Lando Norris won the constructors’ championship for McLaren.
Norris won Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc. McLaren entered the race with a 21-point lead over Ferrari and Norris’ victory was more than enough to clinch the team’s first constructors’ title since 1998.
Oscar Piastri started on the front row alongside Norris, but Max Verstappen overtook him at the first corner of the race. The four-time champion started fourth on the grid and attempted to dive towards the inside of Piastri in the first corner. He didn’t make it and got into Piastri’s car. The contact caused both drivers to spin and resulted in a 10-second penalty for Verstappen.
Piastri fought his way back to 10th place to earn a point after receiving a 10-second penalty for colliding with Franco Colapinto. That point for Piastri meant McLaren won the title by 14 points over Ferrari.
Leclerc started the race in 19th place after a 10-place grid penalty for a pre-race engine change. He drove to eighth place on the first lap thanks to the collision between Verstappen and Piastri and another tangle with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez and worked his way up from there.
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in his last race with Mercedes after starting 16th. Hamilton was the only driver to start the race on hard compound tires (everyone else started on medium) and used the reverse strategy to great effect. He made an aggressive pass to teammate George Russell on the final lap to move up from fifth place.
Verstappen finished sixth and was not a factor after serving his suspension.
Race results
1. Lando Norris, McLaren
2. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
5. George Russell, Mercedes
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7. Pierre Gasly, alpine
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
9. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
11. Alex Albon, Williams
12. Yuki Tsunoda, RB
13. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber
14. Lance Ride, Aston Martin
15. Jack Doohan, alpine
16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Not classified: Liam Lawson (RB), Valtteri Bottas (Sauber), Franco Colapinto (Williams), Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)