F1 Abu Dhabi GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates of the 2024 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will launch from the front row of the grid in Abu Dhabi as McLaren looks to seal a first constructors' title since 1998.
Lewis Hamilton, who secured McLaren's latest crown of any description with his maiden 2008 drivers' title, makes his final bow for Mercedes before his switch to Ferrari, while Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Franco Colapinto all start in F1 for potentially the last time.
The race gets under way at 13:00 GMT.
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Hamilton has used hammertime to chip away at the gap to Gasly and is in the Alpine's DRS range in the battle for fifth place.
Gaps are appearing in the midfield and lower reaches, but in one of the few battles, Stroll uses DRS to pass Doohan into Turn 6. The Australian attempts to return serve at Turn 9 but is shown a bit of hip and shoulder by the Aston Martin driver.
If McLaren do make another stop for Norris, they can only take new hards as basically the entire pack only had one new set of the yellow-walled medium rubber left.
McLaren is covering all eventualities, including considering the need for a late pitstop and overtaking Sainz at the end... very Abu Dhabi 2021.
Just 20 laps to go in the 2024 F1 season. Norris is pushing on a bit now with his lead up to 3.6s over Sainz.
So, that means Norris leads by 2.7s over Sainz in second with Leclerc in third but 20s further back. If that result stays the same, McLaren will still secure the world constructors' title by 13 points.
And at the end of lap 34, Hamilton pits to ditch his hards for mediums. A 2.5s stop sees him get back out in seventh and just in front of Alonso and Verstappen.
At the start of lap 34 Norris leads by 2.3s over Sainz, with Hamilton still holding on to third 17s further back but yet to stop.
Piastri stops from 10th and serves his 10s penalty before taking another set of hard tyres.
Bottas returns to the pits to retire the car while Magnussen pits but continues on soft tyres.
A bad day for those without a seat in 2025 gets worse. Bottas locks up into Turn 6 and makes heavy contact with the side of Magnussen's Haas.
"Could we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots," Verstappen says over team radio, which we believe is aimed at the stewards. Hmmm.
Verstappen pits and serves his 10s penalty, so he comes out in 11th place.
For the second weekend running, we see a 10s stop-and-go penalty awarded. Lawson is the recipient this time for being released form the pits with a loose wheel.
Hamilton is told by race engineer Peter Bonnington that "P3 is possible" which seems a tall order but plenty of encouragement for his driver in their final race together.
As expected, Lawson is now under investigation for his car being released in an unsafe condition.
Verstappen and Hamilton are the outliers as the only two drivers yet to stop yet - hence their current position in third and fourth respectively.
"Box to retire the car," Colapinto is told. Fingers crossed, this is not the last we see of the Argentinian driver in F1.
"I'm sorry Franco, this is not how we wanted your last race to been. It has been a pleasure," says Williams team boss James Vowles.
Norris leads by 1.8s on Sainz so that was such a crucial stop for McLaren. Russell gets by Gasly into Turn 8 with DRS to take sixth place off the French driver.
McLaren responds by pitting Norris a lap later. Pressure pitstop, but the team nail a 2s stop and he is back out and still ahead of Sainz. Russell also pits and comes out behind Leclerc and Gasly.
At the end of lap 25 Sainz pits from second place. He swaps his mediums for hards, a nice 2.2s stop, and he comes out in third.
"The wheels aren't on, mate," reports Lawson as he quickly returns to the pits. It's the front left that isn't fully tightened. That will be a slam dunk penalty.
Leclerc uses DRS to get by Gasly into Turn 6 to move into sixth place on the road.
"Why?" asks an exasperated Tsunoda when RB tell him not to pit for fresh tyres. The reason quickly becomes evident, as team-mate Lawson boxes.
Sainz takes two-tenths out of Norris' lead with his fastest lap of the race but it appears there is some serious tyre management going on with drivers aiming to stretch this stint to make their race a one-stop affair.
Next time around Leclerc does pit, switching his mediums for hards, and comes out in eighth place behind Gasly at the start of lap 21.
Yet to stop and seemingly on a one-stop plan, Jack Doohan is currently 11th on his F1 debut before competing in the 2025 season with Alpine.
From a top-10 starting position, it appears that Bottas will end his current F1 stint with a first scoreless season. It's hard not to feel for the Finn.
The Ferrari pitcrew come out into the pitlane but neither of its drivers come in, so it is a bluff game. Who will blink first?
Having stopped already, Gasly is able to drive clean around the outside of Tsunoda - who is yet to visit the pits - at Turn 9. He is back up to eighth and is the highest-placed driver to have stopped.
Russell hasn't responded to Gasly's early stop and is continuing on in third place but is being caught by Leclerc - with the Ferrari driver just about in DRS range from the Mercedes.
A final track limits warning for Stroll in 14th. One more violation and he will have a time penalty coming his way.
At the start of lap 17 and Norris continues on in the lead with a 4s advantage over Sainz. He is "maintaining" his tyres after being quizzed on their performance and feel over team radio.
Confirmation of the two false start instances - a 5s penalty for Zhou but no further investigation for Albon.
Gasly has done a fine job keeping Russell behind him, but he pits to release the Mercedes driver. Gasly switches from mediums to hards and comes out in 10th and right behind his new team-mate Doohan who is yet to stop.
Verstappen gets gifted sixth with Hulkenberg pitting. But he still has his penalty to serve, so will fall down the order later on.
Verstappen is now right on the gearbox of Alonso's Aston Martin. Using DRS on the run to Turn 9, the Red Bull driver makes his move for seventh. Next up, Hulkenberg.
Norris isn't streaming clear of Sainz, just adding a tenth or two each lap, with the gap up to 3.6s at the end of lap 12. Further back, Leclerc gets by Hulkenberg to move up to fifth place, while Verstappen overtakes Alonso for seventh.
What is going on today? Zhou and Albon are now both under investigation for false starts.
By: Autosport Staff
