As it happened: 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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The 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is coming up next

It’s an important day for many drivers as several are moving on after this race – some to new teams, others out of F1 entirely. Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu are all without drives for next year.

Others are saying farewell to their current teams. Lewis Hamilton’s incredibly successful spell at Mercedes is drawing to a close. Carlos Sainz Jnr is also moving on from Ferrari, the team he won his first grands prix with.

Spare a thought too for a driver who isn’t on the grid today. Esteban Ocon expected this to be his final start for Alpine, but the team chose to part ways with him after the last race, so Jack Doohan makes his grand prix debut today.

Amid all the farewells there’s also some serious business to attend to. Above all, who will win the constructors’ championship? McLaren hold a 21-point lead over Ferrari and have locked out the front of the grid so it’s their to lose. There’s a lot of pride at stake here along with the financial reward – McLaren haven’t won this title for 26 years, Ferrari for 16.

Alpine, Haas and RB are also disputing sixth in the constructors’ championship, and the money that comes with that. Alpine are five points ahead of Haas and have Pierre Gasly an excellent fifth on the grid. But Nico Hulkenberg – demoted from fourth to seventh due to a penalty – and Kevin Magnussen in 14th will be eyeing the points places.

Every driver will start the race on the medium tyre compound except one: Lewis Hamilton, 16th on hards.

The drivers are taking their places on the grid ready to start the final race of the year.

Max Verstappen takes Oscar Piastri out at the first corner! Lando Norris leads.

Perez has stopped, he’s been told to switch his engine off.

L2 Virtual Safety Car deployed. Norris leads Carlos Sainz Jnr, Pierre Gasly, George Russell, Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso. Kevin Magnussen is seventh and Charles Leclerc has made an incredible start to take eighth! With Piastri 19th, Ferrari’s constructors’ championship hopes are still alive.

L3 VSC period over. Verstappen and Leclerc were complaining that their delta times did not look right.

Verstappen is under investigation for causing a collision. There is also an investigation involving the other Red Bull driver and Bottas.

L5 Norris pulls 2.6 seconds clear of Sainz. Piastri, who ran into the back of Colapinto shortly after the restart, is in for fresh tyres.

Verstappen given a 10-second penalty for the collision with Piastri. Bottas also has a 10-second time penalty.

Verstappen: “I mean I was just super-unlucky. I was all the way up the inside before the crash.” Piastri: “Yep. Move of a world champion, that one.”

L8 Norris’s lead is over three seconds. Russell is still trying to attack Gasly for third. Leclerc is up to seventh ahead of Magnussen, Verstappen now closing on the second Haas. Lawson, 11th, has the hard-tyred Hamilton for company.

Piastri gets a 10-second penalty for his collision with Colapinto.

The stewards are looking into whether Zhou jumped the start. Verstappen passes Magnussen easily with DRS, Leclerc likewise with Alonso.

Zhou under investigation for that start, Albon now noted for the same. Leclerc takes fifth off Hulkenberg.

Ferrari tell Leclerc that Hamilton’s lap times on hards are “not great.”

Zhou given a five-second time penalty for a false start, Albon cleared.

L17 Norris’s lead is now up to four seconds. Gasly has pitted, Russell now edging towards Sainz.

Stroll is already on three strikes for track limits – one more and he gets an automatic penalty.

Norris says his rear tyres are starting to fade. His lead over Sainz is 4.2 seconds. Leclerc was almost within DRS range of Russell but has dropped back.

Leclerc has pitted and Ferrari tell him he has successfully undercut Russell ahead. The Mercedes driver said his tyres could go eight laps further than they targeted.

L24 Leclerc passes Lawson after his pit stop and needs to pick Gasly off quickly next. He does in the DRS zone approaching turn seven.

Lawson pits but tells his team “the wheels aren’t on.” He comes back into the pits. RB could be in trouble here.

L26 Sainz pits from second – expect to see Norris in next.

L27 Norris pits from the lead and returns to the track. Russell pits as well so Norris keeps the lead – but Sainz is only 1.6s off the McLaren now.

L28 Colapinto pits to retire. Sainz is 2s behind Norris. Verstappen and Hamilton, both yet to pit, now separated by just three-and-a-half seconds.

Verstappen seems to be struggling to slow his car, he goes wide at turn six. Hamilton within three seconds now. The Red Bull driver still has his penalty to serve.

Lawson has been given a 10-second stop-go penalty for rejoining the track with his car in an unsafe condition. Albon had the same penalty in Imola.

Verstappen pits – Red Bull finally tell him about his penalty and he calls the stewards “stupid idiots.”

Bottas and Magnussen collide at turn seven. The track sector has been cleared so it looks like there won’t be a neutralisation.

L34 Norris has a 2.3s lead over Sainz, Hamilton in third is still yet to stop but Verstappen is taking well over a second out of him so Mercedes will surely bring him in before long.

L35 Hamilton pits from third. Leclerc moves up into that place ahead of Russell, Gasly and Hulkenberg. Hamilton closes the door late at turn seven to keep Alonso behind. Verstappen closing on both of them.

Bonnington told Hamilton: “We need 27.3s to pass Leclerc.”

L43 Norris is now nearly five seconds ahead of Sainz. Hamilton has made his way up to fifth and is now within 14 seconds of Russell. Wolff comes on the radio to tell him he can do it.

L49 Norris has his lead up to almost six seconds. Russell’s lap times have dropped off and Hamilton is on course to catch him in the final laps at this rate.

Piastri puts an excellent move on the outside of Tsunoda at turn nine for 11th place.

Sainz warns he may have run over debris. The team tell him his car looks fine.

L53 Hamilton is now within five seconds of Russell and lapping a second faster than him.

L54 Piastri takes the final points place off Albon with no drama.

L56 Hamilton is almost within striking distance of Russell. Ferrari’s constructors’ title hopes now rest on some late drama hitting Norris.

Wolff to Russell: “George, stating the obvious, keep it super-clean with Lewis.”

L58 Lawson retires.

Lando Norris wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and clinches the constructors’ championship for McLaren!

Hamilton passes Russell for fourth place on the final lap! He finishes behind the two Ferraris – he’ll be one of their drivers next year.

What a stunning end to the season. Here’s our report on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – more to come soon.

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

• Did Tsunoda ‘destroy’ his team mates – and are Red Bull wrong to pick Lawson over him?
• McLaren were ‘0.7 seconds away from losing the title’ in Abu Dhabi – Brown
• Another name change for RB and new driver numbers revealed in 2025 F1 entry list
• Ranked: The Formula 1 cars of 2024, from slowest to fastest
• McLaren are world champions with fewest grand prix wins in 25 years