Christian Horner: "Firstly, we have to congratulate McLaren, it's incredibly tough to win a Championship and they have not taken their foot off the gas all season. Full credit where it is due, they are deserving of that trophy. For us, in a season where we won nine races, more than any other team and successfully defended the Drivers Championship equates to an exceptional year. Max has been outstanding. It's been a long season with 24 races and none of it would have been possible without the hard work from everyone both here at track and back in Milton Keynes, their continued drive and determination throughout the year was long and relentless, similarly the support from all of our partners, without them none of this would be possible and we are extremely grateful for all that they bring and what we continue to build, equally a special thanks to Honda and their consistency and contribution. I would also like to thank our fans, it is because of you that we are here and why we race, there simply wouldn't be any F1 if it were not for them. Finally, a special thanks to Max and Checo. Their hard work and relentless pursuit throughout the campaign has not always bore the fruits they deserved but they remained committed and resolute throughout. We will look to recharge over the next couple of months as we head into 2025 and look forward to coming back fighting once again. Thank you to all, we wish you a happy holidays and a successful New Year!"
Lewis Hamilton finished fourth with team-mate George Russell fifth in Sunday's 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The race marked the 246th and last Grand Prix for the team and Lewis; the most successful driver-team partnership in the sport's history.
Starting from P16, Lewis used an offset Hard-Medium strategy to cut through the field, taking P4 on the last lap. George meanwhile was on the conventional Medium-Hard strategy and made progress from his starting position of P5.
After the race, co-owner, CEO, and Team Principal Toto Wolff called Lewis's race "the drive of a world champion".
Congratulations go to McLaren, along with our Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains colleagues at Brixworth, as the Papaya squad claimed this year's Constructors' Championship.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO: It has been 12 years that we have spent with Lewis. It is not only the longest driver and team partnership in the sport's history, but it is also the most successful. A relationship of that length and a journey like that creates a bond, trust, and shared values that are rare nowadays. It is a period of time that we will always hold close to our hearts and one that I personally will treasure forever. Despite knowing that whatever happened in our final race today didn't impact our legacy, we all wanted to end on a high. I am so glad we were able to do so. He will always be a part of our family and, if it isn't us winning on track, we hope that it is him.
Without the bollard getting in Lewis's way yesterday in Qualifying, I think he could have fought for victory. He was quick throughout today and made the alternative strategy work well. He drove like a world champion. That is befitting of our time together and a real statement. For George, he had a tougher time of it. He hasn't had the pace in the car this weekend to fight for the podium, but he did well to bring home solid points.
Congratulations to McLaren on their success in the Constructors' Championship. They have done a fantastic job this year. They have built a strong team with good engineering, good leadership, and good drivers. They are fully deserving of this year's title. We are pleased for our colleagues at Brixworth too; this is a success also for Mercedes Motorsport and HPP. Whilst we know that the works team is the absolute key priority, it is great to see a customer team do so well.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director: "After yesterday's challenges, we can hold our heads high in how we responded today. Starting from P6 and P16, we knew we would have a fight on our hands to score solid points and challenge for the podium. George, as has been the case all weekend, lacked that extra pace needed to battle for the top-three. That is unusual as he has been consistently fast this year so we need to go away and understand why that was. Nevertheless, he did a fine job to maximise points for the team and raced cleanly on that final lap with Lewis.
Lewis meanwhile completed a drive worthy of our incredible 12-year journey together. He used the offset Hard-Medium strategy to great effect, calmly and methodically working his way through the field, before deploying the medium compound in the final stint. He worked his way past multiple cars, dropped the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, and produced a great move to take P4 on the final lap. Whilst we would have all loved to have been on the podium one final time, a battling drive against the odds seems an apt sign off for our time together. We wish him all the very best for the future, knowing that he will always be a part of our family.
It has been a long and, at times, tough season. We know there is more work for us to do if we are to challenge for championships once again. Everyone at Brackley and Brixworth is focused on doing just that. Congratulations to McLaren and our colleagues at Brixworth on their Constructors' Championship success. They have been the best team this year and are more than deserving of the title. We look forward to doing battle with them on the track next year.
There is no need for recrimination for Scuderia Ferrari HP after today's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit. Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc and the whole team produced the best race possible to finish second and third behind Lando Norris in the McLaren, the English team thus securing the Constructors' title by just 14 points - 666 to 652. This is the smallest winning margin in the Constructors' since the race winner has been awarded 25 points (2010). Carlos drove a great race, always putting Norris under pressure, although no mistakes were forthcoming from the Englishman. Charles got the perfect start and then produced a memorable opening lap which later combined with a perfectly executed strategy and pit stop saw him make up a total of 16 places to make it to the podium for the 13th time this year, the 22nd for the team.
Carlos had quite a lonely race. At the start, he made the most of the collision between Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen to move up to second. After that, he basically matched Norris' pace, trying to put him under pressure during the first stint on Medium tyres and again at the start of the second part on the Hards, without his second place ever coming under threat. Charles' race was a different matter altogether. He started from 19th on the grid on Medium tyres and by the end of the opening lap he was already eighth, making the most of incidents, but also pulling off six overtaking moves. He was moving through the field at the rate of around one place per lap until he was fourth behind George Russell, who was quick on the straights. At this point, the pitwall crew reacted quickly and as soon as there was enough of a gap so that he could emerge ahead of the group of slower cars behind, he was called in to change tyres. This meant Charles was then able to undercut the Mercedes. When Lewis Hamilton pitted, the Monegasque moved up to third, a position he held comfortably to the chequered flag.
Scuderia Ferrari HP has thus finished second in the Constructors' classification, with Charles and Carlos third and fifth respectively in the Drivers' as was the case in 2021 and 2022. The Spaniard's time at Maranello now comes to an end, with four wins, six pole positions, 25 podiums and 900.5 points. For Carlos, 2025 starts on Tuesday when he will take part in the end of season test for Williams. Charles will be at the wheel of his SF-24, while Antonio Fuoco and Arthur Leclerc will drive the other car. Tuesday night therefore marks the end of track action for the season. It was great to fight for the title to the very last race, and for next year the determination is there to do even better.
Fred Vasseur: We pushed all the way to the last corner of the last lap. I am very happy with the job we did today, because it was unexpected to finish P2 and P3, given where Charles was on the grid.
Today, Charles drove a great race. Before the start I had a bet with him on what his position would be at the end of lap 1 and we both lost it as he was too far ahead of what we had both predicted and we can say it's definitely not today that we lost the championship. It's a bit frustrating to finish 14 points behind McLaren as it is a very small margin, less than 2% of the total available. I have huge respect for what McLaren has done in recent years. So congratulations to them.
From our side, the target is never to be P2 so, if you are not P1 it means you have to improve, but I'd say we had a good season, making a solid step forward as we've scored 50% more points than last season, but the target remains that of winning titles.
And finally a word for Carlos: he was always very professional, always consistent and he and Charles always fought each other hard which is a good thing as you progress faster as a team this way. I wanted to see the team all pulling in the same direction and Carlos did more than his share in achieving that.
For next year, myself and everyone in the team do not need to look for motivation, because we already have it! From tomorrow, we will already be focused on 2025.
John Elkann - Ferrari Chairman: Congratulations to McLaren on winning the Constructors' Championship. For our part, it was great to fight hard all the way to the very last lap of the final race. A big thank you to the team for a very solid season, with 5 wins, including Monaco and Monza. Special thanks go to Carlos for everything he has given us over these past four years. Let this season serve as a starting point for a 2025 where we can be even more competitive.
Andrea Stella - Team Principal : "McLaren are the 2024 Constructors' Championship winners. I'm incredibly proud of the entire team here, both trackside and back at the factory. It's been 26 years since we've won the Championship. It's a wonderful feeling this evening. Our work has paid off and we'll be celebrating with everyone.
"I would like to give my thanks to each and everyone in the team for their hard work and dedication, and to our shareholders, partners and fans, for their unwavering support. I'd also like to thank our colleagues at HPP for the successful collaboration. It's been a hard-fought Championship. Well done to Ferrari who drove a really good race today as well, and were great competitors. It won't be long until we are head down into next year, but until then, we'll make sure to take in every moment and celebrate our win."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "A long season comes to an end in Abu Dhabi. We have finished P5 in the Constructors' championship. There are still positives to take from this year, especially as the midfield battle has been so close. Today we come away with a couple of hard-earned points for Fernando - a little reward for all the effort from everyone at Silverstone and trackside in Abu Dhabi. Lance battled well but didn't have the benefit of free air that Fernando did and so had the more difficult job of navigating traffic and managing tyres. He came out on top following a decisive move on Yuki [Tsunoda] towards the end of the race.
"Congratulations to McLaren on its constructors' championship - they've had an incredible season. I want to thank our drivers, our team trackside and back at the AMRTC. Together with our fantastic partners, colleagues, and importantly our fans you are what drives Aston Martin Aramco forward and it is a privilege to be a part of this great team."
Oliver Oakes, Team Principal: "It's a great achievement to end the season in sixth place in the standings. The turnaround in the second half of the season by the team has been amazing and shows that the hard work and determination of everyone at Enstone and Viry has paid off. The team never gave up, never lost sight of the end goal, and we can take that confidence and momentum into 2025. Pierre drove a great race and did everything asked of him. He's been at the top of his game recently and put in another top performance today to keep Nico [Hülkenberg] at bay. Jack did well today and showed promising pace, matching the cars around him on similar strategies. It's a great learning for him to take into next year. Credit to Haas and RB who were strong this year and kept the fight exciting to the very end. Also, congratulations to McLaren on winning the Constructors' Championship. They've been the benchmark this year and they thoroughly deserve it."
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director: We started from P18 and P20 today which is never easy. After a few laps both drivers made some good progress and were driving well. Unfortunately, Franco was hit by Piastri resulting in a puncture, so we had to pit early. Afterwards his pace was good until we unfortunately had to retire the car due to a suspected PU failure. Not the last race we wanted for him, but he has showed he deserves his place on the grid. As planned, we boxed Alex early but as the race unfolded and many cars around us went for their second stop, we decided to stay out and try the one stop as it was the only way to stay in the points. The race was a few laps too long as the tyres dropped off, so at the end Alex finished P11 after a strong race. It has been a tough, long, and very hard season for the whole team but we have shown resilience and will return stronger next year.
Tim Goss (Chief Technical Officer): "Today we had a good chance of a points finish with a well-executed one-stop race. Unfortunately, some technical and operational issues put us on the back foot. Yuki's start didn't proceed correctly, triggering anti-stall. From the back of the grid, he then drove a solid race, only narrowly losing out to the two-stopping Stroll in the closing laps. We have some early indications of the deficiencies in the launch start and will iron these out in the future. Liam's start and first lap went well by contrast, and from running in 10th place early on we felt we had a good chance against some of our rivals ahead. However, Liam's pit stop didn't go to plan with the front left wheel only partially in place before being tightened. The resulting refitting of the wheel and penalty meant there was little chance of competing. Ultimately, a brake issue meant we had to retire the car. We will come back stronger next season."
Laurent Mekies (Team Principal): "We did not have a satisfactory season finale, with Yuki suffering a problem off the start line and Liam getting a 10 second stop and go for an issue we had during his pitstop. It is a difficult way to finish the season, especially after all the good work done from the Team on the reliability and pit stop front this season.
Looking at the season as a whole, it's been a mega intense year from day one when we started this season, with a new mission and a new name.
We had our highs and lows along the way, but we have started to build stronger foundations together for the future of the Team, and it is now the time to thank everyone, in Faenza, Bicester, Milton Keynes, at Honda and at RBPT, for their fantastic work this season, which enabled us to progress in our journey.
A very special thank you also need to go to our drivers, Yuki and Liam, who both developed immensely this year, without forgetting the invaluable imprint Daniel left on all of us earlier in the year.
Whilst we are not happy with where we finished in the championship, our drivers have accumulated nearly double the points compared to last season, and we had our share of good fights on the track.
There are a lot of exciting challenges to come over the winter and we will be pushing very hard to keep our progression going into 2025."
Kick Sauber F1 Team capped of the 2024 season with an emotional grand finale in the iconic setting of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, a race which marked the end of three eventful years with our driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu After the promising past race of the Doha GP and the season best qualifying, the circumstances during this eventful race did not allow the drivers and the team to finish the season with additional points. Already in the first round a contact between Valtteri and Sergio Perez resulted in a 10-second penalty for the Finn. A collision with Kevin Magnussen forced him to retire in lap 30. Zhou was able to gain ground, but a 5-second penalty for false start held him back from gaining additional positions.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Today's race was eventful and brought a tough season to a close, with only four points scored across 24 races. The most meaningful moment came before the race as we bid farewell to Zhou and Valtteri after three years together in which they contributed greatly to our cause and supported us through challenging times. Valtteri gave his all tonight but was unlucky with two incidents—one with Perez on lap one, resulting in a front wing change and penalty, and another with Magnussen on lap 30, which caused suspension damage and forced his retirement. It's not the ending we hoped for, but we'll celebrate his incredible efforts and wish him the best for the future. Zhou ran a strong race, recovering from a false start and penalty to finish P13, thanks to his pace and a well-executed strategy. We also wish him every success in his next chapter. We want to thank everyone at Hinwil, trackside, and at Ferrari for their hard work this season. Congratulations to McLaren on their well-earned Constructors' Championship, a testament to perseverance and teamwork. Inspired, we now focus on the post-season period to build a strong foundation for 2025 and beyond."
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished with Nico Hulkenberg eighth and Kevin Magnussen 16th, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Round 24 of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, held Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Hulkenberg took the start from seventh position on Pirelli P Zero Yellow medium tires and gained two places through the opening lap, before being overhauled by the recovering Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Hulkenberg came in on lap 13 for White hard tires and relinquished further places to Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton as they recovered positions. Hulkenberg maintained eighth place through the remainder of the 58-lap race to score points in his final start with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team. It marked the 10th points finish from the last 11 races of the season for the team.
Magnussen started from 14th place, also on medium tires, and made a sensational start to surge through to seventh position, including passing several rivals along the back straight. Magnussen came in on lap 12 for hard tires and despite a longer tire change, remained in contention for points, prior to his second scheduled stop on lap 30. Magnussen re-emerged on hard tires but on his out-lap was tipped into a spin at turn 7 by the locked-up Sauber of Valtteri Bottas. Magnussen had to pit again, losing valuable time, and came back out on Red soft tires, before making another pit stop on lap 56 for a fresher set of scrubbed softs. Magnussen set the fastest lap of the race on his final racing lap with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team - the third in history for both driver and team.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team finished the 2024 season in seventh position in the Constructors' Championship, on 58 points - its second-highest finish in history and second-highest ever points total.
Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal: "We knew we all had to go for it and at the end of lap 1, it was looking great because Nico was in P5 and Kevin had another amazing first lap from P14 to P7. Then unfortunately on Kevin's first stop it was slow and that's unfortunate as our pit crew has been amazing this year, but on this critical moment it meant Kevin came out in traffic, so that really compromised his race. As Kevin was stuck in traffic, we pitted him again and on his out lap Bottas locked up and damaged Kevin's car. He was very unlucky, I wanted Kevin to sign off well, as he's done so much and he's a part of the family, but we couldn't finish with a points scoring position with him.
"On Nico's side he drove really well, but being in traffic all the time is really difficult. The execution of his one stop race was very good, and in normal circumstances coming home in P8 and scoring another four points would be a thing to celebrate, so I think we did the best job we could with Nico.
"In terms of championship position, it's of course bittersweet, because we're P7 - but were going for P6, but we couldn't achieve it. I think everyone after the race understands that at the start of the season, if somebody said we're going to finish P7, we'd be very happy. This year has been an amazing year, everybody working together, every department. We have things to improve, that's part of the process, but we're going to come back stronger next year. For now, I want us to recognize what an amazing season we've had and I hope everyone is proud of what they've achieved and enjoy the moment; I'm very proud of everyone in this team."
Tonight, Abu Dhabi provided the perfect showcase for the end of the 2024 season in a race that had plenty of excitement from start to finish and even after the flag. Lando Norris took the win for McLaren, leading from lights out to the chequered flag, which was waved by the number one ranked tennis player in the world, Jannik Sinner. Also on the podium were the two Ferrari drivers, Carlos Sainz second ahead of Charles Leclerc, while the winner's team-mate Oscar Piastri finished tenth. The result sees McLaren take the Constructors' World Championship title, its ninth, which thus puts it second equal with Williams on the list of all time winners, behind Ferrari on 16. For the Woking-based squad it was their first title since 1998, even before Piastri and Norris were born!
For Norris it was career win number 4, while it is McLaren's 189th from 970 Grands Prix entered. Piastri avoided being lapped by his team-mate and is thus the only driver this season to have completed 100% of the total laps (1444) and kilometres (7314) of the 24 Grands Prix this season.
Ferrari finished second in the Constructors' championship, with the most podium finishes (22) of the season, ahead of McLaren and Red Bull with 21 apiece.
Kevin Magnussen, who drove his last Formula 1 race today, set the fastest lap, the third time he has done so, following on from Singapore 2018 and 2019, all at the wheel of a Haas.
Red Bull finished the season third in the Constructors' standings. It is the first time since 1983 that the team that took the Drivers' title finished outside the top two in the Constructors': on that occasion, Nelson Piquet was champion and his Brabham team finished third.
On the starting grid, 19 of the 20 drivers were on the Medium with only Hamilton opting for the Hard. The one-stop strategy proved to be quickest: of the top ten finishers, only Fernando Alonso (eighth for Aston Martin) made a two-stop work. Piastri also pitted twice but that was as a result of a collision with Verstappen at the first corner on the opening lap.
The longest stint overall was delivered by two specialists in this field, namely Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg, who did 45 laps on a set of Hards. As for the Medium, the prize goes to Max Verstappen, who split his race exactly in two, doing 29 laps on the C4 followed by the same number on the C3.
The C5's appearance in the race came courtesy of Magnussen, who clearly only fitted it in order to set the fastest race lap, which he did both on his first set, used for a total of 25 laps and then on the second, fitted just for the last two laps.
Mario Isola: "First and foremost, congratulations to McLaren on winning the Constructors' title and well done too to Ferrari for having pushed them all the way to the very end, which made for a very exciting finale, full of suspense to really entertain the fans.
"It was the best way possible to end a very busy season, the longest ever in Formula 1 history. For our part, we believe we met the expectations of the teams and the other major players in this sport, the FIA and Formula 1, who are our most important "customers". We did it by providing a reliable and high-performance product, which also delivered the desired effect of unpredictable racing. In fact, it's no coincidence that this season has been. Well balanced between races where a one-stop strategy worked best and those where a two-stop was more effective, thus meeting the objectives we had been set.
"As for today's race, we saw less graining than during Friday free practice, and even then it had little impact on performance. Degradation was also very limited, so much so that the one-stop was clearly the most effective strategy, even with many different divisions of stint lengths. Verstappen for example stopped at exactly half-distance, while others like Gasly and Hulkenberg stopped very early and then managed to finish in the points. We still have one more task to complete this year. This coming Tuesday, we will be back on track here at Yas Marina for a very important collective test. All the teams will be able to evaluate five of the six compounds homologated for 2025, the exception being the C1 which is not suited to this track. Furthermore, we will be supplying 2024 tyres for the usual rookie end of season test."
