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.
Live Standings
Live Text
With that, we'll call time on the live text coverage of the Abu Dhabi GP - and on the 2024 season! From Bahrain pre-season testing all the way to the podium celebrations today at the Yas Marina, thank you for joining us for every moment of the campaign. Just 98 days to go until the 2025 season starts... until then, have a lovely Sunday, Christmas, winter and see you all soon. Go well! Cheers!
Norris, Sainz, Leclerc and Brown get busy with the fizzy and that wraps up the Abu Dhabi GP!
The top three make it on to the podium joined by Zak Brown who picks up the constructors' honour for McLaren.
Norris on the win and taking the constructors' title: "It feels incredible. Not for myself but for the whole team, the team has done an amazing job this year to come from where we were at the beginning. I am so proud of everyone, it has been a lovely journey and so to end the season like this is perfect. A congrats and a big thank you to everyone at McLaren."
Sainz on second place: "A bittersweet feeling today, P2 was the maximum we could do today given the pace of Lando in the McLaren. I gave it everything."
Leclerc on third place: "I knew I had to be aggressive in lap one so I had to be as aggressive as possible to gain as many places as possible to gain positions and be in a good position for the rest of the race. This was achieved but we were just too far back to do anything more for the rest of the race."
There are celebrations of a different kind on the pit straight as Hamilton does doughnuts in his Mercedes and steps out of a Silver Arrows car for the final time. Hamilton is in tears, this one really meant a lot to him.
"I love everyone in Woking what an awesome team effort! Amazing. That was stressful," Brown tells Sky Sports F1 as he charges towards the team celebrations.
The celebrations begin for McLaren - its first constructors' title since 1998. Fully deserved!
Albon was 11th ahead of Tsunoda, Zhou and Stroll - who picked up a late five-second penalty for track limits - with Doohan 15th and Magnussen 16th. DNFs for Lawson, Bottas, Colapinto and Perez.
Gasly comes home in seventh for Alpine which secures the team sixth place in the constructors'. Hulkenberg ends up eighth, as Alonso and Piastri round out the points places.
Hamilton does overtake Russell on the final lap to take fourth place! Verstappen takes a lonely sixth behind the Mercedes pair.
Sainz takes second ahead of Leclerc in a Ferrari double podium but it isn't enough for the Italian team.
Norris wins the Abu Dhabi GP and that secures McLaren the F1 world constructors' title for 2024!
On the penultimate lap, Lawson has stopped in sector two. His car has rolled out of the way but is smoking badly.
Final lap! Norris leads by 7.6s. This is all over, right?
Russell and Hamilton are set for a final lap fight for fourth place - and the top driver status on points in their time as team-mate.
Sainz is doing his personal bests in the 1m27s - a bracket he couldn’t hit earlier - so whatever debris he might have it isn’t hampering him too much.
It is last orders in Abu Dhabi with three laps to go. McLaren is without touching distance of the title now, gaining an extra point as Piastri moves up to 10th.
The closest battle in the midfield is now for 12th, with Stroll chasing Tsunoda. Within DRS range of the RB but outside of the points, there is nothing more than personal pride on the line in this late-race duel.
Five laps to go. Norris is quickly approaching Albon to lap him, with a 7.7s lead over Sainz. Leclerc is third a further 22.6s back.
Ah, Sainz suspects he had a puncture which was why the Ferrari team were readied just in case. His car appears OK and he powers on, but he is now 6.8s behind Norris.
The Ferrari crew get ready with soft tyres but neither of its drivers come in. The fastest lap bonus point won't overhaul McLaren in the title battle, but it will aid their chances.
Norris is struggling in traffic - he’s got by Stroll, but still has the Tsunoda, Piastri battle to go, with Alonso and Albon not far ahead either.
"The dirty air is terrible, I'm struggling a lot," Norris says over team radio as he manages lapping traffic.
Piastri finally makes the move for 11th on Tsunoda. He trails Alonso for the final point by 5s, but at the moment, McLaren don't need him to score to clinch the constructors' title.
There are 10 laps to go and Norris leads by 5.9s from Sainz. The tension at McLaren will be unbearable, the angst at Ferrari will be similar.
Hamilton is chipping into that 14s gap to Russell at a cracking rate, as it is now down to 8.6s in the fight for fourth place between the Mercedes pair.
After the moment, Piastri is immediately back on the gearbox of Tsunoda, but can't make DRS work for him this time.
"OK, let's get back into the rhythm," Leclerc is told over team radio. "I don't know what you call the rhythm, but this is the rhythm," the Ferrari driver replies. We're going to miss his team radio over the winter break.
The Alonso-Piastri battle has now caught Tsunoda in 10th. Alonso slips past but Piastri slips more literally sideways off the track.
Verstappen closes on Gasly under DRS on the run to Turn 6. He tucks back into the tow on the run to Turn 9 and slides past into sixth. That was as simple as moves come.
That incident between Bottas and Magnussen that put the former out of the race will now be investigated after the race.
Norris, meanwhile, has pushed his lead over Sainz to 5.2s at the start of lap 46 but he is warned about tyre graining on the hards.
Leclerc checks if Ferrari lose the constructors' with a 2-3, and his fears are confirmed but he is told to keep pushing. Yesterday he said he believed in miracles, but Ferrari needs Norris to hit trouble to turn this one around.
And Hamilton, with DRS, duly gets by Gasly into Turn 6 to take fifth place.
"How big is the gap ahead of me?" Hamilton asks. "14 seconds," is the reply from Bonnington. "14 seconds!" Hamilton retorts. "You can do it," Wolff chimes in. We're getting all the hits for Hamilton's final Mercedes race.
By: Autosport Staff
