won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to give McLaren a first Formula One constructors' title since 1998 in a dramatic finale against rivals Ferrari, after his team-mate Oscar Piastri was hit by world champion Max Verstappen seconds after the start.

Norris won from pole ahead of the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to give McLaren the title 14 points ahead of the Scuderia. Lewis Hamilton was fourth in his final race for Mercedes.

There was no margin of error for McLaren after Red Bull's Verstappen hit Piastri in turn one, which dropped the second McLaren driver far behind, and he also had to serve a 10-second penalty for shunting into Franco Colapinto's Williams en route to a 10th-place finish.

McLaren had led by 21 points going into the season-ender and locked out the front row in qualifying through Norris and Piastri. But Ferrari fought with all they had in search of their first team title since 2008, with Leclerc rising to the podium from 19th on the grid.

But Norris would not be denied.

"It feels incredible. Not for myself but for the whole team. They have done an amazing job from where we were at the beginning. It's been a lovely journey. To end the season like this is perfect," Norris said.

"For us to win the constructors' championship after 26 years is pretty special. We are going to celebrate. This is a historic moment for the team.

"We want to win the Constructors and Drivers' next year. This is my goal, our goal as a team. I made my mistakes this year but I learned a lot and learned a lot from Max and my competitors around me.

Ferrari so near and yet so far

Sainz, who will make way for Hamilton at Ferrari next year, said: "Obviously, a bit of a bittersweet feeling in the end, P2 I think was the maximum we could do today given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. I gave it everything.

"I think we can proud of the effort and the championship that we put together.

"Congratulations to McLaren. They deserve this championship. They’ve been rock solid in the last two-thirds of the championship and they’ve been incredible."

Hamilton passed team-mate George Russell in the last lap as he rose from 16th to fourth in his last race for Mercedes where he spent 12 years and won six of his record-equalling seven world titles.

"That was the drive of a world champion," team principal Toto Wolff told Hamilton.

Chaos in Abu Dhabi

Norris won the start from pole but behind him chaos erupted, with Verstappen hitting Piastri which sent both cars spinning and resulted in a 10-second penalty for Verstappen, who had clinched the drivers' title in a duel with Norris a fortnight ago in Las Vegas.

Piastri found himself at the back of the pack and in further trouble when he hit Colapinto during an early virtual safety car phase after Sergio Perez had to retire his Red Bull in what may have been his last race for the team.

Piastri was handed a 10-second penalty and pitted for fresh tyres as the incident spiced up the constructors' title race as Leclerc had shot from 19th to eighth at the time and Sainz was running in second.

That put huge pressure on Norris and McLaren because while he was holding a comfortable lead ahead of Sainz any mishap would be disastrous, especially as Leclerc continued to rise and was fourth by lap 15.

Ferrari then went for the undercut as Leclerc was the first of the top placed drivers to pit, which helped him to third once all had come in, while up front Sainz halved the deficit on Norris to two seconds.

But he never got closer as Norris soon pulled ahead again to claim his fourth career victory and send the whole team in Abu Dhabi and at the factory in Woking into a frenzy.

For others, Sunday's race marked the end of their time at a team or in the sport. Sainz moves on to Williams, Nico Hülkenberg goes from Haas to Sauber where current drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guangyu are not retained, and Colapinto also has no new deal.

"Thank you Ferrari. It's been a pleasure driving for you guys," Sainz said.

Photo: EPA