December 8, 2024
McLaren have won the Constructors title for the first time since 1998
The conclusion to the longest ever Formula One season was one ripe with all manor of drama, as McLaren won their first Constructors title in twenty-seven years, as the papaya drivers experience completely opposite experiences.
With Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri on the front row of the grid, holding onto a twenty-one point lead over Ferrari, McLaren were sitting pretty. Yet in the moments after lights out, all that was about to turn into unease.
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Already named world champion, and with his Red Bull team well out of reach of the Constructors title, newly re-crowned champion Max Verstappen lunged down the side of Oscar Piastri, causing a collision that sent both cars spinning, with Piastri coming off worse for wear and sitting in last place by the time he was able to rejoin the race.
It was a puzzling move from Verstappen, who has nothing to gain from such an aggressive start – while Piastri and McLaren had everything to lose.
Lando Norris, however, was off and away in the distance as the rest of the grid did its best to dance around the spinning cars and any potential debris that might have come off them.
Meanwhile, the other Red Bull was also involved in an incident in the opening moments of the race, when Sergio Perez can into contact with Valtteri Bottas. While the contact seemed to be the fault of Bottas, he was able to continue on while Perez, in his final drive for Red Bull, was out of the race.
Bottas too would find himself on the outside looking in following another collision later on in the race, where he slammed into the side of Kevin Magnusson who had just left the pits on fresh tires. Bottas; front right tire had come off the rim and after limping back to the pits, it was discovered that his suspension was damaged beyond reasonable repair.
Piastri began storming back into the field, trying to regain lost ground. but in doing so, was a tad too aggressive and hit the back of Colapinto’s Williams, which lead to eventual end of the rookies final race with the team.
Two other drivers were making their way up the grid with remarkable driving, as Charles Leclerc was on the rise, dragging himself from ninetieth position to an eventual third place podium finish. Right behind him come the finish line, was Lewis Hamilton who had started the race in sixteenth place.
On the final lap, Hamilton caught George Russell and overtook him in what was to be the final exchange between the two as Mercedes team mates. The move put Hamilton up into fourth place and caps perhaps the most glorious relationships in the history of the sport. Hamilton finishes the season outside the top six for the first time in his illustrious career.
Carlos Sainz caps off his time with Ferrari with a second place finish that will be bitter sweet for multiple reasons. The sole car ahead of him is that of Lando Norris, which means that Ferrari will finish second in the constructors title race – and Sainz leaves Ferrari to join Williams for next season.
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This concludes the longest season in Formula One history, where Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claims another drivers championship, McLaren takes the Constructors title and a slew of familiar faces move on, replaced by fresh new drivers to start the upcoming 2025 season.
Most notably, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton drove his last race as a member of the Mercedes team, and is now a Ferrari driver. Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen are all out of a seat and it could also be Sergio Perez’s last race in Formula One, with Red Bull reportedly set to replace the Mexican with Liam Lawson for next year.
Papaya on top!
