ABU DHABI: Lando Norris coolly claimed victory in a tense, emotional and incident-filled Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday to deliver McLaren’s first constructors’ championship in 26 years as Lewis Hamilton finished a remarkable fourth in his final race for Mercedes. The 25-year-old Norris came home 5.832 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz and his team-mate Charles Leclerc to end Ferrari’s title challenge on a night of accidents, penalties and tantrums under the floodlights at the Yas Marina Circuit.
"Papaya on top!” said Norris on his slowdown lap after the season-closing race. "Congrats to everyone. Incredible. So proud of you all. You all deserve this. It’s been a special one. Next year is going to be my year too.” McLaren had not won the teams’ title since 1998, the year before Norris was born, and started the day with a lead of 21 points and a front row lockout, but saw Oscar Piastri sent spinning in a clash with newly-crowned four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull at the first corner.
This encouraged Ferrari, with Leclerc starting 19th on the grid, and they mounted a defiant if vain bid for glory, finishing second and third ahead of Hamilton, who passed team-mate George Russell on the final lap. Russell came home fifth ahead of Verstappen, who was one of several drivers to be handed a 10 second penalty for his crash into Piastri, and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly with Nico Hulkenberg taking eighth for Haas. Fernando Alonso was ninth for Aston Martin and Piastri, after a battling drive, 10th in the second McLaren.
‘Stupid idiots’
In hot, dry and clear conditions, Norris made a clean start from his eighth pole of the year to lead into Turn One where Verstappen attacked Piastri on the inside and made contact with his car to send both spinning. Piastri waited to rejoin in 20th and last, but Verstappen squeezed back into 11th as team-mate Sergio Perez’s miserable season concluded with a spin out at Turn Six after contact with Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber. Leclerc, with a scintillating surge on the opening lap, rose from 19th to eight.
Verstappen was given a 10-second penalty for his ‘dive bomb’ move on Piastri, who reported "yep, move of a world champion there” on McLaren team radio. After a brief Safety Car intervention, Piastri hit the rear of Franco Colapinto’s Williams, forcing the Argentine to pit with a puncture. Piastri also pitted for fresh hards before being given a 10-second penalty, as was Bottas for his part in ending Perez’s race. At the front, Norris led Sainz by 2.7 seconds ahead of Gasly and Russell as Leclerc climbed to sixth by lap 10 when Hamilton, having started 16th as the only man on hard, was up to 12th. For Norris, knowing a win was essential for McLaren, the pressure was on. — AFP