The popular saying “save the best for last” really applied to this race weekend. Abu Dhabi is usually a race that brings a lot of drama. In 2021, it was the place where Max Verstappen (Red Bull) beat Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) to secure his (controversial) first World Drivers Championship.
This year, Max won a couple of races ago in Las Vegas. However, this race helps decide the World Constructors Championship between McLaren and Ferrari, as well as who will win second place in the World Drivers Championship. Right now, it is between Lando Norris (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).
That being said, after qualifying, it looked to be that McLaren and Norris would win regardless. Leclerc started in 19th at the back of the grid, and both Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri (McLaren) started 1st and 2nd. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) started 3rd on the grid, but the consensus of fans as of Saturday was that nothing could be done for Ferrari to beat McLaren.
Unfortunately, Norris’ performance in the race was too electric for the Ferraris to combat. Despite Leclerc getting 3rd after starting 19th and Sainz getting 2nd, they just couldn’t beat McLaren. In the beginning of the race, there was a little suspense when Piastri got a 10-second penalty that put him out of the point-scoring positions up until the end. Luckily, Piastri was still able to score one point.
This bodes well for Norris for the coming seasons. With a Constructor Champion winning car, he has a real chance to win the World Drivers Championship. Also, since Norris won the race, he also retains 2nd place in the Drivers Championship and Leclerc keeps 3rd.
Sainz will race for Williams next year, so hopefully he can have another dominant season. Williams does not have a great track record in recent years, but hopefully Sainz’s driving can make points possible for him.
The season has come to an end, but there are still a lot of things to talk about in the F1 news world. On to 2025!
The “High-Octane Herald” is written by Ava O’Donnell and details the latest Formula One news regarding races and current events.