Race report: Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc on podium for Ferrari at Yas Marina | F1 Abu Dhabi GP. Final results and full report from the 2024 F1 Abu Dhabi GP.

Here is our full text transcript from the final round of the 2024 Formula 1 campaign, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix:

Welcome to our live coverage of the final race of what has been a thrilling 2024 Formula 1 season. Max Verstappen has already wrapped up the drivers’ title, but that leaves all eyes on McLaren as they attempt to seal a first Constructors’ Championship triumph since 1998. They couldn’t be better placed to do that, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri having sealed a front-row lockout with McLaren holding a 21-point lead over Ferrari.

It could also be a bit of a tear-jerker today, with several farewells taking place. The big one is Lewis Hamilton driving in his final race for Mercedes ahead of his move to Ferrari after 12 seasons with the Silver Arrows. An interesting choice of clothing for Lewis Hamilton as he arrived for his final race for Mercedes. Some might call the shade of his outfit ‘Ferrari red’, ahead of his move to the Italian squad next season.

Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle on the front-row-starting McLarens as the team bid to close out the Constructors’ Championship:

“They have a 21-point advantage in their pocket as well so, if push comes to shove, they can just follow Ferrari home and still take the title. Everyone I have spoken to at McLaren today have been like ‘nothing to see here, let’s focus on the now and not an hour or two or three hours from now’. That’s exactly the right approach for them. The only thing that can stop McLaren winning the constructors’ title today is a problem – contact or a problem for their cars.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, starting from P19: “Fun – I don’t know if it is the word. It would have been more fun in front. It’s a very difficult task today, but I’ll do everything to try to make the miracle happen. That’s we need to have today, a miracle.”

All of the front-runners have saved two sets of hard tyres as they expect a multiple stop race. Mercedes chose to “scrub” one of their hard sets in Qualifying for better tyre warm-up. A one-stop is possible but a two-stop race is likely to be faster, unless you manage your tyres very well. Maybe we will see teams splitting strategy…

The whole field are on mediums apart from Lewis Hamilton, who starts the race on the hard tyre. That would suggest the Mercedes driver is going to look to go long and perhaps hope for a Safety Car to help him out. You could argue he’s owed something like that at this particular circuit…

We are racing in Abu Dhabi!

Lando Norris gets away well but Max Verstappen touches Oscar Piastri and they both spin at the first corner! Norris leads from Carlos Sainz but Verstappen is down to 14th and Piastri is last!

Lap 1/58: This is chaos! Sergio Perez has spun too, which enables Charles Leclerc to gain another place. The Ferrari is up to eighth from 19th on the grid – and the Constructors’ Championship battle is truly alive! Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, is up to 12th, a place behind Max Verstappen.

Lap 2/58: Sergio Perez comes to a halt in the final sector and we have a Virtual Safety Car. Norris leads from Sainz, Gasly, Russell and Hulkenberg. What a top five.

Lap 3/58: The Virtual Safety Car ends and we are back to green flag racing. George Russell tries to go around the outside of Pierre Gasly into Turn Eight but can’t get by.

Lap 4/58: More trouble for Piastri! He’s driven into the back of Franco Colapinto, apparently under the VSC. Colapinto has got a puncture, and Piastri needs to come in for a new front wing.

Max Verstappen has been given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri on the first lap. Valtteri Bottas also has the same penalty for hitting Sergio Perez.

Lap 5/58: Oscar Piastri didn’t need a new front wing in the end, but rather a new set of tyres. He comes out 25 seconds behind 17th-placed Jack Doohan. Franco Colapinto is a further 35 seconds behind Piastri.

Lap 8/58: Lando Norris is three seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz and looking strong. Pierre Gasly is another four seconds back, keeping George Russell behind him.

Lap 9/58: Max Verstappen is focused on making a comeback of his own. The world champion also makes easy work of getting past Kevin Magnussen and is up to eighth.

Lap 9/58: Charles Leclerc has to be patient but eventually outfoxes Fernando Alonso to move up to sixth. Nico Hulkenberg is next for the Ferrari.
Lap 12/58: There’s no stopping Charles Leclerc! He gets up the inside of Nico Hulkenberg and is now into fifth. He needs to be careful though because he is one track limits violation away from a penalty.

Lap 13/58: Max Verstappen’s latest overtake is on Fernando Alonso, who knows the Red Bull driver is much quicker. Verstappen is in seventh and now chasing Nico Hulkenberg.

Lap 14/58: Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso have stopped at the end of lap 13. That’s helpful for Lewis Hamilton, who has cleared Liam Lawson and is now running behind Max Verstappen in seventh with some clear air.

Lap 14/58: Lando Norris has a nice cushion over Carlos Sainz at the front. McLaren still can’t afford any slip ups for Norris, particularly with both Ferraris in the top five.

Lap 16/58: Max Verstappen says he “can’t brake” because his tyres are getting “way too hot”. The world champion is running fifth at the moment but it sounds like he might need to stop soon!

Lap 17/58: Charles Leclerc is within one second of George Russell as he looks to get onto the podium. Pierre Gasly is being held up by Yuki Tsunoda, which is good news for Russell and Leclerc.

Lap 19/58: Lewis Hamilton starting on the hards is providing good information for the rest of the field. Hamilton isn’t exactly flying in sixth place, so the leaders are trying to stretch this stint on the mediums, perhaps thinking about a one-stop race. Pierre Gasly is the first of the drivers to pit, in eighth place and looks to be on a two-stop. Norris leads by four seconds from Sainz.

Lap 21/58: Into the pits comes Charles Leclerc as he tries to undercut George Russell. He’s onto the hard tyres and emerges behind Pierre Gasly in eighth place, with some clean air ahead.

Lap 22/58: Mercedes have chosen not to respond to Charles Leclerc’s pit stop. George Russell stays out for now while Leclerc closes in on Pierre Gasly for what will be the net podium.

Lap 23/58: Lando Norris is keeping his lead over Carlos Sainz at about four seconds. That’s a crucial gap which gives him and McLaren time to respond to whatever Ferrari decide to do with Sainz. If Sainz can get closer, the undercut could become an option.

Lap 24/58: Yuki Tsunoda, having been told to stay out by RB, is passed by both Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc in the space of about 20 seconds. That puts them up to P6 and P7, but Leclerc will be hoping to clear the Alpine as quickly as possible.

Lap 25/58: Charles Leclerc does overtake Pierre Gasly into the chicane, which puts him effectively into third place. George Russell is staying out there, saying he can maintain his pace.

Lap 25/58: Oh dear! Liam Lawson stops but his left-front isn’t fitted correctly and he has to come back in a lap later to get it put on properly. There’s probably going to be insult added to injury, with a penalty likely for sending the car out in an unsafe condition. That’s Lawson’s evening ruined.

Lap 26/58: Carlos Sainz pits from second place and comes back out in third on the hard tyres. We think McLaren will respond to this with Lando Norris.

Lap 27/58: McLaren deliver under pressure! It’s a rapid two-second stop for Lando Norris, which keeps him a couple of seconds clear of Carlos Sainz.

Lap 29/58: Lewis Hamilton is gradually closing in on his old mate Max Verstappen. The gap between third and fourth is under three seconds, with Verstappen doing pretty well to keep hanging on to his medium tyres. Hamilton has just been told over the radio that P3 is attainable for him this afternoon – what a comeback that would be!

Lap 30/58: Max Verstappen serves his 10-second time penalty for hitting Oscar Piastri on the first lap, before the crew get to work. Verstappen is back out in 11th.

Lap 32/58: Oh no, two drivers who will be out of F1 after today clash at Turn 6. Valtteri Bottas simply spears into the side of Kevin Magnussen, who spins around. Bottas limps back to the pit lane but retires from the race.

Lap 33/58: Oscar Piastri has made his second stop of the race, and served his 10-second penalty while doing so. That brings him back out in P15. He’s got some work to do to score any points here.

Lap 35/58: He gets perhaps a final call of “Hammer-time” from Bono, and with that Lewis Hamilton is into the pits. He crucially emerges just in front of Fernando Alonso in P7, and is free to chase down the cars in front of him on his fresh medium tyres.

Lap 39/58: Lando Norris is 3.5 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz as he continues to lap slightly quicker than the Ferrari driver. Norris is doing everything perfectly at the moment.

Lap 40/58: Oscar Piastri overtakes Lance Stroll to take 14th place but is 13 seconds away from the points-paying positions, which is currently held by Zhou Guanyu. A lap later, he gets by Jack Doohan. Piastri on a charge!

Lap 40/58: McLaren want to be ready for anything!

Lando Norris is asked whether he would be confident of passing Carlos Sainz on fresh tyres in the event the Ferrari was to stay out – most likely under a Safety Car. Norris says he is, but McLaren will hope there are no more stops here! Lewis Hamilton gets Nico Hulkenberg into Turn 6. Next up the road is Pierre Gasly in fifth place.

Lap 45/58: Lando Norris’ advantage over Carlos Sainz is five seconds. McLaren will be the champions as it stands, but Norris must win.

Lap 46/58: Max Verstappen goes down the inside of Pierre Gasly into Turn 8 and is into sixth place.

Lap 47/58: Charles Leclerc is told over the radio to get back into his “rhythm”, but doesn’t find the instruction very helpful. He responds rather sarcastically by saying that what he is doing at the moment is the rhythm.

Lap 49/58: Oscar Piastri hangs it around the outside of Yuki Tsunoda and makes the pass stick. He has a five-second gap to close on Fernando Alonso to score an insurance point for McLaren.

Lap 52/58: Lando Norris has stretched his lead out front to almost six seconds. The McLaren man looks as though he’s going to bring this home for his team today.

Lap 54/58: Oscar Piastri eases past Alex Albon and is into the points. It’s been a pretty torrid evening for the Australian but he’s salvaged a point for McLaren. That only strengthens their grip on the constructors’ title.

Lap 56/58: Charles Leclerc is told that Carlos Sainz is 7.5 seconds behind Lando Norris. Leclerc’s response is a word we cannot repeat, but it wasn’t nice.

Lap 57/58: His lead over Sainz is up to eight seconds.

Lando Norris wins the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which means McLaren take the Constructors’ Championship title for the first time since 1998. Carlos Sainz crosses the line 5.8 seconds behind and Charles Leclerc is third.